Newsletter 1st October 2021

Posted: Fri 1st Oct 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you to our year 5 and 6 parents and carers who attended the SATS meeting earlier in the week. With national testing cancelled in primary schools’ last year, this meeting was very important and your support is much appreciated.

I know the situation with fuel has been a challenge for some families and staff this week - thank you to everyone for persevering and making alternative arrangements to get here on time. We do fully understand the situation and can only hope it improves very quickly.

I am very pleased to advise that we have now finalised our on-line prospectus, which is available on this website. Our aim is to make our prospectus as fluid as possible and reflective of our school and what it has to offer families. We will aim to ‘review and improve’ this document throughout the academic year so it keeps up with our school improvements and initiatives.

I am also delighted to inform you that I have recently gained approval from Governors and the Board of Trustees to invest in new furniture for the whole school. All classrooms will have new coloured chairs, new beech tables, a bookcase and book corner. Our ‘new look’ will be fresh and engaging for children and is much needed here at Biggin Hill Primary School. As you will appreciate this has not been an easy exercise and the logistics of getting the old out and the new in will be very challenging - we aim to manage this in stages and may need to enlist the help of parents and carers at some point - we will keep you posted!

We have recently also had new state of the art smart boards installed in every classroom which will help teaching staff to continue to deliver engaging and interactive lessons. The children (and staff) are really enjoying the new boards.

These significant investments are a very important step for our school and will improve the children’s learning environment and overall school experience. I would like to thank the Governing Body and Board of Trustees for approving this expenditure for BHPS.

I am pleased to advise that Mr Sturley will be taking up the role of computing teacher (previously this was Mr Small). Mr Sturley has already met the children and previously spent a week with Mr Small shadowing lessons and getting to know the children. On behalf of all the staff here, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Mr Sturley.

On Wednesday, Miss Turner held the first lunchtime choir group for our children in KS1 and year 3. I am really delighted that we are able to provide this opportunity to our younger children in the school - I know from the KS1 and year 3 teaching staff how much the children who attended enjoyed it.

Next Friday (8th October), we will celebrate Mental Health Awareness Day and will be supporting the Young Minds #HelloYellow campaign. On Friday, we invite children to wear something yellow with their school uniform in exchange for £1 which will be donated to Young Minds. On Monday, Miss Wigfield, PSHE and RSE Lead, will also be holding a whole school assembly to raise awareness of positive mental health across the school. Next week, children will also enjoy taking part in some #HelloYellow activities to understand the importance of positive wellbeing, kindness and kind choices.

The Early Reading and Phonics Workshop has been moved from the planned day of Tuesday 5th October to Wednesday 3rd November at 9:00am. More details on how to book your place will be sent out next week.

All children are expected to have a coat in school, the weather has really turned this week and we have had some very chilly children! We always like to ensure that children are able to go outside at playtime and lunchtime even when it is cold or drizzling.

Finally, the Book Fair will be taking place in the KS2 hall after school on Friday 8th, Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th October. We have provided some initial information on our article below and the attached flyer, however, next week please do look out for a letter from Mrs Lucas, Literacy Lead, about this.

My very best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Freeman

Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead