Article 2
All children have these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what their parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or a girl, what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis.
Well, what a very busy term! This is our final newsletter of the term and of 2024.
VR Workshop
On Friday 29th November, all children in Year 3/4 and 5/6 were able to enhance their topic learning using Virtual Reality!
Year 3/4 stepped inside the Colosseum, a Roman villa, a bustling market street, the streets of Pompeii and even ‘flew over’ an erupting volcano!
Year 5/6 were able to virtually visit the frontline of a WW2 battle, see the devastation caused during The Blitz and fly amongst the RAF and Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.
Amelia, Year 5-6MB: "I liked the VR because it showed us all of the key places in WWII."
Tobias, Year 5-6MB: "I enjoyed the VR: I could see what it was like to be in the war."
Louie, Year3-4JC: " I loved the VR day. The best bits were the Colosseum and the Volcano."
Zara M, Year 3-4JC: "I liked when we were looking at the volcano. I really enjoyed the workshop".
Staffing Update
Dear Parents/Carers,
As you are aware, Miss Jordan will be starting her maternity leave at the end of this term. We wish her all the very best and hope that she has a wonderful time with her family and their new arrival.
To ensure a smooth transition and maintain the high standards we uphold at our school, we have recruited a new teacher, Miss Bullock to start with us in January. Miss Bullock will be working in Year 1 and Reception. We are looking forward to welcoming Miss Bullock into our Blanford Mere family.
We also welcome Mr Price who will be joining our lunchtime team.
Well done!!
Oliver S received his Chief Scout Bronze Award....this is the top award for Beavers, which recognises all the hard work, dedication, and determination he's achieved over the last 2 years. Great achievement Oliver – well done!
Mike Wood Christmas Card Competition.
Vihaan from RLK was the winner of the runner up of the Dudley Christmas card competition. Vihaan was presented a lovely certificate, his artwork on a bauble, a £25 voucher and tickets for the Black Country Museum by our local MP Mike Wood. We are very proud of Vihaan, well done!
Nursery and Reception Grotto
On Friday 6th December Reception and Nursery were invited to Arise Church to visit their winter wonderland and Santa's grotto. The children had the chance to make reindeer food, see Santa and have some Christmas snacks. The children had a lovely time and even got a present from Santa. The children represented the school perfectly and members of the public even commented how fantastic they were on the way. Thank you to all at Arise church for your generosity and for the invite!
Music Club
Music Club children have been extremely busy over the past few weeks. They have sung at St Mary's Church, Oaklands Nursing Home, the Christmas Breakfast, Arise Church Market and Morrisons. The children were superb! We would like to thank them for their commitment and dedication. You were all brilliant!
If you would like to support us one last time, we have our final performance this year at Arise Church Christmas service on Sunday 22nd December @ 4pm. (Music Club children should arrive at 3pm for a brief rehearsal.)
Helen at Morrison’s emailed:
Good morning,
The choir raised just over £72.00 for Marie Curie, thank you so much!
Merry Christmas to you all from everyone at MORRISONS.
Helen
Hannah at Oaklands Nursing Home said:
Thank you very much for your lovely visit yesterday. The residents thoroughly enjoyed hearing the children sing!
Merry Christmas to you all!
Thanks again, Hannah
Well done!
Congratulations to Harley and Lucas in 56HO on their recent Blue Peter Badges to add to their collections. Both boys have received the Reading Badge. They had to talk about their favourite books and a piece of artwork. Keep reading!
Thank you for your support.
A big thank you for all your support for your children and the school in recent weeks. Families have supported a variety of fund-raising projects as well as our recent Christmas Film Night. It was lovely to see so many of you in church last week for our Christmas Celebration. The many positive comments that we have received mean a great deal to us and make all the hard work preparing for these events worthwhile.
Thank you also to Mrs Brett and Ms Grimaldi who gave their time so generously to help Santa prepare his gifts for the children – their efforts were much appreciated. Along with Miss Edmonds, Mrs Penn and Mrs Barlow.
Reception and Nursery Christmas Craft and Sing-along.
This week Parents and carers enjoyed the Nursery and Reception Christmas Craft and sing-along – there was a wonderful atmosphere and the children’s performance was fantastic.
Thank you so much!
Thank you to our superb School Business Manager Mrs Hunter and the office team Mrs Needle and Mrs Alexander, for all their hard work with the Christmas activities. I would also like to thank Ruth in the kitchen, for her support with the Christmas Breakfast.
Also. a big thank you to Mr Brierley, Mr di Tano and Miss Abbott for cleaning the school after all of the above events.
Thank you to the children and staff too for all of their hard work, dedication and making Christmas magical for the children.
Events that have happened in school:
- Santa and his elves were extremely busy in his Christmas Grotto this week.
- Christmas lunch was well received by the children.
- ‘Save the Children’ - Christmas jumper day – we raised £354.
Attendance
Attendance winners for December were class 3/JC with 98.33% attendance. They can wear their own clothes to school on Friday 10th January. Fantastic – well done!
Year 5 had the best attendance for the Autumn Term, with an impressive 97.95%. They will each receive 3 free tickets to a ‘Circus Starr’ performance at Dudley Town Hall. The show involves a variety of circus skills such as acrobatics, balancing and comedy and takes place on Tuesday 23rd January 2025 @ 4.45pm or 7.00pm. Two tickets have been given out to each child at the times above – we do hope that you can make the times that have been allocated to you. There are a few extra tickets available, and these will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you do not want your tickets, please send back to school.
Dates for the diary
Monday 6th January 2025 – Children return to school at the usual time. New Nursery Children start pm.
Monday 27th January – National Storytelling Week
5th – 11th February – Children’s Mental Health Week – more details to follow
Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th February – Year Rec – Year 6 Parents Evening – more details to follow.
Thursday 13th February – Shared Values Day, Wellbeing and VIP assembly
Friday 14th February – INSET Day – School closed to children.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic new year.
Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton
