End of July Newsletter

Article 29

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Well what a thoroughly enjoyable year! We have been delighted to see children taking part in clubs, trips, residential, clubs, athletic competitions, Coronation celebrations and much more. It has also been fantastic to have friends and families come into school to support us with Christmas Celebrations, Class Assemblies, Sports Days, Parents’ Evenings and Leavers productions. We hope the children have enjoyed their transition and are as excited as us about what next year brings with more trips and clubs, residentials, leader opportunities and a great curriculum to excite the children.

Please read on in the newsletter to find out about The Summer Reading Challenge and the rewards that the children will receive. We have also added dates that you will need to know for the Autumn term.

We can honestly say that we really do love coming to work every day because the children are simply amazing and the families at Blanford Mere are so supportive and caring towards the school and the staff. The staff have asked us to share their thanks for your kind words and gifts that they have received. Thank you!

Congratulations to our Year 6 children on their brilliant SATs results! We are so proud of their hard work and achievements. Our combined reading, writing and maths results place our school above the national average. In particular, pupils' reading and writing results were exceptional, and maths results were very strong. 85% of Year 6 achieved reading with 38% of children working at greater depth. 71% of children achieved maths with 31% greater depth and 91% achieved the expected standard in writing, with 29% working at greater depth. These brilliant results reflect the dedication of children, staff, parents and the whole school community. Amazing result!

We wish Year 6 all the very best as they leave us to go on their next adventure. I know there will be many tears shed by the children and families but we know they will go from strength to strength and always be part of our Blanford Mere community. 

Staffing news

• Mrs Cartwright will become the SENDCO from September as well as teaching part time in Year 2.
• Miss Jordan will return to school just before the summer break; on her return in September she will providing SENDCO release time and PPA cover. Her working days will be all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday pm.
• Miss Dorricott will return to school just before the summer break; on her return in September she will have a shared class responsibility with Mrs Davis in Yr 3/4DD. Her working days will be Wednesday pm, all day Thursday and Friday.
• We say goodbye to Mr Jones, who was our maternity cover teacher for Yr 3/4. Also, to Mrs Monckton, who has worked in Reception this year. We wish them well for the future.
• We say goodbye to Mrs Lacey, who will be retiring. We know that she has many exciting activities planned for her retirement. Thank you for all of your hard work and enjoy a long, happy retirement.
• We say goodbye to Mrs Francis, who has worked at After School Club and Mrs Phillips, lunchtime supervisor. They will be leaving us after securing more hours in other roles. We would like to wish them every success for the future.
• We also say goodbye to Mr Huntley, our Site Manager. He will also be retiring, we wish him every happiness and the best of luck in his many exciting planned ventures.
• We would like to welcome Mr A Brierley, who will be taking on the role of Site Manager, he has already began his position. We know that you will make him very welcome.
• Goodbye to Luke Ward, he will be leaving us at the end of term, as he has been signed to a club in Derby and will become a semi-professional footballer.  We would like to thank Luke for all of his contribution to sport at Blanford Mere during his time here.

Our teaching team have been preparing for September. They have already spent time in school getting to know their new classes on ‘Transition Day’ and being part of the ‘handover’ of information to ensure continuity and a swift start to the new academic year. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our staff team who have worked hard this year in their various roles, to make this academic year a happy, successful and productive one for the children.

Our final thanks however, goes to you, our parents for allowing us the privilege of educating and caring for your children, and to our superb children who brighten up each and every one of our days as they bounce into school eager to learn and enjoy their learning journey. I know you will agree, they are absolutely fantastic. We look forward to helping them achieve even further next year with another successful year and many more opportunities at Blanford Mere Primary School.

Attendance Winners

Year 1MC were the attendance winners for July, with 97.10% attendance.  They wore their own clothes to school today.

Art Competition

Again, we were overwhelmed by the number of participants in our recent Art Competition - 'Fame' when participants drew inspiration from famous artists. Our Art Ambassadors had a very tricky job choosing a winner from each category. 

The winners are:

Category 1 - Noah B Rec

Category 2 - Kayla B 2JC

Category 3 - Sam J 34MC

Category 4 - Willow 56HO

Congratulations! Their prizes were awarded in assembly and their artwork will be displayed, along with other entries, for the rest of the school to appreciate very soon. Thank you to all of those who took part. Thank you to the Art Ambassadors for their deliberations.

Look out for more art competitions happening next year. Mrs Cope (Art Lead).

TTRS Competition

Well done to all the children who took part in the Times Tables Rock Stars Competition. There were some fantastic scores achieved in the '1-minute shootout' in the Studio game setting. Here is the list of winners:

Year 2 - Zydaan

Year 3 - Autumn E

Year 4 - Leo T

Year 5 - Mason D

Year 6 - Krishna

All of the winning children received a certificate, a TTRS pencil and a Maped pencil case filled with stationery. Well done to our fastest 2 (Krishna and Leo) who both showed off their TTRS skills in assembly.

Keep learning those Times Tables and improving your TTRS scores!

Mr Baker

Year 6 Leavers Assembly

On Wednesday 12^th July, Year 6 Leaver’s assembly ‘Treachery at Traitors Quay’ was an excellent performance and greatly appreciated by their families.  Thank you to Mr Baker for his hard work and dedication in organising and preparing for the memorable occasion. We look forward to hearing about the children’s success in the future!  Good luck!

End of term Reward

On Friday 14^th July, the whole school from Nursery to Year 6, enjoyed an end of term treat with fun inflatables – the used their aiming skills to throw giant darts or shoot the balls with a Nerf Gun!  They also enjoyed the rest of the morning or afternoon as a reward for their good behaviour over the past term. Very few children lost their end of term treat, which was fantastic to see.  Keep up the high standards of behaviour.

Year 6 Leavers Treat Day

Last Thursday, Year 6 enjoyed their Year 6 Leavers Day, as a gift from school, with a fun filled day at the Dudley Showcase Cinema followed by Bowling.  This was truly enjoyed by staff and children; we wish year 6 every success at secondary school.

PE

Year 1

Summer Reading Challenge 

Over the summer if you are looking for something fun to do why not take part in the Library Summer Reading Challenge ‘Ready, Set, Read’.  This is a nationwide reading challenge which is being ran by the local libraries.  If you would like to join in you can sign up using the following link:  https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/library-zone 

All of the instructions that you need are on the above web page.  Children will receive lots of fun reading challenges and certificates from the library when they join in.  The nearest library to school is Kingswinford Library, Market St, Kingswinford DY6 9LG.  It would be amazing to see any certificates that you get for taking part after the summer holidays.  

Happy Reading,

Mr Kimberley    

Fruits of the Forest Summer Holiday activities.

It's been great to work with your schools over this last year and thank you so much for your business. I have attached my flyer and the link for more information and booking for my summer holiday activities. https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/fruits-of-the-forest

Many thanks

Kind regards                                            

Ruth Hill 

Forest School Leader and Public Health Specialist

Email: Fruitsoftheforest16@gmail.com

Website: www.fruitsoftheforest.org

Mobile: 07758599113

Reminders:

• All inhalers and epi-pens MUST be in school on the first day of term. Can I remind parents that although we do our best to look out for expiry dates, it is the responsibility of parents to ensure that these items are in date. If your child is registered as asthmatic, you should complete the form that has already been sent home with your child. Please send the completed form into school with two inhalers and a spacer.  These must be labelled clearly with your child’s name. Please send into school on Tuesday 6th September 2022. If your child has been diagnosed with asthma during the holiday please email info@blanford.dudley.sch.uk with your child’s name, year group and the subject as asthma.  We will then email you the appropriate form for you to complete and return with your child in September.
• Rec-Yr 2 bring a red book bag to school with their belongings. KS2 should have a small bag to bring their belongings to school – planner, reading and spelling book, is all that they need to carry. Please support us with this as we simply do NOT have room for large rucksacks.
• Children are not allowed to take part in PE unless all jewellery/earrings have been removed. If you wish your child to have their ears pierced, can I suggest that you have this done at the very beginning of the of the summer holiday so that their ears have the full six weeks to heal.
• Hairstyles: it is not suitable to return to school in September with shaven heads, tramlines or extreme colours. Please remind your children of the rules. Children who have long hair must tie it up.
• Could you please make sure that your child has all of their PE kit available in school every day from the first day of term as our timetable starts immediately. Although staff will let you know when the planned PE sessions are, there are often times when we have PE for classes or when teachers take advantage of good weather to do PE.
• Dogs are not allowed on the school premises at any time, and if you have a dog please do not obstruct the pathway/gate as a number of children, who are frightened of dogs, find this intimidating.
• In September, children may return in either summer or winter uniform depending upon both the weather and your preference. Please ensure that skirts are of an appropriate length, so that children feel comfortable moving around school.
• Dinners should be pre-paid, where applicable online using School Grid. All lunches should be pre-ordered on School Grid, regardless of year group.
• All children in Reception Class and KS1 receive free fruit each day for tuck and therefore do not need to bring any food from home. A reminder that all children in Year R, 1 and 2 will be entitled to a free school meal, we would like all children in these year groups (Universal Free School Meals) to take this option from September. Children entitled to Free School Meals through benefits should also take this option. Please remember to apply for free school meals if you are eligible as some of school funding depends on it.
• Children in KS2 should also bring a piece of fruit for break – Not healthy snack bars or crisps, chocolate please.) KS2 children: May we remind you that we operate a ‘healthy tuck’ policy. Since schools are now subject to strict guidelines about the type of food that is allowed/ available during the school day, we hope that parents will support our efforts to encourage children to make healthy choices. For parents of current Year 2 in particular, this is a real opportunity to continue the good habits established in KS1 where fruit has always been offered as the only choice at playtime. We also encourage children to bring in healthy lunchboxes.
• Children should only bring a filled water bottle (not squash – see healthy tuck policy on the website). This needs to be named please so that children can easily recognise their own bottle and do not touch or drink out of bottles belonging to other children.

Attendance/Absence and Holidays in Term Time:

Attendance in school is compulsory.

Don’t forget that our policy on attendance, reporting children’s absences and holidays in term time is on the school website. If children are too ill to attend school then parents must phone the school office by 9.00a.m. to let us know the reason why children are not in school—unexplained absences are recorded as “unauthorised”. It is then your responsibility to ring school before 9.05am on any future days of illness, so our registers are kept up to date.  Our policy reflects the government’s stance on holidays in term time.

Dudley Education Investigation Service are issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (fines) for a leave of absence in term time which is for a period of 5 days (10 sessions) or more.

Please can parents be aware of this information when booking any holidays, trips etc.

Holiday Dates:

A reminder that we break up for the summer holidays on today – Monday 24^th July. School re-opens for the children on Tuesday 5th September 2023.

Please familiarise yourself with the information about start/end times and entrances/exits for your child(ren), that was sent out to all parents in a newsletter on Friday 21st July 2023.  This can be found on the website in the ‘Newsletter’ tab.

Dates for the diary               

Monday 24^th July – School closes at the usual time for the Summer

Tuesday 25^th July – INSET day – school closed to pupils

Monday 4^th September – School open – INSET day

Tuesday 5^th September – Children return to school at usual time

W/C 11^th September - KS2 cycling – see separate letters for details

Wednesday 13^th September – ‘Meet the Teacher’ – Parent Meeting.

Monday 25^th September – Year 3/4 Trip to Blist Hill.  Year 5/6 Ancient Greek Workshop

Tuesday 26^th September – Reception Parents Phonics Meeting 9.00am-9.30am

Tuesday 26^th September – Blanford Babies – The Hub – 9am-10am

Friday 29th September - MacMillan Coffee Morning. Help us to make this event extra special by joining us for a coffee/tea and a slice of cake – only £2.00 donation.  Everybody welcome 9.00am – 10.15am.  Music Club will be singing throughout the morning too.

We are asking for your help by donating cakes either home cooked or shop bought. Please send these in with children on Thursday 28^th or Friday 29^th. We are asking children to wear their own clothes and make a minimum donation of a £1 via School Money. They will receive and drink and a cake. Let’s try and beat last year’s amazing total.

Monday 2^nd October – Harvest – more details to follow.

Wednesday 18^th and Thursday 19^th October – Rec – Yr 6 Parents evening.  More details to follow.

Tuesday 24^th October – Blanford Babies – The Hub – 9am-10am

Thursday 26^th October – Fun night -Monster Mash.  4.30pm-6.00pm.  More details to follow.

Friday 27^th October – INSET day

Monday 30^th October – Friday 3^rd November – Half term

Monday 6^th November – Children return to school at the usual time

Friday 10^th November – Remembrance Day in school.  Children who attend Cubs, Rainbows, Beavers, Brownies, etc can come dressed in their uniform.

Tuesday 14^th November – 3.30pm and 5.15pm.  Year 6 Parent SATs meeting.  More details to follow.

Friday 17^th November – Children In Need.  Children to wear own clothes and donate £1 via School Money.

Thursday 30^th November – Film Night. 3.15pm-5.15pm.  More details to follow.

Thursday 7^th December – Year 1 - Year 6 Christmas Church Service.  More details to follow.

Friday 8^th December – Christmas Breakfast – Year 1 – Year 6 only.  More details to follow.

Thursday 14^th December – Nursery/Reception Christmas Workshop and Singalong. More details to follow.

Tuesday 19^th December – Blanford Babies – The Hub – 9am-10am

Friday 22^nd December – School closes for Christmas Break.

Monday 8^th January 2024 – Children return to school at the usual time.

Have a wonderful summer break and we look forward to welcoming the children back in September.

Let’s hope the sun shines! Enjoy!

Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton

Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher