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 an extremely busy and hectic half term it has been! The children have had a lots of exciting learning opportunities, which we have shared in the newsletters with you over the past seven weeks.
Ofsted
As you are aware we had an Ofsted Inspection on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th February. The report will be share with you as soon as it is released.
Year 3/4 Inter Schools Maths Competition (Wednesday 7th February) and Year 5/6 Wednesday 15th February 2023
The highly successful Inter-School Maths Championship will again take place in February and June at Priory Primary School, Dudley. There will be two age categories – Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6. In 2019, (pre-Covid), over 80 schools took part in this prestigious competition; the 5/6 team won the competition and were rewarded with the prestigious title and lots of prizes!
The competition encompasses an exciting range of mathematical challenges, puzzles and problem-solving tasks which pupils work through, in their school groups, to accumulate points.
Here is the message from Helen Owens, who runs the event.
Hello everyone,
What a pleasure today was. The return of the Maths Championship with some keen and able mathematicians. Well done to everyone. The pupils were a delight and a real credit to you all.
The staff have all had the handouts of the rounds I did and the pupils can share these with you. I always say at the start that it is about working as team, trying their best and that they should be proud to represent their school. They all did these things.
Congratulations to everyone! I was very impressed.
Helen Owens
Well done to our Year 3/4 team who won their heat and are through to the final.
Sienna D
Jonty M
Charlie DW
Eesha U
Leo T
Daniel L
Well done to Year 5/6 team, who are also through to the final in June.
Xavi
Freya S
Luke J
Mason D
Zach
Harrison G
Cross Country Year 5/6
On Friday 10th February, children from Year 5/6 represented the school in the Dudley School Cross Country Competition at Summerhill School. This event was attended by 27 other schools, with over 150 children running in the event. The race itself was 3 laps around Summerhill School's huge playing fields, which measured over 3km long. They all performed exceptionally well and tried their best.
Year 3/4 Dodgeball
Year 3/4 - George, Eden Isla P, Leo T, Dylan, Jamie H, Sienna, Hugo and Amelia D took part in 6 Matches each having 3 rounds of dodge ball. Each match contained 3 girls and 3 boys. They all played well and demonstrated good sportsmanship. They all enjoyed taking part and developed good strategies as they progressed. We were all very proud of our Blanford Mere team both on and off the court.
TTRS NSPCC Competition
Well done to everyone who took part in the TTRS NSPCC Rocks Competition last week. Our top 3 children in the whole school were:
Krishna (Y6), Harroop (Y4) and Kayla (Y2).
Although our school didn't win one of the national prizes, it was great to see our pupils learning their times tables for a good cause. Thank you to everyone who donated money and dressed up - we raised £322 for the NSPCC.
Mr Baker
Well done
Samuel P – Year 3/4, attends karate lessons twice a week at Hickman's Karate Academy, he is currently on his red belt and is due for his next grading in March. He loves karate as this builds up his confidence and teaches him safe self-defence. Well done Sam.
Children’s Wider Personal Development
At Blanford Mere, we work tirelessly to create a curriculum that supports children’s development. We support children’s interests outside of school and celebrate their achievements in classroom assemblies. Many staff members talk to the children about their activities outside of school – this is superb to see. We aim to equip each child for the next stage in their development, so that they can make the most of their opportunities and fulfil their potential in life.
If your child takes part in out of school activities and you would like this to be shared in the newsletter, please email info@blanford.dudley.sch.uk with the written content and we will gladly do so!
School Photographs!
The date for ‘The Photographer’ has been arranged for Tuesday 14th March 2023. Individual photographs will be taken for those children in school who have no brothers/sisters at school. Where there are two or more children from a family in school, they will be photographed together. If you would like any other combination taken i.e. brothers and sisters taken separately as well as together, then please let us know by emailing info@blanford.dudley.sch.uk by Monday 13th March 2023.
We ask that all children wear the correct winter uniform, to include shirts, ties, and jumpers/cardigans.
Children in Year 6 will have photographs taken for a group leaver’s photo. If your child is not in school on this date (illness, appointments etc.) then they will not be included in the photograph.
If you have a child who attends afternoon Nursery and you would like your child to have their photograph taken, then please bring them to the main office in their uniform at 8.15am. If it is your child’s birthday is on this occasion, then please send them in their own clothes on the following day.
8574 or in an emergency call 999. Alternatively, you can call ChildLine on 0800 1111 or email them by visiting https://www.childline.org.uk/
Monday 27th February- School reopens at the usual time
Thursday 2nd March – World Book Day – see the email sent last 10.02.2023
Wednesday 15th March – Yr 6 Condover Hall
Friday 17th March –Red Nose Day – wear anything red and donate £1.
Friday 31st March – Break up Easter holidays
Monday – 1st May – Bank Holiday
Monday 8th May – School Closed – Kings Coronation Bank Holiday
Tuesday15th – 25th May – KS1 SATs will be administered through out the month
Tuesday 9th – Friday 12th May – KS2 SATs week
Friday 26th May - School closed to children – INSET day
Have a lovely week off, we look forward to seeing the children with their pump bags and planners on Monday 27th February.
Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton
Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher
