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 done

Well done Sienna L!

Sienna L plays football for Dudley Sports.  She plays in a midfield position and recently scored a goal against Halice Hawks and they won their game 6-2.  Sienna hopes to pursue a career as a footballer as she gets older, so look out for our budding Lioness! Well done Sienna.

Winners of our reading in random places competition winners

As part of our half term reading challenge/World Book Day celebration children were asked to take some photos of themselves reading in the most random places that they could find. We have had so many photos come in and it was so hard to choose a winner. The winners of the competition will receive a brand-new pencil case full of goodies and a certificate. The winner from each class is as follows:

RLK – Noah for reading under a giant spider sculpture

RNP – Arthur for reading to the cows at the farm

1JB – Logan for reading on his Yamaha Motorbike

1MC – Alba for pausing to read at the top of a piece of gymnastics equipment.

2BW – Sierra for reading in a wardrobe.

2JC – Kayla for reading in a kitchen cupboard.

3/4JC – Samuel for reading in a washing basket.

3/4MC – Celina for reading while dangling in mid-air.

3/4MJ – Olivia for reading in front of a water fall.

5/6HO – Willow for reading while hanging upside down at the park

5/6MB – Annabelle for reading while lying down on the bonnet of a car (stationary car)

5/6AR – Aurora for reading while rock climbing

It was so lovely to see the children having so much fun while reading, keep it up.  Thank you to the children who also read with their pets - I enjoyed looking at the photos!

Thanks, you for your continued support,

Mr Kimberley

Kindness Workshop

This week, Year 5/6 had an online visit from the charity 52 Lives (www.52-lives.org) and their School of Kindness!  They learned that kindness has three qualities – being friendly, generous and considerate.  Next, they practised empathy by watching videos of kindness in action and then said kind things to each other in the classroom.  To put their kindness into action, they were told about a child in need of kindness right now, and they made them cards and messages of support which will be posted to them.  Finally, they looked at the quote ‘be the change that you want to see in the world’ and decided that they have to act if they want the world to be a better place.  The School of Kindness has a Kids’ Club which is free to join where you will get a free newsletter with kind stories, activities, jokes, competitions and videos to watch.  Just visit www.schoolofkindness.org/kids-club to sign up.   

Here's what some of the children said about the experience:

Year 5-6B Harrison: "I think the online workshop was really interactive and it taught me about kindness."

Year 5-6B Freya: "It was really nice to make a card for Amelia.  It's her birthday soon and she works with '52 lives' and she is blind. She will appreciate the kindness."

Jack 5/6R: "I enjoyed making the cards for Amelia and the kindness quiz. I learnt to be kind and if you put kindness into the world kindness will come back to you."

Rayarn 5/6R: "I think my favourite thing about the Kindness Workshop is making the card for Amelia's birthday. I felt proud sending something to her to make her happy." 

Louie 5/6O: "The workshop has made me think being nice to people and how being kind makes me feel happy. I hope Amelia likes the card I made for her."

Leonie 5/6): "Today made me think about how to be thoughtful and caring.  We must always be there for each and other and treat others how we want to be treated."

Reception – People who help us!

On Wednesday 8^th March Nursery, Reception and Year 1 had a very special visitor come into school.  Lee Howard who is a police officer came in to talk to the children all about his role as a police officer.  The children had a lovely time hearing all about his job, asking him lots of questions and trying on all of his police equipment.  Here is some of the things that the children had to say:  

Molly Reception - “I liked what the policeman said. We tried on the police clothes.” 

Chloe Reception – “I enjoyed it when we got to wear the police hat.” 

Thank you to Lee for taking time out, the children were very grateful. 

World Maths Day 2023 

On Wednesday 8^th March we celebrated World Maths Day by dressing up and taking part in the online worldwide Mathletics competition – the largest online maths competition in the world.  It was great to see the children dressed up mathematically; we had many TT Rock Stars, and lots of clothes with shapes, numbers, parallel lines, clocks, tessellation and symbols.  Thank you for your support with the costumes.  Everybody really enjoyed celebrating maths.  This is what some of our children thought:  

Nursery 

Oscar: "We had to find numbers on our number hunt."  

Marcella: "We found numbers one, two, three, four, five on our number hunt in."  

Reception 

Archie: "I like numbers and I like to do lots of counting." 

Kallie: "I liked doing the maths dancing outside." 

1MC 

Elliott: “Numbers Day is about numbers. I came dressed as a giant clock! I made it out of cardboard.” 

Robyn: “Today is Numbers Day and we did Maths. We made groups of ten. I made my own countdown rocket top.” 

1JB 

Harvey: “On World Numbers Day you have to dress up with numbers and it is fun. I went on Mathletics and did a competition.” 

Lilah: “We dressed up for numbers day. I have number bows and they are cool. Numbers are cool too!” 

2JC 

Ava-Lily: “I enjoyed decorating my own t-shirt with numbers, shapes and clocks.” 

Jenson: “I liked playing Mathletics LIVE!” 

2BW 

Sierra P: “I enjoyed all of my Maths today, we learnt how heavy kilograms are. Dancing outside this morning was fun too!” 

Jacob F: “I liked answering the questions on Mathletics because we could play against people from different countries.” 

3-4MJ 

Annamarie: “I enjoyed dressing up as a rock star and learning all about Fibonacci's sequence in maths.”  

Arjun: “I liked playing Mathletics in our competition against the world!” 

3-4MC 

Tobias: “It was fun because I like maths!” 

Balraj: “I liked World Maths Day because we learnt about maths and it is my favourite subject.” 

3-4JC 

Violet: "During Maths Day we got to do some fun maths games. I liked it because we got to wear our maths themed clothes." 

Charlie: "I liked Maths Day because it was really fun and you could wear something that was promoting maths." 

5-6AR 

Henry: "I enjoyed the Live Mathletics competition because it might get people to play more. I liked wearing clothes that had numbers on because it is World Number Day." 

Zara: "I had lots of fun being able to dress up in face paints and glitter as a TT Rock Star. I enjoyed seeing everyone in my class wearing clothes that are linked to maths." 

5-6MB 

Amber: "I liked playing the online maths competition because it was fun!" 

Jack H: "I liked dressing up as a TT Rock Star and I loved seeing everyone dress up." 

5-6HO 

Luke: "I enjoyed the 'Live Mathletics' competition. It brought out my competitive side!" 

Joshua G: “Numbers are everywhere – even on the back of my football kit! I enjoyed the Mathletics competition.” 

New Attendance Policy

Dear Parents / Carers,

In order to best support families to improve the attendance of children at Blanford Mere Primary School, we have joined the ‘5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice’ network. This approach looks at the number of days absence a child has over an academic year, as opposed to their percentage attendance at any stage during the year. The aim of this change in approach is to clarify the expectations and to make clearer the current attendance of each child in school at any given time in a fair and proportional way.

Once children reach certain levels of absence, letters will be sent to families to offer support and try to prevent further school absence. This approach will allow the response to be proportional to days lost over the full school year and be a more accurate indicator of poor school attendance.

Going forwards, all communication will be in relation to days absence and support offered in accordance with this approach.

Should you require any further information, please contact Miss Stanton via the school office.

Please see the link below for the new attendance policy.

https://blanford.sch.life/page/detail/attendance-policy

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!

Wednesday 15^th March – Yr 6 Condover Hall

Thursday 16^th  March – Yr 3/4MJ Class assembly

Friday 17^th March –Red Nose Day – wear anything red and donate £1 via School Money.

Friday 17th March – Yr 2JC Class assembly

Wednesday 22^nd  March – Yr 5/6HO Class assembly

Friday 24^th March – Year 6 Condover Celebration Assembly – 2.30pm

Tuesday 28^th March – Blanford Babies – The Hub

Friday 31^st March – Break up Easter holidays

Monday – 1st May – Bank Holiday

Thursday 4^th May – Polling Day – School Closed to children - TBC

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

Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton

Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher