18th December 2020 Newsletter
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 2020 and what a year it has been!
Over the past few weeks we would have traditionally invited you along to our Church Performance, sing alongs, Music club performances, Christmas Breakfast etc. Unfortunately, this year things have had to be a little different, but as a school we have still focussed on the Christmas story, how we demonstrate kindness at this time of year and made sure that the magic of Christmas, joy and laughter has still filled our school.
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, Christmas Breakfast, Christmas Jumper Day, Santa's Grotto and the Christmas Party.
Reception and Nursery Christmas Craft.
Last week the Nursery and Reception Children enjoyed dressing up in their wonderful Christmas costumers for their Christmas Craft activity session - there was a wonderful atmosphere and the children really enjoyed the activities.
Thank you so much!
Thank you to our wonderful office team, Mrs Hunter, Mrs Needle and Mrs Alexander, for all their hard work with the Christmas activities. I would also like to thank Kim and the kitchen team for their support with the Christmas Breakfast.
A big thank you to Mr Davies and our cleaning team for keeping the school clean. Mr Davies regularly cleans throughout the day too, to keep everybody safe.
Pen licences
Congratulations to the following children who have achieved their pen licenses over the last few weeks.
Leonie J - 3/4C
Dana S - 3/4D
Havneet M - 3/4D
Molly F - 5/6B
Dexter P - 5/6R
Leon H - 5/6R
Hollie B - 5/6R
Recent events and activities in school.
TTRS Competition
Throughout the Autumn Term, KS2 children have all been taking part in a Times Tables Rock Stars Competition to see who could answer the most correct answers. The children worked really hard and did exceptionally well. Some of the battles for 1st place were very close and the results for each year group are below:
Year 3:
1st place = Francesca F
2nd place = Mason D
3rd place = Amelia M
Year 4:
1st place = Krishna P
2nd place = Jack J
3rd place = Seth D
Year 5:
1st place = Emily C
2nd place = Hannah B
3rd place = Libby H
Year 6:
1st place = Josh T
2nd place = Dominic P
3rd place = Sofia
A big well done to everyone who took part. Everyone who came 1st in their year group won an Amazon Fire 7 tablet! Please look out in the Spring Term for details of our next TTRS competition. Thank you, Mr Baker.
Virtual Pentathlon Results
Over the past three weeks Blanford Mere have been taking part in a Virtual Sports Hall Pentathlon competition, as part of the Black Country Virtual Games. All the children tried their best in five different disciplines that tested their speed, agility and strength. Their best scores were recorded and compared to the scores of children around the Black Country to see who would be the winner. Blanford Mere performed very well resulting in Kamran (Y5) finishing third and Adam (Y6) and Luca (Y2) finishing second in their year groups.
There will be many more Virtual Competitions throughout the year designed to ensure children have the opportunity to take part in competitive sport within the current restrictions. I look forward to seeing what the children can do next year. Thank you Mr Raybould.
Attendance
Attendance winners for November were Class 2B with 99.89%. The children came to school in their own clothes to celebrate.
December winners were Year RJ with a huge 99.52%. They can wear their own clothes to school on Friday 8th January. Fantastic - well done!
Events that have happened in school:
- Santa and his elves were extremely busy in his Christmas Grotto this week.
- 'Save the Children' - Christmas jumper day - we raised £294.11
- Children were rewarded with a fun afternoon on Monday - they played games and had class competitions. This was a treat for all the children who have consistently met our behaviour expectations this term - thank you to all of those children.
- Children had a great afternoon yesterday, they had a disco in their bubbles and lots of traditional games in their classrooms.
Reminder
Places in Reception Class for September 2021
A reminder that the closing date for applications to Dudley for places in Reception classes for 2021 is 15th January 2021. The deadline is rapidly approaching! Don't forget that all parents need to apply; there is no automatic transfer from Nursery to Reception.
https://www.dudley.gov.uk/residents/learning-and-school/school-information/school-admissions/
Snow
As parts of the country have had snow, this is a reminder of our procedures.
If a decision is made to close the school, it will be announced on local radio
Free Radio BC - 97.2
Free Radio-B'ham - 96.4
Black Country Radio
- We will also update the school website and send out a group text.
- To keep the school open we have to have enough staff in school to care for the children as well as premises that are safe enough to enter (gritted pathways etc.)
- Please do not ring the school. We are unlikely to be able to make an early decision as many staff live a distance away and will be experiencing difficulty getting to school. As soon as a decision is made to close the radio stations will be informed.
- As you know, where possible we do our best to stay open. However, if conditions are unsafe for either children or staff then we have no option but to close. We will do our best!
How to log on to Schoollife app.
To access our website enter the following web address: https://blanford.sch.life/
'School Life' enables us to communicate more efficiently to the people that matter, you the parents and guardians of our children! You will receive push notifications, text messages, newsletters etc. to a number of devices. You would also be able to download the app and have constant access to any messages we are sending out!
You will need to download the school life app from either the Google Play store (for Android smartphones and tablets) or the Apple App Store (for iPhones, iPods and iPads). Search for 'schoollife' (all one word) and then look for the School Life logo;
Once downloaded and installed, open the app up and accept the notifications, when asked.
Finally, login with your personal login details below and start receiving all the important notifications.
If you do not have an Apple iOS or Google Android device, you can use your logon details on our school website to get all of the same content.
Holiday Dates:
We close for the Christmas holidays at 3.15pm today. School re-opens for both children and staff on Monday 4th January 2021 at your child's allocated time and entrance. Please note that there is no in-house training day in January - we are all straight back in! Please ensure children have their PE kits, planners, sanitiser and tissues on the first day back.
Dates for the diary - 2021
Forthcoming Dates
Monday 4th January 2021 - Children return to school. Please send with planners, PE Kits, sanitiser and tissues.
Stunning Start for LIGHTS, CAMERA and ACTION! Year 5-6 only
For our new topic in the spring term, we will be starting Lights, Camera, Action! This is an exciting new topic, which will encompass many cross-curricular skills.
For our stunning start, we would like the children to dress up as one of their favourite film stars. This does not need to be expensive, nor are we looking for look-a-likes! Children will be this film star for the entire day, researching, creating fact files, as well as making their very own Walk of Fame handprint!
This is going to take place on FRIDAY 8th January, 2021. The children are to come into school as normal, but in their own choice of clothes. Please can you ensure that your child is appropriately dressed, and knows what film star they are - not a cartoon character! The children can research their chosen star beforehand if they wish to.
Looking forward to a fantastic start to our topic!
Mr Baker and Mr Raybould
Friday 5th February 2021- TT Rockstars Dress up Day - more details to follow
Thursday 11th February 2021 - Children break for half term
Friday 12th February 2021 - INSET Day for staff
Yesterday, we sent out important guidance regarding the reporting of positive cases of Covid over the Christmas period. Please ensure you have read this guidance and inform us of any cases in order to keep everyone safe over the Christmas period and on our return to school.
At the end of a very different term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the children for their engagement, resilience and hard work.
I would also like to thank the staff for continuing to provide learning opportunities in school, whilst also trying to provide remote learning for pupils at home. It has been a remarkable year and as a school community we have worked really hard to keep each other safe, as well as provide the best educational experience possible for our children.
I would like to conclude by thanking you, our parents and carers, for your continued support throughout this incredibly challenging time. Your words of encouragement have been much appreciated.
Have great Christmas and New Year
Mrs Miller and Miss Stanton
