Belswains News

Friday 18th October 2024

Mental Health Day

Mental Health Day is about coming together to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. Talking about our mental health can help us cope better with life’s ups and downs.

Mrs Attanasio held a quiz and our pupils were just brilliant at recognising the emotions and suggesting ways to regulate if they are feeling tired, frustrated, angry or worried.

Please make sure you talk at home about how your child is feeling. Being aware of our emotions can help us talk about feelings more clearly, avoid or resolve conflicts better, and move past difficult feelings more easily.

Parent/ Teacher Consultations

We are very excited about seeing all our parents on site next week. For those who are new to our school, we just wanted to give you some guidance on how they work.

Parent/ Teacher consultations take place in your child's classroom.
Parents/ Carers arrive through the main entrances to the buildings (main office/ main doors doors between buildings/ red bridge). Please do not try and enter from the playground directly into the classroom, as you may interrupt someone's meeting.
Your child's books will be the table in the corridor outside your child's classroom. These are for you to look at before your meeting. Chairs are also provided in the corridor.
You will have booked a time and teachers will keep to those times, as we are aware some parents have multiple bookings.
Governors will be handing out our Parent Questionnaires. You can complete this online or on paper. You can easily spot Governors as they have their Black Governor Lanyard and ID badge, come and say hello!

EYFS

Our Early Years have been enjoying the book 'We are going on a bear hunt!' Can you follow their excellent story maps?

Year 5 Science

Year 5 have been learning about water resistance. They explored how shapes with different surface areas travel through water. We questioned: Will water resistance slow them down more or less because of their shape? How can we make shapes that fall faster?

Halloween Disco

Our fantastic PTA have put on a spooktacular event tonight and the effort pupils (i.e. parents) have put into their costumes has blown us all away. Thank you to all the volunteers who made tonight's event possible and thank you to our community for making it a fundraising success.

Building Work Update

Our new insulated and sealed roof on the Nest is nearly complete! They plan to finish, as planned, on 1st November. This means that over half term the scaffolding will be removed.

This is stage one of the building works we put a bid in for last year. The second stage is the window walling and cladding, which we hope will start in April 2025!

Community Awards

A fabulous member of our community has nominated Mrs Claridge and Mrs Shoesmith for the best teacher award in the Marlowes Community Awards. Both were delighted to be nominated and it would be brilliant for Belswains to receive the trophy. Every vote counts, so please take a moment and vote on the link below!

Vote Here!

Reminders

Nut Free School

Please be reminded that we are a nut free school. For those families that may not have allergies in their households, this includes Nutella and Pesto. Whilst your child may not have allergies, we encourage socialising over lunchtime, so our pupils sit with their friends while eating in the Bistro. However, we have several pupils with severe allergies, requiring the use of Epi-Pens, so it is of upmost importance that we all adhere to a nut free environment.

Reception Applications September 2025

Mrs Claridge has started the school tours this term for our September 2025 intake. Please contact the office on admin@belswains.herts.sch.uk if you would like to come and see all the amazing things we do at Belswains Primary school. Applications for Reception places open on Tuesday 1st November.

Year 6- Secondary Admissions Deadline

A reminder to our Year 6 parents that the deadline for Secondary Applications is Thursday 31st October, however Herts strongly advise you submit your child’s application by Friday 25th October to allow for any possible queries.

School Photographs

Do not forget to order your child/rens school photos. Please contact Happy Days directly via the following link - Happy Days if you have lost your form or have any queries, and they will be happy to help.

Celebration Assembly

Congratulations to all the pupils who received a certificate in assembly, staff have noticed you doing something above and beyond!

Reception Robins Phoenix For fantastic work in phonics, using the sounds she knows to blend.

Reception Robins Sienna For fabulous use of her sounds in her writing

Reception Sparrows Nellie For drawing a detailed story map to retell the story.

Reception Sparrows Oliver For enthusiastically participating in class

Year 1 Goldcrests Aubree-Rose For progressing in phonics.

Year 1 Goldcrests Mason For working so hard on his writing.

Year 1 Firecrests Jacob For completing work independently.

Year 1 Firecrests Willow For writing accurate sentences in English

Year 2 Starlings Holly For sharing her knowledge and listening attentively.

Year 2 Starlings Jorgie For sharing his knowledge with the class

Year 2 Swifts Aaron For his enthusiasm and hard work in Science lessons.

Year 2 Swifts Zachary For a great attitude to learning

Year 3 Jays Milan For having a brilliant attitude to learning.

Year 3 Jays Erika For beautifully recreating a challenging piece of artwork

Year 3 Redwings Noah He has been working so hard to learn his key words. Well done Noah!

Year 3 Redwings Hollie For working hard to learn her number bonds in maths.

Year 4 Nightingales Aneeqa For her amazing progress made in her maths.

Year 4 Nightingales Carlie For helping a friend and staying calm when something went wrong.

Year 4 Owls Alexander for persevering with his subtraction skills.

Year 4 Owls Riyadh For being a kind and encouraging friend.

Year 5 Hawks Alex Amazing homework submissions on Google Classroom.

Year 5 Hawks Clark For showing determination, confidence and maturity in all aspects of the school week.

Year 5 Eagles Toby For being a kind and helpful buddy.

Year 5 Eagles Alex For trying really hard with his presentation and handwriting.

Year 6 Red Kites Kayden For an excellent start to Year 6.

Year 6 Red Kites Makayla For being a kind friend.

Attendance

Excellent attendance and punctuality are important both for academic and social success. We know that excellent attendance is something every parent/carer aims for. However, we also appreciate that children will be ill from time to time, and it is only right that they are allowed to stay away from school and take the necessary time to recover. That is why attendance is monitored against a 98% threshold which allows for illness and unavoidable absences to be considered. It is important for parents/carers to be aware of their child’s attendance level as pupils who are absent from school for whatever reason miss out on learning opportunities and risk making lower progress than their peers. Over the course of a school year, a child with a 98% attendance level will have missed 4 school days. Regular monitoring of attendance highlights any emerging attendance problems and enables us to work with parents to resolve issues affecting their child’s attendance.

Parents can view their child’s attendance level on the Arbor parent portal, and we recommend that you regularly check the portal, so you are aware of your child’s current attendance. Parents are also welcome to request a copy of their child’s registration certificate from the school office if they would like further details of their child’s recorded absences. Where possible, please make any medical appointments for doctors, dentists etc. outside of school hours so your child’s attendance is not affected.

Dates

Friday 18th October

PTA Halloween Disco

Tuesday 22nd October

Parent Teacher Consultations (15.30 – 18.00)

Wednesday 23rd October

UKS2 Cross Country at Longdean School

Thursday 24th October

Parent/ Teacher Consultations (16.30-19.00)

Monday 28th October- Friday 1st November

Half Term

Friday 8th November

Flu Immunisations

PTA non-uniform day

Friday 22nd November

Year 4 Viking Day

Saturday 23rd November

Christmas Market (13.00-16.00)

Friday 29th November

Year 3 Stone Age Workshop

Friday 13th December

Christmas DECO Day

Tuesday 17th December

PTA Christmas Panto Day

Wednesday 18th December

Christmas Jumper & Dinner

Friday 20th December

End of Autumn Term (13.30)

ASDA Rewards for school

We need your help and it won’t cost you a penny!

Asda with Joe Wicks have launched a funding campaign for schools. If you download the ASDA rewards app and select us at the beneficiary school, every time you shop between now and November 30th you’ll earn us money. (It does not impact your own cashpot rewards).

Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to our Primary school. Also, every time somebody opts in, Asda will give an additional £1 to the school Cashpot. Plus, it doesn’t stop there – Asda are also giving £50 to every school to get them started.

Please do share- every little helps! We currently have a running total of £89! Thank you so much already!

School Clubs

There are some spaces left for some of our school organised after school clubs, should you be interested in your child joining one of the following clubs, please email the school office who can advise on next steps. admin@belswains.herts.sch.uk

Monday

Choir (Year 4- 6)
Multisport (Rec & KS1)
KS2 Girls Football (Lunchtime)

Tuesday

KS1 Boxing
Multisport (KS2)

Wednesday

Football (KS2)

Friday

Dance (KS2)

There are also spaces on Kiddle Kids Arts & Crafts and Creative Club and Mad Science. Please see below flyer to sign up for next half term.

Don't forget, we also offer wraparound care through our partnership with Good Shepherd Clubs (flyer below to book directly) and before school, via our internal Breakfast Club (bookable via Arbor).

School Nursing Team

Local Community - Information for parents

Hemel Monster Trail happening in Hemel Town Centre from Saturday, 19th October until Wednesday, 31st October. There will be 12 hidden monsters in shop windows across town. Trail sheets can be found at the Marlowes Shopping Centre information desk or downloaded at www.hemelhempsteadbid.com

Inflatable Monsters Take Over Hemel Hempstead Town Centre

25th October-8th November

Hemel Hempstead is about to get a whole lot quirkier as five giant inflatable monsters prepare to invade the town centre in a unique and magical display. The town will be illuminated by these extraordinary creatures, creating a playful and interactive experience for residents and visitors alike.

This fun-filled art installation promises to transform Hemel Hempstead’s landscape, with the five colossal monsters each offering their own unique character and charm. As day turns to night, the creatures will light up, providing a spectacular show that’s sure to capture the imagination of people of all ages.

Discover the Monsters:

Bezerker - Riverside Shopping Centre

Giant Tentacles - Riverside Shopping Centre

Howler, Snapper and Mr Snappy (inside) - Marlowes Shopping Centre

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