BPS Newsletter

Please report absences using the absences@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk email by no later than 9am.

• With this being the last newsletter of the term, before we break up for the Festive Season, we'd like to thank the families of BPS for their continued support this Autumn term. We are wishing you a wonderful break with loved ones. Children will be released at 1pm on Friday 20th December to commence their Christmas break. We look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 6th January, for the start of the Spring Term.  Merry Christmas!

• A big thank you to Byfleet United Charity who has kindly provided numerous food hampers for our families at BPS. 

• A tremendous well done to the children in Reception, Year 1 and 2 for their brilliant modern day Nativity show. It was lovely to have some of the residents from Kings Lodge Care Home, our reading volunteers and some other members of our Byfleet community come and watch our show this week, to give back to the community we serve. Well done children!

• Don't forget it's Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day on Thursday 19th December next week.  Please pre-order your child's Christmas lunch via Scopay.

• We will announce the House with the highest House Points on Thursday 18th December and inform parents which House will be allowed to wear mufti as their reward...Teamwork makes the dream work.

• We hope you enjoyed visiting your child's class last week as part of their Tray Day. Thank you for your attendance.

• It was lovely welcoming our Reception parents in to school to listen to the children recite some nursery rhymes as part of National Nursery Rhyme week, which took place recently. We're very proud of our children learning so many new rhymes off by heart. 

• A big thank you to our Friends of Byfleet PTA, who have worked tirelessly to host our Winter Christmas Fair this afternoon. Our library is unrecognisable as it has been transformed into Santa's Grotto! We are incredibly grateful for the Friends commitment and also a big thank you to the parents from each year group who volunteered to help run stalls. We couldn't do it without your help!

• You may have seen some unusual looking aliens at the school gate last week: Looks like Year 6 had an awesome WOW Day, linked to their class text 'War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells, which is fictitiously set in our local setting of Horsell Common.  Read more below. 

• Year 5 had an enjoyable trip to Bletchley Park, linked to Alan Turing and code breakers. We loved seeing them dressed up as spies for their WOW Day!

• A new video intercom system has been installed at the main gate with access to the main office and Early Birds/Night Owls. Thank you for helping us keep our school safe by not allowing anyone to 'piggy back' when the staff give you access to the school premises. 

• Year 3 had an exciting trip to Stonehenge this week as part of their Stone Age learning. Read more below. 

• A gentle reminder that all general emails are to be directed to info@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk as there are a few stray emails that continue to be sent directly to staff or other admin members. Any absence reporting emails are to please be sent to absences@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk or make a telephone call to school at the earliest opportunity.

• We are always looking for new opportunities for our children; this includes looking at ways of increasing our extra curricular activities after school. Staff-led clubs run across the year, however as a small school, this is limited. If there are any parents who wish to be more involved in running a club, please be in touch as we'd welcome any additional support to overcome this. 

• Just a reminder - if you child attends any clubs hosted by BPS or any other provider, all children will be handed over to parents at the school gate. We kindly ask that parents/carers wait outside the school premises. Parents/carers of children attending Night Owls will be allowed on site to sign their children out of this provision, from the usual playground side gate next to The Hive.

• We are looking for an additional Parent Governor to join our Byfleet Primary School LAC (Local Advisory Committee). If you are interested in working strategically with the Headteacher and Governors and can spare a couple of hours each half term, then please reach out to Mrs Scott at info@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk to tender your interest.

• If you are interested in hiring our school hall, a classroom, our outdoor hive or swimming pool (summer term only for the pool) for an event you may have in mind, don't hesitate to speak to Mrs Scott in the office who will be able to share our pricing details. 

Year 3 pupils enjoyed an amazing trip to Stonehenge on Wednesday 11th December. 

They had the opportunity to explore a Neolithic village and examine stones and bones that had been discovered. The pupils were fascinated by the stone monument and were impressed to see it in person, having been learning all about Stonehenge during their History lessons. 

They asked many questions, such as how the stones were transported there. The pupils then visited the exhibition, which showcased the ancient artefacts discovered at the site. It was a wonderful day filled with exciting learning experiences.

Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped out.

Surrey Wildlife visited Byfleet to deliver an exciting session focusing on the soil formation, providing the students with the opportunity to create their own soil. 

The session also touched upon the food cycle and the construction of habitats. The students then had a chance to build a habitat for an animal of their choice. 

Year 5 have had a week full of spy adventures. Our trip to Bletchley Park was an amazing opportunity to learn about Alan Turning's life and the life of thousands of women who were real life war time heroes, solving complicated codes and keeping the countries secrets. 

We finished the week off with our Spy Day (too Top Secret for any photos!) where the Agents solved codes, learnt morse code, wrote secret messages and completed a Spy Mission to save Byfleet Primary from a fleet of Aliens! 

Thank you to the children who embraced both days with an excellent learning attitude and a huge thank you to parents for organising getting to school early and costumes. We couldn't do it without you. 

All of Year 6 looked absolutely fantastic on their Wow Day on Friday 6th December - the day was themed around our current class text, 'War of the Worlds'.  This resulted in a brilliant combination of suffragettes, Edwardian civilians, soldiers and - of course - aliens!

It was great to see the children enjoying various activities throughout the day, including letter writing, oil pastel artwork, designing their own board games and 'space games'. 

Thank you to all the Year 6 children for approaching this day with immense enthusiasm and creativity, and thank you to all parents/carers for your support with costumes. 

If you would like to register for webinars sessions please register here.

Just to remind parents/carers that if they take their children out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), they will be liable to receive a penalty notice. The issue of a Penalty Notice will also be actioned where a pupil has incurred 10 or more unauthorised sessions during the preceding 10 school weeks. These also included 'lates' after the register has closed. 

**Changes to the National framework for Penalty Notices came into force for Penalty Notice Fines on 19th August 2024**

• First offence within a 3 year rolling period will incur a charge of £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days, Increasing to £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days.

• Second offence within a 3 year rolling period will incur a flat rate of £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days. 

• The third time an offence is committed within a 3 year rolling period for term time leave or irregular attendance the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates Court. 

Please view our Attendance Policy here for further information.

Christmas time is such a wonderful time of year but it can also be dysregulating and overwhelming.

Beacon House have produced a range of different resources to support families at this time of year. Managing the Christmas Sensory Overload is a particularly good one! 

https://beaconhouse.org.uk/winter-resources/ 

Autism Outreach also offers a range of different resources for at home this Christmas Time.

https://www.autismoutreachforschools.uk/Resources/Christmas-Resources-2024/ 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

We are very excited to announce that Glowfit will be back at Byfleet!! on Wednesdays at 3:15pm to 4:15pm (starting 15th January) for Reception to Year 6.  

We know this was a very popular club so we're looking forward to seeing many new children join previous attending children!

Please book via glowfitwithlucy@hotmail.com.

Here is a link to England Football's Free Safeguarding Awareness for Parents and Carers:

https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/safeguarding/safeguarding-awareness-for-parents-and-carers