Byfleet Primary Newsletter

• We ended this week's Poetry Week with each class sharing a 'poem off-by-heart' to the rest of the school in our Poetry Assembly. Why not ask your child to recite it to you at home. Please see our Poetry Competition within this newsletter.

• We've had a busy week with a trip to Thorpe Park, a Fantastic Fred Mental Healthy Show and our Bible group 'Open Book' hosting an assembly.

• Thank you for the Harvest food donations that you've sent in so far. Further information can be found in the newsletter below.

• What a wonderful cake sale Reception and our PTA Friends arranged last week. A terrific £300 was raised - thank you so much everyone!

• We hope the parents who attended Mrs Sherlock's Early Reading/Little Wandle phonics workshop found it useful. If you missed it, find the information shared here, on our website.

• The roof works continue to be underway and we are on track to have this work completed by November. We can't wait for our school to finally be water-tight!

• Don't forget it's Tray Day on Monday 10th October (3.05 - 4.30pm). Come and visit your child's classroom and let them show you their books. If you arrive after 3.05, please enter/exit via the main office.

• This week we had a fire drill practise and we were pleased to see the children and staff response so well and evacuate the building safely and smoothly. Fire safety is so important - well done everyone.

• Parent Evening booking is live so please book your slot to meet with your child's class teacher - see dates at the end of the newsletter.

Well done to the following children for being recognised for doing something brilliant this fortnight......

Thank you for continuing to help us improve our overall attendance and for reporting your child's absence to the office by 9am.

Please remember to contact the office for every day that your child is off so that we can account for your child.

Byfleet Attendance 2021/22 was 93.76% Surrey 2021/22 was 94.04%

Well done to Year 5 for having the highest attendance in September. They are the lucky class who get to sit on the benches during assembly in October.

Which class will be October's top attendance winners??

On Wednesday, we were delighted to have the Fantastic FRED Experience visit Byfleet. A team of actors came into school and delivered performances specifically designed to inform, equip and build resilience. They delivered the message in simple, memorable and practical ways explaining how children can look after their own mental health and explained the link between physical and mental health. This show was delivered to children in Y1-Y6.

We have a number of interventions to support children running in the school, and any groups your child is part of will be shared with you at parents evening. For children on the SEND register, you will have received a link to book an extended appointment with your child's teacher so that the teacher can also share your child's SEND support plan with you. Here is some information about two of the additional provisions we have at Byfleet.

Our children have been assigned 'book buddies' from different classes across the school. This week the children enjoyed meeting with their book buddy to share and discuss a book together.

How does Reading Plus work?

1. All children in Year 3 - 6 have a 'Reading Plus' log on, which can be found in your child's diary.

2. Teachers have assigned reading assignments to be completed at home online (in addition to daily reading of a book which is recorded in their reading diary). The children can also search for stories and articles that interest them.

3. Reading Plus looks at 3 things: feelings toward reading, vocabulary and comprehension

4. A benchmark has already been carried out on your child to make sure that we are targeting their reading at their current reading ability level

5. Reading Plus uses artificial intelligence to adjust to programme to ensure your child's gaps are plugged. This includes increasing or slowing down their reading speed to ensure they are reading for meaning. It tracks their independent reading rate.

6. By scoring a minimum of 80%, we will know that your child is reading 'well'. This is the I-Rate.

7. Next the programme focusses on the G-Rate. This tracks the reading speed.

8. We aim for your child to be reading at 80%+ for their I-Rate and their G-Rate. If they achieve above 80% for two consecutive stories, then they earn a COMBO.

9. Your child will be awarded certificates and lots of motivation through praise if they earn combos.

10. There is a support-mode if your child is struggling. This allows the child to get extra help like more 're-reads', allows them to read at a slower pace and guided feedback. Children can still earn a combo in this mode, called a support-combo.

See the images below to find out more about how you can use Reading Plus at home with your child.

Speak to your class teacher if you need any further help with this. We'll share more information on how we use Reading Plus in our Parent Reading Workshop on Tuesday 15th November.

Your child should aim to earn a 'combo' in both their I-Rate and their G-Rate.

We're aiming for above 80% in both.

This will allow your child to read faster with a better comprehension rate.

We are always looking for different learning opportunities and trips to enrich our children's curriculum and conscious about the cost of these for our families.

The trip costs consider the overall costs of transport, entry fees etc. which is then divided equally amongst the total number of children in the class. We always try our best to reduce the cost by funding some of the costs before asking parents for a voluntary contribution.

In 2021/22, the school took a large financial hit as a proportion of families did not contribution towards their child's trips, for example: the school had to fund £480 towards Mc Grammar in the summer as insufficient parent contributions of £3 were received. We indicate that these payments are voluntary as these learning opportunities and trips are not statutory but planned by the school as an enrichment to allow our children to experience new and exciting learning that enriches their curriculum experience.

We recently wrote to Year 5 and 6 parents outlining a difficult situation we found ourselves in, as less than half of the voluntary contributions had been received for the Thorpe Park trip, which would have resulted in the school being left with a £440 bill, on top of the contribution BPS had already made. If the majority of the outstanding funds had not been secured, we would have been left in the unfortunate situation to have cancelled the trip. Following our extended deadline for payment, thank you to everyone who contributed, therefore allowing the Year 5/6 Thorpe Park trip to go ahead.

We kindly ask that parents please communicate with the admin team confidentially if they are experiencing difficulty in making their contribution so that we can look to set up a payment plan or agree for a minimal contribution. Moving forward, unless sufficient funds are received, we may need to cancel trips or only allow those who have contributed to attend. It is unfortunate to have to take this stance however it important to we outline that we are all feeling the financial burden with rising costs. Please reach out to the admin team if we are able to help in any way.

Please do not stop your car in front of the school gates to drop your child off. This is very dangerous for the families walking in to school.

Raring2go! Esher and Weybridge Autumn magazine edition is packed with information on days out, half term activities, and a look ahead to Christmas, as Santa and festive productions get booked early.

The link is here: https://bit.ly/Autumn2022Rarin2go_EW