Byfleet Primary Newsletter


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Stars of the Week

Reception Rainbow    Erin  Daphne

Year 1 Red                   Casey  Holly   Poppy 

Year 2 Orange            Thea   Muskan

Year 3 Yellow             Dalia   James

Year 4 Green            Alby Jack    Zach

Year 5 Indigo            Reggy   Rihen

Year 6 Blue              Zoe   Matylda

Year 6 Violet          Harry   Maja

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

Doodle Times Tables

This half term we are focusing on DOODLE TABLES. 

We are targeting our children to learn their tables off by heart. 

Please can you help your child log on DAILY so they can answer a few questions a day, to earn their target of 85 stars a week. 

Well done to these children for scoring the highest Doodle Stars in their class  for the past two weeks!

Year 2 Orange  Jack 108     Oscar 409

Year 3 Yellow     Ana 240

Year 4 Green   Diana   525 Connor 622 

Year 5  Indigo    Mason  1530

Year 6 Violet    Brandon 321  Megan 225

Year 6 Blue      Callum 572

Our top spot winner is Mason in Year 5 with 1530 stars!

Well done to Mrs Potter's Year 4s for being on track with the highest stars!

Also a big well done to Miss La Rocca's Year 5s, who are in 2nd place for having the most participation in Doodle Tables at home.

Please encourage your child to use Doodle for a few minutes each day.

PC Michelle and PC Paul visit Byfleet

We have set up links with our local Woking Police on the Beat and welcomed PC Michelle and PC Paul to Byfleet yesterday. The children enjoyed chatting to them during the day and it was wonderful to hear their positive message about using our WORDS to solve problems instead of using VIOLENCE. 

Both PCs are part of the Youth Engagement Team and enjoyed visiting each class. 

Quiz Club

Well done to our 4 children who made it through to the semi finals for the 'General Knowledge' round of the national semi finals. 

Out of 38 schools, we came 22nd! What a great achievement. 

Well done to Callum Yr 6, Jed Yr 5, Fin Yr 4 and Nellie Yr 3 for representing BPS in our competition.

GYmnastics Club run by ultimate Coaching

After the Easter holidays and at the start of the Summer Term, Ultimate Coaching will not be providing gymnastics after school club on Monday.


Attendance

Attendance Winners:

During the year, many Year 6 children have been speaking to me about their privilege to sit on the benches as the oldest children in school, which from this year we've changed, meaning that only children who are in the winning class with the highest attendance, gets this privilege. Year 6s have set themselves a target to have the highest attendance and it's paying off as both classes have now have had the highest attendance. Well done Year 6B for being February's winner!

Our whole-school attendance target is 96%. 

By the end of December, we were at 94.89%. 

By the end of January, we were at 94.82%

By the end of February, we were at 94.51%.

Our attendance for the year so far is 94.50%.

The national average for the year is 92.4%. 

We always look to spot patterns to explain where there is such low absence. 

There has been a lot of chickenpox in Yr 1. 

In Yr 6V there are five children who have been absent for more than 7 days for various reasons. Two of these children have triggered a referral due to overall low absence. 

In Yr 5, three children have been absent between 4 and 7 days for illness. We are monitoring this closely and one child has been triggered for a referral. 

We understand that illness can not be prevented however we are able to administer prescribed medication if your child is well enough to come to school. 

Please let the admin team know and they will be able to help  you.

Please help us reach our whole school target of 96%. 

Click here for an excellent blog about 'Why School Attendance is So Important'.

Pupil medical Appointments & Absences

Pupil Medical Appointments


If your child has a medical appointment please make sure that you complete the necessary pupil medical appointment form and also provide the necessary evidence of the appointment.  This needs to be done in advance as it is very time consuming for the school office to chase parents for the details.  Hardcopy absence forms can be found in the School office foyer (as per the picture opposite) for your convenience.


Pupil Absences

If your child is absent from school, you need to notify the school either by phone or via email to absences email address:  absences@byfleet.surrey.sch.uk before 9am on the morning of the absence.  If you child is going to be absent due to illness for more than 1 day, you will need to contact the school everyday as this is required from a safeguarding perspective.

Teacher Strike Day Wednesday 15th & Thursday 16th March 2023

On the day of the teachers' strike action , the following classes will be attending school on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March 2023  :  Year 4 Green, Year 5 Indigo and Year 6 Blue

World Book Day - Friday 3rd March

The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in our World Book Day 'Battle of the Books' competition.

We were thrilled to see 'My Shadow is Pink' from our gender equality section take the top spot with 15 points. 

The children enjoyed reading books from a range of themes which included 'Breaking Stereotypes' and 'Growth Mindset'.

These text were carefully chosen to expose our children to different contexts, cultures and beliefs. We're glad the children thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

RECEPTION RAINBOWS - bumble bee project

This term Rainbows have put their computer skills to the test and have created some brilliant electronic bumble bee drawings. The children used the computer mouse to select and draw their chosen shapes with the colours of their choice. They also created a bee hive to make sure their bees had a lovely home. 

They made these by cutting card, gold paper (to be pretend honey) and paint. These looked so amazing that we changed the 'Rainbows Gallery' display for this term to showcase their amazing work. Great job Rainbows! They all look amazing!

Year 2 trip - RHS Wisley gardens

Year 2 had a fantastic day out at Wisley Gardens. The first half of the day was spent touring the grounds and learning about plants in the new education building, Hilltop: Home of Gardening Science.
After lunch, we had an excellent workshop which enabled the children to plant their own wildflowers. They then went on a investigative hunt through the woods where they explored the wildlife and foraged for seeds, buds, flowers and fruit. It was a brilliant day out!

Year 1 Learning

In English, Year 1 have been reading the story 'Animal Explorers - Stella the Astronaut'. The children have been learning to use labels and write a list. They've labelled a rocket, an astronaut and written a list of items they would take to space with them. We had lots of fun looking at the bag of items Mr Boyd, Miss Summers and Mrs Powell would take with them to the moon! 

All of the children have been working really hard with their writing, particularly focusing on presentation and letter formation. Here are some examples of the excellent writing the children have produced! Well done Year 1 - keep up the excellent work!

Year 3 Learning

In Art, Year 3 have been looking at the artist Andrea Hunter, They have learnt she uses wool to create her work and uses her surroundings to inspire her. The children have had a go at recreating her art work using watercolours and sharing their thoughts of her work. 

They've practised the skill of felting using different coloured wool and soapy water, just like Andrea! Here are some examples of the excellent Art work the children have produced! Well done Year 3 - keep up the excellent work!

bREAKFAST & afTERSCHOOL cLUB - REMINDER

Breakfast club begins everyday at 7:30am.  Please note that the buzzer will not be manned until this time.

If your child is not booked into breakfast club for a particular day, they will not be accepted as staff ratios will have already been allocated. You will unfortunately be turned away. 

For both breakfast and afterschool club, all bookings need to be made 48 hours in advance.  If there is an emergency requirement for your child to be placed in either club and there are spaces available then a late booking fee will be charged.

Active surrey Badminton festival 06/03/23

On Monday 6th March we were luck enough to be able to take a group of Y3 and Y4 children to Cleves School in Weybridge to take part in a Badminton festival organised by Active Surrey. The children got to take part in a variety of different activities developing their racquet and movement skills. The children thoroughly enjoyed and demonstrated excellent resilience and effort throughout the afternoon. 

"It was the best day ever, I really enjoyed learning new skills and being active" - Zaynab Y3

Pupil Voice Reading Survey

It's always important for us to listen to the views of our children to help us improve things. 

We enjoyed listening to the children talk about reading and why it's important to us. 

Here are the outcomes of our recent Reading Survey from a range of KS 2 children. 

Red Nose Day - 17th March 2023

Inclusion

On Thursday 9th March we held our Spring Term Inclusion coffee morning.  For this event we invited representatives from different charities and family support groups in the local authority and community to come and speak to parents. They shared information about how their services can support parents including emotional and mental health support, accessing parenting courses and details about the 'local offer'. The 'local offer' website has a wide range of information, advice and guidance for families ranging from support for childcare, kids holiday camps, SEND support, parent groups etc. To explore the information please take a look at the Surrey Local Offer website. 


Thank you to all the parents who attended, it was great to see you all! 

Please remember to look out for future coffee morning and workshop dates, as these sessions are really useful and help you understand more about Inclusion at Byfleet and support available for you and your family. 

Little Wandle Phonics

Here is the overview for this half term for  Year 1. This shows you the graphemes and tricky words the children are learning. Please support your child at home with learning their tricky words. *Tricky words cannot be sounded out. 

Here is the overview for this half term for Reception. As you can see, they are reviewing all the previously taught tricky words. The children have the tricky words they should know on a bookmark in their reading diary. When you are out and about, please encourage your child to have a go at decoding and blending and any words they come across e.g in the supermarket. 

Healthier Packed Lunches for Children

Chartwells joined the morning Assembly on Thursday, 9th March 2023 to chat to Year 1 to Year 6 pupils about healthy eating and healthy snack and lunch choices. Here are some guidelines from Chartwells about Healthy packed lunches for children.

Family Learning - Free ONLINE COURsES FOR PARENTS AND CARErS

 Surrey Education Services provided free family learning online courses for parents, carers and families:

Family Learning Courses 

   COMMUNITY 

Friends of byfleet - APPEal for New Committee members

Our PTA, Friends of Byfleet are looking for new committee members especially for Year 3 Yellow Class.  If you are interested in joining as a committee member, please contact Friends of Byfleet via their website.


SHED ROOF REPAIR - APPEAL

The school is appealing to anyone in the Byfleet Primary community if they are able to spare some time to fix our shed roof, as it is leaking. 

The school will provide the necessary materials.  

Thank you in advance !!


Integenerational Work with Kings Lodge Care Centre

We were delighted to be asked if some of the residents from Kings Lodge Care Centre could come and read to our children on World Book Day. The children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 enjoyed listening to a story by Shirley, Jean and Geoff. Jean even had a short Q&A session with the children and told them about her favourite subjects when she was at school! 

Michelle who organised the visit said "I would like to extend my thanks for you allowing our residents inside the school. Building intergenerational relationships between school & the care home really make our residents smile."

 During our World Book Day celebration last Friday, 3rd March 2023 

As part of National Kindness month, the residents gave each child in the school a lollipop! Thank you very much to everyone at Kings' Head Lodge for your kindness- it was really appreciated and a lovely treat!

Friends of Byfleet Parish Day - EASTER EGG COMPETITION

EASTER holiday CAMPS

Ultimate Coaching HOLIDAY CAMPS

SPORTS CAMP:

Date: Tuesday 11th April

Times: 8.45am-3.00pm

Link to book now: https://ultimate-coaching.class4kids.co.uk/camp/206 


FOOTBALL CAMP:

Date: Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th April (single or multi day booking available)

Times: 9.30am-3.00pm (Early drop off available)

Link to Book now: https://ultimate-coaching.class4kids.co.uk/camp/216 


INSET SPORTS CAMP:


Date: Monday 17th April

Times: 8.45am-3.00pm

Link to book now: https://ultimate-coaching.class4kids.co.uk/camp/207

infinity Performers - Matilda The Musical

barracudas Activity camps

Class Assemblies

Class Assemblies for 22/23 will take place on the dates below from 8.55 - 9.20 in main hall. Please come along and see what your child has been learning about:              

5th May - Year 2  NEW DATE DUE TO THE STRIKES

19th May - Year 1  NEW DATE DUE TO KS2 SATs DATE CHANGE                     

 9th June - Year 5                            23rd June - Reception                            

Diary Dates

New dates in red

To view our 2022/23 term dates, please click here.


To view our 2023/24 term dates, please click here.