BPS Newsletter

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

This Week

It has been a fantastic fortnight here at Byfleet with some exciting events and learning opportunities taking place. 

Last week Year 5 took the train to London to visit the Imperial War Museum as part of their learning for their history-driven topic 'XX'. The children's behaviour was excellent and they showed respect to everyone who they worked with including members of the public and school volunteers. Thank you to Mrs Kay for organising such a brilliant trip. 

Our allotment continues to develop with the first items being planted. There was a lot of work needed to prepare the ground, construct the polytunnel and begin sowing. Our allotment team reliably inform me that we have some beans and carrots planted. Soon we will be asking our community to think of a name for our allotment and take part in an exciting competition.  We were delighted to welcome a visitor from WeAct to see how the project is coming along, they have been kind enough to donate some money towards funding the project and see how it is taking shape. We also need to say thank you to Mrs Norman, who entered a competition on behalf of the school, to win a planter for our site. We were delighted to learn that we had won, so this will form part of the project too. This week saw the children taking part in their first Forest Schools lessons. Along with her other talents, Mrs Wyatt is a Forest School Practitioner and will be delivering these sessions to each class throughout the spring and summer term. 

Yesterday was World Book Day and the costumes on display were amazing! We were lucky enough to have a visit from Simon Murray who wrote and illustrated the books about Ickie Doo Dah. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and were able to practice their drawing and writing skills alongside a real author. We received this feedback from him:

Thanks so much for arranging my visit - it was fab working with you all. All the children at your lovely school were all very polite and respectful - they all listened very well and produced some wonderful work throughout their sessions. 

We are incredibly proud of the behaviour of our children and the high expectations we have, it is always great to have it recognised by visitors.

A big thank you to Mrs Mumby for organising the visit and for World Book Day. Our love of reading will continue to be celebrated with monthly events throughout the year to mark 2026 as The Year of Reading.

Finally, we were overwhelmed with the number of parents who came to our Science Investigation Morning. This was an opportunity to raise the profile of the 'Working Scientifically' strand of the science curriculum, and encourage a morning of 'hands-on' science. Thank you to everyone who came along to support this event. Also a huge thank you to Miss Ali our Science Lead, and for all of our amazing teachers and LSAs for planning and delivering such exciting learning opportunities.

Have a good weekend.

Mr Bowman

This week, in gardening club we have weeded the allotment ready to grow carrots! 

Many thanks to the parents/carers who have provided bulbs and seeds for the school allotment - it is very much appreciated! 

Year 5 had a fantastic visit to the Imperial War Museum London last Friday, where they explored fascinating exhibits about World War II. The children were excited to see real artefacts, photographs and vehicles from the wartime period, bringing their classroom learning to life. They especially enjoyed discovering what life was like for people during the war and learning about the bravery and resilience shown during those challenging times. It was a very memorable and engaging day that deepened their understanding of our 3Ps topic. 

Year 6 received their Leavers' Hoodies last week and, to quote one of the Year 6 children, now look like the 'sky and the sun'.  We think they look brilliant and mark the Year 6s beginning the final stretch of their Primary School journey. They're all working so hard, making lots of progress and, as a school, we're very proud of them. 

Year 5 and 6 represented the school admirably at the Cross Country event on Monday 2nd March.  The event was hosted at Hoe Bridge School and consisted of a 2.6km route across a muddy and grassy terrain. There was a Year 5/6 girls race and a Year 5/6 boys race with approximately 80 runners in each. Well done team Byfleet for awesome resilience taking part in this! 

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 the letter from Surrey Inclusion Services and our Attendance Policy for further information. 

Please note : Tiny Terrapins will be offering Byfleet Primary School pupils 10% discount