Byfleet Primary Newsletter

• Thank you for supporting our Scholastic Book Fair this week. We raised over £750 which we'll use towards purchasing valuable new books for our children. Thank you to Mrs Cosentino for organising this for our children.

• The children enjoyed our 'Open the Book' assembly this week, with actors acting out stories from The Bible. Why not ask your child(ren) what they remember about this...

• Next week is our exciting 'Careers Week' where many visitors will come into school and share their jobs and routes to train/gain experience to learn how to do different jobs. This will be a wonderful week full of aspirations for our children. We look forward to meeting a veterinary nurse, nurse, computer programmer, graphic designer, Scientist, builder, charity worker, electronic engineer, food purchaser, professional rower and many more... A BIG thank you to all our parent volunteers for giving up their time to come and talk to our children and share inromation about their jobs.

• During Careers week we will have some very special animal visitors coming in with our veterinary nurse (a cat and some chickens), they will be in the classroom with the children for about 15 minutes. If your child has an allergy and you do not wish them to participate in this please complete the google form by 3pm on Monday 23rd January: link

• Thanks to Mr Tredger for delivering a Parent Workshop, sharing our Maths Calculation Policy, outling the strategies we use to teach Maths at Byfleet Primary. Here's a copy if you missed it.

• Please read today's letter about the upcoming Industrial Teachers' Strike here.

• A reminder to Year 5/6 parents to please allow their children to walk to the doors at the back of their classrooms independently at drop off. There are some parents who are peering in through the classroom windows and doors at drop off and pick up, which we discourage. Please drop and collect from the school gate if your child is in Year 5/6.

• Year 5/6 parents, please note the Parents' Evening date change, which is added to the calendar at the end of our newsletter. Please check your email for links to book your appointment slots.

We had an excellent time on our local walk around Byfleet! It was great to see some local sites, such as the old Fire Station, the Methodist Church and of course, Byfleet Recreational Ground. We are using the information we gathered to create a guidebook on Byfleet which we will post to the Mayor of Woking! Mrs Collins would like to say a huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered and joined us. It was a great help and added to the excitement for the children!

This week we sent out a letter outlining the positive changes we've made to our Reading provision at Byfleet.

Read the letter here if you missed it.

The table below shows the colour book-band at each level so you can track your child's reading progress against this.

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

On Wednesday, we had our first school council meeting. We discussed things we would like to see changed or improved, including additional extracurricular activities and mirrors in the bathrooms. We also talked about how we could fund raise for projects and everyone contributed some fantastic ideas, from a bake sale to selling off unwanted toys or gifts/bric-a-brac. It was amazing to see how the year 1's through to year 6 were able to collaborate to help make our school a better place.

Byfleet Primary School Council Members

A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.Young Carers may be providing practical help such as making meals, or physical help like helping parents get dressed. They may be looking after other children or perhaps their brother or sister is the person in your family needing extra care.

Young carers very often provide emotional support as well and can feel very lonely.

There are an estimated 14,000 young carers in Surrey and our dedicated Surrey Young Carers team is here to help. They provide a range of support depending on the situation, from activities to give time out from the caring role and the chance to meet children in a similar position, to more intensive groups and tailored one-to-one help, for young carers in a more difficult situation.

Get in touch

If you’d like to get in touch with us to find out more about the service and how it can help you, please call us on 01483 568 269, or email syc@actionforcarers.org.uk

School can help – if they know you’re a young carer

It’s important to let your school know you have caring responsibilities. The more teachers understand your situation, the more supportive they will be.

If you are having problems with schoolwork, or making plans for where you go next, we are here to help you – and your teachers – find a solution.

We work with schools to help them to support young carers in lots of ways, like setting up a young carers group and having a member of staff specifically responsible for young carers. Assemblies can help everyone in school understand what it means to be a young carer.

Don’t be shy – talk to us or to your school. You can be proud of your caring role.

WHY IS READING SO IMPORTANT?

Research suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day, not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of the world. By working with the school to create passionate readers, you are, in effect, gifting your child the ability to learn more easily.

10 TIPS TO HELP CHILDREN ENJOY READING (reading for pleasure)

1. Make books part of your family life- always have books & magazines around so that you and your children are ready to read whenever there’s a chance.

2. Make most of the library – it’s free! Also, it’s a lovely way of spending an hour or so together, especially on a cold or wet day.

3. Match your child’s interests - help them to find the right book- it doesn’t matter if it is fiction, poetry, comic books or non-fiction.

4. Whilst considering the above, don’t forget that all reading is good. – Encourage children to try different types of text from time to time. (non-fiction, comics, picture books, magazines and leaflets.) All reading is reading and it is all good!

5. Get comfortable- snuggle up somewhere warm and cosy with your child, either in bed, on a beanbag or on the sofa or make sure they have somewhere comfy when reading alone.

6. Ask questions- to keep them interested in the story, ask your child questions as you read such as, ‘ What do you think will happen next?’ or ‘ Where did we get to last night?’ ‘Can you remember what has happened already?’

7. Read whenever you get the chance – doctor’s surgery, road signs, supermarkets, airports – it will all help.

8. Read again and again- encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems. Re-reading helps to build up fluency and confidence.

9. Bedtime stories- regularly read with your child or children at bedtime. It is a great way to end the day and to spend valuable time with your child.

10. Rhyme and repetition- books and poems, which include rhyme and repetition, are great for encouraging your younger child or children to join in and remember the words.

*Take the added opportunity to take part in reading challenges from the school, or from the local library.

The more you read the more things you'll know, the more that you learn the more places you'll go - Dr Seuss

Some info on Child Safety and the Metaverse...

Christmas has now come to a close and a new year has begun. As pupils and staff returned to school, the annual playground inquisition has begun. Among their peers, our children have begun to discuss what they got for Christmas. For many the answer for some was ‘a Fortnite battle pass, a new PC, a PlayStation 5 etc’.

All devices allow both unfettered access to the internet and expose children to voice chat, text chat and photo sharing with complete strangers. This year presents an acceleration of vulnerability window as, VR headsets, connected to Facebook’s Metaverse have been released onto the marketplace. The Metaverse seeks to link users to the internet as a Virtual Entity through the use of Virtual Reality Headsets. This amplifies the danger children are exposed to online.

To help you understand this new, fast changing issue, the NSPCC has published a guide to both the Metaverse and VR headsets. To find out more please follow click here.