Byfleet Primary Newsletter

• Key Stage 2 had a terrific sports day today. Well done to everyone for showing excellent sportsmanship. A big thank you to the teachers for organising this but a special mention to Mrs Cosentino for leading on this. We have postponed our Reception/KS 1 Sports Day until Thursday 6th July - please see the email that was sent out this week with the details. Well done to our Friends of Byfleet parents group for selling refreshments.

• Teacher Strikes are due to go ahead for NEU members. We sent out an email this week with finer details. Year 3 and Year 6V classes will be closed on Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July. Reception Rainbows and Year 1 will be closed on Wednesday 5th July only.  As outlined in the email, childcare is unfortunately not available on this day for striking classes however our wraparound care is still available before and after school if you require this. 

• Despite the teacher strikes, our Farms to Ewe vist to BPS, will still go ahead on Friday 7th July, where we will be turning our field into a farmyard. Our new Reception 23/24 children will also still join us in the afternoon for their Teddy Bear's picnic as part of their induction to BPS.

• We trialled something new this year with our 'in school' summer fair event. It was a great success and the children had a wonderful time running stalls but also being able to take part in fun activities. A big thanks to our Friends of Byfleet PTA for hosting this; Miss Summers and Mrs Powell's high level of organisation paid off as it was a brilliant summer fair! Thank you for helping us raise over £1000!

• Don't forget to come back to school at 4.30pm today for our BPS MusicFest, where our PTA have organised an afternoon of fun for the children: stalls, music and dancing, hot dogs, penalty shoot outs, face painting and much more. 

• We have noticed a few large backpacks being brought into school by Reception and KS 1 children. Unfortunately these are not allowed due to the children hanging their bags on coat pegs, so large bags don't fit. A green book bag or small green school rucksack (from our uniform provider Mike Wagstaff) is the right size. 

• There were not many positives that came from the aftermath of COVID, however we continued to keep the arrangement for children to come to school wearing the school PE kits on their PE days (previously children wore school uniform and changed in school). We have found this arrangement beneficial as it has allowed us to maximise our PE sessions increasing physical activities. We have noticed various tracksuits and sports clothing have been creeping in; we've sent several reminders to parents to please adhere to our PE kit dress code (yellow t-shirt and black shorts/joggers and a black unbranded sweater/hoodie) to ensure our children look smart and consistent, however there continue to be children wearing Nike, Adidas and other branded clothing of varying colours. Please can you check that your child is wearing the correct uniform so we can revert back to looking smart and consistent. From September 2023, we will communicate with individual parents as a reminder and confiscate items that don't adhere if needs be. Please do your bit to help us with this - thanks!

• Despite our Year 6 SATs being completed in mid May, our Year 6 team have continued to work incredibly hard to improve our children's writing standards. This week, a selection of children's work was randomly selected by Surrey Moderation Team, to verify their quality of work. We are delighted that every piece of work looked at was validated, demonstrating our judgements to be accurate. We are delighted to announce that our end of Key Stage 2 writing data has increased from 78% last year to 81.4% this year, a far cry from the 50% BPS had in 2019/20. Hard work pays off so a big well done to the Year 6 children and staff for their efforts. 

• The children enjoyed meeting their new teachers and TAs this week. 

• In our last newsletter we highlighted the dates for our two week October half term in 23/24. This week we would like to highlight that our school will be until 3.15pm from September. We will continue with our 'slow start' to the school day from 8.35 - 8.45, to ensure we can manage the congestion on King's Head Lane. Registers will close by 8.45 so remember to be on time please. 

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

Year 4 have had an amazingly productive term with their home learning. They have really enjoyed learning about the Mayans and have produced some wonderful projects. From regal headdresses and Mayan houses to pyramid temple models and Mayan Gods, we have had a huge increase in the amount of homework seen, to the point we have had to replenish our homework wall in the classroom four times! 

Over the summer term, year 3 have been incredibly busy at home and have produced some outstanding homework. We have seen exploding volcanoes, diagrams of erupting volcanoes, facts about Rome and fact files about important people from the Roman era. It has been amazing to see all the amazing homework.

• Following the success of this year's Anti-bullying Ambassadors in Year 5 being trained up to spot and support their peers with any friendship issues, we have decided to train up some Year 4s. 

• They enjoyed attending the Diana Princess of Wales Anti-bullying Ambassador training in Godalming and we look forward to them paying it forward and helping us make our playground a better place. 

Well done everyone.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, here are some books which are recommended for Reception and Year 1 children which you may want to find in your local library.  https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/b/best-books-for-5-year-olds/ 

We are really impressed with Year 4 who have broken the record for the highest monthly class attendance - 98.49%! How fantastic!

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.

Currently the amount payable under a penalty notice is £60.00 per parent/carer per child if paid within 21 days. Thereafter the amount increases to £120.00 if paid between 21 and 28 days. If the penalty notice remains unpaid after 28 days, the Local Authority will consider a prosecution in the Magistrates Court. Please note that penalty notices are issued per parent/carer per child so a family of two parents and two children will receive 4 penalty notices.

Please view our Attendance Policy here for further information.