William Barcroft Junior School
'Success and happiness for all'
'Pupils are very happy to attend this nurturing and inclusive school'
'The school has high ambition for pupils' achievement'
'Pupils know they have a strong voice'
'The school's pastoral care is exemplary'
Ofsted report - June 2025
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/143884
Message from the Principal:
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the very first newsletter of the new academic year. Summer now feels a long time ago as the children have settled quickly and are impressing us all with the standard of their work already. What a lovely start to the term being able to share our fantastic Ofsted report with everyone, and we have also received notification that we have again received the GOLD award for the School Games Mark. Mr Dawes has worked incredibly hard to achieve this and I would like to thank him for the many extra hours he puts in so that our children get a great deal in PE and sports.
We have also started our enrichment right from the off, with the first half of year 6 working at IntoUniversity for a full week, including an educational visit and culminating in a Graduation at Hull University! This is part of our work on our value of ambition and it has been great to see the children enjoying new experiences and environments and thinking about what the future could hold.
We have started the term with lots of fabulous news in the teaching team too. Mrs Rayner has announced her pregnancy and will be welcoming her baby in February - congratulations to her and her family. Mr Ferrier has also announced his partner’s pregnancy so again huge congratulations from all in the Barcroft community.
Just one reminder ; next week we start the week with our photographer on Monday, who will be taking individual photographs of the children for you.
We have a new company this year so please feel free to give us any feedback afterwards.
Please enjoy reading through the newsletter and have a lovely weekend everyone.
S Sargent
Principal
If you child is absent, please contact the school office via telephone rather than the enquires email so that we can log your child's absence before the registers close.
Holidays During Term Time
While we understand the temptation of lower prices and family availability, we kindly remind parents and carers that holidays should be taken during the 13 weeks of school holidays available each year. Principals are only permitted to authorise leave during exceptional circumstances, and in line with national policy, unauthorised term-time holidays may result in a fixed penalty notice being issued.
Autumn 1
Monday 15th September - School photos
Wednesday 17th September - SEND parents evening
Monday 22nd September - Y6 Into University - Magnolias and Sunflowers
Friday 10th October - Yellow day - World Mental Health Day
Friday 17th October - Careers Day
Break up for half term - Friday 17th October
Return to school - Monday 3rd November
Autumn 2
wb: Monday 3rd November - Y6 Bikeability
Tuesday 4th November - Theatre production
Wednesday 5th November - Parents evening
Tuesday 11th December - Y3 Learning showcase
Friday 12th December - Y5 Learning showcase
Tuesday 16th December - Y4 Learning showcase
Wednesday 17th December - Y6 Learning showcase
Friday 19th December - Community sing 12.45pm
Break up for Christmas for ALL pupils - Friday 19th December at 1.05pm
Term dates
Please check the website for 2025 - 2026 term dates.
Year 4 Swimming
As part of the PE curriculum, our year 4 students will take part in swimming lessons at Havelock on the following dates:
Group 1 dates - Monday 3rd/ 10th/ 17th/24th November and Monday 1st/8th of December.
Group 2 dates - Thursday 6th/13th/20th/27th November and Thursday 4th/11th December.
More information will be given closer to the time and a letter will be sent to all year 4 parents.
General Information
Please do not ride bikes and scooters on the school grounds, this is for children and adults. This is for the safety of our children, thank you.
Please note, electric scooters are not allowed on the school site due to health and safety regulations and not having the facilities to store them in school.
Please do not bring pets onto the school site due to health and safety regulations. This includes picking up from after school clubs.
PE Kits
PE kit MUST be brought to school on your child's PE days,
Year 3 and 4 will have PE Tuesday and Thursday
Year 5 and Year 6 will have PE Monday and Wednesday
PE kit should be worn for every PE lesson to ensure children are successful and safe during their session. Please ensure your child is wearing the school PE top with the WBJS logo, black or blue joggers/shorts and comfortable trainers.
William Barcroft Classes 2025-2026
Lower school:
Y3 - Buttercups - Mrs Lister
Y3 - Daisies - Mrs Cutting
Y3 - Tulips - Miss Jervis and Mrs Asher
Y4 - Daffodils - Mrs Newell
Y4 - Bluebells - Mr Blake
Y4 - Roses - Mr Dawes
Upper school:
Y5 - Orchids - Miss Stephen
Y5 - Poppies - Miss Slack
Y5 - Snowdrops - Mrs Rayner
Y6 - Lillies - Miss Jackson
Y6 - Lotuses - Mrs Shearer
Y6 - Magnolias - Mr Ferrier
Y6 - Sunflowers - Miss Steane
WBJS Newsround
Take a look at all the fantastic learning that has been taking place since we have returned to school in September. On our future newsletters, you will hear from our Pupil Governors who will share what has been happening in each year group so make sure to keep checking our updates.
In school, we celebrate our reading success and the children with a significant reading milestone. We identify those children with 'Reading Certificates' for our rewards:
Bronze award - 150 reads
Silver award - 200 reads
Gold award - 250 reads
Diamond award - 300+ reads
These children are celebrated in the 'Star of the Week' assembly with a personalised certificate and given a corresponding badge to wear with pride!
Lotuses and Lillies have had a fabulous week at Into University. They have worked hard together on various projects. They have researched inspirational people: Kevin Clifton, Barbara Hepworth, Steve Wonder and Khadija Saye. Each team created a poster on their inspirational person.
On Wednesday, they visited ‘The Yorkshire Sculpture Park’ where they experienced beautiful countryside and inspirational sculptures.
The fabulous week concluded with a ceremony at Hull University, where the children got to experience university life and to graduate.
We all very proud of how hard the children worked and their fabulous behaviour.
Prior to the summer holidays, we held a summer fayre at WBJS and raised a staggering £1041.60! We raised this money for our schools x4 chosen charities, St Andy's Hospice, Blue cross, Harbour place and the British Heart Foundation.
The amount raised has been split equally and Andy's Hospice have been into school this week to collect their donation. Thank you for working with us.
On Friday 10th October 2025 we will be supporting World Mental Health day by wearing yellow in for the day. We will be talking to the children about how we can keep our minds healthy and how we can promote this amongst our school and community.
Follow this link to visit the safeguarding section of our website, and for a copy of our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy. https://wba.harbourlearningtrust.com/our-academy/safeguarding/
A message from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service:
Gas Safety Week 2025 is your annual reminder to act and protect your home and loved ones from hidden dangers like gas leaks, fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.
A yearly check by a Gas Safe registered engineer is essential to make sure your appliances are working safely and efficiently – good news for your peace of mind, your wallet and the environment.
But staying safe at home goes beyond just booking a check.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous, invisible, odourless gas caused by incomplete burning of fuels like gas, oil, coal or wood. It can come from gas appliances, wood burners, barbecues or even generators. Carbon monoxide can be fatal.
Know the signs of CO poisoning:
Headaches
Dizziness
Nausea or tiredness
Breathlessness or collapse
Additional home heating safety tips:
Keep heaters clear of curtains and furniture.
Never use flammable liquids like petrol or paraffin to start fires.
Avoid drying clothes on or too close to heaters or open flames.
Keep logs a safe distance from fires and stoves – radiated heat can ignite them.
Use fireguards to prevent flying sparks from open fires or wood burners.
Have chimneys swept annually, ideally before the heating season begins.
Sign up for a free annual gas safety check reminder at www.StayGasSafe.co.uk
Always check your engineer’s Gas Safe ID card.
Be aware of warning signs on gas appliances: lazy yellow flames, soot marks, or increased condensation.
Change the life of a local child, be a foster carer. Enquire today Fostering in North East Lincolnshire | NELC
As a foster friendly school, we want to raise awareness of the need for local foster carers to come forward in the area. If you think you can make a positive difference to a child’s life, enquire today. Fostering in North East Lincolnshire | NELC https://youtu.be/sNXx6dycp3Y
It's the area that a lot of parents struggle with yet it is the single most important aspect for any child of any age - continuing conversations with children to mitigate risk, including topics that can be very difficult to approach.
You can find all the resources listed HERE.
For some time it has been well known that age ratings within stores (e.g. Apple Store, Google Play) have been very misleading and don't reflect that actual age requirements of the app or, occasionally, the game. For example in the Google Play store WhatsApp is rated at PEGI 3 - it isn't even a game! Not only is this confusing for parents, it can also be very confusing for younger children who may think they can download and use the app.
The simplest way to find out these age restrictions is to Google it or do a search and find on 'age' within the terms and conditions document.
For all SEND enquiries please contact Mrs Asher our school SENDCO.
Dinner Menu
W/C 15th September
W/C 22nd September
Please check out the following links to our X (Twitter) accounts and see what each class have been up to this week in real-time!
