Horbury Bridge CE J&I Academy
Living by our Christian Values: Together in Faith, Hope and Love
Friday 30th September 2022
Back by popular demand!
Just like you would an old friend, many of you have said how you have missed the weekly newsletter - well, there's no need to worry - it's back! The newsletter will be published via ParentHub every Friday throughout the year and will be in the same format as before. The newsletter will cover news from the whole school, awards and achievements in each class, community news, a list of next week's events as well as a long-term calendar and finally information regarding safeguarding. News for your child's individual class will be posted throughout the week in their class channel on ParentHub.
Harvest Mass
In keeping with our Christian ethos, For Harvest this year, we will be holding a Mass led by Father Christoper. This will be a traditional religious mass during which pupils will take part with readings, prayers and songs. All parents and carers are invited to join the congregation and we look forward to seeing you there. Before the service, will be collecting food items for the local Food Bank - we will send further information about this separately. The Mass will be held at 9:15am on Friday 14th October. Please note, as this is a Church service, no photography or recording will be permitted.
Reading books
This week has seen the arrival of our new home reading books, which we will be sent home from next week. Your child will need a book bag for their school book, so if you haven't already, please just drop an email to the office and we will give the book bag straight to your child, no need to come in and order one. We are extending the £4.50 offer for another week, after which they will become £6.50.
We have also been working on developing our library and have introduced new books, both fiction and non-fiction. Pupils will have time each week to visit the library to choose a book, which they can also take home alongside their school book.
Parent and Friends Association
The Parents and Friends Association (PFA) met earlier this week to discuss events and fundraising for the year, so look out for further information coming soon.
Clubs
We still have places in the multi-sports after-school clubs for both class 1 and class 2, so if you are interested please get in touch.
Next week sees the first rehearsal of the Horbury Bridge Academy Band! Led by Mr Fletcher our peripatetic brass teacher, over 20 pupils will begin their musical journey together and we look forward to performing for you all later this year - I will also be dusting off my trombone to join them!
Also new this week was the Horbury Bridge Academy Chess Club, which was eagerly attended by 11 pupils from class 3. The level of play was fantastic, although they would be struggling to enjoy it as much as Mrs Denton did!
We will be adding more lunchtime and after-school clubs as the year progresses, with an after school club for Young Voices 2023 starting soon.
Mr R Tuddenham
Head Teacher
Community News
Awards and Achievements
Nursery Star of the Week
⭐️ Well done, Harry!
Reception Stars of the Week
⭐️ Well done, Adriana and Faye!
Class 1 Stars of the Week
⭐️ Well done, Connie and Harry!
Class 1 Diamond Dash
Some serious timestable wizardry in Class 1!
Class 2 Stars of the Week
⭐️ Well done, Noah and Flynn!
Class 2 Diamond Dash
The three timestablekateers!
Class 3 Stars of the Week
⭐️ Well done, Martha and John-Dean!
Class 3 Diamond Dash
I think we need some harder challenges!
Upcoming Events and Dates
Next week...
Monday 3rd October - Class Photos
Wednesday 5th October - Learning Review Meetings (Individual meetings booked via online system).
Thursday 6th October - Learning Review Meetings (Individual meetings booked via online system).
Coming up...
Friday 14th October 9:15am - Harvest Mass - All parents and carers invited - in the Church.
Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th October - Year 6 Bikeability
Tuesday 18th October 3:30pm - Year 6 SATs Meeting for Parents - in Class 3
Friday 21st October - Academy closed for INSET
Monday 31st October - Academy reopens
Safeguarding
Online safety
Snapchat Update
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is an app used for messaging and sharing photos and videos. Users can send messages (snaps) to others that can only be seen for a set time period e.g. 10 seconds. Users can also upload snaps to stories which then disappear after 24 hours.
Snapchat Family Centre – NEW
Snapchat have introduced a new in-app tool called Family Centre. Family Centre will allow you to see who your child is friends with on Snapchat and who they have been communicating with (you will not be able to see the contents of conversations). You will also be able to see who they are friends with on Snapchat, report accounts confidentially and view resources to help you start conversations with your child about online safety.
Snapchat are also planning on adding additional tools within Family Centre in the future. You can find out more about Family Centre here:
https://snap.com/en-GB/safety-and-impact/post/family-center
Safety tips
It is important to talk to your child regularly about what they are doing online and make sure that they know that they should always talk to you or another trusted adult if they have any concerns. Please make sure the appropriate privacy settings are set up on Snapchat and your child knows how to block and report other users if necessary.
We would recommend you explore Snapchat with your child and suggest why certain options are safer, for example, setting your account so only friends (rather than everyone) can see your content and only those you are friends with can contact you.
https://support.snapchat.com/en-GB/article/privacy-settings2
More information
You can find out more about Snapchat using the following links:
· https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/guidance/snapchat-safety-a-how-to-guide-for-parents/
· https://snap.com/en-GB/safety/safety-center
BeReal?
BeReal is a new social media app. It notifies you once a day to upload an image of what you are doing. Once you receive the notification, you have two mins to capture and share what you are doing at that moment. All your friends post at the exact same time. Once you have posted, you can then see what your friends have posted. If you don’t post your BeReal, then you can’t see your friend’s BeReals from that day or access the discovery tab.
What age should I be?
You must be 13+ to use BeReal. BeReal is rated as 12+ by the App store and rated for Teens on Google Play. Users add their date of birth to register (no age verification takes place) although users do need to add a mobile number.
What else do I need to be aware of?
BeReal is private by default and only visible to your friends. However, it is possible to share with all users by selecting the public option. If selected, your BeReal will appear in the Discovery tab for all users to see and interact with.
There is also an option to share your location. If you don’t enable your location, then you can’t see other user’s locations. Chat to your child about location sharing as it is important that your child understands the risk of location sharing and when it may be appropriate to share.
Discovery tab – this is the area where you can view all other BeReals that have been made public (if you have posted that day). There is an element of risk that your child may see an inappropriate image depending on what others have uploaded.
How to report
You can report a BeReal or a user by clicking on the three dots (next to the BeReal or user) to report. You can then choose whether you think the BeReal is undesirable or if it is inappropriate. You can block users on Android but not on iOS (BeReal have said this functionality will be available soon). People you have accepted as ‘friends’ can be deleted at any time.
If your child is using BeReal then talk to them about what they are sharing on BeReal and check that they know how to use the reporting tools available.
Further information:
https://www.childnet.com/blog/bereal-a-guide-for-parents-and-carers-about-the-new-social-media-app
WhatsApp Update
WhatsApp will be releasing the following new Privacy features soon:
1. Leave Groups Silently: you will be able to exit a group privately so instead of the whole group being notified, only the admins will be.
2. Choose Who Can See When You're Online: WhatsApp are introducing the ability to select who can and can’t see when you’re online.
3. Screenshot Blocking for View Once Messages
You can read more about these new features here: https://blog.whatsapp.com/
Safeguarding Concerns
If you have any concerns, you should report them to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads.
They can be contacted on 01924 302800 or in person at the academy.
The Designated Safeguarding Leads at Horbury Bridge Academy are:
Mr R Tuddenham
Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs R Denton
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Horbury Bridge Academy Diary
Diary Dates for the can be found below.
Term Dates can be found on our website https://www.horburybridgeacademy.co.uk/diarydates/