Welcome to the last newsletter of the spring term.  As we approach the final stretch of the spring term, there is a wonderful sense of energy humming through our hallways. It is always a joy to see how much our pupils have grown—both academically and personally—since the cold start of January. 

Firstly, we would also like to send our warmest wishes to our families who are celebrating Eid al-Fitr.  We know this is a time of reflection, community and joy, following the month of Ramadan.  To everyone marking this occasion, may your celebrations be filled with peace, happiness and wonderful memories with your loved ones.  We absolutely loved seeing our pupils attend school in their traditional clothes on Wednesday.

Eid Mubarak! 

We have had a couple of busy weeks here at Brookfield.  During the week of 9th March we celebrated British Science Week.  During this week, all year groups behaved as scientists while completing different science experiences, developing skills of predicting, experimenting, reasoning and concluding.  Please see if your child can remember which experiment they completed.

This week, we have had a brilliant time celebrating World Autism Acceptance month.  We have completed a range of activities this week celebrating our differences and uniqueness. 

We loved dressing up on Thursday to raise funds for both the Down Syndrome charity and Comic Relief.  A huge thank you to all who have donated to support these charities.

We also had a brilliant time planting sunflowers to remember how we all grown and bloom in our own unique way.  The DSUK Sunflower Challenge is all about celebrating individuality, kindness and inclusion and we discussed this while planting our seeds.  We look forward to seeing how well they grow during the summer term and beyond.

On Thursday 19th March, it was a privilege to witness the remarkable talent of our pupils during the Rock Steady concert. This event served as the culmination of many weeks of disciplined practice and hard work, providing a wonderful platform for our young musicians to display their progress and passion.  It was truly impressive to see the technical skills they have developed; from the rhythmic precision of the drums to the confident handling of the guitar. Our vocalists also deserve high praise for their courage and talent on the microphone, leading their bands with great poise.

In a particularly exciting update, some of our Year 5 pupils are currently preparing for their highly anticipated residential trip to Devon. This is a fantastic opportunity for them to build independence, strengthen friendships, and challenge themselves with outdoor learning. We are certain they are going to have a wonderful time exploring the coast and we can’t wait to hear all their stories.  We hope the weather is kind to them! 

Looking Ahead to Easter

The end of this term promises to be a vibrant one. We are looking forward to a plethora of Easter activities to celebrate the season. We look forward to our annual Easter Egg raffle as well as seeing the creative designs of our Easter Bonnet parade.   Remember tickets are on sale from Tuesday.

We also invite you to end the term, full of chocolate at our end of term cake sale.  

📆Dates for your diary📆

Monday 23rd March - Year 6 Trip to Imperial War Museum

Monday 23rd - Friday March Year 5 Residential to Devon

Tuesday 24th March - Easter Mufti for a Chocolate Treat/Egg Donation

Friday 27th March at 1:15pm- EYFS and KS1 Easter Bonnet Parade and cake sale.

Friday 27th March  Last day of our Spring Term.  School will finish at 1:30pm

Tuesday 14th April - First day of Summer Term  

Click here for further information 

Last week, the eco-committee worked together to create bug hotels. The children used recycled boxes and natural debris to create shelters for bees, ladybirds and other helpful insects.  The children loved making these hotels to help boost our local biodiversity and keep our garden ecosystem healthy.

We also put our seed potatoes in a light, cool spot to grow sturdy, green sprouts before planting. It won't be long before they are ready to go into the ground!

Eid Celebration 

Red Nose Day and World Down Syndrome Celebration 

Rock Steady Concert 

Dear Parent/Carer,

We truly understand how challenging it is for parents and carers to stay on top of the ever-evolving changes in technology, gaming, social media, and the online world. Recognising this rapid rate of change and both the opportunities and the challenges it can present, our goal is to support you by engaging and upskilling as many parents and carers as we can, ensuring your children's continued online safety at home.

We are continuing the work of the LEO Parent/Carer Online Safety Working Party, established last term. The Working Party aims to identify further ways we can support you in understanding the online risks children face and the safety measures that can be implemented to minimise these risks.

To effectively plan support, we are sending out this Online Safety Survey and would greatly value your input to help us tailor this to the needs of our community.  Please take a couple of minutes to complete this form honestly. Please note you are not required to put any names. Your input is invaluable in shaping our support for LEO families moving forward.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have more than one child, please complete the form with your youngest child in mind. There will be a section at the end to capture any differences for older children.

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Dallimore

Trust Safeguarding Lead

ROBLOX

We have been made aware that Roblox is now requesting children to scan their face in order to provide age estimation to help improve security features.

While Roblox cannot be accessed on school devices, we would like to remind you of the importance of ensuring you have the appropriate parental controls on your personal devices to safeguard your children while they are online.  

Please see below several websites and a guide to help you implement the correct parental controls on your devices.

https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/apps-and-platforms/online-gaming/roblox/

https://about.roblox.com/age-estimation

https://parentzone.org.uk/article/roblox

Parent Guide to Parental Controls

SUNSETTERS & SUNRISERS

If you need to book, change or update staff regarding anything to do with wrap around care, please use the following contact details: 

Telephone: 07762411746  

Email: bfwac@leoacademytrust.co.uk

DONATIONS

With the colder weather, we would be most grateful if you could supply your child with a box of tissues for their classroom.

We would also be very grateful for any donations of trainers for our Nursery and Reception children please.

Thank you in advance for your support 

Please click here to access all of our Summer 1 Term Dates

PARKING

Safe and Courteous Parking During Pick-Up/Drop-Off

Ensuring the safety of our pupils is our top priority. This includes maintaining a smooth and safe environment for pick-up and drop-off times.

The school has never, and will never, advise parking in a way that obstructs residents' driveways on Ridge Road, or anywhere else in the neighborhood. We understand the convenience of pulling right up, but it's crucial to park legally and considerately.

We kindly ask all parents and guardians to be mindful of the following during pick-up and drop-off:

• Park safely and with due care.

• Respect our neighbours and local residents. This includes not parking across driveways at any time.

• If parking is limited, consider carpooling or using alternative transportation options when possible.

To further ensure safety and a smooth flow of traffic, we've requested additional police patrols during pick-up and drop-off times.

We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our school community safe and considerate of our neighbours.

We thank you in advance, for your support in paying for any trips, after school sessions or clubs on Arbor promptly.  Please let the office know if you require help to access the payment pages.  

On School Grounds: 

To ensure a focused learning environment, students are not permitted to use their personal mobile phones on school grounds or during lessons at LEO Academy Trust schools. This policy has a single exception for documented medical needs.

Storage and Use

For students who travel alone and carry a phone (at their parents' discretion), devices must be turned off upon entering school grounds and remain off until they exit the school gates. All such phones will be securely stored by the school upon arrival and returned at the end of the school day.

Parental Considerations

 We advise parents and guardians to consider providing their children with less expensive devices for safety reasons. While these devices still allow for calls and texts, they can mitigate some of the wider risks associated with more costly phones. We recognise that the ultimate decision regarding device choice rests with the parents.

Online Safety Education

LEO Academy Trust prioritises online safety. Our curriculum, parent workshops, and communications consistently highlight the dangers of unsupervised online access, particularly concerning social media. We also offer regular training and support for parents on online safety practices and managing parental controls on a variety of devices. 

We are extremely excited to announce that our new Behaviour reward activity each term will be at Family Fun Zone at St Nicholas Shopping Centre in Sutton. Family Fun Zone are allowing us to visit them for FREE! Our next visit is on Wednesday 18th March.

Reporting Absences

There is no longer an option to report a child’s absence via telephone.  We ask that you use the google forms below to report absence.  They are also available to complete on our website using the parent tab.

We do not authorise holidays during term time. If your child is going to be off school due to an exceptional circumstance, then please complete this form:

Request for Exceptional Absence in advance for future appointments and exception absence. 

Brookfield Primary Academy Absence Form for sickness and same day medical appointments.

If your child has an illness that requires them to take medication during school hours (e.g. antibiotics, cough medicine, creams etc.), you must fill in a Medicine Permission form. This can be found on our website under the Parents tab.  Hard copies are also available on the carousel in the school office reception area. 

This form, and the medication, must be brought to the school office on the morning that the medication is due to start. The school office staff will administer the medication at the times stated on the form by the parent/carer. You can collect the medication at the end of the school day, or at the end of the illness.

Please do not send any medicine into class with your child, this includes sore throat lozenges.

If we do not have a Medical Permission form, we will not be able to administer medication to your child. 

Please can we ask you and your child to read through and confirm the Brookfield Primary Academy's Home School Agreement.  The Home School Agreement is a document that outlines what expectations you can have of the school, what expectations we have of our parents/carers and what expectations we have of our pupils.

Also, as part of GDPR, at the end of every academic year, we are required to check that the data we hold for your child on Arbor is up to date and correct. Please can we ask you to log into the Arbor app and click on your child's face (top left hand side of the screen), this will bring up their details. Please scroll down and check if the information is correct, if you need to make any changes this can be done via the app and will be automatically sent to the office admin team to approve.

Also, please can we ask you to check the parental consents for your child, if any of the consents are incorrect or you wish to add or amend anything please let us know, via email bfoffice@leoacademytrust.co.uk and we can make the necessary changes.

If we do not hear from you we will accept that the data/consents we hold are correct.

Please refer to our website for our policies: https://www.brookfieldprimary.com/707/policies-and-statements

We pride ourselves on offering our children varied and exciting experiences and activities that help to support their learning of the curriculum. The School Fund will allow us to provide additional activities across all year groups. 

We have a voluntary school fund donation of £10 a term / £30 a year per child or £40 for a family if there are siblings at the school. Parents can pay for School Fund online via our Arbor payment system,  go to Accounts - School Fund - Top Up Account.

We would like to thank you for your support. 

Please..........help your child:

• Regularly listen to your child(ren) read 

• Encourage your child(ren) to complete their homework / Doodle Activities / Timetable Rockstars

• Ask your child about their day and talk about the amazing things they have learned

• Talk positively to your child(ren) about school and their progress / praise their achievements

• Speak to your child(ren)'s class teacher or a member of the Senior Leadership Team if you have any concerns regarding your child(ren)

• Avoid taking your child(ren) out of school during the school day / term time for appointments and holidays

• Drop your child(ren) off to school on time and in the correct uniform / collect your child(ren) on time / if you drive to collect your child(ren), ensure that you park safely respecting our neighbours and local businesses

Please..........help us:

• Carefully read all communications to ensure that they are fully understood and actioned (if required)

• Promptly report your child(ren)'s absence via the online form

• Ensure you pay for school meals / trips / events on time via Arbor

• If using extended services provided by school - Breakfast & Afterschool club, keep your account in credit

• If you have a child in nursery who attends additional sessions , ensure you keep their account in credit

• Update your personal information via the Arbor App if there are any changes

Please..........help raise funds:

• Contribute towards the School Fund

• Consider taking part in the LEO lottery

• Purchase online items via the Easy Fundraising App (if applicable) 

• Support the PTFA in attending events / or even better support the PTFA in helping to organise events