Birdwell Primary School Welcome Back Newsletter

Welcome Back

First of all, we hope that all our families have had a restful and enjoyable summer holiday and we are incredibly excited to be welcoming all our children back on Tuesday 6th September to get back to doing what we do best - creating a safe and enjoyable learning space for our students. I know all staff are eagerly awaiting their return and we have some exciting lessons and topics coming up for children to get their teeth into and tell you all about. If you are joining our Foundation Stage classes in September - welcome to Birdwell! Thank you for attending our transition events we ran over the summer term and we look forward to welcoming our newest cohort through the doors.

To keep up to date with all things happening this term, follow our Twitter account so remember that you can keep up with updates of the school using @PrimaryBirdwell. We also have Blogs on our website and individual Twitter accounts for classes which we will share shortly!

Head of School Welcome

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. I have been born and raised in Barnsley, and as such, I am very committed to ensuring that the children in our community get the best start in life. I am married and have a son who is just embarking on his own primary school journey in September, so feel free to provide me with any tips and first-hand experience around being a primary school parent! Outside of my working life, I enjoy watching and playing a range of sports, especially as an avid cricketer, as well as watching films, reading books and walking my dog.

I feel very proud and tremendously excited to be Head of School at Birdwell Primary School. I am passionate about working in partnership with the children, staff, governors and yourselves as the parent community to continue to develop Birdwell as an exciting, happy and successful school. For me, the needs of the children are always paramount in the life and decision making within a school. I strongly believe in providing the children with exciting, creative and meaningful learning experiences, which build their enthusiasm for learning and help them to grow and develop positively in a variety of ways. I think it is crucial to involve the children and their families as partners in their education. I am also keen on building a whole school community which thrives on mutual respect and values positive relationships.

I believe that we will have a positive and successful future working, growing and developing together as a whole school community and some opportunities for this will be shown in the diary dates attached. By doing this, we can ensure that Birdwell is a school that children love coming to and one which provides an all round educational experience in which everyone can flourish.

I look forward to working with you all and please do introduce yourselves when you see me out and around school!

September school day

School Uniform

All pupils from Reception to Year 6 are expected to wear school uniform at all times.

• Black or grey trousers / shorts /skirt / pinafore dress
• White or light blue polo shirt
• Royal blue sweatshirt/jumper/cardigan/hoodie (hoodie should be logoed)
• Blue or grey tights
• In the summer, children may choose to wear a blue gingham dress

Children can wear black trainers or school shoes. Logoed uniform can be ordered from Vortex on the link below or can be plain from other shops but must be in school colours.

In September we will continue to ask pupils to come to school in their PE kits on PE days. We have attached the Weekly Parent Bulletin which will explain which day your child's PE lessons will be on. The expectations for PE kit at school should be:

• Black or Navy shorts / joggers or tracksuit bottoms
• Plain white T-shirt
• Black or blue sweatshirt or hoodie
• Trainers or pumps

#AttendanceMatters

At Birdwell Primary School, we fully recognise the impact of good attendance and punctuality on the success and development of young people both socially and academically.

If a child of compulsory school age is registered at a school it is essential that they attend school regularly and maintain a pattern of good attendance throughout their school career. Research has proved that any student with attendance under 95% is at risk of achieving a grade lower in every subject by the time they leave school. We expect all students to attend school regularly and our whole school attendance attendance target is 97%. We have introduced the 100 Club as an outstanding target for classes to meet each week.

Below are just some of the key reasons why it is so important children attend school:

• To learn.
• To make new friends.
• To experience new things in life.
• To develop awareness of other cultures, religion, ethnicity and gender differences.
• To achieve.
• To gain qualifications.
• To develop new skills.
• To build confidence and self-esteem.
• To have the best possible start in life.

How can parents Help

• Establish a good routine in the mornings and evenings so your child is prepared for the school day ahead
• Make sure your child goes to school regularly and follows the school rules.
• Ensure your child arrives at school on time – not late.
• Arrange dental and medical appointments outside school hours when possible.
• Always inform the school if your child is absent due to illness.
• Take family holidays outside term time.
• Talk to your child about school and take an interest in their school work.
• Attend parent evenings and school events.
• Praise and reward your child’s achievements at school.
• Discuss any problems or difficulties with the school – staff are there to help and will be supportive.

90% may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, but the reality is that 90% attendance means that your child will miss half a school day each week or 19 days of school during the school year – that’s nearly 4 school weeks!

Attendance will be a huge focus for us moving into the next academic year and you can find out more information about this in the two Department for Education documents below:

School Meals

There are new menus for the Autumn term, please see the menus following the link below. We will continue to work on a 3 week cycle to provide a varied choice for all our pupils.

Family Holidays

You can demonstrate your commitment to your child’s education by not taking holidays during term time. Any child or young person who is absent from school due to a holiday will miss out on important learning and will fall behind with their school work. In each Academic Year, there are only a maximum of 190 statutory school days – this allows plenty of time for holidays to be arranged outside term time.

In new guidance from the Department for Education, schools have been advised to only grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances so it is highly unlikely the school will be in a position to grant a leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday. Therefore, holidays taken during term time will be categorised as an unauthorised absence and may result in a fixed-penalty notice being issued.

Birdwell Bulletin

To keep parents and carers in the loop with all things Birdwell, we will be sending out via Arbor each week a 'Birdwell Bulletin' for the coming week. Take a look at the one below for the week commencing 5th September!

Arbor Parent App

Use the link below to ensure you have downloaded the Arbor app to receive up-to-date communication about events in school that concern your child. You will also be able to manage payments for school trips via the app and register your child for after-school clubs.

Key Dates Summarised