Newsletter

Head Teacher’s Welcome

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! We hope you have all had a wonderful summer break and are feeling refreshed and ready to start the new academic year. We are delighted that there are a few new faces joining us this year and we hope you have a wonderful time. 

Thank you for all your generous gifts and kind cards at the end of last year. They have all been very gratefully appreciated. Thank you to those that returned the school feedback forms. After looking at the comments, we have spent the summer updating our Behaviour Policy which we will make available to you when it is finalised. We hope that this provides everyone with the clarity they need. 

We have been busy over the summer looking at our school trips and events and it is already looking like another exciting year ahead!

School Staff

We are pleased to let you know about the staff team and the teaching arrangements for this academic year. There will be a change at the lower end of the school as we are delighted to welcome Mrs Hannah Joels to Colston Bassett School. Mrs Joels will be teaching Class 1 (Reception and Year 1). We are also delighted to welcome Miss Claire Cox and Miss Jennifer Newcombe to the staff team as Teaching Assistants this year. Mrs Joels, Miss Cox and Miss Newcombe have all been coming into school periodically over the last six months to get to know the children, so they are all already very familiar with the school and everyone has made them feel very welcome. We do hope they all enjoy their new roles in school. 

Mr Charles Oldershaw is continuing to teach at the top end of the school and he will be teaching Class 3 (Years 4, 5 and 6) along with Mrs Caroline Newcombe. We are delighted that Mr Dillan Deach has now achieved his Qualified Teacher Status and another big well done from us all! Mr Deach will continue to be our Class 2 teacher (Years 2 and 3) and he will also continue to teach Spanish to all the children. Mr Adam Miller will continue in his role as Office Manager and providing TA support with Drama, Music, Spanish and reading.

Mrs Margaret Crooks and Mrs Lynne Clifford are both continuing in their current roles along with Ms Amanda Gennard teaching French, Ms Kat Plimmer from Urban Movement Primary teaching PE, Mrs Michelle Oldfield teaching one-to-one music lessons and Mrs Amanda Fairclough running her after school Drama Club.  

Rebrand

Recently, we have felt that our school branding was becoming quite dated. Our current logo is 17 years old and is the original, hand-drawn version from when the school first opened in 2007.

Over the summer, we launched a new brand identity, which has been recreated electronically and is now far more versatile for the digital age. The whole school website has also been rebuilt to coincide with the launch of the new branding. 

The new logo and website has been designed by 89 Design and we are delighted with our fresh new look!

Please do have a look at our new website: www.colstonbassettschool.com.

We hope everyone likes it!

Visits and Visitors

We have arranged a whole school trip to Coventry Transport Museum on Tuesday 19th November 2024. A visit to Coventry Transport Museum provides a fantastic opportunity to get outside the classroom and inspire children with authentic collections and exciting new displays. The museum offers sessions led by experienced education staff, with options for the full range of Key Stage 1 and 2 supporting cross-curricular learning. This visit will tie in brilliantly with all the class’s Humanities topics on Transport after half term and we are sure they will have a fun and educational day! Further details will follow nearer the time.

Reverend David Rowe will be leading fortnightly assemblies for us again this term. We are looking forward to welcoming him into school.

We are also currently arranging for many visitors to come into school as part of our Careers Week the week commencing Monday 14th October 2024 (see ‘Careers Week’ in this newsletter for more details).

Parent Appointments

Parents appointments will be available around the October half term. Further information will be sent out closer to the time. We will be sending out letters with an appointment request slip, where we can arrange a mutually convenient date and time. Mrs Newcombe will be meeting with our new parents in a couple of weeks’ time to ensure a smooth settling in period. We continue to have an ‘open door’ policy for meetings if you have a specific issue to discuss.

Drop-Off and Pick-Up Routines

For families new to the school we will outline our arrangements. A member of staff will be on duty in the playground from 8.30am each morning should you wish to drop your child off at this time. The school bell will be rung at 8.45am, when the children will be expected to line up in their respective classes before being taken into school via the side door. If the weather is wet then the children are asked to go straight into the building. Unless they are attending an after school club, the children are handed over to parents and carers at 3.45pm from the side door.

If a pupil is unavoidably late or you need to drop off/collect your child at any other time during the day, please either ring the bell on the side door to attract the attention of a member of staff, who will greet you there, or report to the school office. Parents are responsible for their children around the school at pick-up and drop-off times.

Please take care along School Lane and ensure you do not park on the yellow zig-zags or obstruct access to residents’ driveways. We do teach the children basic road safety and remind them regularly to be aware of traffic. Please inform school in advance if you have arranged for your child to be collected by another adult.

Assessments and Reports

Assessments are an important part of understanding and evaluating progress. Our assessment week will take place during the week commencing Monday 30th September 2024. We always hope that these weeks are as stress free as possible whilst gently introducing the process to the children. As always, we remind the children that it is simply a case of trying and that these results are not the ‘be all and end all’ of their assessments. Teacher judgement is also an important and integral part of the process. Reports will be sent out towards the end of the term, as usual.

Homework

Your child’s teacher will explain any homework expectations. As children move up through the school, they will be given tasks in addition to the regular homework of reading and times tables. Children in Class 3 have been provided with a combined Reading and Homework Diary which is kept in their book bag. Children in Class 1 and Class 2 will bring their Reading Record book home each night for you to complete. We try not to set too much homework as the children do have a long school day, particularly if they attend an after school club. If you feel the level of homework is not suitable for your child or you have any other queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Contact Details

We would be very grateful if parents could confirm that all of your contact details are up to date. We are conscious that mobile numbers can sometimes change, as do emergency contacts and people who are authorised to collect children. It is vital we always have up to date information should we need to contact a parent in an emergency situation. An email has already been sent out with an emergency contact record, so if any details have changed, please return this to the school office as soon as possible. Thank you for your co-operation.

Annual Events

We have already scheduled the dates for all our annual school events, which we hope everybody will be able to attend.

• Nativity Service: Monday 9th December 2024 at 2:30pm
• Carol Concert: Thursday 12th December 2024 at 7:00pm
• Talent Show: Thursday 3rd April 2025 at 2:30pm
• Open Morning: Wednesday 7th May 2025 at 9:00am
• Sports Day: Friday 27th June 2025 at 2:00pm (with a reserve date of Friday 4th July 2025)
• ‘Wizard of Oz’ (Summer Production): Thursday 24th July 2025 at 2:30pm

Please make a note of all these dates. More information about the events will follow nearer the time.

Extra Curricular Activities

The after school clubs this academic year are as follows:

If any parent would like their child to join a club and has not yet signed up, please advise Mr Miller as soon as possible. Taster sessions can be arranged if you wish. The timetable for the clubs is displayed on the Parents’ Information Board on the school drive and a copy has already been emailed to parents. The clubs will all run during the first and last weeks of each term unless we advise otherwise.

School Uniform

Just a reminder to parents that all children must attend school in their correct uniform in the school colours and styles, including coats, hats, plimsolls, trainers and full PE kit. PE kits need to be in school on a Monday and will be sent home every Friday. Please ensure that all your child’s garments are labelled with their name so that clothing can be returned to its rightful owner.

School uniform is an important part of school life and is a badge of pride. It creates an identity for the school, is an important part of being a school pupil and reinforces following a code of practice and good manners. If anyone is unsure of the correct uniform their child should be wearing, please see the full list on the school website: www.colstonbassettschool.com/parent.php#parent_uniform.

We do appreciate your full co-operation with this important aspect of school life.

Show and Tell

For your information, please see below for all the ‘Show and Tell’ assembly dates for the coming term. These will take place in assembly on Thursday afternoons. In a typical Show and Tell assembly, children can bring an item from home and explain to the rest of the school why they chose that particular item, where they got it, and other relevant information. This can be a toy, a piece of schoolwork, favourite book, or just any item that means a lot to them.

Social Media

Just a reminder for our new families about our school Facebook and Instagram pages, which we use as newsfeeds so everyone can enjoy an update of what has been going on at school. We also use our pages as marketing tools to promote the school. If you ‘like’ or ‘follow’ the pages, then you will be notified as we add new posts:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/colstonprepschool
Instagram: www.instagram.com/colstonbassettschool

Please also note that for safeguarding reasons, school staff are unable to accept friend requests from parents and family members who have children that currently attend the school.

Children In Need

We will be taking part in the annual BBC Children in Need appeal, which this year takes place on Friday 15th November 2024. As always this will be a dressing-up day with an entry free for the children and staff to take part. There will also be a collection box at school if any parent wishes to make a donation too. Details of the day are on the poster below and an email reminder will follow nearer the time.

Flu Vaccinations

The children’s flu vaccine is offered as a yearly nasal spray to young children to help protect them against flu. All the children are being offered the vaccine this autumn and a school nurse will be coming into school on Thursday 14th November 2024 to administer them. 

If you would like your child to receive the flu vaccine in school this year, please follow this link to complete an online consent form. If you would like to decline, please complete a no consent form on the attached link.

https://nhsImms.azurewebsites.net/session/7fe70df9

The link will close on 30th October 2024. If you have any problems accessing the link, please telephone 0333 3583 397 option 4, option 2.

If your child has already had the flu vaccine elsewhere since September 2024, please disregard this message.

School Holidays

As you are already aware, we recently updated our school holidays for this academic year and beyond. Please refer to the calendar and term dates on the school website if you are unsure of the weeks:

www.colstonbassettschool.com/parent.php#parent_dates
 

New House Teams

As we have had the new website built over the summer with its lovely new look, we thought our school houses could do with a freshen up too. We have moved on to an ‘owl theme’ in keeping with the school’s logo.

‘Eagles’ (now Eagle owls) are the same, however if your child was formerly in Falcons they are now in ‘Tawnies’ (Tawny owls), and Kestrels are now ‘Snowies’ (Snowy owls).

The colours of the houses have also changed as follows:

• Eagles: Dusty blue
• Tawnies: Jade green
• Snowies: Light grey

Careers Week

It is really important for the children to start learning about careers during their primary education as they develop their thoughts and interests. To this end, we are holding our first ‘Careers Week’ so the children can begin to learn about some of the possibilities and options that await them as they move through to senior school. The Careers Week will take place during the week commencing Monday 14th October 2024.

We would like the children to have experience of a wide range of career options, so we would be delighted to welcome any parents into school who would like to speak to the children about their chosen career and what their job entails. Please contact Mr Miller in the school office if you can help out.

Bonfire Party

We are delighted that Alanna and Matthew Lymn Rose are hosting a bonfire party for the school at their home on Saturday 2nd November 2024. Parents can arrive from 5:00pm with the aim to begin the fireworks around 6:00pm/6:30pm. There will be no finish time so people can stay as late as they wish. Burgers, hot dogs, snacks and refreshments will be provided (dietary requirements will be discussed in the parent Whatsapp group nearer the time) and there will be a bonfire, fireworks and sparklers. A few of the mums have already offered to bring some baked goodies! Alanna and Matthew are happy for cars to be left overnight if parents want to have a drink. Please contact the school office or the parent Whatsaap group for the address. We do hope you can make it!

School Council

A new School Council will soon be voted in for this academic year. This is an ideal opportunity for children to get more involved in the way our school is run.

The School Council benefits the whole school, children and staff. It provides opportunities for children to communicate their feelings, as well as discuss decisions that are made. Councillors develop skills such as confidence, communication and negotiation. It is the responsibility of each councillor to ensure that they express both their own views and the views of all the other children they represent.

We have an active School Council with two children from each class representing their fellow pupils. Each councillor is elected by their classmates at the beginning of the school year after a short presentation explaining why they should be elected. Members of the Council take part in discussions and votes and also feed back any relevant information to their peers. At times they are requested to ask their class for ideas or take class votes relating to discussions by the Council. Members will meet regularly with Mr Miller and Mr Deach who are delighted to take over the Council this academic year. 

The School Council also has a fund which is used to improve equipment and resources to enhance the children’s education and the school facilities – the children choose these things themselves. We hope the new Council will also be active in fundraising for our ongoing support for charities, such as the Butterfly Project in Uganda. There is also a spare change tin in the school office which parents are free to contribute to at any time. Thank you very much for your support.

Quiz Night

We thought it was about time to resurrect a function we used to hold at school many years ago. The annual Quiz Night was always very popular and a great fun evening for parents to make teams and pitch their knowledge against each other (and the teachers!).

The quiz will take place on Saturday 30th November 2024 at Colston Bassett Village Hall, starting at 7.00pm, and will be written and presented by Adam Miller. Please come along if you can and get your teams together, families and friends are more than welcome. There will be a bar, and a trophy and rosettes will be presented to the winning team. Tickets are priced at £5.00 per person – to include a light supper – and are available to purchase from the school office. We will also be opening the Quiz Night up to the village and beyond should anyone outside of the school community wish to attend.

The proceeds from the quiz will be donated to the school council fund.

Shoe Box Appeal

As part of our school's wider curriculum awareness of other cultures and countries, we would like to use our links with the Butterfly project in Uganda to help develop our children's understanding of life in another country by encouraging them to join in with a shoe box appeal. You can find more about them here: About Us | The Butterfly Project (wordpress.com).

The school in Uganda looks after more than 20 children on Christmas Day. These children have never received a gift and have very little in the way of personal belongings. The Director of the school was very excited to think that they may have something to give the children at this time of year.  

The children are aged between 8 and 14 years of age and a mixture of boys and girls.  

The director of the school suggested items such as:

• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Small toys such as water pistols
• Plimsoll shoes (or lightweight alternatives)
• Coloured crayons
• Pencils
• Socks
• Stationery

It would be lovely if the shoe boxes could be decorated and a note put on the lid stating the approximate age and gender the box is suitable for. Please do not seal the box as they will have to be inspected by Ugandan authorities.  

If we manage to collect more than 20 shoe boxes, the school in Uganda have many other children that they can deliver boxes to.  

We would like to suggest that these are sent in to school by Friday 27th September 2024 to allow enough time for the gifts to travel to Uganda. They may not arrive in time for Christmas but we hope that they will arrive as close as possible.  

Many thanks for your support.

Curriculum

Dates for your Diary

Please refer to the ‘Calendar’ on the school website:

www.colstonbassettschool.com/parent.php#parent_calendar