Friday 17^th March 2023

SIA visit

Today we had two School Improvement Advisors come to the school – routine visit from the local authority. It was really positive. They were impressed by the children’s behavior and attitudes to learning. They felt the school has a lovely community feel from the moment they came in. Thanks so much to everyone – children, parents, teachers and governors.  We’re all part of something very lovely here!

Big Thank You

Today we’ve raised £345 which will go straight to Comic Relief. I’m sure we’ve raised some money too for the families in Morrison. I don’t know how much though as it went straight to their fund raising page.

Tree/Hedge Planting

Reminder, on Tuesday morning we’re hoping to plant some hedge plants, any help would be appreciated.

Reminder - Share my Work

We have the Share my Work session on Tuesday 21^st March – a timetable will come out showing when each class has been allocated a time. This is a lovely opportunity for you, or a relative, to come in and spend some time looking at your child’s work with your child.

Reminder - Photography Exhibition

Remember we have our photography exhibition this coming Wednesday from 3-4.30pm

Coffee Morning/Parent Workshop

Next Friday at 0900 we have our next parent workshop, this one is on Emotional Regulation. Please come along if you can, anyone who comes says they’re super helpful.

Attendance & Punctuality

Please do try to get your children to school on time – a few parents are consistently bringing their children late.

STEM Careers afternoon

If anyone has a career working within the area of STEM, and you could spare an hour or two, please contact Helen Ellis

Increase in Norovirus Cases

Incidents involving diarrhoea and vomiting have increased in recent weeks in Swansea, particularly in schools and nurseries. These are often caused by norovirus, a self-limiting but unpleasant infection. Norovirus infections are usually common at this time of year can spread easily, especially in settings such as schools and nurseries. Anyone with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting should stay at home and not attend school or nursery settings until 48 hours after symptoms have resolved. If a child is symptomatic, the advice to parents is to:

• If your child vomits or has diarrhoea or is feeling genuinely sick do not send them to school.

• They should then not return to school until 48 hours (2 days) after their last symptom, for example if the last time they vomited was Tuesday 8.00pm they can come back to school on Friday. This is because you can still excrete and pass on the virus to other people even though you may feel better.

Sickness and diarrhoea bugs are very infectious and if you need any advice the Councils Food and Safety can offer advice on limiting the transmission within the school. If you would like advice, contact Foodandsafety@swansea.gov.uk a officer will then come back to you to assist.

Friday 10^th March 2023

Tree/Hedge Planting

One of our parents, Karen Jones, is a Project Officer for Bishop’s Wood. She has been able to get 400 young hedge plants which we would like to plant to develop an outdoor learning area for KS2. Karen will be coming in on Tuesday 22^nd (the same day we have the Share My Work session), if any parents could give 30mins of their time, we’ll have it done very quickly. We’d really appreciate your help on the day.

Photography Exhibition

Please see the attachment regarding our upcoming photography exhibition

Strikes

It has been confirmed that next Wednesday and Thursday will be strike days – please see the attached letter

Sub-titles

Did you know that putting sub-titles on can have a really positive impact on your child’s literacy skills. You could make it a rule, that if your child wants to watch something they have to have the sub-titles on.

https://turnonthesubtitles.org/research/

Late Book

We are going to start keeping a “late book”. Unfortunately, some families keep coming to school late. If children aren’t here by 0850, they will need to come to the main entrance of the school, names will go down in the late book.  We need some sort of record to show parents and try to help them see how often this is happening.  Please don’t worry if an emergency happens and you’re late. This is much to encourage families who are regularly late to be on time for school.

Reminder - Share my Work

We will have a Share my Work session on Tuesday 21^st March – a timetable will come out showing when each class has been allocated a time. This is a lovely opportunity for you, or a relative, to come in and spend some time looking at your child’s work with your child.

Friday 3^rd March 2023

Online Safety

Online Safety – please have a read of the information share in our last parents workshop on ‘Staying Safe Online’

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/cf39b733-3765-4201-bc67-e08e5cdca4ed/being-safe-online-powerpoint.pdf

PTA

Next week is national Waste Week (6-12 March. This year’s campaign is putting the spotlight on reuse.

The PTA would love you to donate any excess plastic beakers you may have hiding away in your cupboards. Please hand these to class teachers or to the office. The beakers will be used at our events to ensure we won’t ever have to buy and then throw away plastic cups again…..Win win for our environment, our school funds and extra room made in your cupboards! 

We are planning on holding another PTA meeting before the Easter holidays…watch this space.

As always all information about money we have raised and how it’s been spent is on the school website. 

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/pta/

Mad Science

A few parents did not get the information around the Mad science club on a Monday after school. There are 5 spaces left so if you are interested spaces will be available on a first come first served basis. For more information please see madsciencesw.co.uk or to book your child on go to madsciencesw.schoolipal.co.uk to register and book an after school club slot.

Before School and Breakfast Clubs

Just a reminder that Before School and Breakfast Clubs now need to be booked via the bookings option on sQuid. Information on how to do so is attached. Thank you.

Share my Work

We will have a Share my Work session on Tuesday 21^st March – a timetable will come out showing when each class has been allocated a time. This is a lovely opportunity for you, or a relative, to come in and spend some time looking at your child’s work with your child.

INSET Day – next Friday 10^th March

I feel bad about the timing of this one, it’s a cluster INSET we’ve had booked since September - long before I ever realised strikes were going to take place at this time. I’m sorry if this is messing you about, I did look at rearranging, but there was no ideal time when trying to include the other schools involved.

Cleaning Job at Bishopston Primary – PLEASE SHARE THIS AROUND

Mon-Fri

14 hours 30 mins

Rate of pay: £10.79 p/h

3pm til 6pm (approx.)

Immediate start pending a DBS

Any interest to contact Mark.Laven@swansea.gov.uk

Friday 17^th February 2023

Strikes

It has been confirmed that Thursday 2^nd March will be a strike day. If the strike is cancelled, the children should come in a normal – except it’s World Book Day.  If the strike goes ahead, we will celebrate World Book Day on Friday 3^rd March instead. Children are welcome to come in dressed as a book character.

Free School Meals for Y1

A message from the LA: “We are pleased to announce we will be rolling out free school meals to all year 1 pupils after February half term. Please note this will be automatic and there will be no requirement to apply for the meals. We aim to roll out to further year groups as soon as possible and will update you on our progress in due course.”

Path between the Valley Pub and the School

A number of parent have reported to us that some families are parking in the Valley Pub and then breaking down the boundary between the pub and the school to come in and out of school. Please do not do this.  We don’t want a cut through.

Cancer

In their usual lovely way, a couple of parents have contacted me and suggested I might switch this from opt out to opt in. This is the message I sent last week…

Clic Sargent have a book called “Lucy has a tumour”. It’s about a child who has cancer. It’s been written to help children understand what cancer is, in particular to be a support if a child is diagnosed with cancer. It would help them to understand and what will happen when they go to hospital for treatment.  One of our ex-parents, who was the chair of Governors for a while, Kath O’Kane has approached the school to ask if we would be willing to help the charity rewrite the book, it’s a bit dated in look and style.  I’ve agreed that we’ll run a session with a few children from Y2-Y6 in March, we’ll explain the idea and ask their opinions on the book. 

Please opt in if you would like your child to be involved. https://forms.office.com/e/JpAqGtPp48

PTA Message

We have some sweetie bags left from the disco to sell after school. They will be reduced to 50p so grab a bargain / half term bribery treat 😉 We’ll be in our usual spot by the mini roundabout in the car park from 3pm 🍬

The school disco was a huge success 🥳 thanks to everyone who donated sweets, helped at the event and came to party! We raised over £520 profit! 🙌 Look out for the PTA newsletter coming soon and remember details of what we’ve purchased for the school can be found on the school website https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/pta/

We were lucky to have received support from local supermarkets which helped keep the costs down. During half term, if your little one would like to write a thank you note/ draw a picture of them at the disco we would love to send it off as a thank you ❤️ 

Tesco - 160 bread rolls, sweets 

Coop - sweets, hot dogs, bunting 

Asda - sweets, popcorn 

Morrisons - sweets, popcorn 

Aldi - sweets 

We’re planning a toy sale after half term to raise funds. Any toys that need clearing out during the holiday, please hold onto them and bring them in after the holiday. Watch this space for details about the sale.

Have a great half term, thanks for your support. 

Before and After School Clubs Booking System

The way the Breakfast and Before School Clubs work will be changing after half term.

You will now need to book in to both clubs using the booking function on sQuid. A quick how to guide is attached.

There are a few reasons for the change, increased uptake, pupil safety, reporting, staffing and advanced warning for the kitchen are a few.

There will now be a register created by squid. Your child/ren will need to be on the this register to attend. You will still be able to book right up until the morning of the club if you need that flexibility, however we would appreciate as much advanced warning as possible. Children booked in to Before School Club will automatically be added to the Breakfast Club register.

There is also a slight change in the times. Before School Club will now run from 7:50-8:20 and cost £2.00 per child, Breakfast Club will run from 8:20-8:50 and will continue to be free. Please remember the drive closes at 8:30 for safety reasons. Final admission is at 8:30.

For those who have paid for Before school club in advance, a credit for your purse will be arranged which can be spent on bookings going forward. For those who owe, we ask could you pay any outstanding amounts via the old Before School Club purse as usual, you will get an email with a final amount to be paid.

Refunds will only be available if your child is absent due to illness.

If you have any questions please contact the office on 01792 232754 or email Mrs Bessant on bessante11@hwbcymru.net

Support for the African Centre in Swansea

One of our parents has asked us to appeal on behalf of the African Centre in Swansea. The young Mums there are desperate for warm clothes for their babies and toddlers up to 3 years old. They are also looking for pushchairs.  We’d be happy to take donations straight after the holiday, we’ll ensure they get to the centre.

Friday 3^rd February 2023

Big thanks for the Dragon Bags – the total made was £303.45. If you do send anymore bags in, please post them straight into the Dragon Bag ‘Bin’ which is next to the containers.

Parents’ Evening

Thanks to everyone who has booked their parent evening slots, please can everyone do that by Sunday night at the latest. We’ll then get your allocated time to you next week.  This is the link if you haven’t done it yet…

https://forms.office.com/e/nAhRvmyBxf

Valentine’s Disco – PTA

On Thursday 16^th February we have the Valentine’s Disco. As usual it will be in the KS2 Hall. It will be dark outside, so please ensure children are being led safety to and from cars. The Foundation Phase disco is from 5:30 - 6:15, the KS2 disco (Years 3-6) will be from 6:30 - 7:30.

Sweetie donations – anyone who can kindly send in some sweetie donations for the PTA to use at the disco, that would be much appreciated.

Before School Club

After half term the Before School Club will go up to £2. (7.50am-8.20am) We have kept it at £1 for as long as possible, but it is consistently losing money. We cannot use the delegated budget to subsidies child care.

The Drive

Can we politely remind all parents to remember not to come up the drive between 0830-0900 and then again between 1500-1540. There is a big sign that says this at the end of the drive. Parents should not be parking on the school site without permission (we can issue a badge to those who have a real need).  Please do not do it, we want our school site to be a safe one for all the children.

Parent Helpers

It’s been great to have a few more parent helpers around the school. We’d love some more!  Grandparents are welcome too of course.

• Y1/2 – PB/EG

Anytime, any day, to help to keep on top of the small outdoor area and make it a bit prettier with planting! Regular visits - maybe twice a half term?

• Y3/4 – NB

Wednesdays at any time to listen to readers.

• Y3/4 – LE

Anytime in the week to support pupils with mental maths skills (don’t worry –the questions and answers will be provided!!)

• Rec – ET

Thursday afternoons 1-1:30 to listen to readers. (Not a parent from Reception though, at a very young age it can go wrong having your own parent in!)

Safer Internet Day

Tuesday 7^th February. Children will do some work around it. Please consider coming to our Coffee Morning session at 9am on Thursday 16^th February – it is such an important topic. Allowing young children access to the internet through phones and other devices has the potential to be incredibly harmful. Please do give this one some thought. One the news today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64504549

Residential Meetings for Parents

Romania – 4 pupils involved – Thursday 9^th February (1530-1600)

Y4 Urdd Trip to Cardiff – Parent meeting on Friday 10^th February (1530-1600)

Y5 Llain in West Wales – Parent meeting on Thursday 16^th February (1530-1600)

Y6 Llangrannog in West Wales – Parent meeting on Tuesday 14^th March (1530-1600)

We will create small pack which includes a kit list etc. This will be emailed out after the meeting to all parents in that year group.  If you have any specific questions by all means send them in before the meeting and we’ll do our best to find out any answers.

Friday 27^th January 2023

Attendance

Please do keep supporting us to get our attendance up. We’re around 93%, we want to be over 95%. Every session counts!

Strikes

A reminder that next Wednesday is the first of 4 planned strike days. Online learning won’t be provided, as it was during the Covid times. The Governing body and the HT cannot ask teachers to provide online learning

Toys and Games

Our after school club is somewhat bereft of resources at the moment. If anyone has any board games, or toys cars, dolls etc that they would be willing to donate, they would be gratefully received. Either drop them into the club or to the school office.

Coffee Mornings

Our community coffee mornings have gone down really well with parents.  So far we’ve had one on Resilience and another on When to worry about your worrier. The presentations/resources for both are on the school website https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/parent-workshops-with-coffee-and-cake/

About 20 parents have come along, next time we’ll have it in a different room to ensure everyone can fit in!  The next session we’re running is on:

Dragon Bags

The Dragon Bags that have come home this week will be collected on Thursday 2^nd February. Ideally you’ll send them back on the day. Sending back 1 item is better than nothing, it would be great if we could fill the bags. 

Friday 20^th January 2023

Strikes

Although the LA have been in contact about the strikes, we still don’t have a clear instruction as to what we can and can’t do. We know most teacher in our school are part of the union which is striking. We’re not allowed to ask them whether or not they are striking. We were assured we’d have more information by today which hasn’t come yet. Sincere apologies, as soon as I know where we stand I will let you know.

Attendance and Punctuality

Please remember school starts at 8:50am. Some children are repeatedly coming late. Please make sure they are here on time.

Cleaning Job at Bishopston Primary

Mon-Fri

14 hours 30 mins

Rate of pay: £10.79 p/h

3pm til 6pm (approx.)

Immediate start pending a DBS

Any interest to contact Mark.Laven@swansea.gov.uk

Music Tuition

As you know KS2 pupils, and some Y2 pupils, learn instruments in school. The teachers we use come in and teach children in groups, or as individuals – depending on what parents choose and are willing to pay. It’s gone really well. If a family is really struggling financially, we may be able to help with costs. Please talk to us.

PTA - Dragon Rag Recycling Day

Coming soon, we are launching our ‘Daffi Day’ (Dragon Bag Recycling Day). Next week, each child will be coming home with a bag to fill, so get clearing, sorting and let's make some money from the things you no longer need! This is a great way to recycle and set an example to our children about how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. More info, and the all-important weigh in date when we can expect to receive the bags back, will be in next Friday's message. Information about the organisation can be found at: https://www.dragonbags.co.uk/

PTA - Valentine's Disco (poster attached)

DJ WADLEY will be back to entertain us so come throw some shapes on the dancefloor! Sweetie donations from parents would be very much appreciated, please remember us next time you go shopping.  

Friday 13^th January 2023

Clubs – for children in Years 3-6

Please click the link to book children into clubs this term. We have asked for a voluntary contribution this time.

https://forms.office.com/e/D9WE0vbsmY

After School Club

Having consulted with parents, it’s abundantly clear there simply isn’t the requirement for the ASC on Fridays. Once again today, no one is using it. We will run it for the rest of this half term and then close it for the foreseeable future on Fridays.

Volunteers

It’s been great seeing a steady increase of volunteers coming into school to get involved in all sorts of different aspects of school life. If you can find the time, please do touch base with your child’s class teacher. It’s lovely to feel part of the community, we’re all working hard to give the children the best we can.

PTA update

Thanks you for all your support over the Christmas period with our various events! Please have a read of our newsletter which contains useful info about where we have spent the fundraising. More info can be found on the PTA page of the school website: https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/pta  As ever, if you want to get involved, please get in touch!

Dates for your diary:

PTA meeting, everyone welcome next Thursday 19^th January @ 8pm at the Joiners. (Mr Owen & Mrs Beynon will be there for the first round. A chance to quiz them!)

Valentine's disco will be Thursday 16^th February  

Parents Evening will be Tuesday 14^th and Wednesday 15^th February

Nuts

A polite reminder again, please do not send children in with any nut products – chocolate bars, peanut butter sandwiches etc.

Attendance

We know it’s a time of year when lots of bugs are about, if your child is ill, it’s right they are off. However, we do need to keep working on improving attendance at school. Please help us!

Friday 23^rd December

Christmas Play Videos

Don’t forget to purchase the Christmas Play video link by the end of today if you want us to get it to you tomorrow morning.  We won’t be checking emails over the break, so it’s either tonight or way into January!  All you need to do is purchase it on sQuid, the link will come tomorrow morning. 

Newsletter

Click the link to have a read of our half termly newsletter. It captures a bit of the half term and gives some useful updates too.

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/091bac85-2452-4650-8f7f-18bdbec5ff48/054-autumn-2-2022.pdf

PTA

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone for your support this year! We have had a great time organising events and with your help, raised a huge amount for the school. Look out for our newsletter in the new year which details what we’ve raised and where the money has been spent. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas, relaxing with family and friends and look forward to a happy, healthy 2023 for all 🎄🧑‍🎄🍾

From the School to the PTA – A HUGE THANK YOU! What super stars you are with your tireless efforts to fund raise for the school.

INSET day

Monday 9^th January is an INSET day. The children are back in on Tuesday 10^th January. (The other INSET days are on the newsletter.)

Seeing so many faces come in for the shows reminds us what a lovely community we’re a part of. We want the school to be an increasingly positive presence in the community.  Any ideas to help us keep improving are always welcome.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Friday 16th December

The Choir in the Community

Mrs Griffiths will be taking the school choir carol singing in the village on the morning of Thursday 22nd December between 10am and 11.30am.  The choir will walk the main road from the school, to the top of Caswell Bay road (where the bus stop is) ringing the school bell as they go.  The choir will stop and sing at a few points along the way.  Listen out for the school bell and join the Christmas procession!

Instrumentalist Christmas concert

There will be a choir and instrumentalist Christmas concert on Friday 23rd December is at 10am in the KS2 hall. This is a low key event but an opportunity for pupils to perform in front of an audience. (Mrs Wagstaff and Mr Southgate have arranged which children are playing, not all learners are involved). If your child is playing an instrument in school, please do come along. Grannies and Grandps all welcome!

After School Club

We may have to put the price of the After School Club up in the future because staff wages are rising. We do not run the club for profit, but it cannot be subsidized from the main school fund.  One solution may be to shut the club on a Friday. For a long a time very few families are using the After School Club on Fridays.  Sometimes no one is booked in, sometimes it’s just one child, never more than two or three. By keeping it open for so few children it’s running at a considerable loss. It may be that if families know it’s not open on Fridays, an alternative solution is found.  Please get in touch if you want to share any thoughts on this.

Appropriate clothing

Please make sure children are coming to school in appropriate clothing. Coats in the winter are a must.

Holiday and INSET day

School is open all next week. We then have a two week holiday. Monday 9^th January is an INSET day. The children are back in on Tuesday 10^th January.

Friday 9^th December 2022

Food Hygiene

The school kitchen had a food safety inspection last week. Congratulations to Nic the cook for keeping the standards so high. It was rated 5 (out of 5!) which means that hygiene standards are very high.

Christmas Concert Tickets

There are still tickets available for the Christmas Concerts. Feel free to pick some up for Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles etc.  Please come to the office to collect the tickets.

The Choir in the Community

Mrs Griffiths will be taking the school choir carol singing in the village on the morning of Thursday 22nd December between 10am and 11.30am.  The choir will walk the main road from the school, to the top of Caswell Bay road (where the bus stop is) ringing the school bell as they go.  The choir will stop and sing at a few points along the way.  Listen out for the school bell and join the Christmas procession!

Also, there will be a choir and instrumentalist Christmas concert at 10am Friday 23rd December, 10am, KS2 hall - low key event but an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. (Mrs Wagstaff and Mr Southgate have arranged which children are playing, not all learners are involved). If your child is playing an instrument in school, please do come along.

Homework

This week, Mrs Beynon and I have discussed had meetings with teachers about children’s wellbeing, learning, progress etc.  A clear trend that came through is where children are regularly reading at home, engaging with homework (e.g. learning spellings, times tables) they are clearly more confident in their learning at school.  All children develop at different paces for sure, but all children should have time where they are being read to and they are reading at home. Screen time should be limited.

PTA update

A huge Thank You to everyone who has donated items for the Hamper raffle; we've had an amazing response! Its not too late to donate if you've missed todays' deadline, items can be handed to teachers or the school office. Raffle tickets will be on sale before each play and after the performance there will be a live draw for a luxury hamper. Please remember to bring cash! 

The Christmas raffle is looking to be gigantic, over 50 prizes to win so far and they keep coming! Make sure you buy your ticket on SQUID by midnight on Monday 12th December. Click the link to see the awesome prizes!

https://youtu.be/7KN0I_7i1ZI

The PTA will be selling tickets on the yard for cash (good for grandparents / friends who don't use SQUID) so keep an eye on WhatsApp for when and where. The draw will take place on Wednesday 14th December and a video will be sent out that day - remember you need to be in it to win it! 🤞  

We've just launched our new PTA page on the school website, so check it out if you can....

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/pta/

Here, you can find info about our latest fundraising initiatives, what we have purchased so far for the school and what we are planning on spending money on in future. We are always looking for new people to lend a hand when they can, so if you do have some time, or a project you would like to get involved with, do get in touch. 

Message via the school office

Please don’t email staff personally or send messages via SeeSaw etc if your child is off. Either email the school, or better still, leave a message on the school phone.  Thanks

Friday 2nd December 

PTA

Wow! What a great success this years lantern parade was. It was magical seeing everyone’s lanterns snaking through the village and the school choir were amazing! 🎶 A huge thank you to everyone who helped organise and support the event. The Christmas market was a triumph too, a lovely way of supporting local traders and those Gower Pizzas were divine. Together we raised a combined total of £1015! 🙌 

Look out for a PTA newsletter coming soon which details what we’ve raised, what we’ve bought for the school and what we’re working towards 👀 

Hopefully you will have heard via WhatsApp about the Christmas Hamper Raffles. Tickets will be sold before each Christmas play for £1 cash for the chance to win a luxury hamper. 

We need items donated (please click the link to see what each year group is being asked to bring in). Please drop them into your teacher / school office. If you would like to donate a different item please feel free!

The deadline for Christmas hamper donations is Friday 9th December, so only a week to go! 

The PTA are also organising the phenomenal Golden Raffle, to be drawn via video on 14th December. Currently we have over 50 prizes, and more keep coming… the star prize is a £250 Smyths toys voucher! Tickets are available on squid and will be sold afterschool for cash so keep an eye out on WhatsApp.  Click this link to see what’s on offer so far. We can’t update the video fast enough!

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/the-latest-events-we-have-arranged/

Holidays in December

Please let us know if you are taking your children away in December, it makes a huge different to our planning with Christmas shows etc. It will really mess teachers around if children go off on holiday without their prior knowledge.  There is an expectation that children who are in the shows come to all of the shows – not just the night their parents can come and watch!

Farm Gate

Does anyone know of a farm gate that in reasonable condition that we can have? Metal or wood.

Nuts

Please do not put nut products in children’s packed lunches. We have advised before, we have children and staff who are highly allergic. We have epi pens in school and staff have had training, but the best thing we can do is prevent it happening in the first place.

Parent help

“I really enjoy helping at the school, it make me feel part of my child's school journey who say they like me being there too. Overall it gives me a better understanding of school life and how we all work as a team."

Many thanks and hope you have a good weekend.

Residential Deposits

Parents in Years 4, 5 and 6, please make sure you have paid the deposits for the residentials. The payment needs to be paid through sQuid.  Thanks to those of you who have got onto this already.

Food Banks

If as a family you are having to use food banks at the moment, or will do in the next few weeks, please consider letting us know.  By clicking this link and letting us know before the end of next week, we might be able to get some extra help for your family around Christmas.

https://forms.office.com/e/wMy09HyVvc

Clubs

There will be no clubs in the last week of term

After School Club housekeeping rules (the ASC does not make profit for the school)

1. Please book a space. If your child is not booked you will be called to pick them up.

2. If you book a space, it must be paid for. Preferably in advance. No matter how long your child stays, by booking you are preventing others from getting that space.

3. Pick up is 5:15 sharp. We cannot keep your child beyond this time. 

4. Please let us know if your child won't be attending. This way the space can go to another and prevents staff looking for a child who has already gone home.

School Safety

After Christmas we are going to try locking the gate that comes through behind the round house, next to the green fence running alongside the FP playing field. We will lock it during the school day. Unfortunately, we still have some people who live in the village convinced the school site is a right of way – it isn’t! Please spread the word.

Friday 25th November

Christmas Play Dates, Times and Ticket allocations

Foundation Phase – 3 shows

• Monday 12^th 1:30pm
• Tuesday 13^th 1:30pm and 6:00pm

Key Stage 2 – 4 shows

• Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st at 1:30pm and 6:00pm

You can buy the tickets through sQuid from Monday 28^th November at 9am.

Each show has a limited number of tickets. To manage that, the rule is that each family can buy 2 tickets.

If you have children in both FP AND KS2, you can buy two tickets for the FP show and two tickets for the KS2 show. If you have two children in FP OR two children in KS2, you can only buy two tickets for the respective show.

When you have bought your tickets via sQuid, please come to the office to pick them up from Mrs Bessant. You cannot pay cash to the office though. You must have paid via Squid for us to have them ready.

If you make a mistake and purchase tickets for two shows, we will assume you have made a mistake on the first choice and write that off. You’ll be allocated the tickets for your second purchase.

From Monday 5^th any left-over tickets will go up for sale, they will be on a first come first served basis.

Scholastic Book Fair

We have the scholastic book fair in school over the next two weeks. There are some great offers. The book fair will be open for 30mins after school each evening. Come and browse, it’s likely to sort a Christmas gift for someone!

Children in Need

Thanks to those who gave money towards Children in Need. We’ll send on the money raised which was £109.

Golden Raffle

The PTA have arranged a phenomenal raffle where you can buy tickets on sQuid – see purse called “Golden Raffle”. Teachers and children will make a video of the draw on 14^th December. You have less than three weeks to buy your tickets!  Prizes this year are incredible, including a star prize of £250 voucher for Smyths Toy Store! Other prizes include: pamper hampers, meals, vouchers for lots of local produce etc.  See this video.

If you are able to donate a prize, we’ll still happily include it. It’s great publicity for your company.

Contact Corinne Achilleos on 07949 512258

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HdYMIUJkiE

Lantern Parade

🏮🏮🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻🎄🏮🏮

We are looking forward to seeing you and your lanterns tomorrow. We will be meeting at the school from 5.15pm on Friday and leaving at 5:30pm. We had some wonderful creations last year with tinsel/ fairy lights, you name it, if you want to jazz them up!

Glow wands will also be on sale for £3. And the forecast looks good!🤞

The horrific weather this week means it would be a good idea to wear wellies – Murton Green will be very wet and probably muddy. (The children’s wellies might be in school so do pick them up!)

There will be a rolling road closure and marshals in place for safety, but please do remain responsible for your children. The school gates will be locked when we leave so please don’t park at school.

We’ll follow Santa’s sleigh through the village via…

Bishopston Road - Pyle Road – Oldway – Killfield – Broadmead - Long Acre - Tudor Way - Manselfield Road - Murton Green

You are welcome to join us along the route!

PTA Message

🏮🏮🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻🎄🏮🏮

Please keep your donations coming for the PTA Stalls at the Christmas Market – we need it all by tomorrow before 2pm please! Especially decorated jars filled with sweets, good quality adults clothes, accessories and shoes, teddies and books. You can drop off to the school office.

Thank you 🙏

Before School Club - Safeguarding

Please remember that the Before School Club opens at 0750, parents pay for this. From 0820 it becomes breakfast club which is free. There is no admission from 0830.  Any child attending from the FP (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 2) MUST be dropped off at the door by parents. (Parents can’t park and let children run across on their own.)

Tree Planting

This year the eco warriors have decided to step it up a gear. This means that it is really important to them to encourage the local community to get involved in our projects to support our local area to be a clean one and spread our eco code. The warriors decided to apply for 60 trees to plant in the school grounds. The application was successful and this session will now take place on Thursday the 8th December. We would really love the local community to get involved for the morning and come to school to help with the planting. Having your support means and awful lot to the children and really helps to embed the community feel within Bishopston Primary. 

If you feel this is something you would be interested in, please let Ms Melling or Mr Owen know as soon as possible. 

Many thanks,

Ms Melling and the Eco warriors

Date: Thursday 8th December

Start: 9.30am

Trees: Woodland Pack – 60 trees (whips).

Attendance update

Please do not book holidays in term time. Before Covid our attendance was over 95%. It is possible to get it back to where it should be. If there are things we can do to support, please do let us know.

Our attendance so far is…

Friday 18th November

We still need your rubbish! Reminder message

Over the next few months, we are hoping to improve our outdoor areas. One of our aims is to introduce a loose parts construction area to the KS2 yard. Loose parts play provides opportunities for children to express their creativity, develop resilience, and teamwork. It is open-ended play that allows the children to explore and create using a range of different objects and parts. The opportunities are endless. We would really appreciate any resources that you have available that you no longer need.

We are looking for:

• Milk crates
• Mushroom Crates
• Nail free timber
• Plastic tubes e.g. drain pipes
• Crates
• Wooden pallets
• Buckets
• Wooden cable drum
• Rope
• Tarpaulin
• Wooden spoons
• Metal bowls
• Tyres
• Metal saucepan

PTA – reminder message

**Only 4 more days to order your lantern kit ** The last order date on squid is Monday 21st and last collection will be Tuesday 22nd from the junior hall. If you miss this, Northway garage will still be selling kits if they have stock left. They will also be available to buy at Murton Farm shop this weekend only.

🧸🎄📚🎄🍫🎄🍬🎄👗🎄📿🎄👠🎄👜

Confirmed stalls at the Christmas Market (Friday 25th November) after the Lantern Parade are:

Beautique gifts, Eden Days, Gower Pizza, The Gower Wreath Lady, Crystal Keyring & Jewellery, 93 Bakes, Sophie Chambers Art, Babita’s Spice, Sea Glass Jewellery Co., The Lamplighter, cake stall, new/nearly new gifts, books and handmade items, sweetie jar tombola, hot chocolate reindeer cones 🎄🤶🎅🎄

Please keep your donations coming! Especially decorated jars filled with sweets, good quality adults clothes, accessories and shoes, teddies and books. You can drop off to the school, or to 23 wellfield.

Thank you 🙏 

🏮🏮🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻🎄🏮🏮

Info about the night…. 

We will be meeting at school from 5.15 next Friday for this year’s lantern parade through Bishopston. We can’t wait to see you all and your lanterns.

We will leave the school at 5.30pm and follow Santa on his sleigh to Murton Green. The council are helping us out this year by preparing road closure notices…..to keep us all safe. The choir will be singing carols at Murton Green and the Christmas tree lights will be switched on at 6.30pm. The Community Council will be kindly selling refreshments and mince pies at the event. This year our PTA Christmas Market will be in Murton Church Hall (opposite the Farm shop) from 6.45pm til 8.30. Please come over and show your support!

Tik Tok

Please take note of the attached file about TikTok. Recently, teachers have heard some of the year 5/6 children talking about videos and people on TikTok that are very inappropriate.

Friday 11^th November 2022

New Governors

We have two new parent governors. Thanks to everyone for putting their votes in.  Helen Nicholas has been voted in once again and Aimee Barnett is our new parent Governor.

Share My Work reminder – November 15^th

Y6 Bikes – exceptional behaviour!

Well done to all the Y6 pupil who took part in the Cycling this last few weeks. One of the instructors came to me at the end and couldn’t praise the children’s behavior enough. He said they work in many different schools, the children in our school were exceptionally well behaved. Great stuff!

Red Nose Day

Next Friday it is Red Nose Day, children can come wearing spots, which is the theme.  If that’s a struggle, go for something red!

Christmas Concert times

The newsletter that came out before half term had Christmas Concert times on it. There is a slight change. The dates for the Foundation Phase concert has changed to be Monday 12 and Tuesday 13^th December.

Residential

Everyone should be able to pay the deposits now for the Y5 and Y6 residentials. Sorry for any difficulties.

The Y4 residential for one night we’re arranging should be able to go ahead. We’ve had 25 parents reply to say yes, and no parent replied to say no.  (It’s almost like you want us to take them for a night!!)

PTA Message

It’s that magical time of year again…. join us on the 25th November at 5:30 to parade lanterns from the school, through the village to the Christmas light switch on in Murton green. 🎄🎅🌟

Lantern kits are now available to buy via squid for £7 each. For the next two weeks, the PTA will have a stall to sell kits afterschool - first sale will be today (Friday 11th) in the junior hall, look out for more dates to come! If you have your lantern from last year and need to make repairs, lantern materials will also be available on the stall, please bring cash. Kits that have been ordered via squid are available to collect from the stall too, just flash your squid payment info.

Each kit will have everything you need with directions and even a link to a YouTube video you can follow. Remember size isn’t everything and your child (or most probably, you) will need to carry it.

Due to the interest from the community last year, Northway Garage and Murton farm will also be selling full kits for the PTA 🙌

This year, as well as the big light switch on in Murton Green, there will also be a Christmas Market in the church hall. So come and support local traders, grab some lovely Christmas gifts and sample some of our best local cuisine.

Join us for this memorable event, we are looking forward to seeing you there with your wonderful lantern creations 🏮

We need your rubbish!

Over the next few months, we are hoping to improve our outdoor areas. One of our aims is to introduce a loose parts construction area to the KS2 yard. Loose parts play provides opportunities for children to express their creativity, develop resilience, and teamwork. It is open-ended play that allows the children to explore and create using a range of different objects and parts. The opportunities are endless. We would really appreciate any resources that you have available that you no longer need.

We are looking for:

• Milk crates
• Mushroom Crates
• Nail free timber
• Plastic tubes e.g. drain pipes
• Crates
• Wooden pallets
• Buckets
• Wooden cable drum
• Rope
• Tarpaulin
• Wooden spoons
• Metal bowls
• Tyres
• Metal saucepans

We are also hoping to set up a log circle outside Sky Phase, as well as improving the seating in the forest area. Any wooden stumps would also be really appreciated. Please leave any donations by the yellow skip located in the Key Stage 2 carpark.

If you can help, please email the school or call in and speak to Miss Stevenson.

5G Mast

Lots of the WhatsApp groups have passed messages around about the proposal to put up a 5G mast on Northway. Parents who would like to comment on the proposal can do so by emailing planning@dotsurveying.co.uk

Ifyou would like to copy in Councillor Lyndon Jones, feel free to do so through using this email northway5gmast@outlook.com

Online Safety

At school we have a lot in place to try and keep children safe online (I’m not suggesting it’s perfect). Please make sure you are aware of how your children are using the internet.  Social media and online gaming are increasingly providing problems for children. Parents must monitor! Here is a very useful website with so much info on.

https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/keeping-safe-online/

Friday 7^th November 2022

It is a survey for parents and young people from the new children's commissioner for Wales.

https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/our-work/ambitions-for-wales/

Friday 28^th October

NEWSLETTER

Friday 21st October

Parents Evening

Parents evening slips should have given you an appointment for Tuesday 25^th or Wednesday 26^th. If you haven’t got one, please drop a message to your child’s class teacher. We sent them out as paper slips.

💀🎃👻  PTA Halloween disco 👻🎃💀 

We hope your children are excited for the Halloween disco on Tuesday, 25th October.  

The discos will be in the junior hall.

Foundation Phase disco 5.30-6.15

(Parents you are welcome and encouraged to stay)

Junior disco 6.30-7.30 

(Parents can drop off or are welcome to stay if you would like to)

Remember to wear Halloween fancy dress.

It will be cash only event. £1 on the door per child and there will be hot dogs, popcorn, crisps and sweets on sale too. We will also be selling tattoos and doing face paint.

The school will be open as there will be parents meetings going on too. Please remember how busy the drive gets; foundation parents will need to leave promptly as juniors will be dropped off from 6:30pm so street parking would be best.  Please at least walk children to and from the door so no one is running around a car park.

We are so looking forward to putting on this annual event once again…it’s been 3 years since we’ve been able to have one! 

Share my work – November 15^th

After half term we will once again run a share my work session. For any new parents, this is a lovely session where you can come in and sit with your child at a table in the school hall.  Parents over the years have given us really good feedback on this.  If you need to catch up with your child’s teacher, remember you can do that at any time through the year.

Careers Fair

Any parents available on Friday November 11th to come and support a careers fair for Y6 please contact Mrs Ellis through emailing the school office.

bishopstonprimaryschool@bishopston-pri.swansea.sch.uk

Contacting Teachers

Can I politely ask that parent do not message teachers on SeeSaw through the school day. If you need to contact the school in the day, please ring or email the office. For example, messaging a teacher through SeeSaw to ask if they can pick up their child for the dentist, is highly unlikely to be picked up.

Book Fair

On the week beginning 28^th November we have a Book Fair in the school. We ran this for many years before Covid. It’s super simple, each night during that week from 3:00-4:00pm the book fair is open, parents can come (with or without children) and pick up some real bargains. Ideal Christmas presents! 

Car Seats

A few children from our school are not being transported safely in cars: either on an adult’s lap, not strapped into a kid’s car seat, or not in a car seat at all. Please can we implore parents to transport children safely.

Friday 14^th October

Parents Evening

If you haven’t already booked the parents evening times for Tuesday 25^th or Wednesday 26^th, please do so…

Expressive Arts

We are looking to raise the profile of the Expressive Arts in our school. We are keen to make the most of the talents in our community, so we are looking for any artists, musicians, photographers etc that would be willing to come and work with/talk to the children about their skills and work.  Please contact the school office who will pass messages onto Mrs Brewer. bishopstonprimaryschool@bishopston-pri.swansea.sch.uk 

Volunteers

Please come and get involved! Talk to your child’s class teacher. We are now beginning to see a few parents come in to read or paint, help with times tables etc. All these things are so good. Remember when you were at school, parents were a part of school life. We know that lots of parents need to work full time now, so obviously it’s simply not possible for everyone. Any who can, please do, it really helps create a sense of community in the school. 

Thanks to the two parents who came today to help decorate the intervention room. Stage 1 is now done, it’s been stripped back and masses of huge holes filled with boxes of polyfilla!  Next Friday afternoon we’ll get painting, anyone can do it, come if you can.

Bikes and Scooters

We love that lots of children – and parents – ride to school. Please do not cycle on paths and the playground though. This week a child was knocked over by a cyclist.

Free School Meals

If you’re at all unsure, please do take the time to apply for Free School Meals.

https://www.swansea.gov.uk/applyfreeschoolmeals

Not only will it help you, it actually helps the school because some of the funding that comes into schools is based on the percentage of pupils with FSM.

Dogs

We keep sending reminders to parents not to bring dogs onto the school grounds. Although there are lots of friendly dogs we simply can’t have a system that judges the dogs’ personalities!! Please do not bring dogs onto the school grounds.

No Nuts

Children and staff should not bring nuts or snacks with nuts in - including peanut butter and Nutella.  This is not political correctness gone mad, it’s simply keeping people who have very serious allergies safe. We have both children and staff who this could be life threatening to.

Advanced warning

5^th November – glow sticks for sale at Murton Green during the fireworks show

25^th November – the lantern parade – super special, so save the date.

Attendance so far this year – please don’t take children out of school. Only three classes in school above the target of 95%!

Friday 7^th October

PTA Event – Halloween Disco

The PTA are delighted to be able to run the Halloween disco this year. Please see the attached poster – click this link https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/hsapta-newsletters/ .

Choosing a date caused some challenges, so it will be on Tuesday 25^th October.

Advanced warning

5^th November –glow sticks for sale at Murton Green during the fireworks show

25^th November – the lantern parade – super special, so save the date.

Friday sale

The next Friday sale will be taking place 14th October and will be selling second hand school uniform and Halloween costumes. If you do have any costumes your little ones have grown out of, please hand them into the office asap.

Coats

Remember the weather can change through the day, please ensure children either wear a coat to school or have one in their bag.

Dog Poo on the site

We have far too many dogs coming onto the site, this is causing problems in that we are regularly cleaning up dog poo!  Please do not use the school site as a place to exercise dogs.

Next week

Y3/4 football tournament – boys on Thursday 13^th, girls on Friday 14^th

Shwmae Day!!!

As a school, we will be celebrating Shwmae Day on Friday 14th October.  

Shwmae (pronounced 'shuh-my') means 'Hi there' in Welsh.

This is a special day to promote the Welsh language, and encourage us to start a conversation using the greeting of 'Shwmae'.

Children can wear Welsh team kits, Welsh colours, outfits, hats, scarves and hairbands. The children will take part in fun activities and tasks with a Welsh theme, and learn more about Wales.

To find out more, click the link below.

http://www.shwmae.cymru/?lang=en 

Attendance

Attendance this last month is at…

Please remember we can’t authorize holidays as we were able to last year.  Our attendance for the month of September wasn’t great!  Well done to any classes getting over 95%,

23rd September

Message from the PTA

The PTA are meeting in the Valley pub, Bishopston, on 6th October at 7:30pm. We will be planning events for the year and welcoming new members. We would love it if you could join us! Minutes will be available if you can't make it. Hopefully see you there xx

Lost Property

Lost property will be out at the end of school today, please come and have a look through. What’s left will be sold as second hand uniform or go to charity.

Interior Design!

We would love to get any advice on how to make our front entrance in the KS2 building look really wonderful! If you have good creative ideas and think you could make a difference, please do come and have a chat.

Clubs Booking

Please do have a chat with your children about which clubs they are going to. This week we had just about every child turning up to every club!  Please can you click this link which we’ll use as a booking system. Can we also request that you do pay on sQuid.

https://forms.office.com/r/jUyyeehZsW

School Times – consultation

A few parents have asked that the Governors have a look at the possibility of adjusting the school times. The request was that the Foundation Phase starts and ends 5minutes before Key Stage 2. Governors are now aware of this and will go through the process. It’s not super simple so nothing will change within a few weeks. All parents will be consulted.

School Improvement Advisor

We had a visit on Thursday this week from or School Improvement Advisor. It was very positive, but it was also made clear to us how important Attendance is.  We were able to say that we have been sending reminder through the Summer term. Please do not take holidays during school time. Can we also remind everyone to be punctual – there are some repeat offenders!  It’s not fair on the children if they have to repeatedly walk into their class late.

SeeSaw

If you haven’t yet connected to SeeSaw please do so. It’s the key communication tool between class teachers and home. Any issues with connecting, touch base with the class teacher.

Curriculum Information Evening

Next week on Thursday 29th September, Mrs Beynon is running two Curriculum Information sessions. One is at 1430 and the other is at 1545. They are identical sessions and will run for 45mins.  Please do come along, there have been lots of changes in recent years, it will be a super informative session.

Y6 Parents – Comprehensive Information Evening

Bishopston Comprehensive School has been in touch regarding open evenings which will take place on Wednesday 5th October and Thursday 6th October. Due to the amount of children in year 6 this year, our sessions have been split over the two days.

All children with surnames beginning with A - L are invited to attend the comprehensive school at 4:30PM on Wednesday 5th October.  Click this link to book your place…

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/year-6-open-evening-exclusively-for-bishopston-pennard-oystermouth-tickets-424934188597

All children with surnames beginning with M - Z are invited to attend to attend the comprehensive school at 6:30PM on Thursday 6th October. Click this link to book your place…

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/year-6-open-evening-exclusively-for-bishopstonoakleigh-houseothers-tickets-424964489227

The comprehensive school have asked that the child only be accompanied by a maximum of two people. If you have any issues making the session, please contact the comprehensive school, not us.

Friday 16th September

Website

Please refer to the website for the plans for the next term. Click classes and then follow through to your child’s class page.

Clubs

Bank Holiday

Please remember school won’t be open on Monday as it is a Bank Holiday. After the Queen’s funeral we will use an assembly once again in school to remember her and help the children process such a historic moment.

Y6 Cycle Training

Today is the deadline for forms to go in – please email them back, your child will not be able to do the training unless the form has gone off.

Curriculum Information Evening

Next week on Thursday, Mrs Beynon is running two Curriculum Information sessions. One is at 1430 and the other is at 1545. They are identical sessions and will run for 45mins.  Please do come along, there have been lots of changes in recent years, it will be a super informative session.

Website

Please refer to the website for the plans for the next term. Click classes and then follow through to your child’s class page.

Clubs

Clubs will start again for KS2 (Junior) children next week. I have attached the list of clubs available to children. There are always suggestions of clubs that we can’t do.  We go with the ones that are most popular – and that we can deliver. Although it was a great suggestion, Mud Wrestling isn’t a club we can do week in week out!

If your child is going to attend any of the club please pay £20 for the term. This is an absolute bargain!  It works out at less than £2 a session – even less if the child goes to more than one club. The money is a real help to keep the school well stocked with good resources etc.

Friday 9th September

Photos

On Thursday next week, children will have the ‘school photo’ taken. The Company is Roz and Kirsty.  They must have consents by Tuesday for them to take photos, click the link to give consent.

https://schools.rozandkirsty.co.uk/add_consent/1?pin=4379

Busy Bees

Our Busy Bees Parent & Toddler Group is once again running every Monday between 2:15 – 3:15pm. Children from birth to age 4 are invited to come along, with their parents or carers, to experience the Bishopston nursery classroom.

Residential Dates

We have dates booked for residentials this year for…

Y5 – 12-16^th June – going to Llain

Y6 – 26-30^th June – going to Llangrannog

We are also looking at the possibility of taking the Y4s to the Urdd Centre in Cardiff for two days and one night, this would be 8-9^th March 2023.

Message from the PTA

We are looking forward to organising more fundraising events, but realise in this current financial climate, things may be tight so won't be bombarding you too much! 😉 A huge thank you and welcome to Emily Penry as the new treasurer for the PTA. If you can volunteer to help with any event or contribute any ideas, please get in touch with Zoe Syer (07714540269) or Ros Brace (07790005953). We are planning our next PTA meeting in the next few weeks so please keep an eye out on your class WhatsApp group / Friday message email. 

Flu Jabs

Flu Jabs are happening on 3^rd Oct (popped it in school calendar) consent forms will be going out Monday to be returned by 21^st Sept. Chrisie the nurse stressed that even if the child is not having the jab the form still needs to be returned stating so.

Covid Advice

If children have covid please keep them at home isolating for 5 days, then the can return to school again.

Y6 Cycling Lessons

Y6 Parents, please do send the consent form back asap, you were emailed the consent forms earlier this week.

INSET

The next INSET day is planned for Friday 30^th September