19th April 

• Monday 22nd – Y5 Residential begins (parents please complete medical consent form for Llain) 

• Thursday 25th – Land Phase (Yrs1-2) Beach School (packed lunch needed). Any parent volunteers, please speak to Mrs Ellis 

PTA  

Meeting Thursday @ 7:30pm in the Valley. Please do come along and get involved. See poster regarding donations for lucky dip / teddy tombola  

The morning drop off 

Please ensure you are at school on time. If you are late, it is really important you go to the main office. People shouldn’t be wandering around the school buildings. Remember staff start teaching immediately, children might be in groups with TAs. We do not have staff who are able to hang around waiting for late comers. 

Parent Coffee Morning on Behaviour 

This week we held a coffee morning with parents to discuss behaviour and gather parental views on potential changes to our behaviour policy moving forward. We were very grateful for the views and ideas of the parents who attended and it was reassuring to feel that we share the same viewpoint that learning to respect authority and follow rules is an essential life skill and prepares our pupils for the wider world ahead of them. We realise there may have been some parents who wanted to attend but were unable. If you would like to give your input, open the doc below and comlplete the tasks, then send it back to us. We want to hear your views. 

Additional Learning Needs – let’s work together! 

If your child has been identified as having an Additional Learning Need (ALN) we would encourage you to attend our ALN coffee mornings, these sessions are run by Mrs Barrow our ALNCO, they have a short focus followed by some time to ask questions. Lots of parents have reported that they have found it beneficial to speak to others who have children with similar needs and share strategies. One parent sent this message: 

'The ALN coffee morning is a fantastic opportunity to share experiences, discuss support strategies, and access the expertise of the ALNCo in a friendly and informal environment.  I found it highly rewarding to access this school-based support network, acknowledging and targeting the challenges faced by parents of ALN children.  It fosters mutual support between parents (and the School), enabling an open forum to discuss topics such as development delays, peer relationships, behavioural and educational goals, or simply to chat about what works and what doesn't! I gleaned some valuable information and ALN links to investigate.  Many thanks to Mrs. Barrow for her time and effort, looking forward to the next meeting! 😊' 

If your child needs a referral for a diagnosis of ALN, the referral pathways are facing increasingly long waiting periods for assessment appointments. This is due to increased ALN in general across Swansea, as well as Wales as a whole. Please be assured that as a school we take your child’s needs very seriously and do all we can to ensure the evidence needed by outside agencies is as detailed as possible. This can take time and we are also dealing with waiting lists to access appropriate professional ALN advice too. If you have a question or concern, keep talking to us. We are here to help. 

Swansea Bay Symphony Orchestra Concert on the 27th April 

The programme includes Grieg's famous Peer Gynt Suites, the music from which has been used in so many films and adverts (You can here it online at https://youtu.be/7kpqALC8IbI?si=YPZOwX93XV510wxI&t=757). The orchestra is made up of many musicians from our local community as well as folks from Bridgend, Cardiff and even as far afield as Aberystwyth! Under 18s have free entry. See the poster below. 

Dog Mess 

Parents are writing to the school upset by the dog mess being left on paths. Please do not bring dogs onto the school site. Even on the footpaths around the school, please clear up after dogs. 

Creating an APP 

I have recently watched too many YouTube videos at night... on Microsoft Power Apps. I’m trying to create an APP that we can use for a variety of reasons to replace ones we currently pay for as a school. If anyone has any experience in APP building (particularly with Microsoft because that’s free for us as a school), please could you email me and potentially spend an afternoon giving some needed support! Owenj142@hwbcymru.net  

Helping biodiversity in Bishopston 

This year the biodiversity team in the Bishopston community council have asked the council not to spray the poisonous weed killer glyphosate on the flower patches around the village. They are asking families to adopt one of these patches and grow butterfly-loving plants and be part of the butterfly count competition they are running. This could be an excellent village project with a vital contribution to feed some of the butterflies, of which, some, are becoming endangered. There is even a starter voucher from a gardening centre to enable you to buy the seeds or plants. To get in touch for a glyphosate free patch please contact   

 Lyndon Jones (07880 743578) Email:  cllr.lyndon.jones@swansea.gov.uk 

or Sue Dunce (01792 232028) 

12th April 

Next week

• Thursday 18th – ALN Coffee morning, 9am 

• Thursday 18th – Behaviour discussion, 9am 

• Thursday 18th - Nurse visit for Reception children’s heights, weights and vision testing 

• Friday 19th - Nurse visit for Reception (and some Y1s) children’s hearing screening 

Other Big Dates Ahead 

• Monday 22nd April – Y5 start their residential in Llain 

• Monday 13th May – beginning of National Test weeks (the tests can be anytime in the two weeks following this Monday) 

• Monday 20th May – Y4 start their residential in Llanion Cove 

• Friday 24th May – our combined Sports/Race Day. Nur, Rec, Yrs1-2 will be in the morning. Yrs 3-6 will be in the afternoon 

Behaviour Discussion - Thursday 18th April 

As you know, it is our aim as a school to create and maintain a learning environment where all pupils and staff are respected, all pupils can achieve and succeed and all teachers can teach effectively.  On Thursday 18th April we will be holding a parent coffee morning to gather your ideas, it will begin at 9am. You may be aware that behaviour in schools is a current topic in the national news and as a self-reflective school, we are keen to ensure that our approach to behaviour management is effective and fair for all concerned. During this session Mr Owen and Mrs Beynon will discuss our current behaviour policy and gather parental views on potential changes moving forward. Please come along and contribute to this important discussion. 

Volunteers 

Just want to take the time to thank so many of you for the work you do with the school – parents coming in for STEM, helping on trips, reading, DIY help. A special thank you to Gini Hearth, one of our Mums, who kindly painted the KS2 girls’ bathroom with some super beach designs, it looks amazing. If you can offer any time, we would always appreciate your help. 

CAMHS In-reach Service Update 

As you know we have had a very successful CAMHS parent coffee morning timetable over the past year or so. Unfortunately, our current In-reach support worker has been relocated and as a result we are now waiting to be allocated a new one. This has affected the coffee morning dates that we had planned for the summer term. As soon as we are allocated a new support worker, we will release new dates. Thanks for your patience with this. 

Rubbish in school 

Parents who provide children with snacks or packed lunches please remember that all rubbish needs to come back home. It’s easy for children to put things back in their packed lunches, however, if they are just coming with a snack at break they still need to take their rubbish back with them. 

Red Community project 

Red Community project are pleased to be offering another fantastic opportunity to support parents/grandparents and carers thanks to Welsh Government funding. This free workshop aims to inform, encourage and share practical ideas  to support children of all ages to thrive with their speech and language. It is being taught by Siwan Etheridge an experienced Speech and Language Therapist and Educator.  

Supporting Children with Speech and Language 

Red Community Project, 646 Mumbles Road (opposite the playground on Mumbles sea front)  

Saturday October 7th 10am-12pm 

Free to attend. Click this link to book on. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/725986684717?aff=oddtdtcreator  

Dementia Friendly Swansea 

Dementia Friendly Swansea is a charity helping raise awareness of Dementia across the Swansea NPT Region. In May they will be launching a new awareness information session called Dementia Aware.  

They will be providing pin badges to all attendees and are asking primary school children to get involved by helping to design the badge - submissions by 12th April to the Dementia Hwb address in Swansea Quadrant. These submissions will be judged by residents of care homes and a winner selected early in May. Please see flyer below. 

PTA 

The PTA are meeting in the Joiners pub on 25/4/24 at 7:00pm. New members are always welcome so please come along if you can. More info about the team and the great work they do can be found PTA | Bishopston Primary School 

Drive Safety 

We have received reports of a white car driving dangerously fast down the drive in the morning and a near accident at the zebra crossing. Please can we remind parents that drive access in the morning is limited to permit holders only, and to drive slowly at 5mph.  

22nd March 

After Easter Holidays  

• Wednesday 10th April – Sky Phase (Y5/6) and KS2 STF out – Crazy Classicals Trip to the Grand 

• Friday 12th April – KS2 (Y3,4,5,6) Beach Day – the Big Beach Clean (packed lunches needed) 

Trip payments 

Thanks to the parents who have paid off the residential trips. It’s a big help to us not to have to chase parents. We have to put a date on ipay – this is sometimes further ahead than the date we want payment by because despite all our best efforts we do still have to chase some late payments.  

A message to our Facebook followers! 

We post regularly to our school social media pages on Instagram and Facebook. We have had some issues with our Facebook which has meant we ended up with two linked accounts. To deal with this, we will be deleting the Facebook page during the Easter holidays. We will start a new one and keep you in the loop. We no longer use Twitter so if you want to keep up to speed with the wonderful learning, visitors and events in our school Instagram and, soon to be new Facebook page, is where you will find us! 

Recycling in School 

We are making some changes in school to ensure we are compliant with the new recycling laws. Something that we will really struggle with is waste from packed lunches. To help with this, we are going to insist that all children take all of their waste home where it can be recycled properly. Most already do this anyway. 

Community Drop-In sessions for MMR vaccines – adults and children. 

No appointment required 

MMR vaccination drop ins will also be available at our local vaccination centres: 

****No appointment required**** 

Canolfan Gorseinon Centre, Millers Drive, opposite Aldi, Swansea, SA4 4Q. 

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:30am – 5:30pm. 

Aberafan Shopping Centre, Port Talbot, SA13 1PB - Situated next door to B&M in the Aberafan Shopping Centre, near the river bridge entrance. 

Comic relief  

We’re so proud of the monumental effort everyone at school has made this year for Comic relief. In total we made a whopping £580 

Behaviour in school  

We want to engage stakeholders in what will ultimately be a revamp of our Behaviour Policy. We would like to welcome parents to come in to school where we’ll run an open workshop to discuss appropriate rewards and sanctions. We are looking to run it on Thursday 18th April. All are welcome. 

Cost of living crisis 

We understand how difficult life is currently with the increase in the cost of living. Please do go onto the council website and have a read, you may well be eligible for some help. What’s more if you are, then the school will end up with some funding which can help to go towards trips etc. Welsh Government are now offering free school meals up to Year 4, so it is a bit confusing – this link isn’t just about having free dinners at school though, there is a lot more support that can be received. https://www.swansea.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals  

Parking 

Parents have reported people parking on double yellow lines outside the school at drop off and pick up times. Please park responsibly. 

Reading Recommendations 

We have noticed that children are talking about books and even giving recommendations to each other now in school. This is great. Please keep encouraging reading at home. It’s the greatest inroad to a good education – once you can read, you can learn about anything. Our pupil group – Tim Dysgu – will be planning a book swap session in the future to try and help reduce costs to parents. 

Use the link on the site to keep the recommendations coming. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/ 

15^th March

Next week –

• Monday 18^th 13:45 – 14:30 Nursery open day
• Monday 18^th 14:30 – The Rights committee will be selling pre-loved school uniform so come and grab a bargain and show your support to this enterprising class. Weather permitting it will be in the KS2 playground if not in the junior hall. This is a Cash only event. Please see poster at the bottom of this week's messages

• Friday 22^nd – CANCELLED – the CAMHS coffee morning has been cancelled, there has been a change in staff, and the new lady cannot do that date. Sorry.

After School Club

I know you will all appreciate that a school’s main aim is to educate children. To try and support parents we offer childcare at the beginning and end of the day. So much time is being taken up trying to chase parents for payments. Please, please, please make sure you book and pay in advance.

Comic relief

This has been a blast this year! It was great seeing everyone dressed up and some of the hairstyles were phenomenal. The school has made £131 via the Just Giving page below and the Year 6 group have made a whopping £392 from their stall sales today! Great work! There’s still time to give via our Just Giving page so please dig deep...

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rnd24-bishopston-primary-school-a38e57f3-5fb7-46ea-8ce7-0c80901d4137?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=rnd24-bishopston-primary-school-a38e57f3-5fb7-46ea-8ce7-0c80901d4137&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=ad1988623aea439989002e45e2a85ac1

Thanks to the Y6 pupils (and your support of course) for raising over £350 in their stalls this afternoon. Some great enterprising work going on!

Calling all exhausted parents!

Thanks to funding from West Glamorgan Regional Partnership  Red Community Project have two free parenting workshops this March aimed at taking the stress out of sleep.

 Session one is on Tuesday 19th March at 8pm and is for parents and guardians of children aged 0-1.

 Session two on Wednesday 20th March at 8pm and is for parents/guardians of children aged 1-8.

 They are both on Zoom so no need for a baby sitter!

 To book your FREE place click these links below.

0-1years https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/red-community/t-xmjpkdy

1-8 years https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/red-community/t-eargnjr

Recycling

We’re still collecting plastic bottle tops – milk, water, pop etc. Please send clean lids into class or drop them into the office - we’ll get them turned into something very cool!

Friday 8th March

Next week –

• Big Walk and Wheel all week long
• Monday 11^th – Sky Phase Pop up Bistro
• Thursday 14^th – Land Phase and Sky Phase Beach school – packed lunches needed
• Friday 15^th – Comic Relief, the Y6s will do stalls for KS2 children (Y3,4,5,6), please give the children a couple of pounds to spend.

We are a positive inclusive school, and we celebrate diversity. We do our utmost to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, talents, needs, strengths, are being supported and helped on their journey through education. Please help us to model positive ways of dealing with difference. We want our children to grow up to be empathetic individuals. We all have a role to play in our children’s education. “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Success of St. David’s day

I should have mentioned last week, the St.David’s Day celebration was a real success. It really was an enthusiastic celebration of our Welsh language and culture.

Parent Help Day

Thanks to the heroes who turned up today and worked their socks off to support the school. We got lots done including moving slabs, creating a path, cleaning railings, improving the Forest School Area, cleaning pathways, scrubbing benches, gardening etc. This is part of what makes our school so good, the willingness of everyone to get involved and muck in. 

A parent emailed to say they couldn't make the day, but they would love to help. They suggested we create a list of jobs that need doing. So, watch this space!

World Book day

Great big thank you for engaging in our Wear a Word for World Book Day. As you know we are working hard to raise the profile of reading for pleasure. It was a delight to see so many children coming as all sorts of words. We had a huge range including: discombobulated, bibliophile, blossom, delicious, florescent, illuminate.

Dog poo

You wouldn’t believe how often we’re clearing up dog poo on the site. Please avoid bringing dogs onto the school site at any point. Dogs that are tied up at the entrances are sometimes leaving mess for us to sort too, so please avoid brining dogs onto the school site. We can’t do personality tests on dogs Please helps us to get across to the community that the school is not a public right of way. If they need proof they can see it on the LA website

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

Hedges

Next week, we are having the hedge  between KS2 and the comp layed to improve the security. It should fill gaps.

ASC/BSC booking

Please don’t forget that if you need to use the Before School Club or After School Club, you must book in advance.

Trip Payments

Any parents who are still to pay for residential trips in particular, please look to get those purses paid off in the next couple of weeks.

MMR Information

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/851b222b-f0ac-4e32-a33d-5ad12811a211/healthy-schools-mmr-comms.pdf

Easter Events

See the attached poster with some events you might like to go to over Easter.

Big Walk and Wheel

A reminder that for the next two weeks we’re taking part in the Big Walk and Wheel. Do everything you can to extend the school run with a bit more exercise.

Calling in a child’s sickness

When we record a child’s being off on the register, we HAVE to put a detailed reason down. So, when leaving a message on the school answer machine, don’t just say they’re ill, please give a bit of detail like, “temperature” or “sickness and diarrhoea” etc.

Friday 1st March 

Next week –  

• Wednesday 6th – 1530 Y5/6 football match 

• Friday 8th – PTA Mother’s Day sale  

• Friday 8th – Coffee morning – see below 

Eisteddfod

The children did us proud today celebrating St. David's Day as time to embrace our Welsh history and culture.

Recycling 

We’re still collecting plastic bottle tops – milk, water, pop etc. Please send any in (after washing), we’ll get them turned into something very cool! 

National Tests 

Each year children do National Tests in in school, we have the official tests in May. The tests are done online through HWB. Schools are able to give children a practice – which also helps the school iron out difficulties with the online system – in the next couple of weeks we will be running our practice tests.  

Assessment for Learning (AfL) Coffee Morning 

Next Friday’s coffee morning will be led by some of our KS2 children. They will be sharing some of the initiatives in school, particularly around wellbeing and emotional regulation. If you have attended any of our CAMHS coffee mornings, this would be really useful to get a child’s perspective on how we use these strategies in schools. Any who haven’t attended a coffee morning yet, go for it! You’ll really enjoy the morning and find it super informative, it will start at 9am.

The Big Walk and Wheel 

The Big Walk and Wheel start next week, all we ask is that everyone makes an extra effort to walk or cycle, scooter etc into school. If you normally drive most of the way, maybe park a bit further away and walk or wheel the rest. 

Behaviour in school 

We want to engage stakeholders in what will ultimately be a revamp of our Behaviour Policy. We would like to welcome parents to come in to school where we’ll run an open workshop to discuss appropriate rewards and sanctions. We are looking to run it on Thursday 18th April. All are welcome. 

Reminder – World Book Day – Thursday 7th March 

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Children can come dressed as a word! We want this to be as easy for families as possible. No one should be going out to buy costumes. For example, your child may come as ‘cosy’ in their PJs, or ‘sporty’ in their football kit, or ‘vivacious’ in something bright, or ‘blossom’ with a flower in their hair! Literally anything! We continue to push reading in the school so we do want to mark the day. 

Reminder – Red Nose Day – Friday 15th March 

Advanced warning that Comic Relief is on Friday 15th March. Children can come wearing red and doing something funny with their hair – maybe a wig, or a spray or dye, or a headband etc.  

Friday 23rd February

Next week –

• Thursday 29th – Y6 Residential Information Evening starting at 3.30pm in Mrs Beynon & Mrs Carman’s classroom (the first one on the corridor) 

Careers Afternoon 

It’s that time of year again where we need your help to inspire our learners by sharing your experience in careers that involve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). This could be part of your job or the company that you work for. For example, you might work for a steel company as an engineer or an HR officer or you need to use maths regularly as part of your job, such as trades person or office worker. 

Over the years we have had a vet, builder, a doctor, vlogger, first responder, physiotherapist, dentist, nurse, PSO, architect, football data analyst to name a few. If you work in any of these areas and can spare us an hour to talk to our Year 5 learners on Friday 22nd March, we would really appreciate your support. Please contact Mrs Ellis via email ellish18@hwbcymru.net 

World Book Day – Thursday 7th March 

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Children can come dressed as a word! We want this to be as easy for families as possible. No one should be going out to buy costumes. For example, your child may come as ‘cosy’ in their PJs, or ‘sporty’ in their football kit, or ‘vivacious’ in something bright, or ‘blossom’ with a flower in their hair! Literally anything! We continue to push reading in the school so we do want to mark the day. 

Red Nose Day – Friday 15th March 

Advanced warning that Comic Relief is on Friday 15th March. Children can come wearing red and doing something funny with their hair – maybe a wig, or a spray or dye, or a headband etc.  

Here is a link to our just giving page: 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rnd24-bishopston-primary-school-a38e57f3-5fb7-46ea-8ce7-0c80901d4137?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=rnd24-bishopston-primary-school-a38e57f3-5fb7-46ea-8ce7-0c80901d4137&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=ad1988623aea439989002e45e2a85ac1 

PTA 

❤️Thank you to all involved with disco and who came and supported. We made a great profit of £336.32 for the school! ❤️  

Next week on Friday 1st March we will be holding a Mother’s Day sale. Items will be priced from £3.00 - £4.50 so please remember to pack your little ones off with their pocket money so they can treat their beloved Mum (hint hint).  

Parent Work Day – Friday 8th March  

A few more have signed up - thank you. If you haven't yet, please could you consider taking some time off and coming in to help.

Click the link to let us know you’re coming (if the weather is terrible we’ll cancel). If we know you are coming we can organize groups.  There is lots of work to be done – clearing moss from paths, fencing, washing, mending, tidying up flower pots etc.  

https://forms.office.com/e/5h776QfHpL 

Friday 9th February

Next Week – Half term

The Week after –

• Monday 19th – all children back in school
• Thursday 22^nd – Y3 trip to Castell Henllys – normal start time. Returning to the Comp car park for 4.30pm
• Thursday 22^nd – Y4 Residential Information Evening starting at 3.30pm in Mrs Cowling’s classroom (the last one on the corridor)
• Friday 23^rd – Y4 trip to Castell Henllys – normal start time. Returning to the Comp car park for 4.30pm

Help transporting a fridge to school

One of our parents has kindly donated a large fridge freezer for the school. We need to pick it up though and get it into school. If any parent has a large van or a trailer that they would use to help us out, that would be hugely appreciated. Email Mr Owen direct owenj142@hwbcymru.net

New Art & Craft After School Club  

There will be an art and craft after school club running on Thursdays after half term until the Easter holidays. Claire, a mum from year 1, will be helping the kids to create fun and challenging craft projects, including, pompom animal keyrings, masks, headbands, dragons, soft toys, hand puppets and Easter baskets. This is an exciting opportunity for children to develop new skills and create something fun each week to take home with them.

Thursdays 3.20 – 5pm

£8, Pay per session or book all 5 sessions for £40

Only 8 spots available per week so spots may fill up quickly.

Book Via Claire’s Website… https://www.clairesworldmaps.co.uk/book-online

Free School Meals

Further to previous correspondence, we are pleased to announce we will be rolling out free school meals to all year 4 pupils from 19 February 2024 (after 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.

Parent Work Day – Friday 8^th March

This is going to be the work day of all work days!  Please could you consider taking some time off and coming in to help. We have a huge list of jobs we’d like to get sorted.  Only 3 parents have responded so far, please do come even if it’s for an hour.

Click the link to let us know you’re coming (if the weather is terrible we’ll cancel). If we know you are coming, we can organize groups.  There is work to be done – clearing moss from paths, fencing, washing, mending, tidying up flower pots etc.

https://forms.office.com/e/5h776QfHpL

CAMHS Coffee Mornings

Many of you have attended the CAMHS coffee mornings over last year or so and found them useful. We will be rolling out a repeat of the sessions already offered through the Spring/Summer term. CAMHS recommend parents attend as many of these sessions as possible. This is particularly true if your child struggles with emotional regulation or is attending one of our in-school regulation workshops. It is also useful to meet other parents who are in the same situation and share strategies and advice. Dates will appear on our school website shortly.

Friday 2nd February

Next Week

• Tuesday 6^th – Safer Internet Day – come to the parent coffee morning at 9am
• Tuesday 6^th - Wednesday 7^th – Parents’ Evening (except for Mrs Barrow’s class)
• Thursday 8^th – Mountain Phase Beach School
• Friday 9^th – INSET – no children in
• Saturday 10^th – HALF TERM BEGINS

PTA

Please do bring in donations of Sweets for the Valentine’s Disco – one bag would be amazing an greatly appreciated. Ideally you’ll give the bags to the school by Monday. Or, any parents who would rather let the PTA  buy the sweets, please donate to PTA donation fund on ipay.

Eco Poster and Competition

Ms Melling is asking all children: can you design the new Eco motto? The winner gets an Easter Egg.

• Entries can be digital or on paper
• Entries must be in by Tuesday 12^th February (given to Ms Melling)
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Follow our Instagram

For those on Social Media, please do follow us on Instagram in particular. We used to use a service which pinged out to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, unfortunately it became too expensive. We don’t want to waste teachers time asking them to post separately. So, we’re using Instagram more – follow along to get a sense of some of the exciting things going on in school.  Even better, make the odd comment, like and share the posts.

Booking for Before and After School Club

Please can we remind parents that Before School Club starts at 7:50am and runs until 8:20am. If your child arrives between these times you must log into ipay and book them in using the Before School Club fund and not the Breakfast Club fund and pay the £2 fee per child. If you come after 8.20am you still need to book using ipay.

Online Safety Coffee Morning

On Tuesday at 9am, we have an Online Safety Coffee morning run by Mr Williams. Being safe on the internet seems to be subject people ignore until it involves them – then it can be too late or has caused a huge amount of pain. Don’t wait until a problem occurs. Come and learn some tips to keep your children safer online.

Parent Work Day – Friday 8^th March

This is going to be the work day of all work days!  Please could you consider taking some time off and coming in to help. We have a huge list of jobs we’d like to get sorted.  Only 3 parents have responded so far, please do come even if it’s for an hour.

Click the link to let us know you’re coming (if the weather is terrible we’ll cancel). If we know you are coming, we can organize groups.  There is work to be done – clearing moss from paths, fencing, washing, mending, tidying up flower pots etc etc.

https://forms.office.com/e/5h776QfHpL

Dog poo on the grass

This week we had to pick up dog poo on the grass – it had already been trodden on by someone. It’s simply disgusting having to deal with this. Please don’t walk dogs through the school grounds.

Donating Blood

The Welsh Blood Service need more people to sign up as blood donors to help patients across Wales.

❤ Can you help us to achieve this? We have a donation clinic at Murton Methodist Church Hall – 16 February

It would be great if you can support us by checking your eligibility and booking an appointment to start your life saving journey.

One donation will potentially save the lives of three patients or six babies.

Click the link to book: https://wbs.wales/BishoptonPriSch

Don’t know your blood type? No problem, they will do that bit for you when you donate.

Advanced Warning – World Book Day – Thursday 7^th March

World Book Day is on Thursday 7^th March. Children can come dressed as a word!

Friday 26^th January 2024

Next Week

Office Manager

Interviews took place with Governors today for the Administration & Organisation Assistant (Office Manager). Congratulations to Zoe Syer who has secured the permanent role. We are all delighted.

Booking for Before and After School Club

Please can we remind parents that Before School Club starts at 7:50am and runs until 8:20am. If your child arrives between these times you must log into iPAY and book them in using the Before School Club fund and not the Breakfast Club fund and pay the £2 fee per child. We need to ensure we have an adequate number of staff to student ratio. This also applies to Afterschool club. Some parents recently are using the provision without pre-booking and paying. This is not fair on other families. 

Parents' Evening

Please help us to book times for Parents' Evening by filling out the form below.

https://forms.office.com/e/54dbwz9j2P

Working in the school kitchen

Catering Vacancy: 10hrs per week. Commencing 1.2.24. If you are interested, please contact: Catering Services: 01792 773473

Residential Trip Payments

Parents in Years 4,5 and 6, please make sure you are paying the remainder balances on residential trips. Thanks to the parents who have already paid in full.  Please help us by paying without us chasing. Obviously, if there is a problem let us know as soon as possible.

PTA Message – Valentine’s Disco ❤️❤️❤️

Get ready to party and throw some moves on the dance floor on 8th February💃🕺

The discos will be in the KS2 hall.

• Foundation Phase disco 5.30-6.15  (Parents you are welcome and encouraged to stay)
• Years 3-6 disco 6.30-7.30  (Parents can drop off or are welcome to stay if you would like to)

It will be a cash only event. £1 on the door per child and there will be crisps, biscuits and sweets on sale too. We will also be doing face painting.

Please remember how busy the drive gets; foundation parents will need to leave promptly as juniors will be dropped off from 6:30 so street parking would be best.

Come and show some love!

Attendance and Punctuality

Please can we remind everyone to keep attendance high. Remember there is a clear correlation between good attendance and progress in school. A reminder too that school starts at 0850, it’s very often the same people who are consistently late. Please attempt to adjust timings so you’re consistently on time!

Birthday treats

We are a healthy school, this means we encourage children to come to school with healthy packed lunches and snacks. Whilst we understand that it’s nice to have a treat sometimes, please don’t send in cakes or sweets on a birthday.

Homework

We understand that over Christmas homework can go a bit awry! However, we’re back in the swing of it once again. We’d ask you do your best to support children by giving them time to do their homework. We want all children to be completing the tasks we’re taking the time to set. On our website we have some tips for getting homework done.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/homework/

Reading Recommendations

We have noticed that children are talking about books and even giving recommendations to each other now in school. This is great. Please keep encouraging reading at home. It’s the greatest inroad to a good education – once you can read, you can learn about anything. Our pupil group – Tim Dysgu – will be planning a book swap session in the future to try and help reduce costs to parents.

Use the link on the site to keep the recommendations coming. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/

Rewarding Good Behaviour

We currently have a system in place that rewards the whole class for good behaviour. The School Council have suggested that to reward individuals who hit 100 dojos (dojos are given out for good work, good effort and good behaviour). Their suggestion is we have a lucky dip! So, please could you consider sending in a wrapped gift. Nothing worth more than a £2. It might be a nice pencil, a ruler, a toy. We’d try to have 2 lucky dips – one for FP and one for KS2.

Drive

Parents are not allowed up the drive in cars, transport for the STF does still use the drive. Please be aware of that when bringing children in. The path is always preferable over the drive.

Share My Work Timetable

Foundation Phase
Reception - Mrs Thomas - 1320-1400
Year 1/2 - Mrs Barrow - 1400-1440
Year 1/2 - Mrs Ellis & Mrs Gray/Jones - 1440-1520

Key Stage 2
Year 3 - 0900-0940
Year 4 - 0940-1020
Year 5 - 1400-1440
Year 6 - 1440-1520

Click the link if you haven’t already done so…

https://forms.office.com/e/ynMEnwTYi0

Friday 19^th January 2024

Next Week

• Monday 22nd - Land Phase Beach School - CANCELLED because of weather warnings
• Wednesday 24th - Coffee Morning - CAHMS - this is now back on! 
• Friday 26th - Sky Phase Beach School

Reminder - Parent Work Day – Friday 8^th March

This is going to be the work day of all work days!  Please could you consider taking some time off and coming in to help. We have a huge list of jobs we’d like to get sorted. 

Reminder - Federation Proposal

Governors would like to express thanks to parents for the meeting on Thursday night. The consultation is still open until Friday 26^th January. Thanks to those who have responded. The Governors would like to hear from all parents.

Link to consultation form

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k0YYqQrfflxNmY77BDX59IZUNEVIOE4wVzRONU1RMjAzMDZBVEZWWTRFWS4u

For those who would like some further reading, this is the Estyn document on Federation…

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/6752e372-db48-4ae0-ab3e-66af3b13f03c/estyn-report-on-federation.pdf

Friday 12^th January 2024

Federation Proposal

Governors would like to express thanks to parents for the meeting on Thursday night. The consultation is still open until Friday 26^th January. Thanks to those who have responded. The Governors would like to hear from all parents.

Link to consultation form

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k0YYqQrfflxNmY77BDX59IZUNEVIOE4wVzRONU1RMjAzMDZBVEZWWTRFWS4u

For those who would like some further reading, this is the Estyn document on Federation…

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/6752e372-db48-4ae0-ab3e-66af3b13f03c/estyn-report-on-federation.pdf

Parent Work Day – Friday 8^th March

This is going to be the work day of all work days!  Please could you consider taking some time off and coming in to help. We have a huge list of jobs we’d like to get sorted. 

Click the link to let us know you’re coming (if the weather is terrible we’ll cancel). If we know you are coming we can organize groups.  There is work to be done – clearing moss from paths, fencing, washing, mending, tidying up flower pots etc etc.

https://forms.office.com/e/5h776QfHpL

20mph

Parents have spoken of their concern at the speed some drivers are going through the village. Parents who walk /cycle their children to school, would be very grateful if the parents that drive could do so at 20mph, the new legal limit. 

“It’s just a horrible, anxiety enducing school run to be frank and us walkers are beginning to take it personally because we know some of the parents well!”

ALN Coffee Morning

The next coffee morning which we had scheduled for 24^th January is cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Friday 15th December

Coming up

• KS2 Christmas Shows 
  • Tuesday 19^th 1.30pm and 6pm
  • Wednesday 20^th 1.30pm and 6pm
  • For the 6pm shows please bring the children back between 5.30pm-5.45pm - the playground will be open as a car park - please be careful
• Monday 18th - 3pm - can you help digging up patio style slabs next to the bin area? We want to clean the area up and put them into the trailer/skip. Many hands make light work! If 5 strong people could spare 15-20mins we'll have it sorted. 
• Thursday 21st - LAST day of the term

Federation

Today Governors sent out an update regarding an extension to the consultation which includes a face to face briefing meeting for parents to attend. This will have come out via ipay.

Early Help Hubs

Early Help Hubs are running a free services for families that are in need of warm winter clothing, bedding and hygiene products.  The hygiene products include Lynx, Dove, Nivea, etc gift sets.  The event will take place this Monday 18^th December, between 12pm-3pm, in Penderry Early Help hub, Portmead Avenue, Blaenymaes, Swansea, SA55QH. Everybody is welcome.  Families do not need to be in receipt of any specific benefits.

Office Manager

Mrs Helen Mathews, our lovely new Administrator has had to finish because of family health reasons. We’re obviously disappointed. The recruitment process has started with interviews hopefully happening at the end of January. In the meantime, Mrs Zoe Syer (one of our parents) has kindly agreed to temporarily work in the office. Mrs Syer will work closely with the Primary Support Officer to keep things running as smoothly as possible.  A huge thank you to everyone for being so patient through a challenging period.

Giving to the school

A couple of parents have suggested different ways parents might like to give to the school. One is a direct debit each month, the other was through an Amazon wish list. Thank you for the suggestions. This is something we will follow up in the new year, we don’t want to put on parents at an already expensive time of year.

Messy play

Free Messy Play and craft activities the first week of January – see the poster below

CAHMS Newsletter

Please the newsletter below

Friday 8th December

Coming up

• FP Christmas Shows - there are only 3 SHOWS.
  • Tuesday 12^th 1pm and 6pm
  • Wednesday 13^th 1pm
• Friday 15^th December at 9.30am - Nursery Christmas show
• KS2 Show is the week after

Christmas Shows

Please make sure you have booked your Christmas Concert tickets. We will be asking for names on the door to check off. It is not a free-for-all!   

PTA

Please note the flyer on the PTA web page. 

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

The PTA will be raffling luxury hampers, please send in a donation. A great suggestion is a bottle of wine, or be more specific with:

Reception - Crackers/Nuts

Year 1 - Jam/Chutney

Year 2 - 5cl Spirit minis

Year 3 - Chocolate/Fudge

Year 4 - Christmas Pudding/Small Panettone/Posh biscuits

Year 5 - Chocolate/Nuts

Year 6 - Glass bottle cordial

The shopping trip to the Bath Christmas Market was a huge success and will definitely be an annual occasion. In total we raised a whopping £574.01 and it was so much fun! Nice to do something for the adults for a change

Federation

I know the Governors are really grateful to the parents who have engaged with the consultation – both online and those who met in person. Like you, I am a stakeholder in this. I’ve shared my thoughts with those parents who have come and had a chat. I’m happy to talk to anyone about it.  As with any big decision there are pros and cons.

Online challenges

At this time of the year parents often buy children games consoles etc. Please consider the games you allow children to play – here is a useful guide to lots of the games/apps currently out there

https://hwb.gov.wales/keeping-safe-online/in-the-know/fortnite/

Please can you also monitor what the children do online, we sometimes are asked to deal with fallouts that occur outside of school time. We do our best to teach children to stay kind, not leave people out (e.g. kick them out a group!) and to use appropriate language etc.

Drive

A huge thanks to everyone for adhering to the drive rules, we will monitor periodically to check all’s working well.

Friday 1st December

Coming up

• Friday 8th December - Coffee Morning - Elyn of Flynn - Mental Health v Emotional Health in children. 0900-1000.

Christmas Concerts

Hopefully everyone can see how to purchase their Christmas Concert tickets through ipay. Any issues, give the school a ring.

Play Based Learning

In school, we understand the importance of play-based learning. Play is vital to children's development, health, wellbeing and happiness. Here's a short video made by Play Wales which celebrates play and highlights it's importance for every child.

https://play.wales/play/film/ 

Friday 24^th November

Coming up

Thursday 30th November - Mountain Phase (Y3/4) Beach school (packed lunches needed)

Friday 1st December - Sky Phase (Y5/6) Beach school (packed lunches needed)

Friday 1st December - Lantern Parade

Christmas Concerts

Tickets for our Christmas Concerts will go ‘live’ on iPay on Sunday 26^th November 2023 at 8a.m.  The dates are as follows:

Foundation Phase (Reception, Year 1, Year 2 & ISTF)

Presenting: Whoops ‘A’ Daisy

12^th December 2023 at 1p.m. and 6p.m.

13^th December 2023 at 1p.m. and 6p.m.

KS2 (Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6 and JSTF)

Presenting: When Sasha Got Stuck Up The Chimney

19^th December 2023 at 1p.m. and 6p.m.

20^th December 2023 at 1p.m. and 6p.m.

As usual, tickets will be limited to 2 per child in the first instance.  This enables everyone the opportunity to purchase at least 2 tickets.  If, nearer the time we have surplus tickets we will let you all know and release the remaining tickets on a first come first served basis.

The price per ticket is the same as last year: £4.50.

Nursery

Our Nursery Concert will take place at 9.30 on Friday 15^th December.  The concert will be followed by a coffee get together for the parents, and we look forward to seeing you.  There is no charge for this, you are however, more than welcome to make a small donation on the day if you would like.

PTA

Our annual lantern parade and Christmas market is next Friday...... For those new to the school this is a magical community event. Get creative with your lanterns this weekend, lantern making kits (£7) are still available from Northway garage. 

Bring your lantern to school at 5pm next Friday, hear the school choir and have a warm Christmassy drink.  At 5.30 Father Christmas will lead our parade through the village, reaching Murton green around 6:30 where the Christmas lights will then be turned on. A rolling road closure will be in place on the route to keep us all safe.

Please come to shop at the PTA Christmas market in Murton Church Hall, it will be open from 6.30-8.30pm. We will have a range of stalls selling brownies, paintings, sweetie jars, homemade cakes, plants, jewelry, Christmas decorations, candles, award winning natural body products, local crafts, Christmas wreaths, soft toys, healthy fermented products and sea glass art. The RNLI will be there along with the Lamplighter and Gower pizza. This year there is also an opportunity to meet Father Christmas in person in Murton Church! 

Federation Consultation

Thank you to the parents who have responded to the consultation. The whole federation process is within a legally defined framework. As Governors, we volunteer to give a lot of our time to supporting and improving the school. Having been prompted to give federation consideration, we have shared the idea and are keen to hear from as many parents as possible.  Please do have a read of the document and put forward suggestions and questions all of which will be considered. The link to give your response is on page 8 of the document.

Any parent who would like to meet with Governors face to face, please go onto your ipay account where you’ll be able to open the Federation link and book a slot from 2pm on Tuesday 4^th December.  We’ll look to answer questions parents may have or take a note and give them consideration within the process.

Friday 17th November 

Coming up

• Thursday 23rd November - Tree/hedge planting between 1-3pm. Please bring a pair of gloves and ideally a spade.
• Friday 1st December - the Lantern parade - the choir will be singing in the school car park from 5:00pm, the parade will leave the school at 5:30pm.

Christmas Dinner

Please let us know if you would like your child to have a Christmas dinner on Thursday 14th December. Only fill this in if you want your child to have a Christmas dinner. You need to make this decision early because the kitchen has to put an order a long way in advance to ensure they get the right amount of food in.

If you have more than one child in the school, you'll need to submit the form and then click the link again to fill it out for another child.
(This is not available for Nursery children.)
Please fill this form in by Friday 1st December at the latest.

https://forms.office.com/e/yU1e7tccLa

Change in the Office - message from Elise

As you may know I am leaving my role as Office Manager. Being in Bishopston Primary working with such lovely staff, pupils and parents made it a tough decision to make, but the right one for me. I would like to introduce Mrs Mathews as the new Office manager. She is a delight to work with and I am sure she will look after you all. See you in the school yard, Elise.

EHH Coffee Mornings

The next parent/carer coffee morning will take place in West Early Help Hub on Wednesday 6^th December between 10am-12pm.

Address: Gorseinon Youth Centre, Pontarddulais Road, Gorseinon, SA44FE.

Any parent can attend if they have a child that is diagnosed with an ALN, going through the assessment process for a diagnosis of an ALN, or if there is a query regarding an ALN.

Christmas Competition - to turn on the lights at the Murton Green

Please encourage your children to draw, paint or create a Christmas scene. The deadline is Friday 1st December. The winner will get to switch on the Christmas lights in Murton Green that evening (part of the lantern parade fun).

PTA Messages - follow this link

The Christmas season is the busiest time of year for the PTA and we would really appreciate your support again this year.  Please do click the link below to see what’s planned and how you can help – sweetie jars and lantern parades are coming up. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/the-latest-events-we-have-arranged/

Recycling Project

Mountain Phase are taking part in a recycling project to create Christmas decorations. They need your hard plastics - technically what we need is  HDPE 2 and PP 5 - we know milk bottle tops or any other plastic bottle tops are great.

https://zombieplastics.co.uk/ 

Reading Recommendations

Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve added them onto the website, it's filling up more and more - check it out if you're unsure what books to buy for Christmas. The best way to improve children's reading is get them reading! Obviously being a good reader impacts every area of learning.

Use the link on the site to keep the recommendations coming. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/

Charity work

In the run up to Christmas, we are looking to support Crisis once again. Please read here how you can support, including what donations they would appreciate.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/charity-work/

Attendance

Our attendance is good, but could still be a bit better, we’ve dropped under 95% down to 94.5%.

Punctuality is improving – thanks to everyone for making an effort there. Mrs Cowling’s class is the best attending class in the school at the moment– 96.9%!

Remember there is a really strong correlation between good attendance and good outcomes in school. Help us to help our children.

Drive for ASC

The traffic past 4:30pm is so minimal that we are able to open the drive for anyone picking up children from the After School Club.  To be clear, any parent/carer can drive up from 4:30pm.

Friday 10^th November

Coming up

• Saturday 11th November - Singing for the Remembrance Day - meet from 1030 at Murton Community Centre. Ms Melling is leading with a few of our school choir children singing.
• Tuesday 14^th November – Flu vaccinations
• Thursday 16^th November – Land Phase (Y1/2) Beach School
• Thursday 16^th November – Tree planting
• Friday 17^th – Children in Need – children to wear something spotty
• Friday 17^th at 0900 – Coffee Morning on Play Based Learning. Mrs Ellis will lead this session, it will give you a real sense of what teaching and learning looks like in the foundation phase (Nursery, Reception, Years 1-2).  Feel free to invite wider family and friends.

Headlice

Could all parents please remain vigilant.  Headlice has become a problem in several year groups.

Tree Planting

We will be doing some hedge/tree planting next Thursday 16th November between 10am and midday.  If you can make it, we’d love you help. Bring a pair of gloves, and ideally a spade.

Deadline Christmas card orders - School Fundraising

The deadline to order Christmas cards from School Fundraising is Friday 17^th November. Please hold on to the sample after ordering as you will need to quote the child’s artwork code if there are any issues with the order. If you need any help please contact their customer services on 01642 525129 or organiser@classfundraising.co.uk

Drive

Huge thank you to most parents who have accepted the new drive rules. Governors recognize it’s a big decision, however the safety of children comes first. Please do follow the rules. It’s not fair if some do and others don’t.

Residential Reminders

80% of parents have paid the deposits through ipay, thank you! Any who haven’t please prioritise this over the weekend. If you are struggling, simply speak to the office on Monday.

Pentathlon GB

Pentathlon GB are hosting the first ever Biathlon (run & swim event) in Wales on Sunday 25th February 2024, at the Wales National Pool and Swansea Bay Sports Park.

The event is suitable for all children aged 8-16 years old.

The Welsh Schools Biathlon is now live and ready to enter, follow the link below:

https://pentathlongb.sport80.com/public/wizard/e/37840

Reading Recommendations

Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve added them onto the website. It made me smile to see that some of the recommendations are still books I loved reading as a child. Couldn’t get enough of Just William!

Use the link on the site to keep the recommendations coming. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/

Adverts - Cleaning Post - 32 hrs per week

Breakdown of hours are as follows:-

• 10 hrs driving minibus AM/PM
• AM; pickup at Townhill for 05.30am ( Then clean at Bish comp til 07.30)
• PM: Pickup at Towhnill for 14.30 pm
• PM; after drop staff off at Bish comp-to clean at Bishopston Primary (15 hrs per week)

Please note: the vacancy requires a driving licence that shows authorisation to drive a minibus/Van (D1)

Interested persons to contact:

Mark 07743803084

Julie 07900702738

Tom 07795445242

27th October

Coming up

• Half term next week
• Monday 6^th November – Sky Phase Beach School (packed lunch needed)
• Tuesday 7^th November – Mountain Phase Beach School (packed lunch needed)
• Thursday 17^th November – Coffee Morning: Emotional Health v Mental Health

Message from Governors

Please have a read of the attached letter from the Governors

The Drive

A number of parents, and staff have highlighted the concern over the school drive being dangerous. In order to prioritise the health and safety of children, the Governors of the school have voted unanimously to shut the school drive to parents. The drive is not open to parents at any time, this includes dropping off at breakfast club.  It’s only in the last few years that the drive has been opened to parents, it simply does not work as a safe option; the chaos that’s being caused in the mornings in particular is a real danger. The whole community needs to get behind this. It might mean adjusting times to leave home to be at Before School Club before 8.30am or to be on time for school at 8.50am.

Any parent who has a disability can collect a permit from the school office which they need to display on the dashboard of the car.  For these parents, please do not use the drive between 8.30-9.00am or 3.00-3.40pm.

Any volunteers who would be willing to help wear a high vis’ jacket to turn traffic away at the end of the drive would be appreciated. Please do pass this message onto any family or friends who help with drops offs and pick ups. 

A new Governor

Having now counted up the votes, we welcome James Healy as a new parent Governor.

Elise’s role

The Governors have appointed Helen Matthews to the role of Office Manager, taking over from Elise. Helen will be in the office for a handover time in November before Elise finishes.  Please make her feel welcome in the office – we’ve told her what a lovely community she is joining. 

School Photos

Roz and Kirsty will have emailed parents today to let them know school photos are ready. If you were expecting an email and haven’t had one, first check your junk, then get in touch with them – not the school!

Volunteers

Lots of you say to me in passing that you’re more than willing to volunteer for a whole variety of jobs. Please do let us know if you’re willing and able to help with anything. We really do want our school to be a community school. Frankly, with our budget we need all the help we can get. You might want to: help with fund raising, being a lunchtime supervisor, reading, gardening, DIY, there is always an endless list.

Wellfield Parking

Residents of Wellfield have asked us to remind parents that it’s a private road. Sometimes their bins aren’t being picked up because parents are clogging up the road. They are also concerned about emergency services being able to access houses.

20th October

Coming up

• Tuesday 24^th – Wednesday 25^th – Parents Evening, appointment slips should have come home today
• Friday 27th – 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)

Touching base with teachers

We love being such an open friendly school when it comes to touching base with a teacher, but please don’t hold onto teaches once the children have gone in. They should be teaching 30 children at that point. If you need a longer appointment, just ask.

Black History Month

We have had various assemblies and lessons going on this month in order to highlight the importance of Black History Month. The theme for this month nationally in 2023 is ‘Celebrate our sisters’ and as a result we have paid particular attention to finding out about female pioneers such as Betty Campbell, the first black head teacher in Wales and Rosa Parks who changed history by deciding not to give her seat up on the bus when segregation was accepted as the norm. We want our pupils to grow up into caring, empathetic adults who understand the wide diversity in the world around us and the need for acceptance and an inclusive society. 

13^th October

Coming up

• Monday 16^{th h} – Shwmae Day – pupils to wear red
• Tuesday 17^th- Governor’s Annual Meeting for parents at 2.30pm (The time was put at 2pm because only 1 parent came when it as in the evening, last year when it was 2.30pm we had the best turn out.)
• Wednesday 18^th October - Share my work day – note the timetable below in last week’s Friday messages (scroll down)
• Thursday 19^th October at 0900 – Coffee Morning on Relationships and sex education. As you know this is mandatory in school. If you would like to know how it’s being taught through the school, Mrs Beynon will talk you through resources we use and take any questions.
• Friday 20^th – Show Racism Red Card – pupils to wear red

Parents' Evening

Parents Evening is the week after next: Tuesday 24^th and Wednesday 25^th October. Please click the link and book a rough time when you would be available. We’ll let you know next week what your allocated time is.

https://forms.office.com/e/0fjCAg80wi

Attendance

We are delighted with the start to the term. Our education Welfare Officer, Mr Smith, visits the school regularly to monitor, attendance, punctuality and welfare issues. As a school we are really pleased to currently have 95.2% attendance. Please keep this up. Particular shout out to Mrs Barrow’s class who have 97.1% - the highest in the school.

We do still need to work on a few parents with punctuality, please make sure children are in school by 8.50am every morning. 

Site Safety

Please do not walk through the school site, especially during school time. A reminder again, do not bring dogs onto the school grounds.

Fencing

In relation to the site safety, we are going to be adding ‘lollipop’ style sticks to the fence around the FP car park. There are 184 to screw/nail on top and bottom. If anyone is willing and able/competent to bring, and use, an electric screw driver, and lend a hand at anytime next week, we’d love your help. Please report to the office so we know you’re here, and then crack on getting them done. Many hands make light work etc.  Mr Owen will have a go from 3pm on Tuesday 17^th October, join if you can.

PTA

Hi there! We just wanted to say a big thank you everyone for raising donations for Bishopston Primary PTA with easyfundraising! If you haven't signed up yet, it's easy and completely FREE. 8,100 brands will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to do your everyday online shopping - at no extra cost to you! Every donation you raise makes a difference to us so please sign up today. https://join.easyfundraising.org.uk/bishopstonprimarypta/pzh7bl/at/TSX8RX7z/RTND2/whatsapp

The PTA are hoping someone will join who is willing to help with applications for grants. Parents sometimes pass grant ideas on to the PTA, but they don’t have the capacity to follow them up. If you could help with 1, please do get in touch.

💀🎃👻  PTA Halloween disco 👻🎃💀

We hope your children are excited for the Halloween disco on Friday 27^th 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 6:30 so street parking would be best.

Autistic Society Coffee Morning

The Early Help Hun have a National Autistic Society coffee morning in West Early Help Hub on Wednesday 13th December. Address: Gorseinon Youth Centre, Pontarddulais Road, Gorseinon, SA44FE.  Any parents who would like to attend for information and support purposes, please do.

Governors AGR

Please come along next Tuesday to meet the Governors. The annual report to parents is available if you click the link:

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/bishopston-primary-school/UploadedDocument/40e453ea-dcd1-48ef-a6e3-3df9833b55ed/agr-2023.pdf

Parent Governor Ballot

Ballot papers will be coming home with the eldest siblings today. Please return your votes to the ballot box in reception outside the main office. The candidates are:

Danial Awais-Dean

I am an entrepreneur with experience across many areas in which I can contribute. My son is in Nursery, starting Reception next year, and I am eager to help the school in any way possible so that pupils can be the best that they can be during these important formative years.

David Mason

I am dad to Sasha and Finn, with two older children at Bish Comp. We moved into the area at the start of the year, and are loving it here. I have been chair of governors for a primary school and I would bring this experience to support the development of the school.

James Healy

With one child already enjoying Bishopston and another soon to join, I am keen to help support the committees to best deliver for all the needs of the pupils. Experienced in education research, health, economics, and working in government, I want to use these skills to the benefit of the school.

Jon Clarke

I'm keen to join the Parent Governors. My experience running a local business will support strategy, policy and budgeting. I have strong ties from living in the village all my life and having attended the school myself, I look forward to being an active part of the school community.

Flu Vaccination forms

If you haven’t already please return your flu vaccination forms. Even if you intend to decline vaccination, the school nurse will still need the form returned. If you need another form just pop into the office or email Mrs Bessant who can send one home with your child bessante11@hwbcymru.net

Afternoon Nursery

Any parents who have their children in the morning nursery but would like to use the afternoon nursery instead, please let us know. It’s absolutely beautiful in there, so quiet and purposeful; the children are getting such good quality time with the staff. It feels wrong not to share what you could have.

6th October

Coming up

• Monday 9^th October - KS2 (Y3-6) will be visiting Murton Church for a harvest celebration 9:15am on Monday 9th October. Andy Walker, the pastor, has said that KS2 parents are welcome to attend should they wish.
• Wednesday 18^th October - Share my work day – please see the timetable below. We would appreciate you coming when your child’s class session is on because it helps us keep the numbers manageable and ensure children are read with books.
• Thursday 19^th October - Relationships and sex education, as you know this is mandatory in school. If you would like to know how it’s being taught through the school, Mrs Beynon will talk you through the resources we use and take any questions.
• Friday 20^th – Show Racism Red Card – pupils to wear red

Nurse

Consent forms will come home today for children to have the flu vaccine. I’ve also uploaded the form and key information to our website.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/school-nursing-services/

Residentials

Y5/6 parents, please use ipay to pay the deposit for the residential visits

Governors AGM coming up

All are welcome to the Governor’s annuals general meeting for parents. It is on 17^th October at 2.30pm

If you would like to see who the Governors are, please see the website…

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/governors-llywodraethwyr/

Dogs

Please do not bring dogs onto the school side – including the car park.

Drive Reminder

Please don’t drop children at the end of the drive! We are aware that parking near the school is a challenge, but it’s not safe to be pulling – the zig zags mean it’s not legal to be stopping there.

Hedges

To try and allow our hedge boundaries to thicken up and become a bit more effective as a boundary, we are stopping children going into them right across the school.  We have some genuine concerns about some of our children in both the foundation phase and key stage 2. Please can you support us with this if your children are playing on the school site at the beginning or end of the day. Thanks

Share my work timetable for Wednesday 18th October 2023

*STF classes to join their mainstream classes for this

Take a note of the following Coffee Morning sessions, we’ll send out times and reminders before each one.

29th September

Volunteers

Many thanks to the volunteers (x2) who came today and kindly help sweep leaves, clear beds and cut back branches on the FP area. Super kind.

Next week…

Thursday 5^th October – Land Phase (Y1/2) Beach School

Thursday 5^th October – Y5/6 Girls’ Football Tournament

Friday 6^th October – Y5/6 Boys’ Football Tournament

Harvest Celebration

KS2 (Y3-6) will be visiting Murton Church for a harvest church visit at 9:15am on Monday 9th October. Andy Walker, the pastor, has said that KS2 parents are welcome to attend should they wish.

Building work nearly done!

We are nearly at the end of a major project that was supposed to be finished at the end of the Summer holidays. It’s involved knocking through cupboards in the KS2/Junior classrooms, turning the cupboards into cloakrooms and creating doorways onto the backfields. Now, every classroom have access to an outdoor space. We will over time develop the areas behind thee classrooms. The old cloakrooms have storage at the back of them and will be used as work spaces for groups of children.

PTA

What an awesome job the PTA do, however they are dwindling in numbers! If you would be willing to get involved, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.

Please don’t forget the Tesco community blue chip vote thingy as we’ve only a couple of weeks left. Please see below a list of stores taking part in the voting on your project.  Feel free to share this list of stores amongst your supporters and within your community.   

5482    De La Beche Swans Exp    SA1 3EZ
3241    Swansea Marina    SA1 3RA
6113    Swansea Sthlen Rd Exp    SA1 4AG
4673    Swanesa Mariner Exp    SA1 5BG
5732    Swansea Uplnds Cr Exp    SA2 0EY
5557    Sketty Swansea Exp    SA2 9BX
4612    Swansea Newton Rd Exp    SA3 4AS
2597    Gowerton Express    SA4 3EZ
3219    Swansea Extra    SA5 4BA
4781    Swansea Treboeth Exp    SA5 9EL

Admissions – Reception (Our school) or Year 7 (the Comp)

Letters have gone out regarding admissions for our Reception or for starting the Comp in Y7. It is really important to prioritise getting the application in during the given window. Any issues, please call our office for help!

Reading Recommendations

Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve added them onto the website. It made me smile to see that some of the recommendations are still books I loved reading as a child. Couldn’t get enough of Just William!

Use the link on the site to keep the recommendations coming. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/

Events on…

If you know of any child friendly community events coming up. Let me know and I’ll try to put them on the messages. Please don’t use this to advertise for your business – I’ll get into grief!

https://museum.wales/swansea/whatson/12071/Childrens-Literature-Festival/

A number of authors are attending and workshops are on offer for all age groups - all free! 

22nd September

Term dates and INSET days

Please visit the school website to see term dates and INSET days. Have you subscribed to the school calendar yet? You’ll have the crucial dates. https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/diary/subscribe/

Coasteering Session

A massive thank you to @ripnrockwales for kindly doing a Coasteering session (for free!) for our Y6 children. Most have been now and had a great time, learning about beach safety and loving getting into the water. Anyone who is looking for a fun activity to do with work colleagues or friends, should get signed up! We'll get some photos soon onto our social media.  https://twitter.com/ripnrockwales

Parent Help Day – Friday 29^th September

Next Friday we plan to have a DIY help session in the afternoon. Quite a bit will be about tidying up outside area. We so appreciate when parents, and the community, help with this sort of thing. You can imagine it’s incredibly difficult to keep on top of. If you can come anytime from 1pm, we’ll meet at the main entrance of the school.  Bring a pair of gloves!

Reading Books

You will see a real emphasis this year on reading. Children will come home with books and comprehension tasks. Being able to read confidently is a gateway into learning about anything!  At the end of last year I suggested parents could give us book recommendations. Please give us your recommendations –

I’ve only had one recommendation so far! I’ve put it on the website. Come on, I know everyone has at least one or two books they think are great books for kids.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/literacy/

Road Safety

It’s always good to be reminded about road safety. Bishopston is a super busy road, please keep an eye on children coming in and out of school. We’ve had a couple of local residents ask us to remind parents not to park down private roads. We’ve also had a request to remind parents not to allow their children in the private parking behind the Coop.

Volunteers

Huge thanks to those of you who have kindly signed up to do some volunteering in the school. It’s lovely to see a few parents and grandparents involved and being so supportive.  We know everyone helps in different ways – thank you all!

Residential Trips

We have booked the residential trips for our Y5 and Y6s.

Y5 are going to Llain on the week beginning April 22^nd

Y6 are going to Llangrannog on the week beginning June 24^th

Please put the dates in the diary. The cost will be £295. We will shortly set up purses on ipay for deposits, the final payment will be for the end of March.

15th September

Office Job in the School

We’re all super gutted that Elise Bessant our office manager is stepping away from the role due to external circumstances. Elise has done an amazing job and is loved by us all. We need someone new. The LA have had the advert for two weeks but can’t seem to get it onto their website. We have put it on ours.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/jobs-in-the-school/

Please forward on to anyone you think would be interested. It’s such a crucial role in the school – an appointment we want to get right. Elise is happy to talk to anyone who is interested.  There is no doubt it needs someone who is: lovely, highly organized, calm under pressure and super confident using a range of computer software.

School Nurse

Please note information on the school nursing service on our website

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/school-nursing-services/

Food Bank Collection

Each year we try to do a foodbank collection around the time of the Harvest Festival. Any donations that come into school will be distributed to those who have a need.

School Photos - CONSENT needed by 22^nd September- 26th September

School Photo day is 26^th September.  The consents must be completed by 22nd September please. This is for Roz and Kirsty to gather parents’ consent to take their child’s photos, and to collect the parents details to email you when the photos are ready to view and buy online.

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

No consent, no photo. Roz and Kirsty have to be really strict on this due to GDPR guidelines.

Just a reminder we do NOT invite preschoolers in for photos 

PTA

Huge thank you for all your support last year. We raised over £13,000 – click the link to see some of the things we purchased on our poster.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/what-weve-purchased-for-the-children/

Next week

Thursday 21^st and Friday 22^nd – Y6 Coasteering Session – big thanks to Dave and  Sally @ Rip N Rock who have kindly put this on for free for our Y6 children.

8th September 2023

Croeso! We hope everyone had a good Summer/Winter and are now raring to go again. It's been a lovely week in school. I'll try to keep you updated each week with these messages.

Important Dates

Please see attached important dates for the year. Listening to feedback from last year, parents asked us to update the school calendar on the website. We have done that. If you click on the link you’ll be able to subscribe to that calendar. If you follow the link to our school website, scrolls down and you can see a sheet of key dates you might want to print off for the fridge.

https://bishopstonprimaryschool.wales/key-diary-dates/

Curriculum Evening

After school next Wednesday there will be a curriculum evening in your child's class. The foundation classes will meet between 1530-1600, then key stage two classes between 1600-1630. Please make every effort to be there. It's an opportunity to meet your child's class teacher and a chance to get a quick understanding on what the focus and expectations will be for the year.

Booking Before school, Breakfast and After School Clubs

All clubs are now booked through ipay. Once you have registered you will need to go to accounts, select the child, the club and then the dates you wish to book them in then checkout. Once paid your child will be booked in and on the club register. Contact the office at  bessante11@hwbcymru.com or on 01792 232754 if you have any issues. Thank you.

Ipay

Please keep trying to sign into ipay - 70% have managed it. It's new to us too, this is a Swansea wide change.

Punctuality and Attendance

Please help us help your children! They need to be in school and on time. School starts at 0850, please do not be late!

Homework

We are always listening to parents feedback. Our attempt this year to get the balance right with homework is that In the foundation phase children will come home with home learning diaries and reading books.  Pupils in Y3-6 will have a homework book, it needs to come to school on Wednesday and will go home with them again on Wednesday. Each week they will have 1 online task. The school pays for subscriptions to excellent websites, please do encourage the children to do that homework. The children will also have 1 task to do in their books, again please, please encourage them to get into the habit of completing the task. It’s a very small amount compared to what they will have in the comp. It helps you to see what they are learning about and how they are doing. It helps us all to work together to improve the children’s learning.

Car Parking

Just to remind parents that we ask you to avoid driving up the school drive at ALL times. The drive is shut to everyone between 0830-0900, then again between 1500-1540. If you do ever have some need to drive into school, do not use the Foundation Phase (Infant) car park at all. It causes chaos with three ways of traffic trying to negotiate the drive and it’s dangerous if parents are allowing children to run from cars to breakfast club.  If the car parking situation gets worse, we will have to shut the drive permanently to parents, everyone will need to walk from the village.

PTA

Please make every effort to get blue tokens into the Tesco boxes in the stores listed below. We can receive up to £1,500. At the moment the other two projects are above us. Unless we make a concerted effort we'll lose out on this. We want  to raise money to put towards the Foundation Phase playground climbing frame and slide.

The project with the highest number of votes across your region will receive £1,500 (or the amount that was requested up to this value), the second placed project £1,000 (or the amount that was requested up to this value), and the third placed project £500.  To re-iterate, if you are first in the vote, you will receive the amount that you requested in your application (or the amount that was requested up to £1,500).
Stores which will vote on your project
Please see below a list of stores taking part in the voting on your project.  Feel free to share this list of stores amongst your supporters and within your community.   
5482    De La Beche Swans Exp    SA1 3EZ
3241    Swansea Marina    SA1 3RA
6113    Swansea Sthlen Rd Exp    SA1 4AG
4673    Swanesa Mariner Exp    SA1 5BG
5732    Swansea Uplnds Cr Exp    SA2 0EY
5557    Sketty Swansea Exp    SA2 9BX
4612    Swansea Newton Rd Exp    SA3 4AS
2597    Gowerton Express    SA4 3EZ
3219    Swansea Extra    SA5 4BA
4781    Swansea Treboeth Exp    SA5 9EL

Pointers for next week

• Wednesday 13th - Curriculum Evening 1530 FP, 1600 KS2 - go to your child's class