BC Newsletter Template (Yvonne)
| Issue 15 | Spring 1 | Week 2 |
Spring Term: Wrap Around Care Provision
Breakfast Club @ 07:45 – 08:45: This provision has started and will operate everyday until Friday 4th April.
After School Club @ 15:30 – 18:00: This provision has started and will operate everyday until Friday 4th April.
Extended School Day Clubs @ 15:30 -16:30
- Monday 13th January: Extended School Day Menus will be sent home.
- Tuesday 14th January: Please sign up for the 08:00 – 10:30 and the 15:30 – 16:00 clubs
- Wednesday 15th January: Please sign up for the 08:00 – 10:30 and the 15:30 – 16:00 clubs
- Monday 20th January: Extended School Day Clubs (15:30 – 16:30) will start.
Booster and Intervention Clubs:
Pupils selected for Booster and Intervention Clubs this term will be given letters to take home on Monday 13th January. Please complete the acknowledgement slips and return these to the school office by Wednesday 15th January.
Kindly note:
- Morning and Afternoon Booster and Intervention lessons will start the week beginning 20th January.
- Extended School Day Clubs and Booster and Intervention Lessons will run from Monday 2oth January until Thursday 3rd April.
Royal Academy of Arts: Young Artists’ Summer Show
Important links:
WINTER IS HERE!
Please ensure that all children wear a jacket to school, and have a hat. Gloves and scarves are optional, but are highly recommended as it starts to get much colder.
All pupils should now be wearing their full winter uniform and no longer in their summer uniform options, including PE uniform.
Please ensure all items of clothing including jumpers and sweaters are named!
Many thanks for your continued support.
Biscuit Bytes
Woof….
Happy Friday Everyone!
Well my wish came true and I was able to join in with a little bit of football this week – hurrah🐶. It was sooooo much fun and I almost scored a goal!
Now I’m keeping my paws crossed to join cooking club🐾 What do you think my chances are???
It’s been great seeing all the different clubs in action this week, with lots of busy activities, singing, problem solving and laughter all around the school.
Keep an eye on upcoming newsletters for photos and blurbs from our Extended School Day clubs.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! See you Monday 🐶
Love Biscuit x
PE Lessons
Please note a change of day for Year 1 and Year 4 PE lessons for the Spring Term, effective from week beginning 13th January 2025.
Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct PE kit to school each week on their allocated PE day.
Pupils not wearing their full PE kit will not be able to participate in lessons, and a note will be sent home indicating why they were not able to participate.
Please ensure that all items of school uniform are clearly labelled with either a permanent pen or label.
The full PE Kit for the Autumn/Winter Term is as follows:
- Plain navy blue leggings or tracksuit bottoms
- School navy blue PE t-shirt
- School navy blue sweatshirt (all year groups)*
- Plain black trainers (velcro or slip on if they can not do their laces).
* Kindly note: Pupils in KS2 (Years 3-6) must wear a school sweatshirt for PE lessons and not the v-neck jumper from their main school uniform.
Spring Term PE Lessons:
- Monday: Year 1
- Tuesday: Year 3
- Wednesday: Year 5
- Thursday: Year 6
- Friday: Reception, Years 4 & 2
Our PTA: The Friends of Burdett-Coutts
Welcome back to the new school year and a warm welcome to all our new families who have joined our school’s community this term.
If you are a parent, carer or a guardian of a child that attends our school, then you are automatically a member of our Parent Staff Association, Friends of Burdett-Coutts.
Being part of our PSA offers an exciting opportunity for you to meet other parents, whilst supporting our school, through organising fundraising events, volunteering and much more.
Even if you can only give a small amount of time, you will be making a difference to the school experience for your child and other pupils in our school.
The next FOBC event is the Easter Fete on Wednesday 2nd April from 15:30 – 17:30.
Spring Term meeting dates:
- Wednesday 5th February
- Wednesday 25th February
- Wednesday 12th March
- Wednesday 26th March
- Wednesday 2nd April
All meetings are in the Ground Floor Hall @ 9 – 10am
Upcoming Events
January:
- Tuesday 28th: Itsu’s Community Kitchen Project for Year 4. In school from 13:30 – 15:30.
- Thursday 30th: LDBS Annual Service at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
February:
- Tuesday 4th: Year 6 at the Westminster Junior Citizenship Scheme at the London Transport Museum.
- Thursday 6th: Reception Trip to the Postal Museum.
- Monday 17th – Friday 21st February: Half Term Break
Term Dates 2024-2025
Please find here the agreed term dates set by our school’s Governing Body for the upcoming academic year, starting September 2024.
Please remember that holidays will not be authorised during the school term, and that all children should be in school (on time) every day.
Please refer to the table below for the term dates, including INSET days and Bank Holidays when the school will be closed to pupils.
Alternatively, you can click on the image thumbnail on the right to view the PDF (please note this will open in a new window) or you can click on the link below:
AUTUMN TERM 2024 |
||
Start of Term (for Years 1-6) |
Tuesday |
03 September 2024 |
To |
Thursay |
24 October 2024 |
Half Term |
Monday |
28 October 2024 |
|
Friday |
01 November 2024 |
Return on |
Monday |
04 November 2024 |
End of Term |
Friday |
20 December 2024 |
SPRING TERM 2025 |
||
Start of Term |
Tuesday |
07 January 2025 |
To |
Friday |
14 February 2025 |
Half Term |
Monday |
17 February 2025 |
|
Friday |
21 February 2025 |
Return on |
Monday |
24 February 2025 |
End of Term |
Thursday |
04 April 2025 |
SUMMER TERM 2025 |
||
Start of Term |
Monday |
22 April 2025 |
To |
Friday |
23 May 2025 |
Half Term |
Monday |
26 May 2025 |
|
Friday |
30 May 2025 |
Return on |
Monday |
02 June 2025 |
End of Term |
Friday |
22 July 2025 |
INSET DAYS | ||
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum & Safeguarding |
Monday |
02 September 2024 |
Teaching & Learning TBC |
Friday |
25 October 2024 |
Teaching & Learning: Wellbeing |
Friday |
29 November 2024 |
Assessment & Pupil Progress |
Monday |
06 January 2025 |
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum, Assessment & Pupil Progress |
Friday |
27 June 2025 |
|
|
|
BANK HOLIDAYS (school closed) | ||
May Bank Holiday |
Monday |
05 May 2025 |
Online Safety
Did you know that not all apps are safe for children, with many popular ones having certain age restrictions. For example, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook operate a minimum age of 13+ years, and therefore primary school children should not have their own, nor access to, such apps or accounts.
As parents, you can help safeguard your children online by researching these apps and their purposes, as well as their age restrictions, BEFORE agreeing to download them. If you do choose to download them, remember that parental controls such as password protection, can be set up so that in-app downloads or purchases, cannot be completed by the children themselves.
For example, to prevent iTunes, Apple App Store purchases or downloads, all you need to do is:
- Go to Settings and tap Screen Time.
- Tap Content & App Privacy Restrictions. If asked, enter your passcode.
- Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
- Select a setting and set to Don’t Allow.
Tips on how to install parental controls on other apps and devices (Android or Apple) can easily be found online, or even from the app developers themselves.
Preschool, Nursery & Reception Admissions
We currently have the following availability for places in our Early Years provision:
Reception class:
- 3 places (from January 2025)
Nursery Class (3-year olds):
- 1 full-time place from March 2025
- A waiting list is now in place for full-time places. Please contact the office for information on how to join the waiting list.
- You can also enquire at the school office with regards to any upcoming vacancies. Although we are currently full, we are in the process of extending our intake numbers, so please keep in touch.
Preschool (2-year olds)
- 2 full-time places from April 2025.
- You can also enquire at the school office with regards to any upcoming vacancies. Although we are currently full, we are in the process of extending our intake numbers, so please keep in touch.
If you are looking for a Preschool, Nursery or Reception place for your child we’d love to have you join us for a 30-minute bespoke EYFS tour. Here, you’ll have the chance explore our Early Years setting, speak to key staff and ask any questions regarding admissions and your child starting with us at Burdett-Coutts.
Contact us to register for our tours which take place every Thursday, with times available from 09:15 – 14:30 during term time.
- To book your tour place, please call 0207 828 6790
- For further information about starting Reception at Burdett-Coutts, please click here >
Funding eligibility letter for Pupil Premium, Early Years Funding & Free School Meals
Due to changes in the eligibility criteria for Pupil Premium, Free School Meals and qualifying for 30 hours of funding for Nursery provision, many pupils currently enrolled at our school may now be entitled to one of these funding allocations.
We will be issuing letters to families who are currently not in receipt of the above, asking you to complete the registration for the identified funding option your child/ren maybe eligible for. Thank you so much in advance for your help in completing this.
This funding allows us to increase additional staffing hours to run booster groups, and an exciting range of extended day activities, that benefit our school and your child, and your cooperation is greatly appreciated at this difficult time for school budgets.
- If you should have any queries with regards to the letter sent to you, please contact Mrs Deary or the school office.
Preschool:
This week, we introduced our new core text, “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?” The children engaged in a sensory small-world tuff tray, exploring animals from the story in a wintery setting.
Through this activity, they discovered how different animals move and sound, sparking their imaginations while enhancing their sensory and creative skills. This hands-on play helped expand their knowledge of animals and their environments in a fun and meaningful way.
Nursery:
This week, the nursery children had their very first visit to the IT room, and they had an amazing time exploring new skills! The children learnt how to use a computer mouse, practising how to move it and click the buttons. They had fun selecting different farm animals on the screen and choosing colours to decorate them. It was a wonderful introduction to technology, and the children were so proud of what they achieved.
Reception:
This week our Reception children have been exploring the fascinating world of magnets! With a variety of magnets in hand, they’ve been testing, investigating, and discovering which objects are magnetic and which are not. This hands-on activity is building their understanding of the world, introducing key scientific concepts like forces and materials in a way that’s both engaging and age-appropriate. As they experimented, the children developed their problem-solving skills, made predictions, and used observational language to describe their findings. Their excitement and curiosity have been magnetic in every sense, drawing us all into the wonder of learning!
Year 1:
In Year 1 we have been exploring teen numbers by breaking them down into tens and ones. We have been using place value blocks to show how each number is made up of one group of ten and additional ones. This hands-on learning has helped us to understand the structure of numbers like 11, 12, and 19, building a solid foundation for future math concepts.
Year 2:
This week, Year 2 children have been learning about the causes, consequences and possible solutions to plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. As Writers, they conducted research to understand the issue and crafted informative letters to the Mayor of London, highlighting the harmful effects of plastic on marine life and sharing practical ideas for reducing waste. They also focused on using a variety of sentence types (statements, questions, exclamations, and commands) practising these grammar skills to make their letters engaging and impactful. Inspired by the story Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon, the children embraced Rocket’s mission to rescue a Caribbean island from plastic waste. Through their writing, students demonstrated their understanding and a shared sense of responsibility to protect our planet’s oceans.
Year 3:
In Year 3, we are trucking along with our topic all about volcanoes, exploring it through our writing, art and geography learning. We have learnt so many fascinating facts about volcanoes and are excited to make posters about sedimentary rock. In Maths, we have started learning all about the 8 times tables. We have been using our knowledge of the 4 times tables to help us group, multiply and divide eights. We are using equal grouping/sharing, column method, arrays, number lines and bar models to help us complete a range of equations.
Year 4:
Week 3 has been another great week in Year 5. We are loving opportunities to show our learning in maths and the class have worked hard on learning multiplication and division strategies to solve complex problems. In writing, we have begun our own comic strip based on our class novel. It’s been great to see their creative writing ideas and I can’t wait to see the finished comic strips. Have a great weekend. Miss K.
Year 5:
Another exciting week in Year 4! We are continuing with our book, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, and we made our very own firework potions in a jar! Year 4 used conjunctions to make and follow instructions, and even named their fireworks, just like Lila in the story.
Year 6:
This week as Scientists we have begun to explore the role of the heart within the circulatory system. We drew and annotated a diagram and then discussed the function of each of the parts of the heart, identifying the role of the veins and arteries. We were so engaged in these tasks, where we also learnt about what a heart bypass machine is, when it was invented and how it is used to save thousands of lives each year.