School Newsletter : 3 November 2023

| Issue 07 | Autumn 2 | Week 7 |

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Art Competition

Well done to everyone who participated in the Winter Wonderland Art Competition advertised earlier in October. The theme was to capture what ‘Winter Wonderland‘ meant to the children. There were so many wonderful entries and the thought, care and level of artistic skills on display was breath-taking.

From the many entries, we’re delighted to announce that Alice from the Reception Class has won the Gold prize for her age group (4 – 6 years old). She has won £200 to spend at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland as well as four tickets to the Charity Preview Night.

Furthermore, her winning artwork will be displayed at the event for all visitors to enjoy. Congratulations Alice!

Disney Musicals In School

Our school has been one of only 5 primary schools in London to be successfully accepted by the acclaimed performing arts programme, Disney Musicals in Schools. Starting this month, pupils will benefit from this unique opportunity to strengthen their skills in acting, singing, dancing, prop making, and other backstage theatre skills, as well as develop their confidence and enhance their speaking, listening and collaborative skills.

The rehearsals will take place over 17 weeks and in March 2024, the children will perform a Disney KIDS production of The Lion King, both in school, as well as a special showcase staging at the Lyceum Theatre, where the actual West End musical The Lion King takes place!

This week, our Year 4 and 5 children have already been busy in rehearsals. Supported by the Disney Teaching Artists, Lauren and Dom, children and staff have started to learn the notes and choreography for ‘The Circle of Life‘. Everyone is enjoying getting to know the many roles in the play and persevering with the challenge of singing and dancing at the same time, which can be quite tricky!

Our three Disney agreements are ‘Give respect to get respect‘, ‘Everybody plays‘ and ‘Have serious… fun!‘ Everyone involved were certainly fulfilling that final agreement!

PE Lessons

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct PE kit to school each week.

Pupils who are 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.

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).
Pupils in KS2 (Years 3 – 6) must wear a school navy sweatshirt for PE and NOT their school jumper.
Plain black trainers (velcro if your child struggles with shoe laces)
Please ensure all items of uniform are clearly labelled (with a permanent pen or label)

PE lessons are on:

Monday: Year 1
Tuesday: Year 5
Wednesday: Early Years & Year 3
Thursday: Year 6
Friday: Year 4 & Year 2
Please note change of day for Year 1 & Year 6

School Communication

We have now moved to email updates and notifications, and only using text messaging when reminders are urgently needed.

Please check your Spam folders and if you haven’t seen any emails from us, please contact the school office so that we can check that we have the correct email address for you.

School Meals

If you would like your child to move from bringing a packed lunch to having a school meal, you must inform the office at least a week in advance of this change being made. Kindly note pupils are not allowed to alternate between having packed lunches and/or school meals on a daily or weekly basis. If you have any questions, please see a member of the school admin staff at the school office.

You can find the current school lunch menu here >

If you require a printed copy, please ask at the school office. Should you have any questions about the menu, kindly make an appointment to speak with Miss Barnett.

Are you getting to school on time?

Why good school attendance matters: Missing a few days of school here and there may not seem a big deal, but research shows that it can have a significant impact on children’s learning.

Children who miss a substantial amount of school fall behind their peers, and struggle to catch up. Most of the work they miss is never made up, which can lead to big gaps in their learning.

Poor attendance often starts at primary school and children who fall into this pattern are likely to under-achieve at secondary school.
Pupils who miss between 10 and 20% of school (that’s 19 – 38 days per year) stand only a 35% chance of achieving five or more good GCSEs, compared to 73% of those who miss fewer than 5% of school days.
An attendance rate of 95% is generally considered good; this allows for children to miss 9.5 days across the school year.
Persistent absence (PA) is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or below.
All pupils are expected to have an attendance rate of 95% or higher.

Attendance class of the week: Each week we will be celebrating the class with the highest attendance levels.

Did you know?!

10 minutes late every day = 33 hours lost learning each year!
Lateness and absence has a significant impact not only on your child’s learning, but also others, as teachers may have to re-teach late arrivals to ensure they can participate in the lesson.
Remember pupils need to be in school by 08:55.
The pupil entrance gates open at 08:40.

Upcoming Events

November:

Monday 6th: Year 6: Inter-generational Music Project @ Norton House (Visit 6 – Final visit)
Wednesday 8th: Year 3: British Museum trip (Ancient Egypt)
Thursday 9th: Year 6: Churchill War Rooms trip
Friday 10th: Remembrance Day Service, in the school playground staring at 10:45. Parents & Carers are warmly invited, and we ask that you arrive by 10:40am please. Please ensure that your mobile phones are on silent. The main school gates will be open from 10:35.
Monday 13th: Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying Week (awareness day not a fundraiser)
Friday 17th: Year 2: Tower of London trip
Tuesday 21st: Year 1: National Portrait Gallery trip

December:

Friday 1st: INSET Day (no school for pupils)
Wednesday 6th: 9 Lessons Christmas Service @ St. John Smith Square 09:30 – 10:15. All parents and carers are welcome to attend this special annual servers in a beautiful concert hall. Please be seated by 09:25 and ensure that your mobile phones are on silent or turned off.
Thursday 7th: Christmas Jumper Day
Thursday 7th from 3.30pm: Friends of Burdett-Coutts Christmas Fair

December (cont):

Friday 8th @ 14:00: EYFS & KS1 Nativity @ St. Stephens Church. Doors from 13:45
Friday 15th: End of Extended School Day Clubs (15:30 – 16:30)
Friday 15th @ 14:15: KS2 Nativity @ St. Stephens Church. Doors from 14:00
Friday 22nd @ 10:30: Christingle Service @ St.Stephens Church. Parents & carers invited. Details to follow.
Friday 22nd December: School finishes at 13:30 for the Christmas Holidays.

Term Dates 2023-2024

Please find here the agreed term dates set by our school’s Governing Body for the upcoming academic year, starting September 2023.

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:

Burdett-Coutts & Townshend Foundation CE Primary School Term Dates 2023-2024 >

AUTUMN TERM 2023
Start of Term (for Years 1-6)	Tuesday	05 September 2023
To	Friday	20 October 2023
Half Term	Monday	23 October 2023
	Friday	27 October 2023
Return on	Monday	30 October 2023
End of Term	Friday	22 December 2023

SPRING TERM 2024
Start of Term	Tuesday	09 January 2024
To	Friday	09 February 2024
Half Term	Monday	12 February 2024
	Friday	16 February 2024
Return on	Monday	19 February 2024
End of Term	Thursday	28 March 2024

SUMMER TERM 2024
Start of Term	Monday	15 April 2024
To	Friday	24 May 2024
Half Term	Monday	27 May 2024
	Friday	31 May 2024
Return on	Monday	03 June 2024
End of Term	Friday	24 July 2024

INSET DAYS
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum & Safeguarding	Monday	04 September 2023
Assessment & Pupil Progress	Friday	01 December 2023
Teaching & Learning TBC	Monday	08 January 2024
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum Map Autumn/Spring	Tuesday	22 March 2024
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum, Assessment & Pupil Progress	Friday	28 June 2024

BANK HOLIDAYS (school closed)
May Bank Holiday	Monday	06 May 2024

Community Corner

This week we have seen a number of special days in the Christian calendar, some of which are widely celebrated and others perhaps not so well known. On Tuesday many children will have been out in the local area trick-or-treating for Halloween.

Did you know that this fun evening stems from the ancient celebration of All Hallows Eve? This was a holy evening where people would traditionally hold a vigil in wait for All Saints Day on 1st November.

All Saints Day, which falls annually on 1st November, commemorates those known to God as saints or martyrs, and all the faithful followers of Jesus throughout history. It is a special day for remembering and honouring the lives and faith of those who have gone before us.

All Souls Day, which is celebrated the day after on 2nd November, is formally referred as The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. It is seen as an extension of All Saints Day, serving to commemorate those who have passed. For many it is a day to be with family and share memories of loved ones.

In churches around the country you may have seen cloths of either white or gold, as this week just gone is as a special time in the Christian calendar, as we enter the season of Kingdomtide: the period between All Saints Day and the first Sunday of Advent.

During November you may see a lot more red in church as clergy and parishioners prepare for the time of Christ the King and the start of Advent.

Community Questions:

Why do you think that some people choose to read the Bible everyday? How do you think it helps them?
Do you believe that God ‘speaks’ to people through what they read in the Bible? Why/why not?
Challenge: Borrow or read a story from a children’s Bible, you could start with a story from Jesus’ life, or Mark’s Gospel. If you don’t own a Bible, you can find one at your local library or you can borrow one from school.

Prayer:

Thank you for your word to us in the Bible. Help us live in a way that pleases you. Amen

Class Assembly Dates:

We’re looking forward to welcoming parents and families to our classes’ sharing assemblies in the Autumn Term. On the day of your child’s assembly, kindly make sure your child arrives at school promptly on that day. If you are attending their class assembly, please be seated in the First Floor Hall by 9:00am.

10th November @ 10:30am: Remembrance Service in school. Parents & carers welcome.
17th November: Year 1
24th November: Year 2
6th December @ 9:30am: 9 Lessons Carol Service @ St John’s Smith Square. Parents & carers welcome.
7th December: Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Lunch Day.
8th December @ 2pm: EYFS & KS1 Nativity @ St Stephen’s Church. Parents & carers welcome.
15th December @ 2.15pm: KS2 Carol Concert @ St Stephen’s Church. Parents & carers welcome.

Biscuits Bytes

Woof!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to the Autumn second half term.

It was great to see everyone back in school this week, although it’s not been as much fun with all the wet play sessions 😩

If you thought that last term was busy, well you had better prepare yourselves for the next 7 weeks! Please check the diary dates above as there are so many trips, visitors, events and of course Christmas productions to rehearse, perform and participate in coming up!

I can’t wait 🐶😊

I am very fortunate to have a fur coat that, with a few shakes, leaves me mostly dry and ready to learn and play. Sadly though (cause I think fur is great), the children do not have fur like me and need to have a jacket to keep dry, so shaking won’t work for them.

So, parents & carers, please make sure your child is wearing a waterproof jacket to school every day with a hood (this is preferable and safer than an umbrella). If it is really raining on your way to school, children can wear wellies and bring their school shoes in a bag to change into when they get to school.

It’s Guy Fawkes (Bonfire Night) this weekend; which is not a particularly happy time for me, as I get very frightened by all the explosions and bangs. If you are celebrating Guy Fawkes (Bonfire Night) with your friends and family, please take special care. Follow the instructions of adults and don’t handle fireworks alone, ensure you are supervised by an adult.

Remember to check on your pets as well to make sure that they feel safe and secure. Things that help me during this time are keeping the windows and curtains closed, and having either the tv or music on in the room to help divert my listening from the noises outside.

Enjoy bonfire night and have a wonderful weekend,

Love, Biscuit!

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.

Last few places for Preschool, Nursery & Reception

We only have a few places remaining in our early years provision for September 2023. Currently we have:

2 full-time Preschool (2-year olds) places
3 full-time Nursery (3-year olds) place available, and 1 part-time place (afternoon)
4 Reception class places

If you are looking for a Preschool, Nursery or Reception place for your child from January 2024 or September 2024, 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 09:30 – 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:

We have had a really fun first week back after the half term break. We have been very busy investigating pumpkins – which is a very popular autumnal vegetable! First, we scooped out the insides (flesh) so we could make pumpkin soup. We took extra care to cut the pumpkin flesh and then mixed it altogether in a big bowl with the other ingredients. After our teachers cooked it for us, we sat down to sample our hard work. We weren’t sure we liked it; however the teachers thought it was yummy! Finally, we decorated the shell of our pumpkin using a range of autumnal coloured paints.

Nursery:

Autumn Adventures have continued in the Nursery. Our little explorers have been embracing the magic of autumn through leaves. They’ve crafted leaf masks, had fun sorting and collecting the colourful foliage, and even crowned themselves with beautiful leaf crowns. It’s a season of wonder and creativity in our nursery, as the children immerse themselves in the beauty of this season. Stay tuned for more heartwarming moments from our little leaf enthusiasts.

Reception:

Our Reception class is named after the famous scientist and mathematician, Albert Einstein. This week we have been learning all about Einstein and his greatest achievements. Reception then created their own ‘Einstein’, first colouring in an outline of Einstein and then creating his famous crazy hair by wrapping strips of paper around pencils to create the curls.

Year 1:

After a lovely half term, Year 1 are raring to go and have already been busy in all curriculum areas. This week we started our new History topic about significant individuals. We have learnt about Florence Nightingale’s life and all the important things she has done in developing modern healthcare. We talked about what a timeline was and used this to order the events of her life.

Year 2:

Year 2 have been learning about their class scientist, John Snow (1813 – 1858). John Snow was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, London. They first explored the living conditions in London during the Victorian era to gain an understanding of the cholera disease. Then they researched information about John Snow and his remarkable contributions and produced a fact file with their findings. They discovered his ingenious use of a dot map to represent the cholera cases, revealing a pattern; that all were around a water pump. This evidence supported Snow’s theory that contaminated water was indeed the source of cholera infection.

Year 3:

In Year 3 we have been learning about our class scientist, Isaac Newton. We learnt about his three laws of motion which are:

that an object won’t change its motion unless acted upon by a force. We tested this by blowing and moving our pencils.
that heavier objects need a larger force to move them. We tested this by throwing different balls. We had to apply a larger the force, in this case we had to throw bigger and denser balls with larger force, for them to travel the same or similar distances as smaller, lighter balls.
that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We tested this by pushing against our partners hands and seeing how this action resulted in our partner moving backwards (reaction).

Year 5:

As Historians this half term, we will be learning all about the Ancient Greeks their amazing culture. On Thursday, we visited The British Museum, where we completed a Tablet Tour of the Ancient Greeks and also visited the Ancient Greek Galleries. Whilst there we also took the opportunity to consolidate our earlier learning about the Anglo Saxons. This is a broad historical study; however the children are already spotting links between the Roman and Greek civilisations.

Year 6:

This week in English, we have been exploring a modelled example of an informal letter written from the perspective of Bruno (the main character in our class text, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). Through our discussions, we identified that the modelled example lacked description, overused the conjunction ‘but‘ and didn’t include rhetorical questions. We then made improvements and created our own rhetorical questions as a class. Following this, we created a plan for our own informal letters, which we are in the process of writing.