School Newsletter : 10 February 2023

A series of devastating earthquakes have hit southern Turkey (now known as Türkiye) and north-west Syria killing over 24,000 people and injuring many more. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals and schools, have collapsed and infrastructure has been badly damaged.

People have been left without shelter in freezing winter conditions and desperately need blankets, emergency shelter, food and clean water. DEC charities and their local partners are among the first responders providing urgent help.

Immediate priorities are search and rescue, medical treatment for the injured, shelter for those who have lost their homes, heating in safe spaces, blankets, warm clothes, and ensuring people have food and clean water.

You can help people affected by the crisis by making a donation and helping to raise money for the DEC appeal. This will allow DEC charities and their local partners to scale up their response and reach more people.

• £10 could provide blankets to keep two people warm
• £25 could provide emergency food for a family for ten days
• £50 could provide emergency shelter for two families

If you are able to, please make a donation here at www.dec.org.uk >

A reminder to parents & carers that there is a vacancy for the role of parent governor on our governing body.

Our school’s governing body is responsible for providing confident and strategic leadership, and creating robust accountability, oversight and assurance for our school’s educational and financial performance.

We are keen to invite candidates who have skills in the areas of law, finance and fundraising.

• If you’re interested in applying for the role, please complete this candidate form (Google Form).
• Alternatively, you can download a PDF copy to print and fill in.
• If you require a printed form, please ask at the school office.

All forms must be submitted by 9am Wednesday 22 February. Printed forms are to be handed to the Clerk to Governors, Ms. K Baker via the school office.

If we receive more applications than there are vacancies, a confidential ballot will be carried out. We will inform you closer to the time if we have to do this.

Should you have any queries about the process or would like to find out more about the role, please feel free to contact our Chair of Governors by emailing nbowles@burdettcoutts.co.uk

• Letter to Parents & Carers : Parent Governor Vacancy (PDF) ›
• Parent Governor Candidate Form (PDF) >

Last Thursday, the Friends of Burdett-Coutts, our school’s Parent-Staff Association had another planning meeting for the upcoming Easter Fete! 

We discussed wet weather plans, food & refreshment, games & activities stalls and arrangements for donations of unwanted new items. Thank you to all the parents who attended – it was a really useful meeting, with so much discussed and decided!

If you are a parent, carer or a guardian of a child that attends the school, then you are automatically a member of the Friends of Burdett-Coutts. Being part of FoBC is a great chance to meet other parents, while supporting our school. Even if you only have a small amount of time, it’s an amazing opportunity to participate more in school life.

Please come along if you can to our next planning meeting, which will be after the half term break at 9am on Thursday 23rd February in the Ground Floor Hall. EVERYONE is welcome and we would really value your input. 

If you’re unable to attend Thursday’s planning meeting but would like to help out, please speak to Miss Rachida in Nursery & Reception.

KS1 Cooking Club with Miss Landrigan, Miss Cameron, Mrs El Mamoun & Mrs Rose.

Wow! What a super few weeks we have had in our new term of cooking club! So far we have made yummy Quesadillas, Scones and Tortilla crisps with Tzatziki and Salsa. This week we made pasta kebab sticks. First we threaded cooked pasta onto a long skewer and then chose some of our favourite toppings to include, before grilling them in the oven. They were delicious!

KS2 Art Club with Miss Jorquera

In Art Club, children have been exploring the life and works of the artist David Hockney and his astonishing artwork (Pop Art). Inspired by one of his paintings ‘Garrowby Hill‘, they learnt how to draw (with) perspective and recreated their own David Hockney landscapes using oil pastels. Each section of field or grass was rendered with a different pattern and children also experimented with colour in their work. Since learning that David Hockney was born with Synesthesia (he sees colour as a cognitive response to hearing music), they used harmonious colours which sit beside each other on the colour wheel. These colours work well together and create an image which is pleasing to the eye.

February:

• Half Term: Monday 13th – Friday 17th January
• Tuesday 21st February: Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
• Wednesday 22nd February: Ash Wednesday
• Wednesday 22nd February: Year 6  River Trust Trip – please see letters sent home and make your payments to the school office.

March:

• Thursday 2nd March: World Book Day – more information in our newsletter after the half term!
• Thursday 2nd March: Year 5 Trip to The Central Gurdwara – please refer to the letter sent home to all Y5 pupils for further information.
• Monday 6th March: Year 6 Citizenship Trip to the London Transport Museum.
• Thursday 9th March: Coronation Project with Peter Daniels taking place in school with Year 6.
• Thursday 9th March: Battle of Britain Concert at Cadogan Hall – Years 4 and 5 will be attending.

March (continued):

• Thursday 16th March by 16:00: Easter Bonnet entries and 4th Plinth Art entries to be submitted to school.
• Friday 17th March: Friends of Burdett-Coutts Easter Fete – more information to follow after the half term!
• Monday 20th March @ 19:00 – 21:00: Barbican Concert – Year 6 have been invited to perform alongside pupils from Westminster School in their concert. An amazing opportunity! More details to follow, including how parents can obtain tickets.
• Tuesday 21st March: Pimlico Music Foundation Singing Event at St. Gabriel’s Church – Year 5 to perform and parents are warmly welcomed (times TBC).
• Monday 27th March @ 14:30 – 16:30: Coronation Club (Year 4) Trip to the Royal Mews – separate letter will follow.

On Tuesday 7th February Year Six, and the Choir Club, paid their 3rd visit this academic year to The Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks (also known as The Guards Chapel), on Birdcage Walk, for their series of Lunchtime Concerts.

On this occasion we were there as performers at the invitation of Westminster Great School, sharing a vocal concert with them. The concert began with a beautiful aria by Handel sung by a young tenor from Westminster, and then a barbershop quartet. Then our Bellringing Club (Lauren, Maria, Arafa, Hector, Joshua, and Robel) gave a good account of Rounds, Queens, Tittums, and Whittingtons ringing the handbells presented to St Stephen’s Church (as an heirloom) by Baroness Burdett-Coutts shortly after the founding of our school and church; Ms Stephanie Pattenden, our chief campanology tutor, was there to supervise us.

We listened to three more operatic arias from Westminster, and then the bellringers rang Christ Be Our Light. Our singing programme began with The Streets of London (soloists Robel and Joshua, and Maria and Ameena) followed by two songs from Sheik Rattle and Roll (soloists Israa and Soraya), then we sang the Benedictus from The Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott, and finally, with the lower harmony parts being sung for us by Westminster, and conducted by Mr Tim Garrard (Head of Music at Westminster), The Lord Bless You and Keep You by Rutter.

Miss Clover Willis, our singing tutor from Pimlico Music Foundation, came to listen to us. We are very grateful for these performing invitations from Westminster School, and we are looking forward to appearing with them again in the Barbican Concert Hall on Monday 20th March.

When our class and people from the choir club went to the Guards Chapel we saw spectacular things; we want to share some of them with you. Reviews of the visit from some of the pupils who attended:

When we first entered the Chapel and took our places, we found out that the building was a very historical place and has artefacts that dated back to the 1700s. It was originally built in 1834 but tragically bombs destroyed The Guards Chapel, and it was rebuilt in 1963 and was gifted from Queen Elizabeth II. There were ancient flags from decades ago and memorials of our ancestors who fought in the war for our safety.

We want to thank the older children from Westminster school and Mr Garrard (as well as Mr Carden), for giving us the opportunity to enhance our singing further. A special thanks to the patrons of the Guards Chapel who invited us to this performance.

By Israa and Ameena

Safer Internet Day 2023 was on 7th February, with celebrations and learning based around the theme of ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’. Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees thousands of organisations get involved to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

In the UK, we are celebrating by putting children and young people’s voices at the heart of the day and encouraging them to shape the online safety support that they receive. This is why children from Jemison class are taking the lead to inform the school about this year’s Safer Internet Day! They made posters to inform people of the dangers of being online and presented an assembly to open up a conversation about having a positive and safe presence online.

London Zoo are offering £3 tickets to anyone currently in receipt of Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseekers’ Allowance! All you need to do is bring proof of benefit letter (electronic or paper copy) to the ticket kiosk.

Collective Worship

The whole school attends acts of Collective Worship every day.

• Mondays and Tuesdays: key stage singing assemblies led by Mr Carden.
• Wednesdays: Church service led by Graham or Helena, the clergy at St Stephens with St John on Rochester Row. These services are very child-friendly, and Year 6 take a leading role by processing, singing in the choir and reading the Bible readings and prayers.
• Thursdays: We focus on celebrating achievements, led by a member of SLT, School Council or a class teacher with their class. When a class teacher leads the assembly, their class also recite a piece of poetry they have been learning. We would be very grateful if parents could support their children in learning these poems when it is their turn.
• Friday: Opportunities for classes to share what they have been learning with their families and the rest of the school.

In church this week, we listened to a reading from Matthew 5:13-20, based on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. We learnt about Jesus teaching his followers to be agents of change and to lead others to the right path through their actions. He spoke about both salt and light being agents of change. What do you think he meant by this?

Graham lit an 8-candle Menorah and talked about the importance of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Light. He told a story about a Jewish family in America in the 1980s who put a picture of a Menorah in their window, and someone threw a brick through the window because they didn’t like Jewish people.

The police said maybe the family should take the picture down, but a Christian woman named Margaret McDonald thought it was terrible that this family could not be open about their celebrations and put up a picture of a Menorah in her own window, calling to all in the city to do the same. Thousands of people of all faiths and none followed suit, standing together against this persecution.

This story reminded School Council of their new project on Courageous Advocacy: people bravely standing up for an issue or cause that they believe in even if it caused them difficulties. Can you think of any Courageous Advocates and what they have stood up for?

Many of you may be aware from the national press that the National Education Union (NEU), has balloted for strike action on the following dates:

• Thursday 2 March 2023
• Wednesday 15 March 2023
• Thursday 16 March 2023

Kindly be informed that our school will be open on all the strike days listed above, with all classes and wrap around provision (Breakfast Club, Extended School Day and After School Clubs) operating as normal.

Please find here the agreed term dates set by our school’s Governing Body for the upcoming academic year, starting September 2022.

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 2022-2023 >

 

AUTUMN TERM 2022
Start of Term (for Years 1-6)	Monday	05 September 2022
To	Friday	21 October 2022
Half Term	Monday	24 October 2022
	Friday	28 October 2022
Return on	Monday	31 October 2022
End of Term	Friday	16 December 2022
SPRING TERM 2023
Start of Term	Wednesday	04 January 2023
To	Friday	10 February 2023
Half Term	Monday	13 February 2023
	Friday	17 February 2023
Return on	Monday	20 February 2023
End of Term	Friday	31 March 2023
SUMMER TERM 2023
Start of Term	Monday	17 April 2023
To	Friday	26 May 2023
Half Term	Monday	29 May 2023
	Friday	02 June 2023
Return on	Monday	05 June 2023
End of Term	Friday	21 July 2023

 

INSET DAYS
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum Map Autumn/Spring	Thursday	01 September 2022
Teaching & Learning: Phonics	Friday	02 September 2022
Assessment & Pupil Progress	Friday	02 December 2022
Teaching & Learning: Curriculum Map Autumn/Spring	Tuesday	03 January 2023
Assessment & Pupil Progress	Friday	07 July 2023
BANK HOLIDAYS (school closed)
May Bank Holiday	Monday	01 May 2023
Coronation Bank Holiday	Monday	08 May 2023

This week we’ve been learning all about St. Valentine and Valentine’s Day. We have linked it to learning about Paris because it is known as the ‘City of Love‘. The children are very excited to have the opportunity to gift their loved ones, with their own card creations. This activity gave them the perfect opportunity to use skills that we have been developing and exploring this term, as well as revisit some from last term. The children discussed why hearts are where we keep our feelings and fashioned their own heart shapes using pencil and paper. They then cut and printed their own cards to be gifted on Valentine’s Day. Are you one of the lucky recipients?!

This half term we have had a wonderful time as exploring scientists through our topic, All Around the World. We have made rockets using recycled materials, researched the life of an astronaut; including how they train, what they eat (we even tasted real astronaut food!) and how they sleep. The highlight has been our Space Station role play area. We have enjoyed sharing this space to recreate our discoveries about astronauts and the jobs they do on the International Space Station.

Year 1’s artists have continued to learn about primary and secondary colours this half term. This week, they’ve focused on primary colours (blue, red and yellow) and applied them in an abstract style to some number outlines; while ensuring the numbers remained easy to read. They’ve had a very busy half term, and are very much looking forward to a well-deserved break so that they’re ready for more exciting learning when we return!

Continuing from our class text last week, we have been writing instructions to make sandwiches, and as a marble jar treat, we have been making our own sandwiches! Luckily, not disgusting ones like the Bear’s! We spoke about the order required when making a sandwich, and then wrote instructions and prepared the ingredients. We enjoyed this activity as it really helped to bring the book to life! We love reading in Year 5 and can’t wait to find out what our class book will be after half term.

This week in Geography we have continued our study of Rivers and learning about how the use of the Thames has changed over time. We created a timeline of what we decided to be key events in its history. Some of these events included London Bridge being built in 50AD, the licence for passenger transport by King Henry V111 in 1510 and The Great Stink in 1858. The smell was so bad that Parliament had to pass an act to create an underground sewage system. One of the things that shocked us most was the Frost Fairs; when the Thames froze over in the 1700’s, and people would camp, bowl, play football and dance on the frozen river! They also had stalls selling a range of foods and lit fires for cooking and warmth. This would be unimaginable today, especially with our climate!