School Newsletter : 11 October 2024

A HUGE thank you to everyone who generously donated to our Harvest appeal this year. We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of donations, all of which will go directly to help those in need over the next few months.

It was lovely to see many parents and carers join us in our Harvest Service this week. We were all blessed with many opportunities to see a range of pupils across the year groups participate in singing, musical performances, bible readings, prayers and a class poem.

Well done to Year 3 who concluded our service with a wonderful recital of a poem, performed with great clarity and confidence. They also showcased a lovely piece of artwork to complement their performance.

Thank you to Miss Pollard-Brown and Miss Butterfield for supporting our pupils in delivering this presentation.

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.

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.

Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday 16th October from 09:00 – 09:45 in the Ground Floor Hall, with refreshments. Everyone is welcome – please come along and join us, your energy & support is very much needed!

Next PTA Event:

• Christmas Fair: Wednesday 18th December @ 15:30 – 17:30

October:

• Tuesday 15th October: Year 4 Trip to the Science Museum @ 09:00 – 15:00
• Wednesday 16th October: Peter Daniels (Westminster Archives) in to deliver “Moving Away Your Dust” Project with Year 6 @ 09:00 – 15:15
• Tuesday 22nd October:  Year 5 Trip to the Science Museum @ 09:00 – 15:00
• Friday 25th October: INSET Day, school closed for pupils.
• October Half Term: Monday 28th October to Friday 1st of November School Closed

November:

• Wednesday 6th November: Year 1 Trip to the Florence Nightingale Museum @ 09:00 – 15:00
• Friday 8th November:  Remembrance Day Service (in school) 10:30 – 11:30.  Parents are warmly invited and need to be in the school playground (weather permitting) by 10:25.
• Friday 8th November: Year 6 visiting Westminster Abbey as part of the “Moving Away Your Dust” Project @ 13:00 -15:00.
• Monday 11th November: Year 5 Trip to The British Museum @ 09:00 – 15:00.
• Monday 18th November: Year 3 Trip to The British Museum @ 09:00 – 15:00.

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:

1. Go to Settings and tap Screen Time.
2. Tap Content & App Privacy Restrictions. If asked, enter your passcode.
3. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
4. 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.

We have the following availability for places in our Early Years provision from September 2024:

Reception class:

• 2 places

Nursery Class (3-year olds):

• 2 full-time places
• 2 part-time place (afternoon)

 Preschool (2-year olds)

• 1 full-time place from September 2024
• 2 part-time places from September 2024
• 2 full-time places (1 from January 2025)

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 10:30 – 14:30 during term time.

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.