School Newsletter : 6 December 2024

All parents & carers are invited to attend the following services, unless specified differently eg: Year 6 parents & carers only etc. If you’re attending, please ensure that all mobile phones are either switched off or on silent mode.

Please also ensure that you arrive on time as you will not be able to join assemblies or services once they have begun. This is to ensure that those speaking or performing are not distracted by late arrivers.

Kindly note that we will not be able to make any exceptions, so please be aware of arrival times, traffic/travel conditions etc so as to avoid any disappointment.

A reminder that any photos taken are not permitted to be uploaded to public social media sites.

Please note a change of day for Reception PE lessons.  Pupils will now have their PE lesson each Friday starting from Friday 15th November.

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.

Please join in our next meeting to discuss our upcoming event, the Christmas Fair on 18 December @ 15:30 – 17:30. Everyone is welcome, and your energy & support is very much needed!

December:

• Wednesday 11th December:  Christmas Jumper Day
• Wednesday 11th December:  KS2 (Year 3 – 6) Disco @ 17:00 – 19:00
• Thursday 12th December:  Children’s Christmas Lunch
• Friday 13th December: EYFS & KS1 Christmas Nativity, starting at 14:30 in St. Stephens Church.
• Wednesday 18th December:  School Christmas Fair @ 15:30 – 17:30
• Friday 20th December: School closes for the Christmas Holidays @ 13:30.

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:

Reception class:

• 3 places (from January 2025)

Nursery Class (3-year olds):

• 1 part-time place (afternoon – from January 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.

 Preschool (2-year olds)

• Please make enquires to the school office with regards to any upcoming vacancies.  We are currently full, however we are in the process of extending our intake numbers, so please do make contact for further information.

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.

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.