1. Some people make the world special just by being in it!

2. Nativity

3. Christmas Lunch & Jumper Day

4. Christingle making

5. Mrs Christmas visits the children with gifts

6. House Teams

7. Best wishes to Miss Trotter

8. PTA Hamper

9. Garden Signs

10. Tempest Photography feedback

11. Monday Mile - Lourdes progress

12. Oak Violin Performance

13. Spring Term Clubs

14. Raring To Go Christmas Edition

15. Free School Meals - Christmas voucher codes

16. Contact details - reminder

17. School Improvement Activity

18. Safeguarding

Good evening every one,

Yes, this is the final newsletter for this term...can you believe it?! Never, in my years as an educator, have I experienced a term like this one! Having all made it through to the other end, it is now that one can take a little more stock and reflect...we have all faced difficult times and may well have not always known where we're going; that said, I feel encouraged to say, where ever that was or is, 'We're most certainly on the way!' I feel incredibly inspired that, as a collective, we've learned to trust the journey, even when we've not necessarily always understood it. A wiseman once said 'It's the journey that teaches you a lot about the destination!'

This week was definitely one to savour! Nativity...I'm still speechless! What an incredible way to finish the term off... on an unbelievable high. Yesterday, for me, felt like the beginning of Christmas - the children's mesmerising performance lit the candle and sparked the celebrations into life! I'm not sure I've ever seen (nor will I ever see again) such a warming, elevating, creative and captivating nativity production. The children certainly made us all proud, as did the staff; they're a special bunch this lot. In fact, some people make the world special just by being in it! Congratulations Bardwell - that's each and every one of you!

Please do enjoy this newsletter by recapturing some of the highlights of nativity, and of course, the experiences enjoyed this week.

May I give voice to a final farewell for this year by saying a huge thank you to the school governors (for their continued support and challenge), the Tilian Partnership, all the fabulous staff at Bardwell, you, the parents/carers (for your trust, respect and value), and last but not least, the 'Special Ones.'

Have a safe, well-earned and magical Christmas!

Mr Francksen

Executive Headteacher

Finley, Ted, Cooper, Lucas, Danielle, Jack B, Josh, Ethan, Amelia J, Oliver, Prapti, Mia, Edward, Charlie, Isabelle, Oscar, Pippa.

Thank you to all the parents and carers who provided such creative and eye-catching costumes and helped their children to learn their lines so beautifully.

A huge thanks to Mr Boyd for creating the scenic backdrops; Mr Dawson for kindly providing straw bales, Mrs O’Brien for her electrical assistance, Mr Allman for lighting & effects, and local residents Kit and Dave for the loan of their gazebos.

Watch this space as we will, hopefully, have something in the Bury Free Press either this Friday or next.

I was so impressed with all of the students and their energy and enthusiasm during the songs, how clearly and loudly they spoke, and the amazing costumes. It was lovely to walk around the school and see each of the ’sketches’ performed. I was even fortunate enough to also see the year 6 students perform with their hand-bells, which sounded fantastic. It was an incredible production and everyone involved, the students, staff and support team should be rightly proud of what they achieved today. I think quite possibly the best Nativity at Bardwell ever!” [Parent feedback]

“I have never seen such an AMAZING and wonderful school nativity performance! Thank you so much!

On the most difficult year ever, you have, collectively, produced a whole school performance of the Christmas story. The children acted and sang beautifully, with energy and very competently! They were a credit to your hard work!

The use of outdoor spaces around the school was so clever and quite beautiful in the Forest School! The scene sets, costumes and overall management of the flow, including following COVID guidelines, tied it all together.” [Governor feedback]

Thanks to all who donated to the Save The Children Christmas jumper collection; we raised £36.

We held an online Christingle service with Vicar Karen and our Foundation Governor, Dinkie. Each child made their own Christingle and learnt about the symbolism of each part of it.

We recently informed you in a previous newsletter that our former houses have been renamed after the prominent Suffolk figures: Fawcett, Garrett Anderson, Constable and Britten. Children should all be aware of which house they are in; note that siblings are always in the same House. You can check their House at any time by logging into Arbor’s website (not the app).

Britten House attended in non-uniform today as they are the first termly house points winners. Well done Britten!

Miss Trotter unfortunately had a minor accident earlier this week and sustained an ankle injury, which kept her off work.

I am sure you join me in wishing Miss Trotter a very speedy recovery.

Thank you to all who bought tickets at the Nativity performances; the raffle raised £68.03 and the winning ticket belonged to Mrs Allman.

We’ve taken delivery of a rather smart set of new garden signs to go into the raised beds, all ready to start gardening in the Spring term. These were made by Mr Ruffles, thank you!

If you’d like to give your feedback on the recent school photos, please complete this survey with your thoughts by the end of the Christmas holiday. Thank you to all who’ve completed this to date.

We are still racking up the miles and are now seeing how long it will take us to get to Lourdes - a place of Christian pilgrimage in France. We’ve worked out that it’s 725 miles away (including a ferry trip!).

This week our pupils walked or ran 33 miles and the following pupils all completed the full mile - Lexie, Jacob, Tobias, Jake, Ted, Josh and Rubi.

Our Early Help Clubs (Breakfast and After School) will continue from Tuesday 5th January. Please book your place on Arbor - bookings will open at 10 am on Saturday 19th December.

The magazine is full of ideas for the Christmas holidays to keep the family entertained, featuring holiday camps, gift ideas, days outs and Winter activities. With best wishes, Emily Parker, Raring To Go Editor, Suffolk edition.

If your child is in receipt of income-related Free School Meals (FSM), you should have received a letter this week with your Christmas holiday voucher codes.

Please contact the office if you have not received a letter.

As always, do please update your details on Arbor if you have any changes to your phone number, email address, etc.

6b. Pupils enjoy a stimulating outdoor and play learning (OPAL) environment - you may have seen the tyres in the front playground. Watch this space for some exciting developments in January.