1. 2 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds...

2. Rowan's Adventures...

3. Hazel's Exploits...

4. Oak's Endeavours...

5. Tree Dressing

6. Walk to Walsingham

7. Bardwell School in the Bury Free Press

8. Enrichment Day

9. Year 4 / Year 5 - musical instruments and performance

10. School Photos

11. Nativity

12. Flu Vaccinations

13. Messy Church

14. Breakfast Club

15. Traffic/Tilian House

16. School Improvement Activity

17. Safeguarding

Good morning all,

As of writing this letter, it is 2 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds until the big fat fella comes down your chimney and brings you presents and drinks your beer...2 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds 'til Santa.

I am firm believer that you should never wish time away. The present is most certainly a gift and the future is something to aspire to. That said, you may have guessed...I'm also a huge lover of Christmas. It would take an age to list all the goodness that I feel Christmas can bring - in essence, it is indeed a time to use a Bardwell Behaviour and 'Reflect.'

Interestingly, yesterday I observed an intriguing Philospohy 4 Children (P4C) session with Mr Hurkett and Mrs Box. The essential question was: If you had to choose, would you have 'Time' or 'Money'? Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer, here. This is the nature of P4C. However, it was incredible to listen to some of the children's thinking and reasoning. One particular theme that kept arising was that it's difficult to buy time, therefore, time is a precious commodity. It was overwhelming that children felt 'time' offered the opportunity to be with family, whereas money could not buy that! All very interesting discourse and I must say it was a pleasure to be a fly on the wall listening to such profound and mature thinking!

'Tis the season for Advent so please do enjoy a newsletter packed with festivity arrangements.

Have a wet, cold but enjoyable weekend.

Mr Francksen

Executive Headteacher

This week we have all been very excited! Our advent calendars have opened, our classroom Christmas tree has been decorated, rehearsals have started and we’re learning our songs - it’s starting to look and sound a lot like Christmas! We rounded up our week by visiting the forest to say goodbye to Autumn and looking for signs of the new season and we’ve given the Rowan tree some new berries to cheer it up for the winter ahead.

We have just started a new narrative in literacy all about Christmas! It is based on the BBC advert My Christmas Star. The children have done some fabulous writing already and the classroom is filled with their wonderful work. In maths we have been consolidating our learning on multiplication and division by completing word problems and looking at the inverse operation. We have also been very busy in the afternoons, rehearsing for the Christmas play and making decorations and props.

Happy New Year! Oak class have been learning about the Christian calendar and that at this time they celebrate the church’s new year. We have entered the ‘waiting time’ and all pupils, if asked, can tell you that we are waiting (SO excitedly) for Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ birth. They have learnt about the Advent wreath and the 4 candles lit each Sunday before Christmas, representing hope, peace, joy and love.

Whilst many families may be decorating a Christmas tree at home over the next few weeks, we at school have taken part in the annual tree dressing celebration, as suggested by The Woodland Trust.

Tree dressing is celebrated in different cultures all over the world. It’s a tradition that brings people closer to trees and highlights the important role they play in our lives. It’s also a great way of saying thank you to trees for all the benefits they provide.

Oak’s ‘Tree of Aspirations’, a deciduous tree, aspiring to be evergreen! Adorned with paper leaves showing the children’s aspirations.

Hazel’s ‘Every Tree Counts,’ decorated with numbers.

Rowan’s ‘Superstar Rowan Tree,’ decorated with wooden stars.

Did you see us in the local paper on 20th November? The reporter, Sam Walker, has kindly shared this image of the Bury Free Press article.

Next week, on Wednesday 9th, the children will have the opportunity to take part in a professional dance workshop. This workshop will form the beginning of a year-long enrichment programme, which will involve key themes and global events. Our first workshop will be street dance linked to the recent fireworks.

PLEASE ensure your child comes in their PE kit for the day.

Many thanks

Mr Hurkett

Please can your Y4 or Y5 pupil remember to bring in the musical instrument every Wednesday, so that they can take part in their music lesson. Next week (9th December), Mr Peck, our music teacher, will be arranging a Christmas concert which we will film and share with you.

Sincere apologies from Tempest. They were all set up and ready to go when they had a technical hitch. This will be rescheduled asap.

Your child brought home a slip of paper this week detailing their role and costume - if you have any problems providing the costume, please contact us at the earliest opportunity. The costumes do not need to be at all fancy and your child will need layers underneath.

As previously advised, we need to limit the audience numbers at each performance, so we will allocate each family 2 seats/spaces at a performance of our choosing. NB: if you are limited as to which day you can attend, please complete this no later than Monday 7th December at 9 am. Also complete the sheet if you will have any issues accessing the site which is on uneven, muddy ground.

We will email you with your allocated attendance date next week. Due to the restrictions on numbers, we will not be able to accommodate any requests for changes to your allocated date.

We will be adding new information in Section 39 of the School’s Risk Assessment relating to Assemblies and Performances, in order that we can go ahead with this year’s Nativity in a Covid-19 secure manner - do ensure you are familiar with this when we notify you of the change.

Thank you

Mrs Boyd

We had an 83% take-up rate of the flu vaccination on Monday. If you didn’t register and would still like a vaccination, you can ring the School Immunisations Team on 0300 555 5055, who will be able to advise you on your nearest clinic.

Unfortunately, Mrs Webber is unable to return to school at present, so we will be cancelling Monday/Tuesday Breakfast Club sessions until Christmas. Wednesday and Thursday sessions will run as normal. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We've recently received some concerns regarding cars leaving the school premises/Tilian House and getting parents wet, etc. by driving through puddles. If this happens to you, please attempt to record the registration number so that we can speak to the individuals concerned if they are members of our staff or visitors.

Please also ensure, at school drop-off, that you are mindful not to obstruct the entrance to Skinners Lane in the morning as on several occasions members of staff/visitors have been unable to get into the Tilian House car park.

Many thanks.

2d. Children are factually fluent as a result of spaced learning in number bonds and times tables (to reduce cognitive overload) - we will shortly be launching TTRockstars, Numbots and KIRFs - this will form part of your child's daily diet of maths; these resources will also become very important for home learning and ways in which you can engage, inspire and support your child's learning with the key mathematical facts. Please see the school's KIRFS, below.

3a. Effective curriculum leadership across the school - Mr Morris has been busy collecting evidence for the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM). He has been observing science across the school by watching lessons, looking in the pupils books and discussing science with the children. This process will enable us to consider our current provision and make plans for how we can improve it even further.