It's all been about Outdoor Antics this week - to name but a few, blackberry harvesting by Rowan Class, musical percussion on the field by Hazel, multiple drafts of self-portraits in Oak, the first KS1 football match against Crawford's Primary School, and of course, our regular fix of Monday Mile and Forest School, which this week was all about getting around the fire, using the stove, sharing stories, and adapting to the bad weather.

We are also asking for your input on three surveys - please do complete these as it is very important that we have your opinion.

Welcome to the weekend, everyone!

Mr. Francksen

Dear parents/carers, staff, governors and members of the community,

Whilst the past 18 months have been a difficult and turbulent time for us all, I also feel it is certainly worth celebrating and acknowledging the response of our school to the pandemic - a real example of Christian vision in action.

Therefore, it would be great to receive feedback on the questions, below, in order to continue to support our pupils and community.

Many thanks.

Having changed my days to Monday and Tuesday (at Bardwell) this year, I now have the joy of joining in and experiencing the Monday Mile...I have to say this is such an amazing way to start the week - it provides the children and staff with opportunities to talk and share their thoughts or weekend events, not to mention increasing physical activity levels (and enabling the sporties to challenge themselves)- developing relationships is the absolute bedrock at Bardwell and I am so proud that the Monday Mile facilitates this so beautifully!

Parents of YR and Y1 pupils - we have submitted a photograph to the East Anglian Daily Times for their 'First Class' supplement which is published on Tuesday 19th October.

Your child may be eligible for free school meals throughout primary school. This could save you approximately £437 per year.

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To check or apply online, visit: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals/

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Check if you're eligible

Your child will get free school meals if you receive any of the following:

• Income Support

• Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

• Child Tax Credit but no element of Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenues & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190

• If you are supported under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

• Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after your employment finishes or after you start to work fewer hours per week

• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 (£616.67 per month), as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods).
  

To check if your child is eligible, apply online for an immediate response or call 01473 260989.

We encourage you to apply, because the school receives additional funding (Pupil Premium) for all children on income-related Free School Meals.

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If you have any feedback about the new lunch menu, please let the office staff know, either by email/phone or by completing this form

We’d like to hear from you whether or not your child has had any of the lunches, as we’d like to know if the options are putting off anyone from having a school lunch. We've only had a couple of responses so would really like to hear from more of you!

As previously advised, the school’s cook is trialling the menu for 2 full rotations, then may make amendments if any dishes don’t prove to be popular. Please note that, at Bardwell, the first lunch listed is our main course served to all children, except those listed as vegetarian/vegan who will receive the vegetarian lunch. On a Friday your child can have sausages instead of the fish/chicken option - please let the office staff know if you’d like this listed as a dietary preference. We always have jacket potatoes (with cheese/beans) or a School Packed lunch available as well.

Census Day - 7th October

We encourage all pupils in receipt of Free School Meals to take up their offer of a free meal on this day, as it increases funding to the School. Thank you.

Thank you,

Mrs. Allman (for our Head of Kitchen, Heidi)

Thank you all for avoiding the residents’ parking area at 25-43 School Lane; we are sure this is appreciated by our neighbours. Please also take care to avoid the yellow zig-zag ‘Keep Clear’ area at the gate during the drop-off and pick up times. This area is used only by the County Council taxi service when they drop off before 8.35 am and pick up after 3.30 pm.

We are looking for a small, low table to use in Collective Worship, about 75cm x 75cm and around 30cm high (or close to these dimensions). If you have something suitable that you could donate to us, or make for us, please let Mrs. Allman know.

Until Covid-19 restrictions, the village’s Baby & Toddler Group met in the School Hall or outside when the weather permitted. This is a group that is run by local parents, not by the school, and usually has one or two parents/carers that take on the role of organiser.

We are delighted that some parents at the school are able to re-start the Group starting on Wednesday 29th September at 2 pm. If you have a pre-school-age child, please come along for a chat and playtime. The group works co-operatively so please lend a hand if you can.

You will need to sign in at the reception desk for fire evacuation purposes, but there is no need to book.

If you know of other parents/carers in the area who may be interested, do spread the word!

The government provides dedicated funding to schools to help improve the provision of PE and sport. The money has been provided by the Departments of Health, Education and Culture, Media and Sport. This year we will be receiving £16000 in funding (plus £10 per pupil). To help us achieve our aims, and determine how we spend future funding, we would very much appreciate feedback from parents. This is an opportunity for you to comment on the current PE provision at our school. This applies to both PE that is taught in the school day, after-school sport provision and competitive fixtures or events against other schools. We would welcome positive feedback as well as areas for further development.

We are inviting families with 3 and 4-year-olds that are due to start school in September 2022 to join us for Taster Sessions. These will run from 9.30-10.30 on the following dates:

Thursday 4th November - indoors

Tuesday 9th November - outdoors

Thursday 18th November - indoors

Tuesday 23rd November - outdoors

Please contact the school office if you would like to attend. We will circulate a flyer and set up online booking in due course.

The Gipping Valley School Sports Partnership will be running their half-term holiday clubs as follows. Booking is essential, please see the flyer:

Mon 25 Oct: AM Ipswich Town Football/PM Ipswich Town Football OR Parkour

Tue 26 Oct: AM Parkour/PM - Capoeira OR Multisports

Wed 27 Oct: AM- Skate/PM- Bikes

Thurs 28 Oct -AM Dance/PM- Gym

Fri 29 Oct- Am Nerf + Laser Tag/PM Nerf + Laser Tag

AGES: 5 – 12 Venue: Beyton, Thurston Sixth (IP30 9AQ)

We would really appreciate it if you could share our latest newsletter with parents, carers and guardians using the link provided below:

https://bit.ly/OneLifeKidsAutumnNewsletter

In this term's newsletter:

• Autumn changes
• OneLife Kids Clubs
• Autumn recipes
• Autumn activities
• Competition time

We’d really appreciate parents and carers taking a few moments to add a favourable Google review for our school, to help raise our profile in the community. To do this, please search for Bardwell Primary School within Google Maps then select ‘Write a review’.

If you have any queries that would prevent you from posting a 5-star review, please raise these with the School first, via your child’s class teacher or the office staff

Please use the links below to learn more about important topics including online/social media, safeguarding and wellbeing resources, updates.

Self-care September (Action for Happiness)

It is more important than ever to be aware of our mental health. Action for Happiness is a charity founded to create a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society.