Dear Parents/Carers,

Lots of reminders this week! Thank you all for helping us to make the school as safe as possible.

Places Available

The school is almost full but we do have some space available in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 6. If you know somebody who might need a school place, please ask them to contact the school office.

Bad weather and start and end of day procedures

When weather is particularly bad we will allow parents of children in Reception who would have to wait 15 minutes between pickups to collect siblings early. Parents must phone us by 2.30pm at the latest we will arrange for children to leave early with their siblings.

Managing these groups, and maintaining the safety of the bubbles, does require a number of staff to ensure children are in the right place, at the right time, without mixing with children from other bubbles. Because of this, we can only manage children leaving early when the weather is very bad and parents arrange this in advance. 

When the weather is particularly bad we will open the small gate by the nursery class to allow parents to wait under the canopy. Unfortunately we have no such shelter at the rear of the school but all parents are welcome to use the shelter at the front.

Primary School Applications for a New Reception Place for September 2021

If your child was born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 you'll need to  apply for a new reception school place for September 2021.  You'll need to apply by Wednesday 15 January 2020.

Apply online for a reception place for Sept 2021 at:

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/schools-learning-early-years/primary-admissions

Please contact the school office if we can help in any way or if you would like to visit the school (in a COVID safe way). 

Bringing Equipment into School

Currently we are working hard to make classes COVID secure, but are struggling to manage children’s personal equipment in busy classrooms. To help us make the school as safe as possible can I remind you all:

• Children must bring their packed lunch and water bottle in a plastic box or disposable bag.
• Children should bring books into school in their book bags - not larger bags that we do not have space to safely store in classrooms.

Again, we thank you all for your support. 

Hot School Dinners

We are working with the kitchen team to provide hot school meals after the half term holiday. Whilst this may not at first be for all classes, we hope to offer hot meals for all children as soon as possible.

Update on INSET Days - School Closed

Our next INSET (staff training) day will be on Friday 20th November. There will be 4 more INSET days later this school year.

IMPORTANT - Changes to End of Day Procedures

To address certain issues and to make the start of the day safe but quicker for everybody, the following changes will take effect from Monday:

• There is now a 5 minute gap between classes in the morning and the afternoon.
• At the end of the day, can parents collecting children from the car park exit not enter the drive until the previous class are leaving. 
• All children will line up before their teacher allows them to leave with a parent or carer. Please can we ask you not to encourage children to leave before their teachers, as this makes it more difficult to manage the end of day safely. 

Can everybody remember to use the one-way system! Thank you.

Children Going Home at Lunchtime

Due to managing a safe, COVID secure school, we will no longer be authorising children to go home for lunch. 

Punctuality

To help us keep bubbles of children apart it is very important that children arrive to school promptly at their allotted time. Where punctuality remains a concern we will be contacting parents directly. Thanks. 

St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School – Virtual Open Day

As the Catholic partner secondary school of Christ the King, St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School, is hosting a Virtual Open Day, so that prospective pupils and parents can learn more about the school, which has been judged to be an ‘outstanding Catholic school’.

Please visit our school website https://www.stberns.bristol.sch.ukand click on Open Day, where you can watch films of the pupils and staff and access a range of information about our vibrant and ambitious school. Any enquiries can be directed to info@stberns.bristol.sch.uk.

Attendance

Well done to the following classes who had attendance at over 97% this week:  

• Reception with 98% attendance.
• Year 5 with 98% attendance. 

New school nursery opening in January

Our new nursery is looking wonderful - we will be opening in January and still have places available for both 15 hour and 30 hour places. Please contact Mrs Jordan or Mrs Martin in the office for more information.

Lantern Project

Year 3 are very excited to be taking part in the Lantern Project this year. This year’s theme is ‘The Walk of Hearts and Stars’. Alan, who is leading the project, has kindly gifted us 10 lantern kits. These lantern kits are free of charge and are for your child to make a lantern at home. All of the materials will be provided in the lantern kit. There are only 10 kits available. These will be given out on a first come first served basis. If you are interested and would like a lantern kit, please contact the school office. These will be given to your child to take home. 

For more information on the Lantern Project, please visit the Walk of Hearts and Stars Facebook page.

Headteacher’s Awards

Reception - 

• This week’s head teacher award goes to Kiki for being an independent learner during our numeracy lessons by always participating & giving it a go. 

Year 1 -  

• Phoebe- for working hard to think of similes in our English lesson and being brave when her packed lunch leaked so she tried a school packed lunch instead!

Year 2 -

• Leo - For showing initiative and trying out new skills within our football session.
• Angelica - For listening to instructions and trying her best to demonstrate new ball skills.  

Year 3 -  

• Wilfred- For pushing himself in maths and achieving top marks in our maths assessment.
• Tracy- For persevering with her Stone Age writing and always trying her best. 

Year 4 -

• Benji P - For thinking deeply when building an electrical circuit and finding all of the parts needed for the bulb to light up
• Lilianna - For settling perfectly into CTK and being a great member of Year 4

Year 5 - 

• Adi - for making connections and links in history.
• Justin - for finding innovative ways to improve his writing.

Year 6 

• Hollie P - for showing resilience and creativity when writing her diary entry.
• Ruby - for being an independent learner when planning and writing her diary entry.
• Kristen - for using her inference skills to support her explanations in her reading lessons.

Dates for Diaries

End of Term 1 - Friday 23 October 2020.

INSET (staff training) day - Friday 20th November.

Term 2    - Monday 2 November 2020 to Friday 18 December 2020.

Term 3 - Monday 4 January 2021 to Friday 12 February 2021.

Term 4 - Monday 22 February 2021 to Thursday 1 April 2021.

Term 5 - Monday 19 April 2021 to Friday 28 May 2021.

Term 6 - Monday 7 June 2021 to Wednesday 21 July 2021. 

Yours sincerely

Matt Condon

Headteacher