Bentley Weekly Update 11/01/19

STOP PRESS..….STOP PRESS….…STOP PRESS……..Exciting News – We have just heard in the last few minutes that one of the cakes that was entered by our families for the Educate and Celebrate Rainbow Bake Off, has been chosen as a finalist to go to London on the 8^th of Feb and take part in a live final! We haven’t been told yet which cake it was, but if you entered a cake, look out for an email the early part of next week letting you know. Well done to everyone who prepared an entry; you did us proud! 

Change of Menu Thursday – Just a quick reminder that there is a special lunch menu for Thursday; the options will be either pork burger, or Quorn burrito, with tropical fruit trifle for dessert. A poster with more details was attached to the update email sent out on Monday. 

Keeping Children Safe Online - If you or your child were lucky enough to receive a tablet or mobile phone for Christmas, please familiarise yourself with ways to keep children safe online including how to set parental controls to control what your child is accessing. The school website has a link to Click CEOP which can give you some information. You can also access useful guidance from www.thinkuknow.co.uk.  You might also find the NSPCC website useful as it has a really good and easy to follow guide on keeping children safe online. This can be found at https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety.  At the beginning of February we have Safer Internet Day and will explore this with the pupils in school. Please remember that ensuring your child knows how to use the internet safely in school and at home is part of the Acceptable Use Agreement signed by parents at the beginning of the year. 

Year 6 First Aid Training – All children in Year 6 will need a packed lunch on Monday as they will be travelling to Copdock to take part in First Aid Training. 

Panto Time – Please re-read the important information about timings sent out earlier this week - Cinderella Rock and Roll Panto - we are ever so excited about our trip to the theatre next week. As it is a live performance, and traffic can be unpredictable, we wanted to forewarn you about the expected time that we will get back to Bentley. We originally anticipated returning by 4:30pm (which might still happen) but if the performance overruns or we hit heavy traffic, it could be any time up to 5pm. Please be at the school for 4:30 to collect, but bear with us if we are running a little late. We also need to know if your child is attending the after school club at Copdock on this day as we will need to make sure they are on the coach returning to Copdock. Thank you. 

Writing Workshop for parents of children in all years – We are looking forward to seeing a good number of parents at this workshop that is being held at Copdock School on Wednesday 23^rd Jan, 6-7pm. It would be useful for us to get an idea of numbers in order to make sure we have enough resources prepared; if you are hoping to attend, please complete and return the reply slip on the letter coming home today. 

Wednesday Walking Bus – Our successful and fun walking bus resumed this week. We meet at the War Memorial at 8:30am every Wednesday and form a walking bus to school to alleviate some of the pressures on the parking situation and to get a little bit of extra exercise. You can either drop your child at the War Memorial or walk down with us; either way, we would love to see as many of you as possible on Wednesday morning. Our record last term was 23 children and we would love to beat this! Our sincere thanks to Katie (Noah’s Mum) and Sally (Frankie’s Nan) who have supported this venture every week and helped make it possible. 

PTA - The next PTA meeting is being held on Friday 25th January, in the school hall, 3.15pm. Mrs Rudge will be running a crèche for the children. Also first cake sale of the year will be Friday 1st February, 3.15pm, in the school hall. Any donations of cakes would be very much appreciated! 

Wolves – We have a shortage of lanyards in Wolves class; please could you have a hunt over the weekend to see if there are any lurking at home. We love celebrating children’s success and would be very grateful for the return of any lanyards, thank you. Years 1 and 2 – Please read the Three Little Pigs story that the children have in their book bags, and get them to practice the actions. It is good fun and really helps with the children’s comprehension and writing. 

Hedgehogs – We have had a bit of an issue in class with children bringing in lots of pencil cases, packs of pens and packs of other stationery. In school, we are very lucky to have a wealth of resources for the children to use and really, they don’t need to bring any pens, pencils etc in. Some children do like to use a couple of their own items though, but we would ask you please to ensure that your child only brings in one small pencil case. Thank you. 

Adders – In addition to indoor sports practice this term, we are going outside for various activities in PE. Please make sure your child has warm PE kit with them every day. The uniform list is available on the website if you are at all unsure what should be in your child’s PE kit. Log books also need to be in school every day and signed by a parent / carer every week. Don’t forget the 5 reads a week as well!!!!