Newsletters

Newsletter - Friday 29th April 2022

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and the children enjoyed the break. They certainly seem refreshed and ready for the action-packed term in store for them. 

In the first week back, we have already had a visit from Fantastic Fred, to support the children's emotional wellbeing. Last Friday the children loved the Easter Bonnet parade, showcasing entries to the Headteacher's Challenge and this week Trans G led a beautiful Liturgy that parents were at last, able to attend.

Early Years have enjoyed a Vaisakhi Celebration Day, Ark Farm and hosted a successful Parent-Toddler group for the local community.

Looking ahead to the rest of the term, we have so many exciting things planned:  From school trips across the school including the Living Rainforest, National Gallery, Ufton Court, Brighton Beach, Matilda, Mary Poppins, Chessington and Legoland, to academic events such as the Spell It! Challenge, Baylab science trip, SATS for Upper Prep and Remove, UK Maths Trust and GCSE papers for some of our most enthusiastic mathematicians.

We are delighted to announce that for the first time we will be having three school productions in a single term!  We cannot wait to share with you the children's talents. Remove (Yr 6) are taking part in a Berkshire Maestros performance at the Hexagon in Reading, and we are looking forward to our annual Elocution Challenge.

Our sports teams will be busy with summer term fixtures in cricket, rounders, and athletics, in addition to our two Sports Days, one of which will be at Thames Valley Athletics centre. 

It is full speed ahead, and we are delighted that this term parents will be able to attend many of our events. We look forward to sharing a busy and brilliant term with you.

Building work begins!

Next month we break ground on our building work and renovations. Exciting times!

The Farm

Linked to Early Years Farm topic, we were joined by Ark Farm this morning. The children adored seeing the animals.

Music

Music Successes

Devam – Remove (Yr 6)  Singing   Grade 5 with distinction

Oscar – Upper Trans (Yr 5)    Piano   Grade 2 with distinction

Joran – Remove (Yr 6)   Drum kit    Debut- Prep test exam  with distinction

Anuj - Upper Prep (Yr 2)  Drum kit    Debut- Prep test exam  with distinction

 

Please let the school know of any children that have taken music exams on any instrument so we can celebrate their achievements.

 

Music lesson vacancies

These lesson times have become available for children to start lessons:

Guitar lessons

Monday lunchtimes only -  Any Year 3 children

Piano or violin lessons

Tuesday    9.30 – 10am - Year 1  Mrs Hupalo's class only 

Piano

Wednesday  9.30 – 10am   Year 2 – Mrs Sugden's class only    

Friday      4 – 4.30pm     Any Year 1 – 6 children

Please note – Children will not be charged for homework club if waiting for music lessons and receive a drink and snack at the end of the school day.

Spotlight on Success

Congratulations to Musa in Lower Trans (Yr 3), Sara in Upper Trans (Yr 5) and Ryan in Prep (Yr 1), for making fantastic progress in handwriting. The children have worked really hard on their handwriting, not only during handwriting lessons but also in all other subjects.  The progress between the two pieces of work from September to March is evident. Well done Musa, Sara and Ryan! 

I was also like to celebrate children's voice in our Spotlight on Success this week. Okuse and Ayannah from Remove (Yr 6) have, inspired by their love of music and dance, organised an inter-school dance competition this week. It is wonderful to see our children's ideas and initiatives and then have the skills to organise and execute the event. Well done girls!

(If you are reading your newsletter on a tablet of mobile device, it may be easier to see the 'before and after' pictures next to each other on a computer.)

Open Morning and Extended Care Provisions

We are hosting an Open Morning on Saturday 14th May 9:30 -11am for prospective parents. Do let your friends and family know so they can book a slot if they are considering St Bernard's Prep for a September 2022 start date.

We are also excited to announce that we are extending our hours to help accommodate working families. At present we have homework club and after school activities until 4:45pm, but from September you will be able to drop children at school from 7:30am and pick up at 6pm. 

Walking Against Hunger

This year we supported CAFOD's Walking Against Hunger as our Lenten appeal.  Thank you to all the children who raised money and awareness for this important cause. The sponsored walk, reflective breakfast, cutting back on waste and walking bus were all very successful, and we raised a whopping £1203! Thank you so much for your generosity.

We also raised £956 for Ukraine. Thank you again.

Headteacher's Challenge

Over Easter we tasked the children with creating their own Easter Bonnets, and they did not disappoint! Thank you to everyone who entered. We now has a fantastic display of bonnets up in the school gallery. There were some incredible creations, but a special congratulations to our winners: all of Early Years! Harmonie, Samriddhi and Darissa from Prep. Lara, Akaal, Samaa and Mia from Upper Prep. Aydin, Jasmine, Vihaan P and Evani from Lower Trans. Sai, Shyla, Arjun and Aisha from Trans. Eesha, Oscar and Ruby from Upper Trans. Marley, Devam and Divia from Remove.

Well done!

Wellbeing Workshop

When the children returned to school after lockdown, we had a big drive on mental health and wellbeing. The children really needed extra emotional support after such a difficult time, and that has not stopped. Mrs Clark is now running a workshop on Thursdays so that the children have somewhere to go if they need some quiet time or would like to chat about anything worrying them. We have also introduced wellbeing monitors to every classroom so that the children can help each other too.

Reminders and dates for your diary for the Pentecost Term:

Thursday 5th May - Year 4 Eagle House Spell It! Challenge 

9th May - Year 6 SATS week

9th May - Year 1 School trip to Living Rainforest 

11th May - Year 1 Liturgy

12th May - Early Years Coffee Afternoon

13th May - Little St Bs toddler group

13th May - Years 3, 4 and 5 Peace Performance

14th May - Open Morning

16th May - Year 6 Trip to Brighton

20th May - Multi Faith Assembly

26th May - Prep and Upper Prep School Production.

13th May - Lower Trans, Trans and Upper Trans School Production

23rd/24th June - Remove School Production

Mrs Verma's Big Ideas for Curious Minds

As a school we love to stretch and challenge our children, to enrich their education beyond the curriculum. Every week I will be sharing with you some discussion topics, new vocabulary, Maths riddles and book recommendations, that will infect our children with a love of learning. These will all be posted in the Parent Portal section of our website as well. 

Word of the week: Collywobbles

This refers to a weird feeling in your stomach or an overall bellyache. It is derived from the Latin phrase cholera morbus, meaning it came from the disease we all know as cholera.

In The News This Week - Jessica Watkins

Nasa astronaut Jessica Watkins has made history by becoming the first black woman to head to the International Space Station (ISS). 

Watkins, from America, is part of a four-person crew on the SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the ISS.

It's Watkins' first trip to space, where she will spend six months carrying out science experiments.

Calling All Book Worms

Do you think that books have more male than female characters in them?

That is what a new study of 3,000 English language books has found.

Researchers used artificial intelligence and discovered that on average there were four times as many male than female characters.

However, that number was lower when the author of the book was female. This week we have chosen books with female protagonists.

Finally, I am delighted to share with you that today, following a Food Hygiene Inspection, Louis and his team passed with flying colours, receiving the highest ranking once again! Congratulations Louis.

Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs A Verma