Newsletter: Friday 8th September
Dear Parents,
What a brilliant (if a little hot!) start we have had to the school year! It has been so lovely to welcome all of our families back and the children have settled into their new classes so well. Remember that, each week, we update our class website pages so you can find out more about what your children have been up to there. We will be re-developing these pages over the coming weeks.
You should have received a ParentMail earlier today about our ‘Meet the Teacher’ event for Years 1-6 on Wednesday 20th September. Attached to this newsletter, you will also find a provisional list of other key dates for this academic year. Please keep this safe but do be aware that dates may be subject to change. We have also attached term dates for your reference.
I am delighted to inform you that Bidborough Primary has recently been accredited as an 'Attachment and Trauma Aware School.' This means that all staff are trained to support children and young people with a range of social, emotional and mental health needs. As part of the accreditation process all our policies and practices around mental health and well-being were reviewed and it was recognised that as a school we are constantly working towards nurturing the children in our care. We are absolutely delighted to have the empathy, dedication and expertise of our staff recognised in this way.
Next week, the Coram Life Education & SCARF team will be visiting our school, running workshops for Years 1-6. The children’s charity Coram Life Education provides Health and Wellbeing Education support to schools. Workshops are delivered by skilled educators and the SCARF resource is the framework of our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health & Economic) education curriculum.
Children will take part in Life Space sessions in a specially designed tent. The fun, interactive and age-appropriate workshops help children to understand the importance of physical and emotional health; they learn vital life-skills that are also known to help their overall achievement.
· Key Stage 1: children learn about keeping their bodies healthy, managing feelings, being a good friend and the safe use of medicines.
· Key Stage 2: children explore emotional needs, choices that can affect health and wellbeing, qualities of friendship, how to cope with bullying and the influence of friends. They also consider the effects and risks of drug use, including medicines, alcohol and tobacco as well as learning about how few people in their age group actually use non-medical drugs – this is social norms education.
Finally, a polite notice for those of you who bring dogs with you on the school run. We have been informed by a member of the cricket club that, this week, two of their hoses have been damaged by dogs. They have asked us to remind you, on their behalf, to please ensure dogs are kept under your control at all times. Thank you.
Have a lovely weekend!
Kind regards,
Julie Burton and the Bidborough Team
