headteacher’s update — mr kevin day december 2017 · we are now enjoying the build up to...

Headteacher’s Update — Mr Kevin Day - DECEMBER 2017

Dear Parents, Governors and Friends of the School, Welcome to the December newsletter, I can’t believe the end of term 2 is almost here and Christmas is coming! The children (and staff) really deserve the rest as so much great work and learning has taken place since September. The long term seems to have flown past so fast. The teachers and learning support staff are currently ensuring that the children are learning and making the best pro-gress possible, whilst balancing this with the inevitable Christmas practices and managing a school full of children who seem to get more excited every day! Highlights this term include the school annual carol service and this year we are delighted to visit St Chris-tophers Church in Warden Hill. The students (and staff choir) will all be in action and it promises to be a won-derful occasion. As always I am grateful to Miss Lentel for organising this visit and to Richard Cleaves for leading the service and to Reverend Gary Grady

(Minister at St Chris-topher’s) for hosting us. We are hoping to set up a link with St Christopher’s for the further. Other events this term have included; Year 10 and Year 11 two days college

link; Chelsea’s Choice a staying safe live production - PSHCE link; Backstage trip to the Everyman Theatre - YPRES - Year 8; Hate Crime event - Star College - secondary; Belmont Open Afternoon for prospective pupils and their children; Op-eration Christmas Child; Year 8 trip to The Bacon The-atre - Christmas Science lecture; Cinderella Panto-mime performance at Belmont; International Day - Arts around the World! The staff and children have been wonderful, thank you all.

Dressed for Winter?

January is often the arrival of increasingly colder weather; it is timely to remind you to make sure that your child always has a warm waterproof coat in school. A hat, scarf and gloves are also a good idea for our younger children to help keep warm. All named please! Our lost property container is, as always, overflowing. We do val-ue outdoor play and fresh air so expect the children to be outside at playtimes un-less the weather is very extreme. Thank you for your help here.

Friends@Belmont

A BIG thank you to The Friends who continue to do a great job of supporting the school and who are creating bigger and better projects each year. We look forward to another great year and really value your team and the difference you make to our community.

Reminder

School finishes at the normal time of 2:55pm on Friday 15th December and the new term will

start on Tuesday 2nd January 2018.

As we get closer to the start of 2018 I would like to thank you all for your brilliant efforts and

support during this year. It’s a privilege leading such a wonderful school with committed staff and

governors; interesting children full of personality and supported by many lovely families.

What’s next for Belmont in 2018!

Belmont remains committed to helping pupils develop as far as they can physically, socially and

emotionally in addition to the other important areas like literacy and numeracy. During 2018 we

hope to make considerable progress with a number of projects;

Phase two of our cycling project (All children will be enjoying more cycling after Easter)

Secondary play time and OPAL (Outdoor play & learning), this project has simply been

amazing in our primary school with the children being sociable, creative and learning via

play. Mr Shand will be developing the provision in secondary with staff and the school

council from January. In addition we will have new climbing frames for primary early next

year thank to the support of the wonderful Pied Piper charity.

Development of PSHE (Personal Social & Health Education). Miss Cave has been leading

some impressive improvements within this subject area and it’s now firmly established as a

core subject on our curriculum. Work already this year has included: Thought of the Week;

personal safety; what Christmas means to all of us and how lucky we are compared to less

privileged people and Anti Bullying week. During Anti Bullying week pupils participated in

team activities and created words of kindness to hang on our tree in the International

Garden; they took part in bin it and bag it where they decided kind and unkind actions; we

had an assembly about a bullied apple and how bullying can affect your insides and each

tutor group created a worry doll or a worry box for their classroom. Well done Miss Cave

can’t wait to see the plans for 2018!

On behalf of all the staff and governors we wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New

Year. Mr Day - Headteacher

Headteacher’s Update (Cont’d) PAGE 2

NNEWSEWS FROMFROM CCLASSLASS 11 PAGE 3

Hello from class 1! We have had such a busy term getting to know all our new friends and

learning new routines. We are all working really hard and playing nicely with each other in

class and at playtimes. We have very much enjoyed our Literacy topic looking at different

nursery rhymes. We were very good at saying ‘Hey diddle, diddle’. Lots of children have

made great progress with their reading and the staff in class 1 are very impressed!

In Maths we have recently be learning about 3D shapes and using recycled junk to make

fantastic models.

We are now enjoying the build up to Christmas and are practising really hard for the Nativity

play. Class 1 are doing really well learning the songs and the actions.

It’s been a great term we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, have a good break

News from Class 2 PAGE 4

Class 2 have been extremely busy this term in Eng-

lish, we have been reading ‘Oi Frog’ and ‘The Owl

and the Pussycat’. For ‘Oi Frog’ we have been look-

ing at rhyming words. Class 2 understand that rhym-

ing words are words that sound the same. They have

been using lots of signing for this and they know lots

of fun things like frogs sit on logs, cats sit on mats

and parrots sit on carrots.

For ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ we have loved learn-

ing about all the characters in the story; the sequence

of the story and the children have been able to tell me

which words rhyme in the poem. We have also creat-

ed our very own written version of the poem to show

off our handwriting skills.

In Numeracy we have been looking at addition, sub-

traction, multiplication and 3D Shapes. We have had

super learning and all pupils were able to name 3D

shapes. We had some super stars for multiplication,

Archie, Nathan and Jayden were able to recognise

the patterns for 2, 5, 10 and have a good go at their

3 times table too!

We have been learning all about Nocturnal Animals in Our World, they love watching ‘Percy the

Park Keeper’ and then learning all about badgers, hedgehogs, barn owls and bats. In Design

Technology we have been making finger puppets which has been so much fun. In PSHCE we

have been learning how to focus and we made some magic bottles to help us stay calm.

We hope you have a lovely Christmas break with your family and friends.

Mrs Farrer-Grover, Mrs Bennett and Miss Berry


Hello from Class 3! It has been a busy term for everyone. Adhyet has settled well into his new class and everyone has made him feel really welcome. We have enjoyed our literacy topic – stories with familiar settings. Horrid Henry books were a very big hit with the children. Lots of the children have made fantastic progress with their reading and using capital letters and full stops in their writing - we are very impressed! In maths we have been brilliant at adding and subtracting numbers using number lines and number squares. We also learned about division, shapes, symmetry and money. Class 3 especially enjoyed learning about the First World War through role play, for example we have played the leaders of the countries involved - demonstrating a great use of foreign languages! We also have been busy learning about soups and cooking our own vegetable soup – the best for cold weather – class 3 stated! Class 3 have enjoyed the drama workshop about pirates delivered by students of drama. We are looking forward to see them again when we will go to see their performance prepared

specially for us. We are now enjoying the build up to Christmas with nativity play rehearsals; the children are joining in really well and love singing the songs.


Class 4 have had a great half term. For the Our World topic they have been writing letters as an evacuee child back home to London. They also looked at fighter planes - spitfires, hurricanes and Messerschmitts and their pilots and started to research The Battle of Britain. They have made Carrot cookies in DT and were evacuated to Warden Hill Primary school for the morning to work with their pupils. Big thanks to Warden Hill for having us!

In English, they completed their Chocolate Box poems and they are wonderful. They spent a great deal of time and effort writing them up neatly. We have also been very busy with anti bullying week and also Children in Need day! We have also been practising for our amazing nativity and we can’t wait for you to see it!


This term Class 5 have started Toast & Talk sessions. We are 'earning' money throughout the week, if in school and making good choices. (There is even bonus money if we get a Mrs Petrova, Mrs Yeates or Mr Day sticker). Every Monday morning, we are setting up a breakfast table and spending our money to get drinks and/or toppings for our toast (water and toast are 'free'). Some people in class are also being clever and saving up money, waiting to see what extra treats will be on offer at the end of term! Our aim is to do all of this (except the toaster bit) without Miss Lane or Miss Stanley needing to help. Tilly is trying to cut her toast by herself; Frankie is learning the value of money; Jamie and Rhys are our 'bankers', handing out money earnt; Paige and Kieran are learning to work out how much money they need for their items; and Sophie is working on counting out her money independently.

Miss Lane and Miss Stanley are SUPER proud of us all!


Anti- bullying week

As part of anti-bullying week, Class 6 took part in many activities that gave us the opportuni-

ty to share kind words; work as a team and learn more about how to prevent bullying. We

also became more confident in sharing our worries and know that there are lots of people we

can turn to for support if we need it.

News from Class 7

Class 7 have en-joyed food technolo-gy using seasonal ingre-dients and adapting reci-pes this term. We have made apple muffins and apple crumbles. We have been practising our peeling, coring and cut-ting skills!


On 15 November Class 8 were fortunate to be invited back stage at the Everyman theatre to meet the cast of the touring production of ‘Wipers Times’, based on the true story of a group of soldiers finding a printing press during WWI in Yypres. This visit fitted in neatly with the classes Our World curriculum on WWI. The cast were in costume and explained about the story and their roles within it. The class were treated to sound effects and on stage effects of getting dust all over them. They had the chance to try on costumes and play with the props; fully weighted reproduction Enfield rifles and trench coats. These were heavy according to most of the class. The visit was fully enjoyed by pupils, staff and the cast themselves. A huge thanks to Mrs Brown and Miss Lentel, for the sugges-tion of the visit and for organising the risk assessment in time.


Class 9 have been very creative in DT designing their own felt mobile phone covers. They have been practising different types of stiches: cross, blanket and running to use on their covers.

Designs are very varied as they are making them for themselves or for other people such as their younger sister. Designs include: Pokemon, emojis and Manchester United. Class 9 are looking for-ward to completing them in the next few weeks.

News from Class 10a College link Class 10a have had a busy term, with some exciting events and outings. At the beginning of the term they left us for 2 days and went off to college to gain valua-ble experience of what they might be doing when they leave at the end of Year 11. All returned reporting it was much better than school, “You get to wear your own clothes”; “The café is much better than school lunch-es” and “When do we get to go back”? We think they might have enjoyed it! Merry Christmas from all in 10a

News from Class 10b PAGE 11

Class 10b have admitted that they have had, and are having, a great time doing the Jamie Oli-ver Home Cooking BTEC Course. The two terms have focused on making breakfasts. The most popular lesson was where we made a blend of breakfast cereals to make our own special design. In accordance with Jamie's principles we try to add fun and adventure into the sessions whereby pupils are encouraged to try something new and to make meals to include fresh ingre-dients especially fruit and vegetables. To date we have tried different juices, yogurts, tomatoes, potatoes and a wide variety of different breads. We are very grateful to Tesco for providing us with some free food as part of their Community Food Connection. Our supply of eggs has meant that we have been able to explore every possible breakfast egg recipe you can think of. If you are a Class 10b family member or friend, please encourage the pupils to cook one of their recipes for you! See if you can get them to follow a recipe independently! They might sur-prise you!


On Monday the 27th November we went to help at Operation Christmas Child. The whole class went for the morning. This project helps give less fortunate children the chance to have a nicer Christmas by getting a nice Christmas present from all of us. The presents are small but they are exciting and they mean a lot. The presents are donated and then put into shoe boxes. The boxes are wrapped in wrapping paper to make them look pretty. Our job was to organise the boxes into age groups and whether they were a boy or a girl. We also did a small amount of packing helping the adults who were in charge. Josh Year 11

BELMONT SCHOOL

TERM DATES FOR PUPILS

2017/2018

Term Ends Friday 15th December

Spring Term 2018 Term 3 Term Begins Tuesday 2nd January

Term Ends Friday 9th February

Term 4 Term Begins Monday 19th February

Term Ends Thursday 29th March

Summer Term 2018 Term 5 Term Begins Monday 16th April

Bank Holiday Monday 7th May

Term Ends Friday 25th May

Term 6 Term Begins Monday 4

th June

Term Ends Friday 20th July

PAGE 13

RDA

Congratulations to Riley, Harley, Elliot, Abigail, Rhys, Kieran and Ethan for successfully com-pleting their RDA (Riding for the Disabled) course. This was a fantastic opportunity that the pu-pils took part in for the past 2 terms. Every second week the pupils went to the RDA at Chel-tenham racecourse where they learnt how to groom, saddle and ride the ponies as well as de-veloping their skills in horsemanship, communication, confidence and relationships. The pupils also gained a great deal of enjoyment and therapy from the sensory experience of working with animals. In order to help fund this course the pupils ran a community café every other Friday for parents, carers and taxi drivers. We are very excited that we are able to fund another course for a new group of pupil after Christmas that to a generous donation from Lord Vesty for this very good cause. If you would like to come and support the fundraising café please contact the school office to see when it will next be open. Thank you to Mrs Nelmes, Miss Essex and Mr Freeman for taking the pupils each week. Pupils’ achieved Grade 1 riding and Grade 1 horse care certificates along with a rosette and a badge.

Belmont Bettridge Choir

The Advent Season of the Autumn Term 2 has seen the combined choirs of Belmont and Bet-tridge coming together to practice songs on Friday afternoons. The Key Stage Three pupils from Bel-mont have given up their time and, in some cases, their wider enrichment choices, to support their fellow pupils next door. I will describe these meet-ings as essentially delightful. The standard of singing is great. Most of our pupils have sung short pieces on their own and we really have to recognise the amount of confidence it takes to sing on one’s own. Bettridge pupils and staff have helped to boost our Total Communication skills and it is wonderful to see such a high level of engagement from everyone. If your child is one of the Belmont Choir, please congrat-ulate them on such good work and commitment. The Choir will take a break in Term Three when we come back from the Christmas Holidays to enable the pupils to take part in the wide range of enrichment opportunities on Friday afternoons.

Christmas Cards

As usual students have been hard at work designing the school Christmas card, this year we had nine students putting their work together to make the final card, can you spot anyone’s work?

Our thanks go out to Mrs Tee, Friends Of Belmont and Ridgeway press that made this all possible.

PAGE 18 BELMONT NEWS PAGE 15

Attending school every day = 100% attendance Attending 4 1/2 days a week = 90% attendance 4 weeks missed per year Attending 4 days a week = 80% attendance = more than half a term missed per year or 2 full years missed over the course of their school career Attending 3½ days each week = 70% attendance = more than a quarter of the school year missed An average attendance of 80% or less across a child’s school career adds up to missing a whole 2 years from school Being late for school reduces learning time. If your child is 5 minutes late every day they will miss three days of learning each year If your child is 15 minutes late every day they will miss i2 weeks of learning each year The Importance of Regular Attendance At Belmont we recognise the importance of regular attendance. The overall level of attendance that we aim to achieve is 100%. Ideally, there should be no unauthorised ab-sence. All pupils should attend school for every session that is available to them, unless the reason for their absence is one that meets the school’s criteria for authorising absences, e.g. illness, non-routine medical/dental appointments, religious observance, educational visits and another unavoidable cause. Holidays During Term-Time With effect from the 1st September 2013, the Department for Education changed the legisla-tion about children's absence from school. The legislation makes it clear that more affordable holidays are not exceptional circumstances. The Headteacher has the discretion to authorise holiday during term-time in exceptional circumstances. Pupil attendance is regularly moni-tored, particularly those who are deemed to be ‘persistently absent’. This is where a pupil’s attendance falls below 90%. There may very well be good reasons for this such as longer pe-riods of illness which may not need any follow-up. However, there may also be pupils who have no clear reason for this low attendance and as such, parents may be invited to come in and discuss how their child’s attendance might be improved.

Be a Belmont Attendance

HERO

(further information coming soon)

ATTENDANCE PAGE 16

headteacher’s update — mr kevin day december 2017 · we are now enjoying the build up to...

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