Dear Parents

I hope you have had a lovely break and enjoyed being out in the sunshine with your families and friends.

Congratulations Mrs Watt

Congratulations to Mrs Watt and her family who had a wonderful little girl called Thea at Easter.

Body Image

Staff had some excellent training on Tuesday when Becky James came in from the NHS, a specialist nurse practitioner, to talk about body image.  This is a topic that is increasingly being woven into our curriculum, and we strive to approach it with up-to-date knowledge and research to ensure our approach is supportive and effective.

Swimming

Year 5 went off to swimming at the Northampton School for Boys this Thursday and everyone enjoyed the session.  Staff were aware that more children are less confident in the water now. This is a good reminder for all families to build in some fun swimming sessions which will help to build their water confidence.

Bridgewater Band

Mr Fountain, our NMPAT brass teacher has taught our Year 6 trombonists, who are sounding great as the Bridgewater Band and are preparing for a special assembly performance in the future.

Friends AGM

Thank you to Gemma Crooke for standing again as the Chair for the Bridgewater Friends Association and to Andrew who is continuing in his role as Treasurer.  Huge thanks go to Ellie who has worked conscientiously and with enthusiasm as the Secretary who is now standing back and thanks go to Louise who will step in to the role. Gemma has a great team, and the school are very appreciative of all their hard work providing fantastic community events for us which enable them then to provide amazing resources for the whole school.

However, it was evident tonight at the AGM that more parents need to step forward to help, as the committee came near to collapse with so few volunteers but survived due to the commitment and passion of the small existing team. The Friends have provided the Summer and Christmas Fairs, the Panto for all the families alongside coffee mornings etc and provided special resources for the school children like the Cubbie and Active Wall this year.

All help is welcome from anyone who has some time and is willing to work with the friendly group. It doesn’t matter how much time you can commit even an hour is invaluable so please think about it and contact Gemma via the website or via the school office - all mums and dads are welcome.

Smartphones in Bedrooms!

I was reflecting at Easter after seeing a third of the children in Year 6 put their hands up to share that they have their smartphones in their bedrooms at night. Alongside this we know that sometimes they take smartphones to sleepovers and recently the dangers of this have been shared in the news after growing research and evidence of the associated dangers.  

I understand that it can be really hard to say ‘no’ to smartphone access as a family, especially at bedtime when other children may have free access. However, there can be power and support if parents agree together to have the same boundaries which may be something you might want to consider which could benefit your child and others.

New Gate

The new car park gate is working well and the drop off zone appears to be safer now with less moving traffic and cars driving too fast at drop off times.  Please ensure that you are still supervising the children and make sure that they are not running and playing on the drop off zone road.  Thank you

Have a lovely weekend

Alison Harvey