Headteacher

This morning, our final celebration assembly of the year took place. As always, family and friends joined us to celebrate pupils who have behaved and achieved above and beyond.  It was fantastic to be able to recognise our super authors, readers, mathematicians and gymnasts. We were also able to congratulate Hudson for achieving his black belt in karate – an amazing achievement for a boy of 10. Well done, Hudson!

Celebration assembly was also an opportunity to say thank you and goodbye to members of staff who will be leaving Bowmansgreen this term. As many of you know, the Bowmansgreen Primary Support Base (PSB) will be closing next week. This closure brings about change for the pupils who are currently on-roll in its class as well as the staff who work there. Mrs De’ath has joined the Bowmansgreen staff team, working as a teaching assistant.  Ms Robson, Mrs Apicella and Mrs Plummer will be leaving us for adventures new. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their hard work and dedication to the pupils and families of St Albans and Bowmansgreen. We will miss them all very much and wish them well and much happiness for the future.

I would like to inform parents that Miss Corbett will also be leaving next week after just one year at Bowmansgreen, to work at a school where her son will be attending nursery. I know you will join me in wishing her well and good luck for the future.

This week, we also celebrated pupils across the school who achieved 100% attendance this year. Twenty seven pupils from reception to Year 6 went bowling as a special treat to congratulate them on being at school every day, for the whole year. Well done for this fantastic achievement, children! I look forward to being able to take even more pupils on a surprise day out, next year.

The Department for Education (DfE) has now published its final statutory guidance about how Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education should be implemented in all schools across England by 2020. We will be involving parents in the process of developing our new school policy by providing information as well as seeking opinions about various aspects of the content and materials that we will be using.  Please read this DfE parent guide as an initial overview about how Relationships and Health education will be taught. I have also included a link to an NSPCC briefing document that provides a summary and further references that parents might find useful.

Year 6 should be very proud of themselves for their fantastic end of year performances. They sang, danced and acted their way through the two shows and demonstrated just what a talented year group they are. Thank you to all of the staff involved in making the show such a success.

This afternoon, Year 3 and Eva performed a ukulele concert to their parents and the rest of the school. Year 3 were joined by Eva and Oscar, who performed guitar solos, to show their parents what they have been learning as part of their weekly music lessons.  Well done musicians, you sounded great! Thank you to Antony Pigram for organising this concert.

See you after the weekend, where your children will receive their end of year reports and we will say goodbye and good luck to our wonderful Year 6 as they move on to their secondary schools.

Thank you to everyone who attended our final curriculum evening of the year. The Bowmansgreen art gallery was open for viewing with art work from across the school on display. Pupils have worked really hard on their art activities this half-term and we hope that you were impressed by their final pieces.

Yesterday was also an opportunity for parents in KS1 and KS2 to meet their child’s new class teacher and we hope that you took the opportunity to say ‘hello.’ Between now and the end of term, we will ensure that pupils receive a supportive transition towards their new classes. We recognise that some pupils will benefit from additional opportunities to meet their new teachers and familiarise themselves with their new classrooms and this will be built in to the remainder of this term.

The Healthforkids website is a new resource for Hertfordshire families that covers health-related subjects for children aged 4-11 years. It contains articles, advice and signposts to services and other resources in the Parents/Carers section whilst the children’s section includes games, activities and information about healthy minds and bodies, bereavement, how to access help and thinking about feelings.  https://www.healthforkids.co.uk/

BeeZee Families is another resource being recommended by our school nursing team. BeeZee Families is a healthy lifestyles programme which is free for 5-15 year olds and their families living in Hertfordshire.  The programme is led by nutritionists and behaviour change experts and focuses on making changes towards a healthier lifestyle.
https://beezeebodies.com/programs/beezee-families/

Tomorrow, the Bowman music festival takes place. Don’t panic if you haven’t already purchased a ticket –  there is still the opportunity to purchase on the gate. It promises to be a great family event, with food, music and lots to keep the whole family entertained. It would be lovely to see you there in support of this event which will help raise money for our school.

Enjoy your weekend.

This afternoon, 3S were learning about the Summer Solstice. In the UK – and the rest of the northern hemisphere – today is the summer solstice which means that it is the longest day of the year. I wonder what else 3S can remember about the Summer Solstice?

We are lucky to have such beautiful grounds at Bowmansgreen which pupils make good use of , not just at play times and for PE but also during their eco-days. Today, I joined Mrs Stanley, Theo, Dantae and Freddy in the wildlife area as they released some baby frogs into our pond. They also had a go at pond dipping and learnt to recognise when a baby frog can breathe out of the water.

Tomorrow, some of our Y2 and Y4 pupils will be performing in a concert at the Radlett Centre as part of the Radlett Festival of Music. Pupils have been busy rehearsing with Mrs Street for their performances which include songs from The Greatest Showman, Mary Poppins and Joseph. Good luck children and have lots of fun. I know you will be amazing!

The KS2 sponsored Daily Mile took place this morning. Pupils and staff ran or walked the route to raise money for Herts Vision Loss. It was lovely to see some of our parents join their children for this activity.

Next Monday, it’s the turn of KS1 and EYFS!