Headteacher

Kene Madueke Foundation

On Tuesday, Yvonne and Udoka Madueke visited Bowmansgreen to lead a special assembly for pupils in Y4 – Y6. They talked about their talented, courageous son Kene who was a former pupil at Bowmansgreen, and the foundation they have set up in his memory. The Kene Madueke Foundation, supports teenagers diagnosed with cancer and other terminal illnesses.

Tuesday was a non-uniform day, where staff and pupils wore yellow – the colour commonly associated with certain types of cancer, particularly childhood cancer or sarcoma. The assembly informed and supported pupils’ understanding of why and how some people can develop cancer and how we might be able to support them, ourselves and each other when someone we know becomes ill.

Pupils took this opportunity to share some of their own experiences and ask thoughtful, pertinent questions. The assembly also highlighted how many families within our school community have been affected by cancer – more than two thirds of pupils sharing that they have a family member or know someone close, who has or has had cancer.

It was unexpected and incredibly uplifting, just how many pupils seized this opportunity to learn and share their own experiences.

A huge thank you to Yvonne and Udoka for sharing their family’s experience and journey; for helping to raise awareness of a disease that affects so many families within our school community and beyond; and for empowering our pupils with knowledge.

Thank you Bowmansgreen families, for helping to raise £400 for the The Kene Madueke Foundation.

The last two weeks of term have flown by – it has been a very busy fortnight!

The extent of the recent, heavy snow and icy conditions caused major disruption and a ‘snow day’ for many schools, locally and nationally, including Bowmansgreen. Thank you for your patience and support during a few very cold, precarious days. School resumed on Tuesday and thankfully, by Thursday, the roads were safe enough for Mr Regan and Mrs Elborough to accompany pupils for their final ‘Go Wild!’ session of the term. Pupils has great fun in the snow, in the picturesque surroundings of Hudnall Park.

Last week, our EYFS and Key Stage One classes took part in Nativity performances, to the rest of the school and their family members. Pupils were fantastic! It was a pleasure to see them on stage, performing their lines, singing and dancing: many of them, for the very first time. Well done children – you should be very proud of yourselves!

Last Friday, Year 6 led our Christingle service. Despite a last minute change of venue, due to the icy weather conditions, Year 6 successfully led the service at school, joined by family, friends and pupils in Key Stages One and Two. What a fantastic job they did, in adapting to a change of venue and alterations to their best laid plans! Well done Year 6, for sharing with us such a beautiful, fitting performance as your final Bowmansgreen Christingle service.

On Monday, pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 performed their carol concert, twice in one day – first, to the whole school and then to their family members. Mr Bronstein accompanied on piano, as pupils sang in year groups and altogether, as well as some numbers performed by the choir. It was such a lovely occasion and a really impressive display of the talent and school ethos, at Bowmansgreen.

Thank you to the staff involved throughout all stages of the planning and organisation of these events and to the family members who turned out to support their children and the performances. The biggest ‘thank you’ goes to our amazing pupils who entertained, impressed and made us all feel very proud, with their energy, bravery and talent. Well done!

On Monday morning, pupils enjoyed a great start to their week with a performance of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Anthony Glenn returned to Bowmansgreen to entertain and involve pupils in a super, interactive performance of this Charles Dickens novel. Well done to all of the pupils who volunteered and joined in the performance. Anthony will be back in the summer term, with one of his ‘Shaking Up Shakespeare’ performances.

School Christmas lunch took place on Wednesday. Pupils and staff across the school ate a festive lunch together, served by staff and House Captains. It was a lovely occasion and a very tasty Christmas lunch! A special thank you to our kitchen staff, MSAs and support staff for helping to organise this special lunchtime, ensuring that it was a lovely occasion for our pupils.

Please read our new school uniform policy. We welcome feedback, questions and suggestions from our school community, about any aspects of this policy.

Thank you to all those who joined us at yesterday’s curriculum evening. We hope you enjoyed sharing your child’s learning in PSHE and seeing work from across the school. Thank you to Ms Smith, our PSHE lead, for organising this event.

Earlier this week, you will have received a letter about Scarlet Fever and iGAS from Public Health England. Although we currently do not know of any confirmed cases of Scarlet Fever at Bowmansgreen, we have had lots of children off school in recent days with a range of illnesses. Please let the school office know if you suspect that your child has Scarlet Fever or if you have had it confirmed. It is important that we have this information to help protect the health of our school community.

The weather has been very cold this week and set to get even colder in the coming days. Please ensure that your child has a coat, hat and gloves at school every day so that they can stay warm at break and lunchtimes. This is especially important for next Friday, when we walk down to St Peter’s Church, for our Christingle service.

A special thank you to Lottie who helped me lead this morning’s celebration assembly. Lottie – you were a fantastic help and quite the professional!

Next week, an inter-house speed stacking competition takes place. Good luck everyone!

The last couple of weeks have been very busy at Bowmansgreen!

On Monday 29th November, Year 6 pupils took part in the Abbey Carol Service. It was a fantastic occasion and very well attended by schools and families across St Albans. Thank you to the parents and carers who transported their children to and from the Abbey and supported pupils at this event. A huge ‘well done’ to Shakyra, Rosa and Amelia who had main parts in the service and whose performances were commented on as being fantastic and a credit to themselves and the school.

As parents and carers attend more face-to-face events at school, we appreciate and support families wanting to take photos and videos of memorable milestones and occasions in their child’s school life. Please can we remind families not to share these photos and videos on social medial as we have a number of pupils in each year group who do not have consent for their images to be shared or published.

Winter fair – WOW! What a fantastic event the winter fair turned out to be. It really was a lovely occasion for our school community and a hugely successful fundraiser.  Thank you to all of the families that joined with us to support this event and to the FOBS committee for their time and energy in organising and running the fair so successfully.

Today, our second curriculum evening of the year takes place. Come along between 3 – 4pm or 6 – 7pm to share in your child’s learning in PSHE. Everyone welcome!

Breakfast club takes place every morning from 7.30am. Last drop-off for breakfast is 8.15am. It is a popular part of our school provision and a great start to your child’s day. Payment is made in advance through Schoolcomms and your child can attend as often or irregularly as you might need. Mrs Stanley and her team welcome pupils from all year groups and provide fun, games, a great breakfast and a positive start to your child’s day at school. For further information, please contact the school office.

Hertfordshire families can sign up to access Hertfordshire’s Family Centres for free, to:
*Access FREE, fun family activities to do with their child and receive support when needed
*Meet other local families with children the same age
*Give their children the best start in life with support from trained professionals, qualified in Early Years development
*Have their say and help to shape future services
*Receive their local district newsletter, packed with useful parenting advice and activities
Register online at hertsfamilycentres.org

‘Roast battles’ have recently become a cause of upset between some of our older pupils. What starts out as some friendly, agreed ‘banter’ between friends often turns into an unkind exchange of insults that is suddenly very unfunny, angering and upsetting for some or all of those involved. Staff are spending a lot of time trying to get to the bottom of situations, that have started off as ‘roast battles’ between pupils and we are therefore encouraging pupils not to take part in these battles at school. Please could parents and carers reinforce this message, discussing with your child why these ‘battles’ might turn into upsetting exchanges and how they could and why they should be avoided.

The new parking restrictions have made a significant difference to the traffic and parking during the school run, making it calmer and safer for our school and local community. There has, however, been a noticeable increase in the number of drivers ignoring the restrictions as well as several complaints from local residents about their driveways being blocked by cars on the school run. Please could we remind parents and carers not to park across our neighbours’ driveways and to respect the parking restrictions that have been introduced, to help make the roads around school safer for drivers, pedestrians and local residents.

Three more sleeps until our winter fair! Tomorrow, your child may wear non-uniform in exchange for chocolates or a bottle for the tombola.

Pupils in Key Stage 2 enjoyed a special treat during their music assembly this morning, with performances by some of our Year 5 and Year 6 musicians. Very well done to Betsy on trumpet; Aidan, Celine, Kian and Harry on piano; Poppy on recorder; and Hector on drums. Thank you to all of the talented musicians who performed with courage and confidence – you really did yourselves proud! Thank you also to Mr Bronstein, for organising this performance and for the parents and carers for joining us this morning, to support your children.