Break and lunchtime were manageable outside today, thanks to a welcome breeze and your help in ensuring that pupils were well prepared for outdoor activities in the sun. After two very hot days, the weather looks likely to cool down over the weekend and into next week. Please continue to apply sun cream to your child before they come to school, send in water bottles and hats so that we can safely take pupils outside and make the most of the weather and outdoor play and learning opportunities.

The eco-committee has been very busy, as usual, helping Bowmansgreen to become a more sustainable, less wasteful school community. This week, they discussed water management and spent time improving the (already fabulous) bug hotel.

On Friday 8th July, we will be holding a tea party to celebrate the school’s 70th birthday. Families will be invited to join the celebration at 2.15pm. We ask that families contribute £1.00 per child, paid via Schoolcomms, from Monday.

Please encourage your child to practise their times tables regularly and make good use of their Times Tables Rockstars or Numbots accounts. Year 4 pupils are currently participating in the Multiplication tables check (MTC) which determines whether pupils can fluently recall their times tables up to 12. We have been impressed by how many pupils in Year 4 know all of their tables securely and the speed and fluency of their recall.  Well done, Year 4!

Our Bowmansgreen Reading Festival has come to a close after a second, successful year. Pupils across the school enjoyed a week of activities to encourage and promote a love of reading, including D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) time, buddy reading with another class, book swap and finding a new place to read around the school. This afternoon, the school site was filled with pupils comfily enjoying a ‘read-in.’ It has been a great week, introducing pupils to new books and authors and hopefully inspiring them to value the importance and enjoyment of reading. Winners of the ‘design a book cover’ House Competition will be announced next week. Thank you to Mrs Davis for organising the Reading Festival events.

Please be aware that there have been a number of cases of chicken pox and suspected hand foot and mouth disease at school, during the last couple of weeks. If your child is unwell and you suspect either of these infections, please do not send your child into school and inform the office. Health protection in education and childcare settings – exclusion table

Free workshops for Hertfordshire families from Step2Skills – to book a place on any of the free 2-session workshops, visit the Step2Skills website.

It is almost time to welcome our Reception 2022 families into Bowmansgreen, for their first Stay and Play session. EYFS staff are looking forward to meeting their new classes and families next week.

Reminder – next week, Bowmansgreen families have a long weekend. Friday June 24th school is closed (additional jubilee holiday) and Monday June 27th school is closed as it is an INSET day.

Have a lovely weekend.

Welcome back, to the final half-term of the school year.

Pupils looked fantastic yesterday – thank you for ensuring that we had a school filled with red, white, blue (and royalty), in celebration of the Queen’s platinum jubilee year. Throughout the week, pupils learnt about the monarchy, aspects of British history, custom and tradition, to help them understand the significance of the jubilee and the celebrations they have witnessed during the last few weeks. Your child has received a book about Queen Elizabeth, as a commemorative souvenir of the platinum jubilee.

Reminder – our additional bank holiday is Friday June 24th. There is also an INSET day on Monday 27th June.

As well as being the Queen’s jubilee year, 2022 is also the year of Bowmansgreen’s 70th birthday! On Friday 8th July, we will be holding our own birthday tea party – more details to follow.

Please be reminded that the start of the school day has now reverted to its ‘pre-lockdown’ time of 8.45am. Pupils who do not attend breakfast club can be dropped off from 8.35am onto the Key Stage 1 playground. If your child arrives to school after 8.45am, they must enter via the school office and will be registered as late. Lateness to school is logged as absence on your child’s attendance certificate and, if persistent, may lead to a referral to the Attendance Improvement Officer. Pupils arriving late miss out on valuable learning as well as the opportunity to experience a calm, settled, social transition with their peers. Arriving late to school is usually an anxious, unsettling experience for children and one which can deeply affect pupils if it is a regular routine.

Thank you for all of your efforts to make packed lunches at Bowmansgreen a healthy option. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the lunchtime staff to choose a single, daily winner as there are now lots to choose from! It is great to see so many more pupils eating a range of healthy foods in their packed lunches and to hear them discussing and comparing their healthy choices with their friends and staff.

After receiving their peer mediator training, our Year 5 friendship coaches are now ready, willing and able to support pupils across the school, with disputes and disagreements, help resolve issues and repair friendships. Thank you and congratulations to the following Year 5 pupils who successfully completed the training, and are giving up some of their time each week, to support their peers:

Celebration assembly this week was extra special as we were joined by the families of pupils who were being celebrated, for the first time in nearly two years. Pupils were surprised and excited to see their family members in attendance and it was lovely to share the experience with them. For now, we will continue to limit attendance at celebration assembly, to invited adults only and review the situation, next term.

Breakfast club – price change from Monday 20th June. We will be introducing a £1 charge for attendance at breakfast club for pupils whose places were previously free of charge. All other charges remain the same. Please read for more information and details.

Anthony Glenn also returned to Bowmansgreen yesterday, to perform a Shaking up Shakespeare performance of Macbeth. It was a wonderful hour of entertainment and enthusiastic participation which pupils loved and will surely remember for years to come. There was also lots and lots of laughter – just what we all needed!

Support for Parents/Carers of children with Eating Disordered Behaviour or Poor Body Image
Hertfordshire has commissioned a new 4 week programme called First Step ED skills. It offers free online workshops for Hertfordshire parents, carers & older siblings, who are supporting a young person with their body image, disordered eating and/or eating disorders. Find out more.

Due to a few recent incidents where children have walked or run into the roads around school, we will be having discussions with all pupils about their road safety knowledge and awareness of potential risks and hazards. Please follow-up and reiterate key messages with your child.
Teaching road safety to children (capt.org.uk)    Skills for Carers – First Steps ED    Education resources – THINK!

Next week, it is our annual Bowmansgreen Reading Festival, with lots of activities planned to encourage, promote and excite pupils about reading for pleasure. Lots to look forward to!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.