On Wednesday 10th March, four enthusiastic Year 5s gathered together for the Annual Hertfordshire Maths Challenge. They worked together as a team to complete a variety of challenges. They had to memorise and replicate a detailed maths poster and estimate amounts and distances. They also had to use their number knowledge and skills to answer some very tricky problems! Well done Harry, Raudah, Amin and Abigail, for representing Bowmansgreen so well.

Thank you to the Bowmansgreen parents who organised the recent Mother’s Day sales. Pupils loved the opportunity to buy the gifts and I am sure that they also enjoyed giving them to their well deserving parents and carers, last Sunday.

Well done to the Bowmansgreen musicians and choir who have performed to the rest of the school during the last two weeks. It is always great to watch live performances by our fantastic pupils and see how much they have improved and grown as musicians, since their last performance. Thank you to Mr Bronstein for organising these concerts.

The in-school COVID-19 vaccination programme ends today. 12 to 15 year olds will still be able to access the vaccine outside of school, at a vaccination centre, pharmacy or walk-in centre. Healthy 5 to 11 year olds will be offered the COVID-19 vaccine this month. Vaccinations will take place outside of school, in vaccination centres, pharmacies, GP surgeries and walk-in centres. Parents and carers of 5 to 11 year olds will receive a letter, from the NHS, with further information.

If your child has medical needs, please ensure that you keep school up to date with any changes in their needs, medication or care by contacting the school office or Mr Regan, the school SENCO.

Book a place for your child on Hertfordshire’s Holiday Activity Programme.

Mental Health Support Teams in Schools Online Recruitment Events: Wednesday 20 April, 2022
The Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs) are running two online recruitment events at 12.30-1.30pm and 7-8pm, on Wednesday 20 April (Via Eventbrite/Teams).
These events will provide an opportunity for prospective applicants to share their experience and expertise and receive feedback around where they might best fit, in terms of available roles across the MHSTs. If you are interested in these events and want more information, book your place via the links below:
• 12.30-1.30pm, Wednesday 20 April
• 7-8pm, Wednesday 20 April

In Hertfordshire, over 35 teams and organisations work together to develop and share useful tools, training and information to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This ranges from self-help tools to information on how to access support if it’s needed. This is known as the ‘Just Talk’ programme. Visit the Just Talk website for more information.

Pupils across the school have been very busy planning and creating some fabulous art work to celebrate Bowmansgreen’s 70th birthday. Inspired by an artist or piece of art from the last 70 years, pupils created their own masterpieces which were displayed in our art exhibition. Pupils across the school visited the exhibition today, keen to see their own art work as well as that of their siblings, friends and other year groups.

It is always exciting when new staff join our Bowmansgreen school community. Anna Krzus started this week, working as a teaching assistant in Year 5. Paula Elborough and Melissa Millen will start at Bowmansgreen, as part of our inclusion team, after the Easter break. It is also lovely to have welcomed Helen Manly back to Bowmansgreen, teaching and tutoring pupils across the school.

This week, I was lucky enough to attend an awards presentation as a finalist in the Mayor’s Pride Awards 2022 in the Frontline Worker category. It was an unexpected surprise and honour to have been nominated and to take part in such a lovely event with some truly exceptional people. Thank you to the mystery nominator…

Ramadan Mubarak. The holy month of Ramadan begins today. Please let the school office know if your child is fasting, on their return to school, after the holiday.

On Tuesday 26th April, at 7pm, parents and carers are invited to attend a live, Online Safety Workshop. This virtual session, led by ECP, reflects the information and issues discussed in the pupil workshops that took place earlier this term and provides an insight into the online world in which many of our children spend so much of their time. We hope that you take this opportunity to find out something new and help support your child to stay safe online. A link to this workshop will be sent to parents and carers, ahead of the event.

Enjoy the Easter break.

Thank you for attending this week’s Family Consultation meetings. We hope that you found the meetings useful and that they provided an insight into how your child is learning, progressing and behaving at school. Your child’s reading, writing and maths targets will be sent home so that you can help support your child’s progress towards achieving their next steps in these subject areas. If you did not book or attend an appointment, please contact the school office.

The YoungMinds website includes some useful resources for parents and carers, to help support their child’s mental health.

MindEd offers a range of free e-learning modules for parents and carers, including Trauma and Coping and Parenting in a Digital World.

Regrettably, the cost of school meals will be increasing. From April 1st, a school meal will cost £2.80 – an increase of 15p per meal. This is the first price rise since 2019 and due to Hertfordshire Catering Ltd responding to rising food and staffing costs.

Please ensure that your child attends school in full school uniform each day, including appropriate, black footwear. Trainers must be plain black, without coloured laces or logos.

The number of positive cases of coronavirus within our school community has risen sharply during the last couple of weeks. The last fortnight has seen the highest staff absence at Bowmansgreen, due to covid-19, since the start of the pandemic and staffing across the school has, at times, been very stretched.  Although there is no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate, public health advice for people with COVID-19 and their contacts, is to stay at home and avoid contact with others.

We ask that families follow public health advice on when to self-isolate and what to do  and do not send your child into school if they are unwell, show symptoms of covid-19 or test positive. If your child shows symptoms whilst at school, we will ask you to collect them, to protect the health and safety of other pupils and staff from possible infection.

At Bowmansgreen, we will continue to maintain appropriate control measures, including effective cleaning and hand-hygiene regimes and good ventilation in classrooms, to help reduce the risk of transmission.

Take part in a London Colney community litter pick, on Saturday 26^th March. This event is part of the ‘Great British Spring Clean’ campaign with Keep Britain Tidy.
Date: Saturday 26^th March
Time: 10am – 12pm
Location: Meet at the Caledon Community Centre, Caledon Road, London Colney, AL2 1PU at 10am
Please wear suitable footwear and clothing for the weather.

The next round of Book Swap events takes place during the next fortnight – look out for the text notifying you of when it is your child’s day. If they would like to take part, please ensure your child brings a book to swap so that we can maintain a good supply of books for these events. Any additional donations are always warmly welcomed!

Enjoy your weekend.