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This Week’s Celebrations

Author of the week

KS1 – David

KS2 – Inaaya

Reader of the week

KS1 – Briony

KS2 – Seren

Mathematician of the week

KS1 – Jaxson

KS2 – Ahmed

 

 

Word of the Week

Week beginning 17.1.22

EYFSCapture
1D – 1OWMobile
2CH – 2CATropical
3RG – 3SBitter
4G – 4WReappear
5R – 5WTerrain
6A – 6HSanctuary

Headteacher’s Blog

In response to the ongoing concerns that staff, families and local residents have raised, about the issues of traffic and parking around Bowmansgreen, the council have issued a notice of intent to make a Traffic Regulation Order.

A public notice, providing details of the Order to implement some restrictions on the roads around Bowmansgreen, has been displayed in the affected roads and can be viewed via the links below.

Comments, objections and representations from the school community and wider public are invited and should be received by Friday 11th February, 2022.

Public Notice

Map detailing restrictions of Order

Headteacher’s Blog

This week, many of our Year 5 pupils learnt to ride their bikes safely on the road, through Bikeability cycle training. Pupils learnt new skills, gained a better understanding of road safety and (despite the cold weather) enjoyed learning how to ride their bikes, with greater confidence. Well done Y5!

All pupils attended online safety workshops, on Wednesday. Sessions were tailored to the knowledge and understanding of each year group and covered issues such as sharing personal content, online bullying and gaming. Online workshops for parents and carers will be offered later this half term, to reflect the content of the pupil sessions and support families to keep their children safer online.

There have been several situations already this term, involving pupils being unkind to each other over social media and messaging apps, outside of school.  These conflicts can then be brought into school, causing continued upset and bad feeling but we are not alerted to them until days, sometimes weeks after. Some of the content can be really unkind and inappropriate, making others feel upset and uncomfortable. Pupils are also often reluctant to block, leave or report unhealthy online conversations and, very worryingly, see the language as normal and acceptable ‘banter.’

We will continue to reinforce this message to pupils – it was discussed during the workshops on Wednesday – and we would encourage you to have those conversations with your child. Please monitor what your child says and sees online – they are often too young to be accessing some of the content that they come into school and discuss and we know that often, adults are unaware of the language and images that they are accessing. Some of the language they use towards and between each other is shocking.

If pupils are witnessed using homophobic, racist, misogynistic or threatening language online, they can face the same consequences as if they had said it at school. Content will be shared with parents and carers and can also be reported to the police. We will not tolerate abusive language or behaviours from or between pupils.

We have a CEOP red button on the home page of our school website and most apps and sites that your child might use, also include buttons to block, remove or report. Pupils must learn to take responsibility for their own online behaviours and we will continue to discuss and remind pupils of this.

Click CEOP Button

This term’s Herts for Learning online safety newsletter provides information, resources and reviews, coving a range of topics, including: ‘Squid Game – What parents need to know,’ online grooming and keeping under 5s safe online.

We continue to build and publish curriculum content on our school website, to support your child’s education at Bowmansgreen. The maths and English pages include curriculum overviews, showing progression in knowledge, skills and understanding for each year group. The pages also contain links to resources that support learning and progress in specific curriculum areas, such as phonics, maths fluency and reading. Oxford Owl, Numbots, Times Tables Rock Stars and MyMaths can be used to practise key skills, especially as part of your child’s remote learning, if they have to self-isolate.

Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans visited Bowmansgreen, yesterday. She met with our school council, to talk about her role and responsibilities as an MP and answer a range of really thoughtful questions.  A report from our school councillors will follow. It was a fantastic opportunity and experience for pupils to meet their local MP and we would like to say a huge thank you to Daisy Cooper, for taking the time out of her very busy schedule, to visit Bowmansgreen. Thank you also to Ms Smith for organising the visit.

Dates for the diary…

Crazy Hair Day – this Friday, Jan 21st

Time to Talk Day – Feb 3rd

Safer Internet Day – Feb 8th

Enjoy your weekend.

 

Word of the Week

Week beginning 10.1.22

EYFSHero
1DQuiver
1OW
2CHInverse
2CA
3RGMarvel
3S
4GUnsurprised
4W
5RCurious
5W
6AConsole
6H

This Week’s Celebrations

Author of the week

KS1 – Jenson

KS2 – Tate

Reader of the week

KS1 – Mavis

KS2 – Isabelle

Mathematician of the week

KS 1 – Adam

KS2 – Maya

Headteacher’s Blog

Pupils returned to school yesterday, happy to see their friends and eager to learn. It is lovely to have them back after the Christmas break, ready for the term ahead.

We have welcomed several new families to our Bowmansgreen school community this week – five classes have been busy helping their new friends to settle in, get to know their classmates and new learning environment.

Next week, classes will begin their spring term timetables which might mean a change of PE day for some classes. Please ensure that your child has their PE kit at school every day so that they can take part in all physical games and activities.

The Eco-Committee and 3RG were very busy last half-term, planting spring bulbs and thirty saplings ready to transfer into the school grounds this term. They also made bird feeders, for the winter. The litter and composting team have been doing a brilliant job too! Mrs Gritz would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part and to the families who have donated items.

During this morning’s assembly, we celebrated the hard-working members of the Eco-Committee. Mrs Gritz presented members with their new badges and talked about the important work that they have been doing, to help make our school environment less wasteful and more sustainable.  Thank you, Eco-Committee.

At the end of last term, I met with school councillors Cassi, Zachary and Rhema, to discuss ideas and suggestions about how to make improvements to our school curriculum and provision.  I was very impressed by how thoughtful and articulate all three pupils were and by their passion and enthusiasm for representing the voice of pupils across the school.

Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans, will be visiting Bowmansgreen on Friday January 14th, to meet with our school council. This will be a great experience for our school councillors and an opportunity to gain insight into the role and responsibilities of a serving Member of Parliament.

We therefore thought it best for pupils and staff to have ‘un-crazy’ hair on the day of Daisy Cooper’s visit…. so Crazy Hair Day will now take place on Friday January 21st, instead!

Enjoy your weekend.

Headteacher’s Blog

Happy New Year! I hope that you have managed to stay healthy and safe during the festive period and spend quality time with friends and family. Thank you for the cards and gifts for staff which are always very much appreciated.

The end of last term proved to be a tricky, constantly changing situation for families, schools, work places and services due to the ongoing impact of coronavirus. The number of families and members of staff who could not attend school during the last few weeks of term, due to COVID symptoms, positive results and self-isolation increased daily and we only managed to safely staff the school during the last few days due to the significantly reduced number of pupils on site. Thank you for your continued support and patience.

During the holiday period, there has been a constant stream of news headlines and updated NHS and DfE guidance as part of the government’s COVID-19 Response, including the Prime Minister’s press conference earlier this evening. The next few weeks will undoubtedly prove challenging for our school and wider communities. At Bowmansgreen, we will continue to follow guidance, maintain control measures and communicate changes when necessary, to help maintain the quality of and minimise the disruption to your child’s education.

Remote learning continues to be published weekly on our school website, if your child is required to self-isolate, as well as the half-termly home learning grids and other curriculum resources to support your child’s education.

Take a look at some of your child’s learning from last half-term, through our maths curriculum evening presentations.

Our local DSPL7 offers courses for parents and carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Mostly free and currently online, courses include: Understanding Teens with ADHD and Autism; Families Feeling Safe; Talking Dads and Bringing Up Confident Children.

Our spring term begins this Thursday, January 6th (tomorrow is an INSET day) and there is lots to look forward to…

This half-term’s school value is friendship. We have several new families joining our school community this month. Bowmansgreen pupils are fantastic at making new children feel welcome, keen to make friends and support pupils to settle in.

Our popular book swap and uniform sale events will resume this term, although in slightly altered formats – dates and further information to follow.

Next week, pupils will attend workshops focusing on online safety, to help them keep themselves and each other safe online. Feedback has always been positive, with pupils finding these sessions interesting and helpful in supporting them to safely navigate the online world.

Next Friday (January 14th) is Crazy Hair Day at Bowmansgreen! Thank you to the remaining members of the FOBS committee for organising this popular event to raise money for our school.

Please ensure that your child wears full school uniform every day (including completely black footwear) and that all clothing and belongings are clearly labelled.

We look forward to seeing pupils on Thursday.

This Week’s Celebrations

Author of the week

KS1 – Ayman

KS2 – Mia

Reader of the week

KS1 – Zoya

KS2 – Alfie

Mathematician of the week

KS1 – Hope

KS2 – Oscar

EYFS Blog

Our reception children have been learning about dinosaurs this term. We have learnt about the different types of dinosaurs that existed, the land and environment they lived in and watched videos of erupting volcanoes. The children have learnt so much new vocabulary including: volcanoes, meteors, carnivores, herbivores as well as the names of the different dinosaurs.
To end our topic, we arranged for the children to take part in an exciting dinosaur workshop hosted by Dinogirl Kay. The children had a fantastic time learning about how big the dinosaurs were and what they ate. We took part in an experiment called ‘Smelly Belly’ where Dinogirl ‘re-created’ the belly of a herbivore dinosaur using leaves, rocks and water: it was very smelly indeed!
The children also took part in a fossil dig where they used small brushes to move sand away to reveal and discover different types of fossils. They even had the chance to hold different types of fossils including the egg of a dinosaur and dinosaur poop!
It has been a wonderful topic. Our reception children have impressed us with how much they have learnt and we really enjoyed finishing with such a fun day.
Mrs Neo
EYFS Leader