It is a pleasure to welcome you to this final newsletter of term 1. The autumn term has been busy and fulfilling here at Victoria Park Primary School and we hope you find time to relax during next week, ready to return re-energised for school in November.

Curriculum Newsletters

We are pleased to provide our Curriculum Newsletters for Term 2. These are written by the class teachers, with the aim of providing an overview of the learning that will be taking place each term in your child's class. Please take the time to look at these with your children and feel free to ask us any questions.

Safeguarding Information

Like every school, safeguarding children is our main priority. Every school must have a "Designated Safeguarding Lead" (DSL) who is the person appointed to take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety). The person fulfilling this role must be a senior member of the school's leadership team. They are expected to have at least one deputy DSL, so that someone is available at all times during term time. All DSLs and Deputy DSLs have the same level of training and responsibility.

In our school, the DSL is Miss Laura Mullen, who also takes a lead role for Safeguarding across all the schools in Cathedral Schools Trust. There are three Deputy DSLs, who are Mr Nic Bailey, Mr Ed Gunner and Mr Sean Brice. There will always be at least one of these trained DSL members of staff in school during term time. You will see these posters around the school and on our website to remind everyone who we are.

For information about what to do if you have concerns about a child or if you would like some support or advice for your family, please come and see one of us, or visit the Safeguarding page on our website.

Parents' Evenings - Save the Date

We will be hosting our parents' evenings after school on Wednesday 23rd November and Thursday 24th November. Details of how to book a ten-minute conversation with your child's teacher will be sent out in early November. In the meantime, please make a note of the dates in your diaries.

Week 3 & 4 Mixed Tag Rugby: A report from Mrs Casling 

Year 5 & 6 mixed Tag Rugby teams have enjoyed four weeks of tag rugby against other Bristol primary schools. I couldn't be prouder of their positive attitude, fair and supportive team work and increasing skills and ability. Overall they have all been fantastic representatives of VPPS. The children decided that they wanted to play in their year groups, so our Year 5 team entered the development league where the emphasis was on improvement and learning how to play the game. They were 5th place out of 10 which is an excellent achievement since many of the team had not played rugby prior to the first week. Year 6 entered the league and came 5th out of a total of 24 teams. Although some team members play contact rugby for Broadplain RFC, there were also new players to the sport, which, I feel makes this result even more impressive. 
In Year 5, we saw top defensive play (tagging) from Flora, Rubie and Zaym, best improvement and attitude from Nathaniel and Adan, side stepping skills and determination from Josh, Bea and Imogen whilst Theo and Henry drew on their contact rugby skills for an all-round determined performance. Year 6 showed equal skills and attitude with top try scoring and all-round performance from Oli, Eli and Shya, great improvement and positive attitude resulting in try scoring from Beth, Olivia and Max, plus skilful defence and determination from Eva, Louie and Aiden. 
A huge thank you to Leanne Pratten who helped every week to coach the Year 6 team. Also to all the parents who watched, gave support and encouragement. 
If your child is interested in playing rugby, get in touch with our local club @Broadplain. 

Match Reports from our Children

Theo reflected about week 4: “In our four games, one as a friendly against year 6, we thought about ways to improve and we did! We tried to give the ball to everyone at least twice a match. Our plan was to sidestep and spread out, which worked out reasonably well but personally, I feel, that if we had got the ball out to the wings we could have scored more tries.“
Bea reported on Week 3: “Although we were missing two players, we showed determination and carried on and didn’t stop. Everyone passed to each other and we had a great time.”
Flora was the captain in Week 4 and has reflected on her whole experience: “I think, from my perspective, that we had improved a lot from when we first started playing. Mainly in defence and attack but also strategies too. I also think that the best player wasn’t the person who scored the most tries, but it was the person who improved the most from the first to last week. The highlights were often not when we won but some individual tries and tags. From being in the team I realised that it is not about being the best player, it’s about working as a team."

Poppies

We will be selling poppies and other items to mark rememberance day after school in playground 3 on 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th November.   

Dates for the Diary - More details to follow next term

14th November - Odd Socks Day (wear odd socks to school)
18th November - Children in Need Day (wear something spotty)

Half Term Activites

Please find below a programme of activities that is put together by the local Families in Focus team, with lots of half-term activites and other support available for parents and families.

Other Information

For information about Parent/Carer Art Therapy Groups running at Redcatch Community Gardens, click on this poster:

There is a Craft Fair taking place at St Francis Church on Sat 12th November and a Table Top Sale taking place at St Michael and All Angels Church on Sat 26th November. Full details are available on the poster below.

If you are an artist or crafter and would like a stall at the craft fair, click below for information:

Have a great half term break! There is an INSET day on the first Monday - teachers will be attending the annual Cathedral Schools Trust conference in which staff from all nine schools come together for training. The first day back for children will be Tuesday 1st November 2022.