This week is "Deaf Awareness Week". In our whole school assembly on Wednesday, children learned why Deaf Awareness Week is important, discovered what it means to be deaf or hard of hearing, and how everyone can communicate better with each other. We were particularly interested and inspired by this video of the Vision Signing Choir and their award-winning performance of This is Me from the Greatest Showman. We thought you would like to watch the video at home, so here it is:

Eid Bazaar

There was an amazing turn out for our Eid Bazaar last Friday. We would like to thank everyone who helped by preparing, donating and serving food, families who joined us to celebrate (what a long queue!) and Miss Datta who organised the event. Here are a few photographs of our celebration for you to enjoy:

Staffing News

Congratulations to Mrs Coles who has found a new role closer to her new home outside of Bristol. Mrs Coles has worked at Victoria Park Primary School for many years, and will be leaving at the end of this term. Good luck Mrs Coles - we will miss you!

Year 2 and Year 6 SATs

Last week, we informed you that pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 will be taking their assessments over the next few weeks. This information booklet for parents has been provided by the Standards and Testing Agency, and provides a useful overview.

Open Classrooms - Term 5

This term's "open classroom" mornings will have a reading theme. We hope you can join your child in their classroom one morning this week to enjoy a book together. The dates are:

• Reception - Weekly on Tuesdays 
• Year 1 - Weekly on Tuesdays
• Year 2 - Thursday 25th May
• Year 3 - Friday 19th May
• Year 4 - Friday 12th May
• Year 5 - Monday 22nd May
• Year 6 - Thursday 18th May

We are currently advertising for teachers and teaching assistant roles in our school starting next academic year (September 2023). Please help us to spread the word! Click here to see full details on the "Vacancies" page of our website.

Bristol Unicorn Trail

This summer, Victoria Park Primary School we will be joining the Bristol Unicorn Trail as part of Unicornfest 2023.  We have sponsored a Unicorn by buying a fibre-glass unicorn foal which will be decorated in school.  The Bristol Unicorn Trail is raising awareness and funding to ensure that any family affected by a leukaemia diagnosis has access to the vital information, advice, treatment and support they need. Schools, artists, businesses and community groups in Bristol are helping to raise funds for Leukaemia Care.  
We are inviting children to design a unicorn at home and explore their past, the present and their hopes and dreams for the future.  Children can be as imaginative as they wish and base their ideas and designs around themselves, their families, the local community, school, people or places that are special to them.  You may have many more creative ideas of your own.
Children can choose what to include on their design to help them reflect on the past, the present and make positive changes for the future.  
Your child has come home with a blank unicorn outline on A4 paper. Entries need to be returned to your class teacher by Friday 12th May. Elements from different designs will then be selected to create our Victoria Park Primary School Unicorn. 

Triathalon Teams

Two more teams would like you to know they are taking part in the Schools Trialalon this weekend to raise money for charity. From Year 3 we have Eleanor, Charley, Jack and Joe who will be one of the youngest teams at the event, and from Year 4 we have Harrison, Henry, Felix and Gracie (AKA "Pig Dudes"). You can click here to go to the Just Giving page for the Year 4 team. Good luck to all the teams taking part - have fun and thank you for all your hard work raising money for good causes!

Ablaze Poetry Competition

Congratulations to Dara in Year 3 and Beth in Year 6 whose poems have both been selected for the Ablaze Poetry book 2023! Dara's poem is called "A Lush Green Planet" and Beth's is called "Future". Well done to both pupils - we look forward to seeing your published poems in print.

Useful Links for Parents and Carers

The "Useful Links" and "Pastoral" sections of our website are frequently updated with information we think you will find helpful. Most recently, we have added this link to Anxiety Canada, which was recommended by our Primary Mental Health Specialist. Use the menu function of our website to navigate to these pages.

We hope you enjoy this extra Bank Holiday weekend for the King's Coronation. We have our celebration in school today and talked in Assembly about what a Coronation ceremony is, and the events taking place in the UK over the weekend. The next day in school for pupils is Tuesday 9th May 2023.