Welcome to the end of the first full week back in school! This week in assemblies, we have been thinking about the value of respect and how important it is within our whole school community. We have thought about how acting with respect for people, things and places means our school is better place for everybody. This is also the first week that our new Reception children have been with us as part of their staggered introduction to being in school. It is always an exciting time in the school year when we get to welcome these newest members of our school community at the very start of their journey with us. 

We will be opening the school to display our children's fabulous art work during Art on the Hill on Saturday 5th October.

This year, we are planning to go bigger than ever before! Over the next two weeks, children in Years 1-6 will all be participating in a series of workshops to produce the art work that will be on display. The workshops will be run by Lucy (also a parent in our school) and Beth from ArtLab who have got some very ambitious plans for what the children will produce. 

Next week,  the workshops will be:

Monday 16th: Year 2 

Tuesday 17th: Year 1

Thursday 19th: Year 3 and Year 1

The following week, the workshops will be:

Monday 23rd: Year 3 and Year 5

Tuesday 24th: Year 5 and Year 4

Thursday 26th: Year 6

In the last week, the workshops will be:

Tuesday 1st: Year 4 and Year 1 

The children are likely to be using a lot of paint on some large surfaces during the workshops. On the day your child is doing their workshop, to prevent uniforms being covered in paint, they can bring in some old clothes (that you don't mind getting paint on!) to change into during the workshop. 

Watch this space for some sneak previews as the art work progresses over the next couple of weeks...

Modeshift Stars

We are delighted to share the news that we have achieved a Good/Bronze Modeshift Stars award for all of our work promoting active travel in school. Over the last year, pupils have taken part in assemblies and workshops about clean air, being safe and active travel. We also hosted a bike marking event, Year 1 took part in scooter skills and Reception very much enjoyed using a road safety kit. Big thanks to the Active Travel team at Bristol City Council who have supported us.

Baby News!

We are delighted to tell you that Miss Buckland has had her baby! Baby Hallie decided to make her appearance on Saturday, around 5 weeks earlier than expected, weighing 5lb 9oz. Despite this surprise, both Hallie and Miss Buckland are now at home and doing well. 

Service Award

Jo Kidd has been given an award for her five years service as our school crossing patrol officer. Jo runs the crossing in all weathers alongside doing all manner of other jobs in our school. We're very proud that she has been recognised. Please congratulate her on her achievement when you next see her running the crossing!

Second Hand September

We are half way through Second Hand September, an initiative started by Oxfam to make fashion lovers rethink the month that's usually associated with Fashion Week and shopping for a new season as autumn dressing begins. 

Fast-fashion is damaging our planet:

• UK consumers send 6461 tonnes of clothing a week to landfill. 
• It takes about 2,700 litres of water to make a cotton shirt.

Did you know our wonderful PTFA run a second hand uniform shop?

You can get items for as little as 50p so why not reduce your spending and reduce your impact on the planet at the same time. More information here .

Coffee and Chat for Parents of Pupils with SEND

A few parents have organised a coffee morning for parents of pupils with SEND, taking place in The Brunel, St John's Lane, on Friday 20th September. Come from 9am (after drop off) until about 10.30am.

"This will be another informal get together, a chance for parents of children with SEND, either with or without an EHCP, to meet each other with no fixed agenda other than to try and positively support each other, and hopefully feel less alone in our parenting of our SEND kids."

There's no need to book, please just turn up if you can make it.

Parenting Support

We have been asked by Bristol Council to share the latest parenting courses the Bristol Family Hubs team offer for parents/carers with children ages 0 – 8 years. These courses are run by expert facilitators and Family Support Workers who are based at Children’s Centres across the city. These parenting courses are FREE and are all universal, any parent/carer can attend.  If you would like any further support signing up for one, please speak to Miss Mullen or Mrs Jackson.

Bristol Parent Carers have asked us to share their latest September newsletter. Inside you will find a useful guide to emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), an update on Bristol's neurodiversity profiling tool, important information about carer's rights, a sensory processing podcast and upcoming events and webinars.

The Big Draw Competition

Boardwalk and Aardman have teamed up to celebrate the creativity in our city by setting up the Big Draw Competition. The prizes are for a model making workshop with Aardman and £200 towards the school's art department. 

The challenge is for the children to recreate their favourite Aardman characters on the Big Draw sheet that you should find in your child's bookbag today (or you can download sheets to print out at home here). The completed entries can then be handed back in to our school office by the 25th October for the organisers to collect. 

We won't be able to do this in school time as we will already be busy over the next few weeks creating art work for the upcoming Art on the Hill on 5th October. But we know that lots of our children will want to enter this competition. Good luck!

South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood Consultation

Bristol City Council are running a consultation with local residents until 13 October. They want to get your views on how to make our neighbourhood safer and quieter for people to walk, wheel and cycle around:

• for shorter journeys
• improve air quality
• enhance the public realm and green spaces
• improve access to local high streets

More information about the project including dates of drop-in events are on the website here

The next two events are:

Victoria Park Festival

Girl's Brigade at Totterdown Baptist Church