Welcome to our Christmas newsletter. It has been a fantastic week in school with so much to share and celebrate. It all started last Friday with the Reception singing performance and Carols in the Park. This week, we enjoyed Year 1 singing, the Year 2 Nativity, our KS2 Singing performance in the church, Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day. Amongst all of this, we were treated to a performance from the City of Bristol Brass Band, plus every pupil made a gingerbread man! We hope you were able to make it to the Winter Fair last Saturday too - thank you so much to our fantastic PTFA for organising such a brilliant event, and to anyone who volunteered their time to help. We really are very lucky to have you!

Curriculum Newsletters

Each term, we provide a Curriculum Newsletter per year group. These are written by class teachers and give an overview of the learning that will be taking place each term in your child's class. Here are the Curriculum Newsletters for Term 3.

Would you like to come and work with us?

We are currently recruiting for a Teaching Assistant to work at Victoria Park Primary School starting as soon as possible in January. Please click here for more information.

Dodgeball

Last Thursday, some year 4 students had the opportunity to compete at a dodgeball event with Mr Kellow. Three teams took part, each playing three games over the afternoon. VPPS had a very successful experience with one team completely undefeated and the other two only losing one game. Each player showed remarkable resilience when they went out and continued to cheer on their team from the side lines. The attitude the children showed made Mr Kellow and the school very proud as each individual clearly demonstrated how hard they have worked on their PE this term, by showing agility, footwork, balance and a high level of social skills towards their teammates and their opponents.
We would like to thank all the adults who came along to help with lifts, cheer the teams on and even coach. We would not be able to give the children these opportunities without you and Mr Kellow would like to pass on his personal thanks to you all.

Have a GREEN Christmas!

Our school Green Team met last week and we talked about different ways we could reduce our impact on the planet over Christmas. Here's a brilliant poster with some of their ideas. And here are some more ideas from WWF : https://www.wwf.org.uk/top-tips-sustainable-christmas

Reading Well

Our local libraries are a fantastic source of helpful, child-friendly books to support your child with their growing social and emotional needs. Thoughts and feelings can be difficult to process and sometimes it can be useful to read and learn through fiction or an illustrated guide to help us to make sense of the world around us. This helpful leaflet lists some appropriate titles recommended by children and health professionals. You can check your local library or the Bristol City Council website for library opening times over the festive period.

Other Information

• This newsletter from Bristol Rocks gives fun ideas for families over the festive season and places to see Father Christmas, plus lots of free ideas too:

• Click the flyer below for details of a Christmas activity at Windmill Hill City farm:

• Shine holiday clubs are running at Southville Primary School this Christmas. See below for details:

• One of our Year 4 parents, David (former chair of the PTFA) is hosting an adventure film festival to raise money for his Life Saving Club - and if you book before the end of December you can get tickets for just £10 each! The perfect "added extra" Christmas present. Following the success of last year's screening, Keynsham Life Saving Club are once again proud to be bringing the London Mountain Film Festival to Keynsham Community Space on 1 Mar 2024. They've got a packed evening of inspirational outdoor and adventure sports films: hand-picked from the LMFF programme. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now for just £10 (usual price is £14). The films are rated 12a (though they might be of more interest to adults and older teenagers). The money raised from ticket sales will support Keynsham Life Saving Club and help them bring essential first-aid and water-safety skills to more people than ever before. For full details and to buy your tickets please visit www.klsc.co.uk.

We hope you enjoy a well-earned Christmas break. The first day back for pupils is Wednesday 3rd January 2024. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!