Welcome to Earth Week! We had a great day in school on Monday and were particularly impressed by our school assembly, hosted by our very own Green Team. At Victoria Park Primary School, we are committed to understanding our impact on the planet, and educating our children about the differences we can make. Behind the scenes we are working hard to reduce our energy consumption and fight climate change with support from Energy Sparks, as well as trust-wide initiatives led by Mrs Walker across all nine CST schools. Here are some images from Monday to inspire you...

Stages

Last weekend, a dedicated group of dancers from Years 5 and 6 took to the stage to perform at the Stages celebration of dance at Trinity Academy. They performed their dance to Houdini by Dua Lipa, and impressed us all with their poise and confidence. Well done to the whole team for showing determination and a love of performance, and thank you to Mrs Merriman for your choreography and the rehearsals!

Attendance

As a school we are having a big drive on raising our attendance over the next two terms.  Our whole school attendance is currently at 94.2% which is below our 96% target.  Whilst we understand that there are individual reasons why a child may not come to school, it is important that we work together to ensure that all children in our community are attending school and are therefore able to have the best chance at a good education.

How can you help?

• Use the NHS guidelines to decide whether your child is well enough to come to school.
• Refrain from taking holidays during term time unless it is an emergency.
• Ensure that children arrive at school on time every day.
• Be positive with children about coming to school.

We will be celebrating attendance in assembly over the next few weeks and the children are excited to find out which class has had the best attendance each week.  

Parenting Courses

Please find below the link to parenting courses that are running in Bristol over the next two terms.  These parenting courses are open to all and cover a broad spectrum of needs.

In Person Course: Incredible Years: Parents of children with challenging behaviour aged 3 to 10 years 

Start date: 29th April 2024 

Length of course: 11 weeks 

Day of course: Monday 

Time of course: 11am to 1.15pm 

Course provider: Families in Focus Parenting Team 

Course Venue: Wansdyke School, School Close, BS14 0DU Course enquiries: Vicky Collis / Phone: 07464983531 / Email: vicky.collis@bristol.gov.uk  

In Person Course: Timid to Tiger: parents of children with anxiety aged 3 to 11 years 

Start date: 9th May 2024 

Length of course: 10 weeks 

Day of course: Thursday 

Time of course: 10am to 12.30pm 

Course provider: Families in Focus Parenting Team 

Course venue: St Anne’s Park Children's Centres, Lichfield Road, BS4 4BJ Course enquiries: Lucy Dixon: 07827305457 / Chris Hardy: 0755289599 Email: lucy.dixon@bristol.gov.uk or chris.hardy@bristol.gov.uk  

Online Course: Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme): parents of children aged 3 to12 years

Start date: 30th April 2024 

Length of course: 10 weeks 

Day of course: Tuesday 

Time of course: 7.15pm to 9.15pm 

Course platform: Google Meet 

Course enquiries: Jonathan Hope (Bath & Bristol Parenting Hub) Phone: 07779086892 / jonathan@parentinghub.co.uk Link: https://parentinghub.co.uk/cntact/register  

Lunchtime Requests

Thank you for all your donations over the last two terms.  The children love playing with the fancy dress at lunchtimes.  Our next request is for some extra resources for our 'tuff trays'.  If you have any of the following at home that you would be willing to donate, please bring them in to the school office.

We would like:

• lego
• small toy cars
• toy animals (small zoo, farm, dinosaurs)
• small bath toy boats

Wood off-cuts and scaffold planks needed to help butterflies!

Our Green Team are working with Butterfly Conservation to enhance our school grounds for pollinators. Mark, our amazing site manager, is helping us build some planters but we need some wood for them. If you have any off-cuts a metre long or longer, or any scaffold planks, please chat to Mark on the gate at drop-off/pick-up as we'd love to use them to help nature in our playground.

Other Information

• Bristol Welly Wanging Championship to take place Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May 2024. The inaugural Bristol Welly Wanging Championship will be taking place from 11am on Monday 6th May in Greville Smyth Park, BS3. The Championship, organised by Friends of Greville Smyth is open to everyone and will feature three age groups (over 16 years, 13-16 and under 13 years) with a male and female category in each age group. Welly Wanging (also known as Wellington Boot Throwing) is a well-loved sport played throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles and has been around since the dawn of wellies. The Championship starts at 11am with final wanging at 2pm and prize giving shortly afterwards. We’re encouraging everyone to come along, bring a picnic, bring their friends and families, and enjoy the bank holiday with a bit of wholesome, healthy competition.  There is no need to enter in advance, simply turn up on the day. Donations of £1 for two throws (50p for children) will go to Friends of Greville Smyth Park with all funds being put back into the Park.

• PH Camps will host our multi-activity holiday camp at Whitchurch Primary School this May! Our camps are for kids aged 4-14. We're fully Ofsted registered. Operating hours are from 8:00am to 5:30pm. We accept tax-free childcare and are childcare voucher registered. The early booking deadline has passed, but there is still plenty of opportunity to join us at Whitchurch Primary School in the May Holidays. For all the details about our May camps, activities lined up, and how to secure your spot, head over to our website, and take a peek at the flyer.

• Shine are back in Southville this May running Holiday Clubs. Come and enjoy Creative Workshops, Performing Arts, Little Steppers Dance, and Mini Mash-Up days! OFFER: Booking early gives you 20% off when you use the code Early Booker. Don't worry if your plans change, we offer a full refund as long as you cancel with 48 hours notice. Running at Southville Primary School and open to children from any school, we hope to see you there!  

• Drama with Hannah Rose will be running summer workshops based at Victoria Park Primary School. Although it's a while away, we thought you would like to know about these exciting new workshops.

Don't forget, all adults and any children from Y6 can bring their bikes to be security marked for free in Playground 3 after school today. Just come along to the exit gate on Atlas Road. We hope you have a lovely weekend!