Red Nose Day, thank you to everyone who has supported Comic Relief today. We are still counting the money, and will let you know soon how much we have raised. Thank you to our Enterprise Troopers for organising the events.

Our Rags to Riches Collection raised £195.00 for the school, and they will be back in June.

Year 5/6 watched a performance of Abbie Ayre and the shed of Science, which will was about Air Quality and Sustainable Travel.

Thank you to two of our parents who came into talk to the pupils as art of Science Week.  Mrs Clulee talked about making textiles out of banana leaves, and Dr Baker talked about turning steel into cars. Diolch.

Attendance – Llongyfarchiadau to LFPR with 97% and to Y3/4J with 100% attendance this week.

Y6 – The leavers party will be held on Saturday 20^th July at Tycoch Sports Hall starting at 1.45pm. Please could anyone with children in Year 6 and interested in attending join the Facebook group Brynmill Year 6 Leavers group or speak to Mason’s mum Sian Harvey or Blake’s mum Zoe Melville for all additional information. The leavers hoodies have now been ordered.

Parental questionnaire

Please spare a few minutes to complete a short questionnaire. https://bit.ly/2TdpZDW

What’s on Next Week?

Monday & Tuesday – Parent’s Evenings for Reception to Year 6 pupils, please contact your child’s class teacher if you would like to make an appointment.

Monday & Tuesday – Book Fair – PTA book fair on Monday & Tuesday after school.

Wednesday – Cross Country

Thursday – Dr Bike – Y5/6 children are invited to bring their bikes into school on Thursday for free maintenance checks.

Thursday – Football

Friday – Y1/2B Class Assembly  – All welcome

Friday – Science Exhibition – Parents invited to join us between 2.00pm and 3.00pm

What’s coming up?

Eco Club Beach Litterpick – Monday 25th March

Pupil Voice Exhibition 2.30pm & 5.30pm – Wed 27th March

Y5 Welsh Gig – Wed 27th March – £2.50 contribution towards transport please.

Y5/6E Class Assembly – Fri 29th March

Monday 1st April to Friday 5th April – Y5/6 Residential

Foundation Phase – Easter Bonnet Parade – Fri 12th April, KS2  Easter Egg Competition

 

 

 

Wow,  what a busy week, with lots of activities to celebrate our Welsh Week.

On Tuesday we had our St David’s Day Concert with various classes performing, and the Chairing of the Bard ceremony, Llongyfarchiadau Alexia! This was repeated on Wednesday for the parents to watch, and we would like to  thank you for your support, we had a queue stretching all the way to the shelter, and hurriedly had to organise extra chairs for you all.

The winners of last years flag competition saw their designs incorporated into one design which is proudly flying from our flagpole.

 

We had lots of entries for the Welsh Week Competition, which will be judged next week, so still time for any late entries.

Mrs Bruce-Lloyd who is one of our Parent Governors came into Y1/2 and cooked Welsh Cakes for the three classes and staff,  they were delicious. (Culinary skills are not a requirement for being a Parent Governor, but are an added bonus 🙂 )

Nursery & Reception practised their Welsh Folk Dancing Skills,  Y3/4 had a Twmpath, and Year 5/6 had a visit by local artist Emma Cownie,

Some our Eco Warriors were interviewed by The Wave and met Jamie who presents the afternoon show. They were excellent ambassadors for the school, and will also feature in their Women of Steel promotional voice clips which will be aired at a later date.

Next week we will be supporting Comic Relief, children (and staff) are invited to dress up as their favourite hero, and donate £1.00 to the Charity. There will also be a talent show in the afternoon, and  games stalls, so if the children would like to bring in an extra £1.00 to play the games they are more than welcome.

Attendance – Congratulations to LFPR with 97.4%, and to Y5/6M with 99.3% attendance this week. Da iawn!

Fruit – Just a little reminder that if you would like your child to have fruit this half term, please pay £6.00 on sQuid.

Y5/6 Residential Trip. Any outstanding amount must be paid by the 15th March.

Children late for school – We have a number of parents/pupils who are frequently late and arrive after school started. This causes disruption to the office staff, the class teacher, the class, and any assemblies/concerts or school trips, and can be a cause of  anxiety for the child. School starts at 8.50am, and children should either be in the Free Breakfast Club, or in the yard by 8.40am ready for the start of school. Please remember that Foundation Phase Children (Nursery to Y2) should be accompanied by a parent whilst they are in the yard before school starts. If your child arrives after the register has closed they will be classified as having unauthorised absence. If their attendance drops to under 90% you may be liable to a penalty notice.

After School Clubs next Week  –

Monday – Cross County Competition, please see Dojo for more information

Wednesday – Cross Country

Thursday –  Football Club

Pupil Voice -On Tuesday 26th March Wednesday 27th March we will be having some a Pupil Voice Event, where parents and governors are invited to come in and have an update on what the various Pupil Voice Groups have been doing, and what they have got planned. The event will be at 2.30pm and again at 5.30pm. There will be presentations from the

• Learning Detectives
• Digital Leaders
• Sports Ambassadors
• Criw Cymraeg
• Eco Council
• Enterprise Troopers
• Well Being Warriors
• Sennedd

We hope that you will be able to join us.

Learning Log Homework set is to carry out research on St David and St David’s Day in readiness for our Welsh Project Week when we return.

Homework can be recorded in Learning Logs or on Hwb.

Change of address – Just a reminder if you move house, please bring in proof of your new address to the school office. Thank you

Nursery & Reception – the children had a rainbow day today, where the children either dressed up in clothes with rainbows on them or in one of the colours of the rainbow, to celebrate the end of their topic on the weather. They looked very colourful 🙂

Packed Lunches – If you child has a yoghurt for lunch, please remember to give them a teaspoon to eat it with. If any of our teaspoons have come home with your child, please can we have them back. Thank you

KS2 Pencil cases  – Over half term, please can you restock your child’s pencil case with pens, pencils, pink & green highlighters, eraser, sharpener and a gluestick. Thank you

Rags 2 Riches – We are again collecting old clothes for the Rags 2 Riches scheme which raises money for the school, collection bags are being sent home today, please fill and return to the school from Friday 8th March, ready for the collection on Tuesday 12th March. Thank you.

Personalised Assessments – Welsh government are introducing new online personalised assessments for all learners  from Year 2 to Year 6 over time. This year, the current paper based assessment for procedural will be replaced. During the next half term pupils in these year groups will have to opportunity to try out and become more familiar with the new personalised assessments. A copy of FAQs and an animated short introduction to personalised assessments is available. Please click on the following link.

St David’s Day Competition -Foundation Phase Children are asked to draw or make a model of a castle. KS2 children can either draw or make a model of a lovespoon, or design a £5.00 note depicting a famous Welsh person. Please can we have entries in by  Monday 4th March. Diolch!

We are going cashless! In line with other schools, and following on from the success of going cashless for school dinners, we are rolling this out for trips and offers.  We will implement this from Monday 4th March.  Please contact the school office if you need any help with registering, or have any other queries. Thank you.

Whats on after half term?

Monday – Deadline for the St David’s Day Competition.

Tuesday 5th March – St David’s Day Concert for School – please can children wear Welsh Costume, Welsh Rugby/Football top, or a red T Shirt/jumper on both Tuesday 5th & Wednesday 6th March.

Wednesday 6th March – St David’s Day Concert for Parents – Classes taking part = Y3/4J, LFPR ( Reception & AM Nursery), Y1/2B, Y1/2H, Y5/6D, Y5/6E.

Thursday – Football

 

We hope you all have a lovely half term break, and see you on Monday 4th March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 6 Leavers – A couple of mums have kindly offered to organise the hoodies for the Y6 leavers, they are available in a variety of sizes and colours, and cost £13.70 for child sizes and £18.20 for adult sizes. If you would like one, you can order and pay on sQuid. Please return the form that requests your consent to include your child’s name incorporated into the design for the hoodie and for the Leavers Mug.

What’s on next week?

Monday – Cross Country Competition

Wednesday – Cross Country

Thursday – Football

Friday – Y5/6M Class Assembly

Friday – Installment for Y5/6 Residential (please ensure you have paid at least £140.00 by this point). The remaining £20.00 is due by the end of March.

Half  Term  Holiday- Monday 25th February to Friday 1st March

Tues 5th March – St David’s Day Concert for School (please can children wear Welsh Costume, Welsh Rugby Top, or a red tshirt or Jumper)

Wed 6th March – St David’s Day Concert for Parents please can children wear Welsh Costume, Welsh Rugby Top, or a red tshirt or Jumper) Classes taking part are Y3/4J, Y1/2L, LFPR, Y1/2B, Y5/6D, Y5/6E

Senedd Visit – Representatives from the school went to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff this week. They reported back to the rest of the school today, and explained what they had learnt. Please keep an eye on our Pupil Voice pages on the website for more information.

 

Please see below for an extract from a local authority communication sent to schools

1. The School Run: Briefing Note

Whether you’re a parent or driver, it’s important that you take extra care on the roads and encourage your children to do the same. With that in mind, here are a few simple tips to make the morning and evening commute that little bit safer.

Using the car

• Check that your child is correctly restrained. If you’re planning to carry any extra children make sure that you have the age-appropriate child seat. Please see RoSPA’s dedicated website childcarseats.org.uk for more advice.
• Choose a safe place to drop your child off near to the school. Aim for somewhere you won’t cause congestion and danger to those walking or cycling to school.
• Talk to your children about road safety on your way to school, stress the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

Walking to school

• If you are planning to let your child walk to school on their own for the first time, talk to them about the route they will use and the dangers they may encounter. Watch your child so that you can judge whether they have the ability to cross roads safely on their route to school.
• Children learn by watching adults. If walking your child to school, talk to them about how they can keep themselves safe and always try to set a good example when crossing the road

For drivers:

• Be extra observant and keep a watchful eye for children walking and cycling to school, they might be distracted and excited.
• Reduce your speed where you see lots of children, especially near to schools. If you are driving at 30mph and a child runs out, your stopping distance will be at least 23 metres.
• Rushing causes accidents – give yourself more time for your journey and never be tempted to speed!

Parking enforcement can help to tackle problem parking in Swansea. The launch of a parking enforcement camera car in Swansea has been hailed a success in changing motorists parking habits. The Council launched the camera enforcement car in 2015 in a bid to tackle parking issues outside schools and in bus stops. Civil Enforcement Officers (CEO’s) may issue Penalty Charge Notices for numerous offences which contravene to parking restrictions for on and off street parking. The current penalty charge is either £70 for high rate contraventions, or £50 for low rate contraventions. This is reduced by 50% if the penalty is paid within 14 days, or increased by 50% if the penalty is outstanding after the 28 day payment period.

Do not:

• park on yellow lines
• cause an obstruction
• park on bus stop or clearways even to drop people off
• park on zig zag lines
• park or wait in taxi ranks. Tow away zones apply to all taxi ranks.

 

 

 

Thank you to those who came to our first Parent Workshop on Wed 6th Feb. The Digital Leaders did a fantastic job sharing the E Safety Policy, Acceptable Use Guidance and information on Social Media. I think the information we shared on what we teach was also well received.

It was great to share opinions and concerns about Social Media the effect of too much screen time. We would urge all parents to engage with their children about some of the use of social media, including WhatsApp, TikTok and Instagram, where we hear of issues around privacy and poor choices being made. I will post further materials from the workshop in due course within the E Safety menu.

The ages of consent are as follows:

Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat – 13 years.

WhatsApp – 16yrs.

 

Internet Safety Day assembly (1) – presentation from the workshop

 

The school’s response to social media issues:

“Whilst we are duty bound to pass on any offensive material that is shared with us, our role is not to police the use of Social Media amongst pupils outside school.​​

The school asserts the following guidance:​
​

• WhatsApp’s age has recently been upgraded to 16.​
  ​
• Pupils should NOT be adding contacts and creating groups for the purposes of sharing offensive posts with pupils.​
  ​
• Passing on offensive material is considered legally to be on a par with initiating it.​
  ​
• Making multiple groups/ multiple Admins is inadvisable at best.​
  ​
• Should parents feel that their child is emotionally responsible enough to use apps such as WhatsApp despite being considerably underage, we advise that you discuss this with your child and agree boundaries. 

 

Please be assured that your child’s emotional well being is important to us and we are keen to work in partnership with parents on a range of E Safety concerns. With this in mind please follow this link for further guidance.​
​
https://parentzone.org.uk/article/whatsapp”​

St David’s Day Competition -Foundation Phase Children are asked to draw or make a model of a castle. KS2 children can either draw or make a model of a lovespoon, or design a £5.00 note depicting a famous Welsh person. Please can we have entries in by  Monday 4th March. Diolch!

Red Noses – We are selling red noses for the forthcoming Red Nose Day in March, they will be on sale at break time in the dining hall for £1.25 cash, or you can pay £1.30 on sQuid (this includes a small transaction fee which would normally be deducted from the amount, so that the charity can receive the full amount).

Eco Club – Monday until 4pm, making Eco Crafts and planning the forthcoming plastic free day in school.(Ks2 only)

Medical Appointments – Please can you make any routine medical or dental appointments for after school time, or during school holidays. If this is not possible, please could you make them after 2.30, as we would prefer your child to be picked up early rather than arrive late for school. Thank you

Free money – well almost!

We currently have two schemes running that can raise free money for little or no effort. If you do any online shopping please sign up with Easyfundraising.org.uk, and the school will receive a small amount for every purchase from shops such as Amazon, John Lewis, ebay, M&S, Argos, Booking.com, Debenhams, Next, Sainsburys, Just Eat etc.

We are one of the chosen charities for the Co-op, so if you doing any shopping at the Co-op please become a member and choose our school as your chosen charity.

Any money raised from these two schemes will go towards purchasing new playground equipment for the school.

Thank you

What’s on next Week

Monday – Y3/4 Sports Session in the LC, please can children wear sports clothes, and bring a packed lunch and a labelled bottle of water. We are asking for £3.00 voluntary contribution towards the cost of the transport to and from the LC.

Monday – Eco club until 4pm (KS2 only)

Wed – Brynmill Senedd trip to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, children will need a packed lunch, and £4.00 contribution towards transport. Please can all children wear school uniform, thank you.

Wed – FBP Valentines Disco, please see the posters around school, or the FBP facebook page for more information.

Wed – Cross Country

Thursday – Football Club

Attendance – Congratulations to Y1/2B with 95.8% and to Y3/4N with 97.7% attendance this week. Llongyfarchiadau!