Bank Holiday – Monday 19th September is a bank holiday for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. School will resume on Tuesday 20th September.

As part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations last term we ordered books for the children, which we received last week, and so we are offering children a copy of the book to take home today.

Year 2 children will be having Kerb Craft lessons starting next week from the Local Authority’s Road Safety Team. Please ensure you have signed and returned the permission slip.

School Grounds – A huge thank you to one of our parents Jodi Moss, and her volunteers for all their work in fundraising and transforming an area of the Pobbles’ yard over the summer holidays. We are very grateful. Jodi hopes to keep the fundraising and transformation going as they have plans to improve and introduce green areas in our other yards.

Oxwich J Assembly – Due to the bank holiday we have postponed Mrs Jenkins’ Class Assembly until October 4th.

PTA – Parent Teacher Association – PTA events have been on hold over the last couple of years due to lock downs and restrictions, and we would like to start it again. There is a meeting on Monday 26th September at 3.30 pm for anyone interested in joining. After you have collected your child, please come to Gate 1 (please wait until the children have been dismissed from that Gate). The PTA put on events such as Disco’s and Fetes to raise money to benefit all children in the school.

We are so pleased to start the school year in a much more positive and familiar way than the past couple of years. We are delighted to say that we plan to return to in-person class-led assemblies, end of term concerts and workshops. These opportunities have been very much missed by staff, parents and pupils alike. We do not underestimate the value of events like these in terms of building a strong school community.

We are in a position to share key planned dates for the Autumn term which are as follows (times to be confirmed):

20/9/2022 – Class Led Assembly Oxwich J

w/c 3/10/22 – Parent / Teacher meetings: Getting to know the new class teams – Oxwich, Caswell, Bracelet and Pobbles – details to follow.

21/10/22 – Harvest assembly for parents (Oxwich D, Caswell J and T, Bracelet L, Pobbles R and B.

w/c 24/10/22 – Safety and Well-being workshops

8/11/22 – Class Assembly Bracelet B

15/11/22 – Class Assembly Oxwich E

29/11/22 – Class Assembly Bracelet M

w/c 12/12/22 – End of Term Concerts – dates to confirmed.

Mrs Lewis and Mrs Morgans are organising volunteer induction meetings for October. The link to the questionnaire if you are interested is here. Please note if you have already responded to this in the summer term there is no need to respond again.

Welcome!

We hope the children have enjoyed the start to the new academic year.

As many of you are already aware, Welsh Government have reviewed the old curriculum and developed an exciting new curriculum with the intention of creating a generation of pupils who will be :

• ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives
• enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
• ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world
• healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

The new curriculum is a continuum of learning for children from 3 to 16 years of age. There will no longer be a separate Foundation Phase or Key Stage 2, instead, all children are learning along the continuum.

After so many years of referring to Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2, we needed to consider how we would move away from these well known and understood terms. We looked to our local area for inspiration and settled on Gower beaches, which will also form part of the name of each class as follows:

Nursery & Reception
Mrs Roach – Class Name – Pobbles R
Miss Brown – Class Name – Pobbles B

Years 1 & 2
Mrs Lewis – Class Name – Bracelet L
Mrs Breeze – Class Name – Bracelet B
Miss Maliphant – Class Name – Bracelet M

Years 3 & 4
Mr Jenkins – Class Name – Caswell J
Mrs Howard – Class Name – Caswell H
Mrs Timaeus – Class Name – Caswell T

Years 5 & 6
Mr Davies – Class Name – Oxwich D
Mrs Evans – Class Name – Oxwich E
Mrs Jenkins – Class Name – Oxwich J

September ‘Meet the teacher’ event: . As always, we have planned for an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher who will share some useful information including the new curriculum. Details to follow

Updating Contact Details

At the start of the school year we check and update everyone’s contact details, please complete the online form. (One form per family). If you have recently changed your address please provide proof such as a driving licence, council tax bill or tenancy agreement.

New Pupils

We are looking forward to all our new pupils joining us over the next few weeks. Please remember to complete the admission form, and provide proof of your child’s date of birth as well as proof of your address.

Inset Days and School Holidays

Our next Inset Days are Friday 14th October, Thursday 22nd December and Friday 23rd December. School will be closed to pupils for staff training. October half term is Monday 31st October to Friday 4th November.

School Trips

Advance Notice – Oxwich classes are going to Theatre Na Nog on Wed 26th October to see the production of The Trail of Elgin Jones. The cost will be approx. £15.00 to £20.00 and we will confirm the exact price once we have confirmed the transport costs.

Safety and Wellbeing

Before the summer we shared the Cluster RSE leaflet which outlined recent changes to the RSE curriculum, and a brief questionnaire.

Thank you to those who responded; it was clear that many of you would welcome the idea of Safety & Wellbeing workshops. To help us to plan these, please would you complete the following form:

Below are links to information you may find useful regarding keeping safe online:

Stop the spread of misinformation

Dropping off and Collection Arrangements

Can we please ask that once you have collected your child at the end of the day, that you move away from the gate areas this will help with safety. If you would like to stop and chat with other parents please cross the road, thank you! We have had some complaints from neighbours about cars parking in residents parking areas, so if possible please park a couple of streets away, and walk the rest of the way to the school.

Y6 Leavers Hoodies – These have now been ordered, and we will distribute them when they come in.

Christmas Concerts Permission – If you haven’t already done so please can you complete the online permission form indicating whether or not we can video your child’s performance in their class Christmas Concert.  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k6mkg3WKSypOgoWVPLnRvGNUQVc5Tk44UzM2Uks2MkJHRkRLRFRCWkVRMC4u

Christmas Jumper Day – On Friday 10th December we will be celebrating Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children. Children and staff are invited to wear their Christmas Jumper, or dress up in anything Christmassy, and donate to this worthwhile Charity. Please donate via the Charity Donation Offer on sQuid. Diolch

Outstanding Flu Vaccine Consent Letters – We still have a few outstanding forms, please complete the form indicating whether you DO or DO NOT give consent, and return on Monday morning. The School Nurses will be chasing up any outstanding forms (Reception to Y6).

Y6 Leavers Hoodies – The deadline is approaching. If you would like to order please do so via Squid by Tuesday.

Afternoon Nursery – reminder that the session times are changing from January to 12.50pm to 3.20pm.

Drop off & Pick Up – Please do not leave your car engine idling if you are dropping off or picking up your child as it is harmful to the planet and children’s health. Please do not stop on the double yellow lines or zig zag lines, as this causes obstructions, and can endanger the lives of children crossing the road. If you arrive at school via a taxi, please ask them to pull into an appropriate parking space, and not stop/wait in the middle of the road.

Absences – if your child is not going to be in school, please message Miss Rees our Attendance Officer by 9.30am. You can email the school at brynmill.primary@swansea-edunet.gov.uk, leave a message on our absence line on 01792463019, or send Miss Rees a message via ClassDojo. Please remember the school has two sessions per day (am/pm) so if the children have an appointment during one session, very effort should be made for them to attend the other session.

Children In Need – A huge thank you to everyone who supported Children in Need last week. We raised £200.00!

Defibrillator – We are very pleased to let you know that we now have a defibrillator on the school premises. Staff have attended a training session, but we obviously hope that we will never need to use it.

Children in Need – Next Friday children are invited to dress up or dress down for Children In Need, and donate to this worthy cause. Please pay online via the Trips & Offers Purse on sQuid. at the checkout please change the amount from £0.00 to your chosen donation amount. Thank you

Flu Vaccinations – Letters were sent home yesterday for Reception, please complete and return as soon as possible with either a YES or NO answer.

Applications for Reception & Year 7 – The deadline is later this month, if your child is currently in Nursery or Year 6, please make sure you have applied. Please contact the office if you need help.