Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to a new school year and welcome to all of our new Reception starters Thomas, Jude, Daniel and to Ruby who has joined us in Y5. We hope you and all of the children have a joyful year in which you all 'Let Your Light Shine'. It has certainly been lovely to see everyone this week and to see how brilliantly each of the children has settled back into their learning. One of the highlights for me has been the littlest children exploring the new outdoor balance and climbing equipment. Many thanks to Mr Wallace for working on this over the summer and to Mrs Game, her husband Phil and dad Pete who have worked so hard to build and install many new pieces of equipment inside and outside the classroom.
Birthdays
I have been asked by a parent to consider an idea around birthdays and am happy to endorse the suggestion ...
If your child would like to (there is no compulsion), they can come to school in non-uniform on their birthday. If a birthday falls at the weekend or in a school holiday, the child can come to school in non-uniform on the Friday before their birthday. The idea is to make the birthday boy or birthday girl feel even more special than normal.
After-school childcare
Some time ago, I asked parents and carers to express interest in after-school childcare. At the time, low numbers responding meant that it was not viable for our school to offer this. However, we need to review this and see if there is enough interest for this year. Please respond directly to me by email only (head@high-bickington-primary.devon.sch.uk) giving as much information as possible to include: Number of children who you would want after-school care for; which days in the week you would use the provision; parent / carer's name. If this provision is viable, it would be likely to run from 3:30-4:30pm. There would be a cost associated with this provision (as with Breakfast Club), but I am unable to let you know what thay would be until we are further into the process.
Dates for the school year
Here is the initial list of dates for the new school year - they will undoubtedly be added to as we go along and we will keep you updated.
September
Mon 21st. 'Good Mental Health' assemblies for KS1 and KS2 delivered by Torridge Mental Health Support team
Mon 28th. TEAM Cross Country. Open to anyone in Y2-Y6
Mon 28th. Author visit to Y3/4
Mon 28th. Phonics Stay & Play in Class One
Tue 29th. Author visit to Y5/6
Wed 30th. Author visit to Y1/2
Wed 30th. Harvest Collective Worship (2:45pm)
October
Thu 1st. Bristol trip for Y5/6 Slave Trade history project
Fri 2nd. Author visit to EYFS
Mon 5th. RNLI visit to Y1/2
Tue 6th. Exeter trip for Y3-Y6 'Farmwise'
Wed 7th. Westward Ho! trip for Y1/2
Mon 19th. '10 a day' positive mental health workshops for KS1 and KS2 delivered by Torridge Mental Health Support team
Tue 20th. Flu vaccinations
Wed 21st. Maths Stay & Play in Class One
Mon 26th. Half Term begins
November
Mon 2nd. School restarts
Mon 9th. Individual school photos
Fri 13th. Art workshop for Y3-Y6
December
Fri 4th. Craft Stay & Play in Class One.
Tue 15th. Christmas Nativity
Wed 16th. School Christmas Dinner
Fri 18th. School Carol Collective Worship (2:30pm). End of term
January 2027
Mon 4th. NPD
Tue 5th. School restarts
February
Tue 9th. London Residential begins
Fri 12th. London Residential ends
Mon15th. Half Term begins
Mon 22nd. School restarts
March
Wed 10th. St George's House Residential (Georgeham) begins
Fri 12th. SGH Residential ends
Thu 25th. School Easter Collective Worship (2:30pm). End of term
April
Mon 12th. School restarts
May
Mon 3rd. Bank Holiday - no school
Tue 4th. School restarts
Mon 10th. Y6 SPaG SAT
Tue 11th. Y6 Reading SAT
Wed 12th. Y6 Maths SATs
Thu 13th. Y6 Maths SAT
Mon 31st. Half Term begins
June
Mon 7th. NPD
Tue 8th. School restarts
July
Mon 19th. Sports Day
Thu 22nd. Leavers' Service (2:00pm). End of term
Have a lovely weekend,
Rob Norton
Head of School
