Please see the link above - Easy Fundraising can work for Birkwood! Welcome to our latest Newsletter. The fantastic chaos of the festive season is certainly upon us! An enormous thank you to everyone who has contributed to our Christmas Fayre efforts. Led by Miss Taylor & Mrs. Whitfield (as ever thanks to them) the support has been nothing less than FANTASTIC! We are hoping for an action-packed, fun filled afternoon. It was brilliant to welcome some new families and some young children from existing families to our Nursery Stay & Play this week. The children seemed to have a great time and I know that a lot of the parents enjoyed it too. I extend the warmest of welcomes to our new superstars! Remaining with our younger children, it was the turn of our Reception classes to host a Christmas Singing Concert this week. Many thanks to all the staff for their hard work – I definitely remember some of the festive favourites from my time at school - yes that was a long time ago! Miss Betts has been checking on the progress of our early readers this week too. Phonics Assessments have gone well and I am very proud of the reading offer in place at Birkwood – well done everyone. Christmas Jumper Day was great fun! It is wonderful to see the children in their festive wear. A lovely atmosphere in school.
Years 1 & 2 Nativity is next week and I am very excited. Due to demand, we have decided to host an extra performance on Wednesday next week. If you have missed out on tickets, then please see our reception desk for this bonus offer. I MUST apologise for any ticket confusion. We attempted to restrict families to 2 tickets and this has proved challenging. Arrangements will be reviewed next year to avoid any mishaps. Any limit on tickets will be strictly adhered to, we always aim for 100% fairness (I could have used this as a fourth value.)
SANTA is coming to Barnsley – I have been asked to share the opportunity here.
There is also an event relatively local where Santa & stories are coming together! Have a look at the link. I was asked to share this.
Next week will be brilliant. Remember our Selection Box Raffle takes place on Wednesday.
The Years 3 & 4 Carols in Church on Thursday and the Years 5 & 6 Carols in Church on Friday are open to families. Please bring your best singing voices! Both services start at 2pm!
Please remain vigilant around Parking & Road Safety. In the new year, I am looking forward to some extended measures to help us to keep everybody safe.
The cold weather doesn’t disrupt outdoor PE at Birkwood. Our staff have asked me to politely request that families encourage all children to remember suitably warm PE kit please.
Clubs for next term are on Arbor!
Breakfast Club is now open at 7:30 each morning. The cost will be unchanged in the build up to Christmas. This is a trial run, but it seems to be helping many families.
Have a brilliant weekend. I hope that everybody is enjoying the advent period.
Reminders
School attendance Target for the Year - 97.0%
School attendance this week - 96.3%
School attendance this year so far - 95.8%
- FS2 Berry - 93.9%
- FS2 Costa -89.4%
- Y1 Earps - 96.7%
- Y1 Piper - 95.1%
- Y2 Cox - 98.6%
- Y2 Nightingale - 92.5%
- Y3 Jemison - 95.1%
- Y3 Obama - 96%
- Y4 Lovelace - 98.7%
- Y4 Wonder - 99.2%
- Y5 Biles - 95.1%
- Y 5/6 Angelou - 97.5%
- Y6 Simpson - 96%
Well done to class Wonder with an awesome 99.2% attendance.
Our suite of X (formerly Twitter) Handles is here for you. Below is a link for 'all things Birkwood.'
PE & Sport
Appropriate trainers must be worn. No crop tops – Sports t-shirts please and shorts. A tracksuit may be worn – please make a judgment on temperature. NO JEWELLERY.
Term Dates Below
For current Year 6 children, SATs tests will be Monday 11th to Thursday 14th May 2026.
For current Year 5 children, SATs tests will be Monday 10th to Thursday 13th May 2027.
For current Year 4 children, SATs tests will be Monday 8th to Thursday 11th May 2028.