Please see the link above - Easy Fundraising can work for Birkwood!
Welcome back after half term. We have hit the ground running! As you would expect, we have had a busy week with some exciting things to report. Monday brought new pupils to our school as well as three new members of staff - a warm welcome to Miss Macintosh Mr. Power and Mr. Dickson. I look forward to seeing their careers flourish at Birkwood.
We began the half term with our Year 5 Residential Trip to Sherwood Forest. Many thanks to the staff who made this possible; the children had a fantastic time. A brilliant experience to spend time with friends and peers in such a beautiful location. Enjoy some of the highlights below.
Our Year 1 superstars have been out and about as well enjoying a fantastic trip to Eureka. Again, enjoy some of the highlights below:
We had a Governors’ Meeting this week. I must again say thank you very much to the people involved as their voluntary contribution to school is enormous, as is their care, guidance and support towards everybody in our school community. A quarter of our children enjoyed their half term reward in the shape of a House Party. Thank you again to Mr. Davis for leading this. Congratulations to Team Water – great messages that positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded. The children’s house teams exemplify the collaboration aspect to our school’s vision perfectly. An Extra Thank you to Nero's Pizza in the Market Kitchen for their support with this.
In Sports News, our Year 3/4 footballers achieved an amazing 11-0 victory over our friends from Cherry Dale Primary. Wow! Many congratulations to the players and to Mr. Walton too!
I wish to highlight a couple of very important opportunities next week. Firstly, our mental health partner Compass Be will be running an emotional regulation workshop on Wednesday morning. Learning to deal with our own emotions is huge and enabling children to have a voice and be aware of how they may be feeling inside is also critical to their holistic development. Please try and join us. I think it will be fascinating, informative and provide some great ideas to help our families.
In the afternoon on Wednesday, we are hosting an eSafety session for families delivered by Barnsley Council. At Birkwood we feel strongly that the Internet can be a wonderful thing, yet sadly also provides many dangers for everyone when it is misunderstood and misused. This workshop will share some key messages, and I hope that you are able to join us.
Bonfire Night has passed but I still wish everyone to be safe over the weekend around fireworks & fires. We talked about safety in Assembly and decided we love Bonfire Night. Please keep our proud safety record intact this weekend. The children have loved some bonfire themed work.
Please help us! Our Eco Council would like you save your empty bread bags and put them in the special bins at the front of school. 🍞🥖🥐🥯 They are working with a company called Terracycle who turn the bread bags into useable plastics and also help charities at the same time. ♻️
Next week will be busy in general. I have written to families separately with some dates & reminders.
The week after next we have another important opportunity for families. We are hosting a session on the hall around the ‘NSPCC Pants Rule.’ This is on Tuesday, 18 November at 2pm and will help to share some age-appropriate messages around personal safety. We are extremely passionate about children understanding what personal safety is and this is a great place to start.
Thank you again to everyone who has supported us in our fundraising for The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. This most valuable cause is close to the hearts and thoughts of so many. I look forward to attending Remembrance at St. John’s Church this weekend from 9:45am on Sunday. This is for the initial mass and service. Traditional remembrance takes place at 10:45 – 11:05 at the War Memorial within the St. John’s perimeter wall. Thank you to Mrs. Whitfield who has prepared a wreath for us to lay.
Please enjoy the weekend – I thank you for your incredible support; I cannot stress just how much it is appreciated. Birkwood is a special community!
Reminders
Emotional Regulation for families Workshop Weds 12th November 9:15am
eSafety for parents Workshop 2:15pm Weds 12th November
SEND Families - please note the SEND parent/carer group that usually meets on the 1st school Tuesday of every month will be changing to Mondays. For the rest of this year the dates are 10th November and 1st December. The meetings are still at the same time of 1:30pm.
Look out for our Coffee Mornings – come & enjoy a brew!
Community sessions delivered by Grass Roots are available. They take place on Darfield Road; the darts has caught my attention! Give it a go.
- School attendance Target for the Year - 97.0%
- School attendance this week - 95.7%
- School attendance this year so far - 95.4%
- FS2 Berry - 94%
- FS2 Costa -94.8%
- Y1 Earps - 96%
- Y1 Piper - 97.2%
- Y2 Cox - 88.3%
- Y2 Nightingale - 97.9%
- Y3 Jemison - 97.3%
- Y3 Obama - 99.1%
- Y4 Lovelace - 94%
- Y4 Wonder - 94%
- Y5 Biles - 98.5%
- Y 5/6 Angelo - 96.3%
- Y6 Simpson - 94.7%
Well done to class Y3 Obama who have an awesome 99.1% 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.
After School Clubs
SEND Support for Families
Alternative Venue & Dayes - SEND Support
Important Website Links
Credits:
Created with images by ilolab - "Traditional Thai food papaya salad prepared with fine slices of papaya, tomatoes, green beans and peanuts." • dizain - "Community word cloud, heart concept"