The Briar Hill Bulletin Our weekly newsletTER 31.03.25

A Message from Miss Cooksley

Welcome back to our weekly Briar Hill Bulletin. Last week was filled with memorable moments for our children, from the Magic Flute opera performance with Year 5, to the dance troupe's performance at Northampton School for Girls, to a donation from Lions charity to help develop our woodland classroom. It really has been a fantastic end to a brilliant term!

As the end of the Spring Term approaches, it provides us with an opportunity to reflect of another fantastic term of learning, enrichment of the curriculum and the personal development of our children. The team at Briar Hill are incredibly proud of each and every child's achievements and successes. We would like to wish all of our families a brilliant spring break and we look forward to reopening on Tuesday 22nd April 2025. Eid Mubarak to all of our families, who are celebrating Eid, and wishing them a joyous celebration!

We hope that you continue to find this bulletin useful. As always, if you have and questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school. We are always happy to help and support.

Road Safety Tips

When picking up or dropping off children at schools, you should do the following:

• Be aware of speed limits and your speed.
• Roads around schools can be busy and congested so please ensure your are alert and aware of other motorists and pedestrians.
• Allow yourself plenty of time as the area is likely to be busy.
• Be mindful of pedestrians, crossings and other vehicles.
• Do not park on yellow zigzag lines and avoid parking opposite them.
• Do not park on corners as this makes it challenging for pedestrians and vehicles to see the road easily.
• If you decide to park further away, please be considerate of local residents and avoid blocking driveways/accessways or pedestrian crossings.

For further advice, from the Police, please click the link below.

Pupil Premium Eligibility Check and Application

There are many circumstances that can mean that your child’s school is entitled to receive additional funding for their education. The education sector is under much financial strain. For that reason, we are keen to ensure that we have explored every funding possibility. The Pupil Premium is additional school funding, and it is paid directly to your child's school to improve the quality of their education. As a school we use evidence of ‘what works’, evaluated by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to use this funding effectively.

If you are on low income and in receipt of one of the benefits listed below, a student completing a college or university course, or a member of the armed forces your child may be eligible to Pupil Premium and/or free school meals to help support their education and gain vouchers for your child each full term. Please note that if know that you have already had an application accepted for your child then this means you cannot reapply.

You may be entitled to free school meals for your child(ren) if you receive one of the following benefits:

1. Income Support
2. Income Based Job Seekers Allowance
3. Child Tax Credit Only (with income up to £16,190) with no element of Working Tax Credit
4. National Asylum Seekers Support
5. Guarantee Element of the State Pension Credit
6. Employment and Support Allowance
7. Universal Credit (Income Related)

Also, if you would have previously fallen into the listed entitled groups but are no longer, your child may still be entitled. You may also be interested to know that if your circumstances change at a later date and you find you are no longer entitled to free school meals, your child’s Pupil Premium funding allocated to the school will continue for 6 years after. To see whether you are eligible for the pupil premium, please click the button below and complete your online application for each child.

The education that we aim to offer at Briar Hill Primary School and Nursery is world-class and the funding we receive ensures this is the case; please help us to ensure that this can continue.

Home Learning at Briar Hill

Reminder: Our home learning has been reviewed and improved. For more information about your child's home learning, please read the information sheet below (this is also available in your child's home learning book). If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to speak to your child's class teacher.

Friendly Reminders

Reminder: We are a non-smoking and non-vaping site, we will take further action if we see smoking or vaping whilst on the school groups. We also expect all children and adults to treat others with kindness, tolerance and respect. If you see, hear or concerned anything you experience on the school grounds please do raise to school staff immediately so it can be dealt with swiftly. Thank you.

Please may we remind all parents and carers that pick-up and drop-off times are busy. This can cause an increased safety risk to both children and parents. Parking restrictions outside schools are there to keep you and your children safe. Parking inconsiderately can put people in danger and you also risk being fined. It’s important that motorists follow the Highway Code.

A friendly reminder that we expect children to read at home at least 5 times per week, 20 minutes a day. This must be recorded in their reading record and signed by an adult.

Our Book and Biscuit event will continue to run on the first Friday of every half term. Due to its popularity, and to make it accessible for as many families as possible, we will run both a morning session from 8:45am - 9:00am and an afternoon session from 3:00 - 3:15pm. We look forward to seeing as many families on our next Book and Biscuit event which will be Friday 28th February.

It's important to think about your child's safety in the dark, particularly road safety. This is why we have asked that all parents/carers collect children from after school clubs.

We also have an exciting upcoming end of Spring Term raffle draw for all children who have 100% attendance over the term and also arrive at school punctually every day. All eligible children will be entered into the prize draw for the chance for one lucky winner to win their family a food hamper at the of term.

We always enjoy seeing and speaking to parents and carers, if you have any questions do just ask the teachers on the door at the end of the day, via Class Dojo or chat to a member of the pastoral team or leadership team if you need to. We are always here to listen and happy to help.

Friendly Reminders

We know lots of you also like to send children with a packed lunch, so below you'll find some information about how to plan for healthy packed lunches.

A reminder school starts at 8.45 a.m. - every minute counts so please ensure your child is on time for school. Thank you all.

A reminder, if you send children to school with earrings they must only be a small stud. This is for health and safety reasons. Children may wear a watch. Thanks.

Votes for Schools

Each week, our children (Year 1 - 6) participate in topical talk. To find out more about Votes for Schools, please read below.

Votes for Schools at Home

This week, voters are thinking about role models and the difference they can make in helping young people to develop in today's society. Elsewhere, the assembly looks at the highs and lows of Sir Gareth Southgate's career and some of his comments on how to handle setbacks in life.

Voters will explore the question:

• Do role models help you? (KS1)
• Are role models important to you? (KS2)

Here's the results of the previous topic.