Yet another week has flown by. A huge thank you to everybody who has supported the Non-Uniform day and the build up towards our extravaganza - otherwise known as Summer Fayre.
I think I would worry if I ever said we have not had a busy week. Of course we have. Year five had a great day at Hesley Wood and looked to have participated in some fantastic and adventurous activities. The Cresta Run looked particularly exhilarating.
Our Year 2 children visited Cannon Hall Farm and again, they had a great day. I must thank all of the staff who made these visits possible. Providing memorable experiences is of course extremely high on our agenda and I'm delighted with the feedback from the children.
In terms of visits, our fund-raising team again arranged a fabulous Disco. Thank you to everybody who was able to support the evening through buying tickets. An enormous thank you to the members of staff led by Miss Taylor and Mrs. Whitfield who kindly volunteered their time.
This of course extends to the Bingo evening. As always, we are grateful for some terrific support and we're able to boost our funds to enable the exciting visits that are planned.
Speaking of visits, our Year Six children have had transition days this week. From the feedback that I have received, they made a great impression and were superb ambassadors for our school as they took the first step into their secondary school career.
These arrangements also enabled us to host our transition day inside Birkwood. The children met their new teacher and the atmosphere around school was genuinely lovely. I am sure that after a long and well-earned break the children will continue to shine in September within their new class.
Remaining with the transition theme, we hosted 2 workshops from ‘Compass Be.’ This is the Barnsley Mental Health Support Team. The workshops were in place for Year Six children and are to assist with their coping strategies around the enormous change ahead in September. We have attempted to make this transition as smooth as possible.
We had the year's final visit from the Department for Education Phonics Hub. I again salute the magnificent work of our staff in terms of their skill in teaching early reading. The children have made a rapid start to their reading journey and for an external agency as important as this one to recognise this, is a tremendous feather in the school's cap. The work has been led by Miss Sabin, and she has excelled in such a key area.
Of course, we are all set for an enormous change. The general election will provide us with a new government and education is normally pretty high on any government's agenda [quite rightly.] What these changes may mean for us remains to be seen however what will not change is the school’s central mission to be inclusive, kind and to try our best to provide the best possible education for our hugely deserving children
Good luck to Miss Greenwood today as it is Yorkshire in Bloom. The gardening team have worked incredibly hard on the school’s campus and of course with such extensive building work, access to certain areas at certain times has proved extremely challenging. Despite these difficulties the team have been brilliant
Next week we are again going to be busy. On the calendar we have EYFS Trips to the farm and our end of year concerts. I am certain these will be richly entertaining.
Our Summer Fayre is next week, and I hope that you and your families will be able to join us. Fingers crossed for some sunny weather [dry will absolutely be acceptable.]
Have a wonderful weekend and I just have to say ‘Come on England.’
- Headteachers Superstar EYFS/KS1 - ZO Y1 Einsteins
- Headteachers Superstar KS2 - HLD Y6 King
- Class Times Table Rockstars - Y2 Parks
- Music Maestro - BJB Y4 Pankhurst
House Winners
- This week's winners - Earth
- Overall Leaders - Earth
- School Attendance Target for the Year - 96.50%
- School attendance this year so far - 94.7%
- School attendance this week - 94.8%
- EYFS2 Anning - 91.9%
- EYFS2 Sharman - 88.3%
- Year 1 Einstein -98.2%
- Year 1 Nightingale -95.6%
- Year 2 Parks - 96.3%
- Year 2 Seacole - 94.6%
- Year 3 Earhart - 97.0%
- Year 3/4 Holmes - 93.9%
- Year 4 Pankhurst - 95.1%
- Year 5 Attenborough - 97.7%
- Year 5/6 Wollstonecraft - 90.8%
- Year 6 Kings - 93.2%
Well done to Class Einstein who are this week's winners with an excellent 98.2% attendance. Congratulations.
Last week 11 children had holidays in term time.
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.
Afterschool clubs - Summer Term 2
This Year's Term Dates
Next Year's Term Dates Below
Friday 18 July 2025 - School Closes for Summer
For current Year 5 children, their tests will be Monday 12th to Thursday 15th May 2025.
For current Year 4 children, their tests will be Monday 11th to Thursday 14th May 2026.