Please see the link above - Easy Fundraising can work for Birkwood!
Welcome to our latest newsletter. It has been another busy week but we have some fantastic things to report. In weeks such as this, the feeling of pride around our school is enormous. I am hugely privileged to lead a staff team who are incredibly dedicated for the most deserving children and families one could meet.
I attended St. John's church for Remembrance Sunday. As ever, a time for reflection. Thank you to Mrs. Whitfield for providing our schools wreath which added to a terrific collection from across the local community. Thank you to everybody who helped fundraise for this great cause; the words of Father Joseph were extremely poignant. He reflected upon what the fallen may have wished for. Kindness and compassion were key messages in his sermon. These link perfectly to our school values and are lived every single day by our fantastic children - I am sure that the fallen would be extremely proud of them.
Tuesday marked Armistice Day. We had an assembly; the children's marking of the silence was excellent. The assembly included the moving words from the monument at Kohima. These words respect the deeds of allied forces, British service personnel and colleagues from overseas. These words again reinforce the collective effort from so many nationalities.
"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today"
I was delighted to attend a Remembrance Evening at St. John's Church this week. Two of our reading ambassadors shared readings provided by Father Darren. A very poignant and reflective evening indeed where the community came together.
Thank you to those of you were able to participate in odd socks day on Monday. This marked the start of anti-bullying week and proved to be really popular with the children.
We also began our Inter Faith Week on Monday. We have been working hard in reinforcing the message that ‘Birkwood is for everyone.’ Thank you to Miss Fletcher for leading our work in this. We shared some of our efforts in a brilliant assembly yesterday afternoon.
Wednesday began with a family workshop. Thank you to Mr. Davis for arranging input from Compass Be - our mental health partner around possible strategies to assist with emotional regulation.
We also hosted a fantastic NSPCC Assembly around the ‘pants rule.’ Safety and personal safety are areas that we visit often in many subjects and through assemblies. Developed with children, parents, carers and teachers, Talk PANTS is here to help children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell a safe adult they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. Please do check the resources below.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our BBC Children in Need Shop. Non-uniform today has been brilliant and we have managed to contribute to another superb cause. Many thanks to Mrs. Sefton and H for their help in making this possible.
Please again take care when parking around school. Parking fully on verges is creating danger. We are attempting to work with Barnsley Council to install bollards to prevent this. In the meantime please remember to park with safety at the forefront of your minds.
We are planning to begin Breakfast Club at 7:30 each morning. The cost will be unchanged in the build up to Christmas. This is a trial run but I hope this helps many families. It will begin at the earlier time from December 1st.
Our Eco Council are still collecting of all kinds empty bread bags. Please put them in the bins in the shelter at the front of school. Bags can be from ANY supermarket and ANY brand of bread including: White bread Brown bread Wholemeal bread Teacakes Rolls Bagels Wraps Crumpets Croissants Naan Bread The bread bags will be sent to a company called Terracycle who in return give the school vouchers to help different good causes. Terracycle also recycle the bread bags and turn them into useable plastics.
In Sports News, our footballers were defeated under the lights at Dorothy Hyman by our friends from Churchfield Primary. Many congratulations to our players and to Mr. Walton too for their efforts. I’ll avoid Mr. Bean for a while. A close 2-3 defeat in a pulsating local derby.
Reminders
Movie Nights are coming (next week!) Tickets are now on sale for both KS1 & KS2 movie night. £3 per ticket includes popcorn & sweets. Children are welcome to come in pjs and bring a blanket. Bringing a water bottle is recommended. FS2 & KS1 - 19th November 4.30-6pm KS2 - 20th November - 4.30-6pm
Unfortunately, our ESafety Workshop has been rearranged due to illness, it will now be 2:15pm on Wednesday 25 February.
Please note the SEND parent/carer group that usually meets on the 1st school Tuesday of every month will be changing to Mondays. The next date is 1st December. The meetings are still at the same time of 1:30pm.
Look out for our Coffee Mornings – come & enjoy a brew!
Please enjoy the weekend and fit in some family time!
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 - 96%
- School attendance this year so far - 95.5%
- FS2 Berry - 96%
- FS2 Costa -93.1%
- Y1 Earps - 97.3%
- Y1 Piper - 96.9%
- Y2 Cox - 93.6%
- Y2 Nightingale - 98.9%
- Y3 Jemison - 95.8%
- Y3 Obama - 98.1%
- Y4 Lovelace - 90.3%
- Y4 Wonder - 96.8%
- Y5 Biles - 96.6%
- Y 5/6 Angelo - 98%
- Y6 Simpson - 94.4%
Well done to class Y2 Nightingale who have an awesome 98.9% 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"