Weekly Bulletin

It is lovely to see all of our children back at school after the half term break. Hope you all had a lovely time and are feeling refreshed ready for the next exciting half term at Birklands.

We have some trips to look forward to this half term. On Friday 4th March, year 6 will be travelling to Nottingham University to take part in a Sports Discovery Day. Reception class will be visiting White Post Farm on Wednesday 30th March (details to follow soon). More trips are pencilled in for the coming months and we will let you know nearer the time.

Our year 5 children will be starting swimming on Wednesday 2nd March. Please ensure that you return your permission slip as soon as possible if you haven't already done so. This is a vital part of our curriculum so it is important that children take part in the lessons.

A reminder of what the expectations are for kit:

Girls - A one piece swimsuit. A swimming hat for long hair, which must be clipped & tied back. Goggles.

Boys - Proper swimming trunks. If shorts are worn they must be lined. Goggles.

This residential trip will be taking place from Wednesday 25th May to Friday 27th May. A little reminder that the balance must be paid by Friday 29th April.

Payments can be made to the school bank account (please phone the office if you need the details) or via your child's Squid account. Any amount can be paid by clicking on the option for Year 6 PGL Trip Balance and putting in any amount up to the balance. Most parents have paid the £10 deposit, therefore the balance to pay is £110. Please phone the school office if you need to check.

During this week we will be exposing the children to the huge world of different jobs and career paths that are available to them.  We hope that we could spark an interest that could begin their journey to a lifelong career in a job that they never knew existed!   

We have already secured workshops for children to take part in such as robotics and challenging gender stereotypes in jobs. We are looking for volunteers to share information about the jobs they have. If you, or someone you know, would be willing to share their career path and details of their job we would appreciate this. If you would like to take part please contact Mr Cohen.

Don't forget the exciting competition being run by Mrs Pawlitta. 

Please encourage your children to research the Winter Olympics, the sports, the athletes, the countries competing or past Winter Olympic Games. They can display their information any way they like (PowerPoint presentation, Word document, poster etc). Bring your entries into school by Thursday 24th February or email them to kpawlitta@birklandsschool.co.uk.

World Book Day is happening on Thursday 3rd March. 

We would like to encourage children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character; if they have their favourite book to bring into school too, that would be great!

We are also running a competition to creste a 'potato book character'. If your child would like to enter this competition, please send their entries into school on the morning of the 3rd March. Judging will take place on the day and prizes will be awarded to the lucky winners!

This will be taking place on Friday 18th March. We will have lots of exciting activities for the children and will be selling red noses as usual. More details to follow nearer the time.

SATs week for year 6 will take place w/c 9th May. Please ensure you don't book any holidays during this week and avoid planned appointments.

Our wrap around care is very popular with our working parents. As such, places can get booked up really quickly. If you have booked via the school website and need to change the dates, please don't book all of your dates again as this will take up two places and may mean other parents are unable to book. Please email office@birklandsschool.co.uk and let us know what you want to change. 

Equally, if you have booked a place but do not need it, please also let us know as we often have parents waiting for places to come available. It is frustrating when places are booked but children do not arrive and we have to turn others away.

If your child wishes to eat breakfast with us, please enure you bring them by 8am. We need time to ensure all children are fed and we have tidied away before they go to class.

A reminder that although After School Club is available until 5.30pm, please pick you child up as soon as you are able to. 

Please also ensure that payments are made on a weekly basis (unless another arrangement has been made with the School Business Manager). Payment should be made by the Friday of the week your child has stayed. If payment is not made in time, we reserve the right to refuse future bookings.

Thank you for being considerate and not bringing your dogs on to the school grounds. However, it has been noted by several parents that dogs are being allowed to foul on the pavements outside school. If your dog does mess on the pavement, please pick it up! Not only is it illegal, it is also a hazard and unsafe for your children.