The Summer Term has been full of exciting activities.

All our Y4 pupils have completed their Cycling Proficiency Training. Thank you to Mrs. Burrows and the parents that assisted her for making this opportunity available to the children.

Our May Festival was well attended and although the weather was chilly a great time was had by all.

Last week’s trip to Bewilderwood was a big success. It was great to see the children and adults so excited and involved in all the activities. A trip like this would not have been possible without a great deal of adult support. Thank you so much to everyone who assisted on the day. The staff and pupils are enjoying lots of follow up activities back at school linked to this visit. The hi-light of this will be a visit by Tom Blofield, the author of the Bewilderwood stories who will join us at school to work with the children later this term.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for the Great Outdoors Share Day. There were some super outdoor activities taking place such as den building, tree decorating and creating homes for elves and fairies.

Hot Weather
Now the warmer weather is here please can you make sure that all children have  sun hats at school every day. Although the staff are not able to apply suncream, children are welcome to bring their own suncream to school in a named bottle and apply it themselves at playtimes and lunchtimes.

Selfish Giant
The children are busy rehearsing for our forthcoming play, ‘The Selfish Giant.’ We hope that many of you will be able to join us for this event. The performances will be at school as follows:-
Tuesday 22nd June ~ 6p.m.
Wednesday 23rd June ~ 6p.m.

Eco Greenhouse
Thank you so much to everyone who has donated plastic bottles for our eco greenhouse. We are most grateful to Mr Amond, Louis’ dad, who is constructing the wooden frame for the greenhouse. Staff and pupils will then be attaching the bottles. We may also need some parent volunteers to help with this task. We will let you know once we reach this stage in the construction process!

Sing Up Project
The benefits of the Sing Up Project continue for our Y3 and Y4 pupils. Every Monday until mid June Polly Carnegie, from St Edmundsbury Cathedral, has been working with the children in Dragonflies Class. She is an Animateur. The children really enjoy her sessions that take place for an hour a week every Monday. They sing a variety of songs and work on the actions, facial expression and acting that can accompany a song. They have also done a lot of work on rhythms, pitch and vocal warm ups.

Film Making Day
We are delighted to welcome Paul Press into school on Tuesday 25th May. He will spend the whole day filming activities throughout the school in order to produce a short film about life at Bardwell School. This project is being funded by Extended Schools. We hope to have the film available for you to enjoy later this term.

Recycling
We currently recycle computer cartridges and mobile phones. We also collect Morrisons Vouchers, Sainsbury Vouchers, Tesco Vouchers, Nestle Box Top Vouchers, Flora Vouchers and Times Book Token Vouchers. Thank you for supporting all these schemes.

ICT Developments at School.
This week we are excited to welcome back Proactive Learning to Bardwell School. The company that installed our interactive whiteboards in the classrooms will be installing some exciting pieces of equipment for use by the whole school. In the hall we will be having a large white digital screen with sound system, linked to a projector, DVD player and laptop, similar to the interactive whiteboards in the classroom. This screen is retractable and will be used for assemblies. This will be very useful for linking to the internet and for displaying images as the children come into assembly. We are also purchasing a visualiser which will mean that song words and images from story books can be projected immediately onto the large screen. This will be extremely useful and will really enhance the quality of the teaching and learning experience we can deliver. Since the screen has a DVD link it will also be possible to show the children a film at the end of term or as a class treat on a large screen as if they were at the cinema.
In the entrance area, a digital signage system will be installed. This will mean that we have a screen where photographs of recent school events can be displayed. An information bar will also scroll across the bottom of the display providing news about forthcoming or recent events. We feel that this piece of equipment will help inform and keep parents and other visitors up to date with life at Bardwell School. Please be patient as staff are trained and we learn how to use and update this system over the next couple of months. This may mean that the information on display is fairly limited in the first instance.

Open Morning.
Please join us on Thursday 17th June for our Open Morning. Prospective parents are invited to come and view the school in action. However, we also like to see lots of our current parents having a look around. You will have the opportunity to visit the classrooms and watch activities taking place, as well as looking at displays in the school hall. If you have any friends or neighbours who may be interested in sending their children to this school, now or in several years time, this is a good time to bring them along.

Work Experience Students
Starting on Monday June 7th, we have two work experience students from Thurston Community College helping out at Bardwell School. Jessica Clarke and Neve Crook will be joining us for a two week placement and will be spending time assisting in all three classes. I am sure that you will make them feel most welcome.

Dragonflies Class
Thank you to all those Y3 and Y4 parents and other visitors who were able to join us for Dragonflies Class Assembly about Respect last Monday.
Just a reminder that this Wednesday, 26th May, at 2p.m. Y3 and Y4 parents or other family members / friends are invited to a Native American Indian Pot Latch Celebration. Thank you for your support.

Parent Governor
Congratulations to Mr Richard Combes, our newly elected Parent Governor. I am sure you will all join me in welcoming Mr Combes, father of Maddie and Roseanna, onto our Governing Body and support him in this new role.