Nativity Date Changes

Please note that the dates for the nativity next half term have changed over:

Evening Nativity Performance: Tuesday 10th December – 6:00pm to 6:45pm

Afternoon Nativity Performance: Wednesday 11th December – 2:15pm to 3:00pm

 

After-school Clubs – Update

Following on from last week’s update, we are opening up spaces in the following clubs to additional classes.

Please see information below:

Noticeboard poster Autumn term2 2024

 

Club Description Day / Time Available to Limit
Board Games Play a variety of different boards games Mondays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Whole School 18
Cookery Prepare and cook a variety of different foods Mondays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 12
Football Football activities and games (Crossbar Coaching) Tuesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Fireflies, Grasshoppers, Dragonflies and Bees 20
Textiles Make different items using a range of different materials Tuesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 14
Parachute Games Play a variety of different games with a large parachute Wednesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
WHOLE SCHOOL 15
Tennis Tennis coaching and games Wednesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 18
Create Club (Art) Wide range of different art projects Thursdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Year 1-6 12
FULL
Lego Creating Lego around a weekly theme Thursdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
WHOLE SCHOOL 20
Multi-Sports Range of different sports activities/games Fridays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Year 1-6 25

(additional classes in RED).

 

Places will be confirmed once payments have been received by Mrs. Godfrey.

Life at Brown Clee Video

Here’s a short video showing a snapshot of life at Brown Clee:

 

If any potential future (or current) parents/carers would like to look around school, we will always happily arrange a date and time for you to visit.

Dates – Autumn (2) – ’24

Following the dates shared for parents last week, we have an update on the two church services – as well as a few other events:

Harvest Church Service: Monday 18th November – 9:15am to 10:00am

Live Music Band in School: Monday 4th November 

Arthog: Monday 25th November – Friday 29th November. Please note: there is no swimming this week for KS2.

Parent Feedback Sessions: Wednesday 4th December – 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

Evening Nativity Performance: Tuesday 10th December – 6:00pm to 6:45pm 

Afternoon Nativity Performance: Wednesday 10th December – 2:15pm to 3:00pm

[PLEASE NOTE THAT EVENING/AFTERNOON PERFORMANCES FOR THE NATIVITY HAVE CHANGED OVER DAYS]

Last Swimming Week for KS2: Thursday 5th December

Christmas Dinner / Non-uniform day: Wednesday 18th December

Christmas Church Service: Wednesday 18th December – 2:30pm to 3:10pm

Arthog ’24 – Update

Just a quick update ahead of our trip to Arthog next half-term.

 

Here is the suggested Athog kit list again. As an addition, Arthog do not allow aerosols – including pressurised deoderants, sun block and bug spray. However, liquid sprays in plastic containers are fine.

If your child requires any medication during Arthog, please fill in the following form: Medical Letter.

 

As we will be leaving school at 09:00 on Monday 25th November, it would make things a lot easier if all children can arrive at school for 08:30 as this give us time to fully ensure we are ready to leave.

 

As a head’s up, we will likely be returning to school on Friday 29th November after the school day, so arrangements for picking up will be need to be made.

 

More specific details, such as pick-up timings on the Friday, will be sent out nearer the actual date. In the mean time, if anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate in getting in touch.

After-School Clubs – Autumn (2) – ’24

Following on from the post earlier in the week, please see below the confirmed clubs for next half-term. Please note that dance has now been changed to football – due to the coaches available.

Club Description Day / Time Available to Limit
Board Games Play a variety of different boards games Mondays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Whole School 18
Cookery Prepare and cook a variety of different foods Mondays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Bees and Scorpions 12
Football Football activities and games (Crossbar Coaching) Tuesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Fireflies, Grasshoppers, Dragonflies 20
Textiles Make different items using a range of different materials Tuesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 14
Parachute Games Play a variety of different games with a large parachute Wednesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Fireflies and Grasshoppers 15
Tennis Tennis coaching and games Wednesdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 18
Create Club (Art) Wide range of different art projects Thursdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Whole School 10
Lego Creating Lego around a weekly theme Thursdays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Year 2, Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 20
Multi-Sports Range of different sports activities/games Fridays
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions 25

 

Places can be booked via the following online form. Places will be assigned in order of payment being received by Mrs. Godfrey.

 

Clubs will run from 4th November until 20th December (7 weeks). All clubs will be £35 for the term – apart from Create Club and Cookery, which will be £42.

Cross Country – Next Week

With next week’s cross country (Tuesday 15th), we have been asked by the event organiser to ask parents to car share (where possible) as parking could be an issue at Swancote.

 

There will also be tea/coffee/refreshments available to purchase.

As always, Year 3 girls will be the first event – and this race will begin at 4:30pm, so please ensure you arrive before this.

Wraparound Care Provision

We are looking at expanding the offer of our Wraparound Care Provision (which includes before and after-school “care club” and after-school clubs).

We have a number of key changes that will be coming into effect to help with this.

 

As of next week, “Careclub” will…

  • …no longer have a limit of 12 children (as this will operated by two adults).
  • …begin at 7:30am until school begins (in the before-school session).
  • …end at 6:00pm after school ends (in the after-school session).

 

As a reminder, children can attend an after-school club and go into care club when they are finished (if required). Earlier this year, we also started to take bookings for care club up to a half-term in advance.

 

If our expansion of wraparound provision proves successful, then we will be exploring how we can further expand the range of clubs available and the resources that we can invest into further improving improving these clubs. Successful ongoing uptake will also hopefully allow us to reduce the cost to attend after-school clubs in the future. Currently, the cost to attend clubs is…

  • Care Club: £1.50 / 15mins
  • After-school club: £5 per session (£6 for Create Club)

Water Bottles

A reminder that children should only be bringing in water in their water bottles to school.

 

All schools in UK are expected to encourage healthy eating habits. Due to the sugar/acid content (inc. phosphoric acid – or equivalent – in sugar-free) squash or juice, drinking it regularly throughout the day can have significantly negative impact on oral hygiene, particularly tooth decay (the number one reason for child hospital admissions for children aged 6-10).

 

Fruit juice alongside a packed lunch at lunch time is not an issue.

 

If, for a particular medical reason, adjustments to this are needed for your child, please let us know so that we can discuss this.

Upcoming Dates – Autumn ’24

Please be aware of the following upcoming dates:

Harvest Church Service: Date to be confirmed

Arthog: Monday 25th November – Friday 29th November

Parent Feedback Sessions: Wednesday 4th December – 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

Afternoon Nativity Performance: Tuesday 10th December – 2:15pm to 3:00pm

Evening Nativity Performance: Wednesday 10th December – 6:oopm to 6:45pm

Christmas Church Service: Date to be confirmed

Upcoming Football Events

For those attending the upcoming football competitions, children will need shin pads (if they don’t have any, then they will need to let me know and I can sort some for them to borrow). They will also be playing on grass at Oldbury, so football boots would be preferable; however, trainers will be also fine.

Please note that there are two events:

Girls’ Football Competition: Tuesday 8th October
Mixed Football Competition: Tuesday 22nd October

Please note: your child may have been chosen to take part in one or both competitions.

Uniform Update – Oct ’24

Following the update in September, we have since met with Lads and Lasses to discuss the previous issues with uniform stock.

 

There have been ongoing issues with the printing quality on the 1/4-zip top option. This, along with the high-cost of the top itself, has led to us exploring a cheaper, more print-friendly version of this style.

 

Following on from feedback from parents, we are also exploring a full-zip hooded top to go alongside the 1/4 zip and the normal hoody – as well as potentially exploring a green colour option for all of the black tops.

 

We will keep you updated on the progress with these.

 

FOBCS will be soon starting to share the small amount of donated second-uniform available for a small donation or swap. If anyone has uniform that they wish to donate to the FOBCS uniform stock, please send it into school.

Cross Country – CANCELLED

Today’s cross country has been cancelled due to concerns about parking at Swancote with the ongoing wet weather.

 

Hopefully, this event will be re-arrange for a future date.

Universal Infant Free School Meals

Universal Free School Meals is an initiative which is to help all children in “infants” (reception, Year 1 and Year 2) with access to school dinners. The contribution from the DfE (Department for Education) is £2.53 per child. Our school dinners are under the control of an external company (Edwards and Ward) and the dinner price is £2.83. Therefore, a very small charge of £0.30 per meal was having to be paid by parents for any pupils in infants having meals.

 

More recently, this was something as a school that we felt needing reviewing as we felt school meals for infants should be entirely “free”. Therefore, it was proposed to the FPGP (Finance, Personnel & General Purposes) Committee of the school’s governing body that the additional £0.30 per meal would be covered by the school budget. The committee have fully approved this decision – and we have been in touch today with ParentPay to change this amount for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Once they have made their changes, this should be reflected when making a booking – and no additional 30p charge should be added to infant pupils’ bookings.

 

This does not affect pupils in KS2.

Unused Lego/Toys Donations

If anyone has any lego and/or toys (particularly farm-themed – i.e. tractors/trailers etc.) that they no longer need, we would very much appreciate any donations to school.

Celebration Assembly

In school, we hold a weekly celebration assembly. Parents/carers/other family members are welcome to attend (from the 4th October).

 

This year, we are reverting these back to Friday mornings (as previously). The assemblies will start at 08:55 and are typically finished around 09:30. Entry will be via the front reception from 08:45 (you will not need to sign in).

 

In these assemblies, we celebrate our weekly home learning competitions (Times Tables Rockstars, Numbots and Spelling Shed) – as well as picking a reading raffle (each time pupils fill in a reading ticket in KS2 or have a reading record entry in their reading record in KS1, they are given a reading raffle ticket. Winning tickets get a choice from a selection of reading books or bookmarks). We also share any other recent successes – such as sports events and music certificates/exams.

School Filming

Next week (Tues/Weds), we have a film/video producer who is putting together an video of school – which will hopefully give a quick snapshot to current and future prospective parents/carers of what Brown Clee is “all about”. The filming will involve some high-up drone footage and action shots, filming inside and outside of the school building – as well as some interviews/conversations with children.

 

When all pupils started, parents/carers will have signed to give (or not) permission for photos/videos of their child to be used – and we will use this to ensure that any pupils without permission do not feature. For those that have given prior permission, if you do, for whatever reason, not wish your child(ren) to feature, please let school know by emailing (admin@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk). Similarly, if you have not given permission when first registering and you wish for this to now change, please get in touch and we can update these records.

KS2 Swimming – Sept ’24

Please see below a letter regarding swimming in KS2 for this term.

Paper copies of the letter will be sent home with children on Monday.

Swimming Lessons – Sept 24

Wraparound Care Bookings

As of next week, we are changing the length of time in which wraparound “careclub” bookings can be made. These can now be made up until the end of a half term in advance.

As of next half term, we will be moving all payments for “careclub” onto Parent Pay (the same as school dinners – please ensure you click on wraparound care). If you would like to start this from any point now, you can do so.

All bookings for careclub will still need to be made (and confirmed) via emailing careclub@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk.

 

We are looking at simplifying payments for all after-school club and schools trips so that they can also be paid in the same way.

Pupil Premium – How to apply

Just an annual reminder regarding Pupil Premium.

 

Pupil Premium is funding that schools receive for children that qualify for free-school meals (note: this is NOT the same thing as Universal Infant Free School Meals¹).

 

In the upcoming year, we will be using part of the Pupil Premium funding to enable parents (of FSM – not UIFSM¹) to receive the following:

  • 50% reduction in cost for…
    • After-school clubs
    • Wraparound club (before and after school)
    • Residential Trips
  • Upon request, a reduction in cost for…
    • Individual/group music lessons
    • School uniform

The funding is also used in various other ways to help children in a range of way. Further information can be found over on our Pupil Premium information page

 

The criteria for successful application for FSM is as follows:

  •  You (or your partner) are receiving any of the following:
    • Universal credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
    • Income support
    • Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
    • Income-related employment and support allowance
    • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
    • The guarantee element of pension credit
    • Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
    • Working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit

If you feel you may be eligible for FSM, then you can find further information on how to apply here (https://next.shropshire.gov.uk/free-school-meals/). If you have already applied and your circumstances have changed, you can re-apply.

 


¹Universal Infant free-school Meals (UIFSM) is the £2.53 Government funding per pupil per meal for ALL pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

Pupils in these year groups can still apply for FSM – and receive the above, as well as continued funding of school meals into Year 3-6.

Uniform Update – September

I have been in touch with Lads and Lasses – and they have informed me that the restock of hoodies has arrived today, and the outstanding orders will be sent out by the end of the week.

 

As per the previous post (https://browncleeschool.org.uk/school-uniform-2/), if you don’t have uniform by the start of term, then plain hoodie/t-shirt/sports top will be absolute fine until you do.

 

I will be meeting with them (once the term starts) to discuss things moving forward.

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