Just a reminder that Brown Clee Benefice will be holding a Leavers’ Service at St. John the Baptist Church on Monday at 2:00pm.

All parents, grandparents etc. of our Year 6 pupils are also invited (along with the Year 6s themselves!) to refreshments after the service itself.

Just to update you on the requested tweaks to the uniform.

We will be remaining with previous supply (Lads and Lasses) – who have informed us of some improvements they are making (e.g. a heat press being installed at the Bridgnorth site to allow on-site printing).

There will be some minor tweaks to the uniform – which will be phased in as existing stock is used up.

• The 1/4 zip option will no longer be in place. This is because the there a stocking issues with the top itself – as well as printing concerns. We did explore alternative options; however, these were either of poor quality or significantly more expensive.
• The black hoodie with green vinyl option will still remain.
• A green hoodie with black vinyl will be introduced.
• A black full-zip hoodie with green vinyl will also be introduced.
• We are currently in discussion of changing the t-shirt material used for the t-shirts to a “smoother”-type fabric – and hopefully can find a suitable solution with this.

As previously mentioned, previous versions of uniforms will still be allowed to be used for as long as you wish.

Please also remember that FOBCS do have a second-hand uniform stock that can be purchased for a small donation. Please get in touch if you have any unifrom of your own that you would like to donate to this or if you wish to purchase some of your own.

Lads and Lasses will be holding a sizing event after school on Tuesday 15th July – where sizing can be checked in person.

A reminder that tickets are available from the school office for the KS2 performance.

We will be opening this up to more than 4 tickets and to KS1 from Friday.

As mentioned in previous diary date updates, Sports Day will be on 8th July.

This will follow the same format as last year – beginning at 10:00am and finishing at around 15:00

The children will be split into three different teams for the day – and will be competing together with points collected throughout and the winners announced at the end of the day.

In the morning (beginning at 10:00), children will rotate around a series of different stations in smaller groups.

Everybody will be having a lunch break together at around 12:00.

In the afternoon (beginning at 13:00), they will take part in races in their year groups.

We will then present the winners for the day with their trophy – as well as presenting medals and certificates for our KS2 athletics competition that has been taking place over the last couple of weeks in school.

We hope to see you all for the event. Same as last year, the day has been designed so that you can attend part or the whole day, depending on preference.

Please see below information on a summer choir performances involving a choir from school, Brown Clee Community Choir and Of One Accord Choir at Ditton Priors VIllage Hall on Firday 11th July at 7:30pm.

Summer concert 2025

Children performing in this have already had letters – which have been returned. If your child is in KS2 and would like to take part, please let Mrs. Heath (dragonflies@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk) know as soon as possible. It would be great to have as many as possible performing.

Following the news shared early in March (https://browncleeschool.org.uk/staff-changes-next-year/), we held interviews at the start of last week to appoint two new teachers.

We are happy to announce that we have appointed Mrs. Sherri (for 1 day/week) and Mrs. Norman (for 4 days/week).

We can now share the class structures for next year:

As you can see above, given our variable numbers in year groups (some very large and some smaller), next year, we do need to join some year groups back together to create some mixed-aged classes in Dragonflies, Bees and Scorpions. However, we will be doing the opposite in Fireflies and Grasshoppers.

This means that we will have a pure reception year group in Fireflies, all of Year 1 and Year 2 in Grasshoppers. Year 4s will be split between Dragonflies and Bees – and Year 5s will be split between Bees and Scorpions.

As with previous years, we spend an extensive amount of time in assigning children to their classes. This is, however, not done based on age or academic attainment – but on what we feel is best for each child and the class dynamic. We will be informing children in Year 4 and Year 5 of their classes later next half term.

Next year, we have various different plans – including with P.E., music and French – where all of Year 3/4 will regularly be taught together and the same with all of Year 5/6.

Just to share a recent update from Shropshire Council regarding an update from the DfE regarding “Leave of Absence in Term Time”.

As has always been the case, absence during term time can only be authorised in exceptional circumstances. In any request for absence, this should be made in advance of the absence – whether this will be authorised or not. Requests made after the absence itself is unlikely to be authorised.

The updated statutory DfE guidance (Working together to improve school attendance) has tightened regulations around leave of absence, including stricter penalties (including in extreme cases prosecution). If a penalty notice or prosecution is required, this would be delivered by the Local Authority (Shropshire Council) via the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO).

A significant change in the DfE guidance (is that Local Authorities can now issue a penalty notice where 10 or more sessions (AM session / PM session) have been missed due to unauthorised absence across a 10-week period. This would also include significant unauthorised lateness. This 10-week period can span across terms or academic years.

Shropshire Council have asked to remind parents that “…a leave of absence during term time is prohibited for a family holiday.” In these circumstances, a Leave of Absence request form still must be fill in before the absence occurs.

Honesty and transparency is something that is vital in the working relationship between school and home – and we really do appreciate open communication from parents/carers regarding circumstances like these. We do try to work hard to accommodate situations wherever possible and really appreciate that holidays can be precious family experiences. However, we do have statutory duties that we must fulfil. Parents/carers have a legal duty to ensure their child(ren) attend(s) school regularly and report any reasons for absence accurately and in a timely manner. Therefore, as a school, we are required by the DfE and Local Authority to report situations where we feel there may be a chance that reasons for absence are not accurate (e.g. a child being on holiday when reported as illness) to the Education Welfare Officer. The vast majority of which are likely to eventually come to light. Situations like these (i.e. inaccurately reported absences) are likely to be dealt with by the EWO/Local Authority as more severe than those where parents/cares have been honest.

We feel that we work really hard to try and ensure that the school is open, honest and approachable and will always try to work solutions to situations if we can – but this can only work if parents/carers do the same. If you do wish to discuss anything above or want further information, please get in touch.

Just a quick update on a couple of things on ParentPay.

We have been doing some tweaking with the system – this should hopefully now allow parents to now make a booking for meals up until 09:00 on the day of that meal (i.e. no longer have to make meal bookings 2 days in advance).

If trying to pay a variable amount for a club (e.g. as your child receives FSM), then please contact Mrs. Godfrey (careclub@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk) – as this term’s payments have been set up slightly differently.

Our U11 girls football team has qualified for the Shropshire Schools & Colleges FA county finals.

Their game will be taking place at 2:30pm tomorrow (Saturday 10th May) at the Acoustafoam Stadium (Shifnal Football Club).

Spectators are welcome to join – so, if you do find yourselves with a spare afternoon, please feel free to come support the girls. Further information below.

Match details from SSCFA:

• Address: Acoustafoam Stadium, Coppice Green Lane, Shifnal, Shropshrie, TF11 8PD
• Parking available at Idsall School
• Food and drink available at the stadium
• Entry by matchday programme: £3 for adults / £2 for children/OAP
• Spectators are welcome