BELMONT SCHOOL NEWS

13th March 2020

World Book Day

On Thursday 5th March Belmont School

celebrated World Book Day! It was a great day

full of fun, dressing up and of course amazing

stories. The focus of the day was based around

a staff play called 'All in a Huff' and the students

were posed with the challenge of writing an

ending to the play. The creativity was brilliant

and it is always a pleasure to see the children's

imaginations in full flow.

In Primary, the children also shared their bed

time stories and some staff recorded themselves reading their own

favourite children's books. We are calling these 'Belmont's Bedtime

Stories', more about them in the article below.

All in all, it was a lovely day that promoted the love of books and, as

always, I would encourage regular daily reading as a great way of

learning new vocabulary and expanding the mind. Happy reading

everyone! Mr J Farrer – Grover English Coordinator

Bedtime Stories The teachers and support staff at Belmont have been having lots of fun reading their favourite bedtime stories. As

part of our World Book Day we launched these on Class Dojo and we will be sending out stories regularly for you

all to enjoy. We hope your child enjoys watching and listening to their favourite teachers.

St Patrick

Mid-Year Report Feedback

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your feedback with regards to the Mid-Year Reports that

were recently sent out. I am pleased to see that so many of you found the format of the reports useful and were

able to see if your child was on the ‘right track’ with their learning for this academic year.

The Mid-Year Report is intended to be a ‘snap shot’ and a more detailed and personalised End of Year Report will

be provided in the summer term. We hope that the curriculum statements (stages) and the bracketed numbers

(taught, approaching, achieved and mastered) provided you with a good understanding of where your child is in

English and Maths. If you would like to chat about the report further please speak to your child’s tutor.

With regards to the ECHA data we understand there was some confusion, particularly with regards to the

percentages used. We are planning to adapt the presentation of this data so it will clearly show what progress is

being made with your child’s social and emotional well-being. Again if you have any concerns please do not

hesitate to contact your class tutor to discuss what this means for your child.

If you would like further information on how you can support your child with their learning then please arrange to

speak with your class tutor who will provide you with more information. There will also be an opportunity to

speak to your child’s tutor regarding their learning targets and interventions at our next parental conversations.

Our next parental conversations are on the 6th and 7th May 2020. Your child’s tutor will be in contact soon to

arrange appointments.

Mrs K Hanna – Assistant Head teacher

Hartpury Visits

The Elephants had a brilliant visit from Hartpury students this week. They brought along with them cats and dogs

which moved just like the real thing! We practised grooming them with brushes and talked about how to look

after our pets. We also created our own masks in the shape of cats and dogs!

The children in Cheetahs class got to explore the Minibeast

World, seeing cockroaches, snails and millipedes. It was

exciting to see them up close, and some of us were even

brave enough to hold and stroke the creatures.

"I was so excited to see the millipede up close, it had

soooooo many legs"

"The cockroach was scary to start with but then I felt fine

and even touched it"

Meet our new Belmont staff

This week we hear from Ms S Bent - Learning Support Worker

‘I joined Coopers Edge School in Brockworth in 2014 for a complete career change. I

began as the MDSA Supervisor and, alongside this, took a Teaching Assistant job in the

year 5/6 class and began my Level 3 qualification. I worked in various KS2 classes and

continued to study alongside this role. I have joined Belmont in the Cheetah class and am

thoroughly enjoying it! ‘

Year 11 Work Experience Our Year 11 students really enjoyed their week’s work experience in their various locations. A huge thank you to all the organisations who supported our students throughout the week:

Treasure Seekers gift shop Teckels Animal Boarding Caterlink

Cheltenham Animal Shelter The British Heart Foundation Ashton Keynes Primary school

The Butterfly garden Ashton Keynes Primary school Decode Logistics

Animate Petshop Leonard Cheshire Puddles Nursery

F@Bulous News We have received a very generous donation of £5,000 from Mr Colin Parkins. Colin and his wife Wendy attended

the Summer Fayre with their own family last year, he was so impressed with the children here and the work that

Belmont and F@B do, that he wanted to help and has made some large donations since. In addition Colin’s son,

Neil, who lives locally has also been working very hard to support our school by running events and half

marathons! We very much hope to see the Parkins family back to the next summer Fayre if not before to show

them how the funds have helped the children and school. F@B will be discussing with school in the next few

weeks the best use of this donation to benefit the pupils. In addition to linking with Mr Day and the school

leaders to discuss this donation, F@B hope to link with the school council to see what ideas the students have to

improve the environment and facilities or them.

Planning is well underway for the Summer Fayre (obviously we are in close contact with school and will be guided

by the Senior Leadership Team and government advice on whether this can go ahead.) Whatever happens we

would welcome offers of help in the run up to the day or on the day itself to set up stalls, wrap teddies for the

teddy tombola, string bottles for the bottle on a string stall and so on. We are collecting bottles (sauce, soft

drinks, shampoo, wine etc.) for our ever popular bottle on a string. If you can donate something please drop it in

to reception or send it in with your child – remember alcohol can only be dropped off by an adult and it is not

appropriate to ask the taxi driver to do this. We are also looking for donations of soft toys for the teddy tombola

– these must be in good condition, able to be washed and conform to current safety standards. Our Grand Raffle

will as ever, take centre stage. Prizes are already coming in and the variety once again is amazing. If we do have to

postpone the summer fun day arrangements, the raffle will be communicated nearer the time. Everyone will

have the opportunity to purchase tickets prior to the event.

Our next F@B meeting will be held in school Friday 20th March at 1.30pm. All are

welcome and we would love to see some new faces.

Alternatively you can get in touch via e mail: thefabpta@gmail.com or via the

Belmont Parents Support Group on Facebook.

Carolyn Jones (Acting Chair and Treasurer)

SEND Information Fair Are you the parent of a disabled child (any child with additional needs, SEND, a long term physical or mental

health condition, sensory, physical or cognitive impairment or disability)?

Would you like to:

Know more about what services are offered to support you and your family?

Meet other parent carers and talk about the issues you currently face?

Enjoy some delicious pastries and cake, maybe get some reflexology or a mini manicure? All free.

Discover what's on offer for disabled children and young people in Gloucestershire?

Book your space now for our SEND Information Fair on Wednesday 25th March 10am - 2pm. First 100 bookings

will receive a free goodie bag when they sign in on the day. As the parent of a disabled child you are entitled to

flexibility at work to enable you to access key services. This event offers important information and we strongly

encourage you to come along if you can.

At the event there will be lots of stalls with information about what's on, services to support you and more. Also

you will be given the chance to sign up to three free services for parent carers - Gloucestershire Carers Hub Family

Information Service - Gloucestershire - and The Key (who offer free swimming passes for disabled children and

their parents) and Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum.

BOOK YOUR SPACE NOW https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gloucestershire-parent-carers-send-information-fair-

tickets-90337898085

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