Bronte SchoolHeadmasters Newsletter 49

16 October 2015

It has been a momentous week for Year 6families of course, with the Kent 11+ testresults being sent to parents onWednesday. 15 of our 20 candidates gainedSelective (i.e. Grammar School) places.All wrote good papers and in fact no-onewas far off. So very well done to all. MrsWood has been in contact with many Year 6families with further details about theresults and she has been able to offersupport and advice on choices of seniorschools.

That choices area is the subject of nextThursdays (7.00pm) transition meeting forYear 4/5 parents. Details have been sent toparents by letter and Parentmail. Hopefullyall parents of children in those year groupswill be able to attend.

Last Thursday saw the inaugural meeting ofthe 2015 16 Parents Council. Theminutes will shortly be distributed to allparents. Suffice to say here however, that itwas an extremely useful meeting, coveringmuch ground. I was grateful to parents whogot in touch with committee members(though that process is confidential, so I donot know their names!) and of course tothe committee members themselves.

As the weather gets chillier, and the leavesturn, last Fridays Harvest Assembly was atimely reminder of the miracle of foodproduction. It was fantastic to see so manyparents there. Each class, includingReception (at their second ever schoolassembly!), gave a harvest-relatedperformance. All did really well. Prayers atthe end were led by Major Bryn Hargeavesof the Salvation Army.to whom was giventhe impressive range and amount of foodwhich had been brought in by the children.This food went to food banks and to theSalvation Armys own local centre forsupport to the needy.

On Thursday our two Junior Road SafetyOfficers from Year 6 (William Nunn and SophieNewby) went to the JRSO's conference atCounty Hall, Maidstone. Along with JRSO'sfrom other primary school's in Kent, theylistened to presentations and voted for what

they thought were the most important threeissues. They then voted on which issue

should be tackled each term. Sophie andWilliam will present this information to

the rest of the school to help to improvethe children's awareness of road

safety. They gave us all a few pointersduring assembly this morning and we eagerlyawait further information

Page 2

Looking Ahead

Week 8

Monday, 19th OctoberYears 1 and 2: visit to London Aquarium

Tuesday, 20th OctoberIndividual school photographs

Tuesday, 20th & Wednesday, 21st October Parents evenings (letters have been sent out confirming times/dates) (Year 5 & 6 appointment times are by the classrooms)

Thursday, 22nd OctoberEntry to senior school: Transition meeting for Year 5 parents (Year 4 parents also welcome): 7.00pm, School Hall

Friday 23rd OctoberBad Hair Day : 4 donations invited from the children to choose Fun Lunch, come to school in non-uniform and with bad hair

3.30pm Half Term break begins.

Term re-starts 8.45am on Monday 2nd November 2014

You may recall that last summer, thedisciplinary system in operation in theInfants section of the school (Reception toYear 2) was extended to the Juniorssection, Years 3 to 6). This is still in a trialphase, and, during the second half of thisterm, we will be discussing with staff howthe system has run, and also I hopeholding a parental evening to brief and getfeedback from parents.

As another trial, and to add a good dose ofcarrot as well as the stick of thevarious warnings, we have initiated a teaparty for children in Years 5 and 6 whohave had unblemished records this term.The first was for Year 5 and I am pleased, and of course somewhat relieved! to saythat there were indeed a decent numberof qualifying children. The system involveseveryone having a green card which can belost to orange or red . and the tea partythus involved lots of green cakes! Thesewere expertly baked by our chef, MissSarah Sutherland, and very many thanks toher.and well done to the attendees.

Being a Kent school, the logistics of a tripacross the Channel are easier for us thanmany schools but even so, Tuesdaysgetting to Calais and back in a day forYears 5 and 6 involved a 5.45am start ..and thank you to all you parents whoseearly rises thereby made the trip possible!Ecole St Pierre is a large Calais school, witha wider age range, and so the Brontechildren got to see a very different sort ofschool. Staff there are extremelyhospitable, and it was a very productiveday, all the arrangements workingsmoothly.