This week we filmed the whole Primary school singing,‘Try Everything’ under the expert guidance of Ms. Noemi Stubenvoll during our assembly. This is the conclusion of weeks of singing practice and also dance practice for a group of children who will feature on the video available for you to view soon on the school's YouTube channel.
The message of the song is about perseverance and having resilience, in an increasingly consumer-led world with fast-paced technological advances. In this situation, we can often find ourselves searching for quick solutions to answers or problems rather than having the perseverance to work through issues and have the satisfaction that this brings. We feel this is a vital learning attribute for all our students which is why they feature under the ‘Aspire to excellence’ and ‘Be ambitious’ aspects of our mission statement which forms the backbone of all we do in school.
During our assemblies, we often notice that a number of children were arriving late for school. Whilst we appreciate that sometimes there are factors beyond your control, please be aware that a child's learning day begins at 8.40 am when teachers are meeting, greeting and welcoming the children and lessons start promptly at 8.50. As a continuation of this, a child’s attendance at school is key to their academic, social and emotion development.
According to Hampshire Local Education Authority in England, "A child who is absent (on average) a day of school per week (80% attendance) misses an equivalent of two years of their school life." ("Why is high attendance important to my child's education?"Hampshire County Council Education Services Web. 09 Mar. 2017.)
This obviously directly affects children’s attainment and academic progress. With this in mind, in the coming weeks we will be politely reminding families if their child’s attendance has fallen below 85% (this percentage is different for children in Early Years) and hope families find this information useful in supporting their children gain the most from being part of the BISB school community.
In the coming weeks, we have many exciting things happening that children will not wish to miss. Next week we have a visiting performance poet and writer Mr. Paul Delany coming to present to the school and work with Year 4 children. We will also be celebrating Petőfi Sándor on 5 March and the 1848 revolution he played a role in. In the last week of the term will be our Book Week with a myriad of exciting activities for the children to enjoy including book sales, dating a book, competitions and Book at Bedtime!
I wish you a wonderful weekend.
by Chris Russell, head of Primary