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20 Mar
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27 Mar
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29 Mar
Choral Choir
Yesterday we welcomed Rev Pippa White from St Aidan’s along with some Choral Scholars to lead two assemblies with KS2 pupils to introduce a pop-up choir that will be running for 4 weeks at the beginning of Term 6. The choir will be free and open to up-to 30 pupils who would like to experience singing choral music in a choir. Sessions will be led by a professional choral conductor and will take place on Wednesdays from 3.20 to 4.10pm.
Please note that spaces will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and children have to commit to attending all 4 sessions. A small concert will be held for parents and carers at the end of the last session on 15th May. You can sign-up via Arbor.
Attendance Update
As you may have seen in the news over the last couple of weeks, the Government has issued updated attendance guidance for schools which will become statutory in September 2024. Below is a summary of the main changes:
Fines for absences (for example term-time holidays) will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days. This will apply to absences of 5 or more days (10 sessions) in a rolling 10-week period. In a significant change to the current legislation, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. If a second fine is issued this will automatically be charged at £160. If there is a third period of absence which would previously have incurred a fine, alternative action would be taken – most likely prosecution which is a more formal legal action.
There are also several changes planned to attendance codes which schools use to identify the broad reasons for an absence and which you might see on your child’s attendance certificate. There are a number of sub-codes being introduced to support attendance code analysis but the key change is that the H code (currently used to identify holidays that have been authorised by the school) is being removed from use – term-time absences for holidays will now either be coded as C for exceptional circumstances or G for holidays that have not been authorised. The coding guidance from the Department for Education is also much more specific about what constitutes an exceptional circumstance and states “Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance.”
Bristol City Council will issue updated guidance in due course – including updated Penalty Notice Code of Conduct, model attendance policy and guidance for schools and parents. We will share all of this information with you as and when it becomes available.
These are the biggest changes to school attendance since penalty notices were introduced in September 2013 and are central to the Department for Education’s drive to improve school attendance and pupil outcomes.
Red Nose Day 2024
We have seen every shade of red possible today as we have joined forces with Blue Peter to raise money for Comic Relief. We’re not sure many of us managed to keep our red noses on all day but we’re sure that we have raised lots of money for this great cause. We’ll update you next week with our final total.
Donations to Comic Relief can still be made via our JustGiving page: Comic Relief JustGiving page
Pre-Loved Uniform Sale
On Thursday 25th April we will be holding a pre-loved uniform sale after school (in front of the office, weather permitting). If you have any uniform that your child has outgrown, please hand donations into the school office.
Dog Fouling
A parent has reported that there is a lot of dog mess in the lane and surrounding areas, which can be tricky to avoid when pushing prams and buggies. If you regularly walk your dog in the local area, please remember to always clean up after your dog and encourage friends, family, or anyone else you know who regularly walks their dog too, to do the same.
If you notice any dog mess on the pavements and footpaths on your way to and from school, please report this to Bristol City Council Street Cleaning Team by logging it online here
Rocksteady Music
We have been delighted with the take-up of our Rocksteady Music Lessons – so much that we are hoping to add additional band sessions from the beginning of Term 5. If your child would like to be added to the waiting list please click on the link in this letter to find out how to sign-up: Rocksteady Sign-up Letter
Library News
What a great day we had last Thursday on World Book Day. The costumes were amazing and it was such a fun day celebrating `Reading for Pleasure’.
The Second-Hand Book Shop was a huge success and everyone got to bring a book home. If there are any further cash donations to come, please leave it with the school office.
On the day we raised £543.30 and this money will be used to buy NEW Books for the Library.
Speaking of new books, the Library is also celebrating a delivery of new books. This order was to replace many of the graphic novels and cartoons such as Dog Man, Cat Kid and Investi Gators that went missing last year. I hope we have better luck with keeping these lovely books in our library. All Air Balloon Hill Primary Library Books have a school Sticker and Library barcode so it’s easy to see that they come from our Library.
Hopefully you have all had a chance to use your World Book Day Tokens and swapped it for one of the fantastic books.
If you have not collected a book yet, please visit The Small City Bookshop an independent community bookshop on Church road, Redfield. They still have a great collection of the World Book Day books for you to choose from. They very kindly gave our Library a copy of all the above books for the children to enjoy.
Year 2
We are delighted that Year 2 have been able to arrange a trip, as part of our Inquiry Project, to Lye Cross Farm in Wrington which is part of the Farmlink charity. Our Inquiry project in Terms 5 and 6 is “Food Glorious Food.” Year 2 are going to the farm for some workshops covering seasonal produce and food production. The trip will take place on: Tuesday 16th April – Endeavour and Voyager Thursday 18th April – Apollo and Discovery. Please see the letter sent out via Arbor on 13th March for more information.
Year 3
Year 3 have been working super hard on their inquiry work-Tomb Raiders-all about the ancient Egyptians.
We would like to invite you in to showcase their amazing work. Including power point presentations and Egyptian death masks.
Saturn and Neptune Monday 25th March at 3pm and Jupiter and Titan Tuesday 26th March at 3pm
Year 4
As part of our inquiry unit the children will present an episode of Tomorrow’s World featuring a history of computer games, a retro games arcade and their predictions of how future technologies might impact on our world. We are currently designing our own retro games arcade, and would like to invite parents and carers to play.
Phoenix and Orion will open their arcade for one afternoon only on Tuesday 26th March from 2:15pm-3:00pm.
Pegasus and Aquila will open their arcade for one afternoon only on Wednesday 27th March from 2:15pm-3:00pm.
To make these arcades we will need a large amount of cardboard, if you have any that you could provide, please could you send this to school from next week Monday. We will put it to good use!
Key Dates for your Diary
As we are now in the second half of the academic year, we wanted to share some key dates with you for the remaining terms:
Term 4
21st March – Year 2 Parents invited in for end of Inquiry Project workshops (Endeavour and Voyager at 9am, Discovery and Apollo at 1.45pm)
28th March – Inset Day (School closed to pupils)
29th March – 14th April – Easter Holidays
Terms 5-6
So far, these are the confirmed events for Terms 5 and 6:
2nd May – School closed for Polling Station
13th – 17th May – KS2 SATs
14th June – Class and Year 6 Leavers Photos
3rd July – Year 7 Transition Day for most Bristol schools
8th July – Sports Day (Reception am, Years 1 and 2 pm)
9th and 10th July – Year 6 Play performances (times to be confirmed)
12th July – Sports Day (Years 3 and 4 am, Years 5 and 6 pm)
15th – 19th July – Year 6 Camp and Activities Week
22nd July – Year 6 Leavers’ Disco (7-8.30pm)
23rd July – Year 6 Leavers’ Assemblies 9.30am and 10.15am (Parents invited but classes for each assembly are to be confirmed)
23rd July – Last Day of Term 6.
FAB News
Spring discos will take place on Wednesday 27th March. Tickets are £2.50 each and are being issued on a first come, first served basis. Please follow the link below to book your ticket. Please put the money in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name, class and “DISCO” to the school office. Cut-off for ordering and paying for tickets is Friday 22nd March. No tickets will be sold after this date – if you have not pre-booked your ticket, your child will not be able to attend and will be turned-away at the door.
https://forms.office.com/e/9tUFks51R6
Entry to all of the discos will be via the door in the front playground (nearest the library window / lost property). Parents are welcome to wait in the front yard (outside of the main office) during the discos but will not be allowed to stay in the hall. We will have plenty of staff at the discos to help the children.
Collection from the discos at the end will be via the main entrance and into the hall, exiting the hall from the door in the top-left corner. Children will be waiting in the hall at the end of each disco. In order to ease congestion in the hall at the end of the discos, we will ask parents to collect their child a year-group at a time – please wait at the main entrance until you are called in to collect.
When queuing for the start of the discos, please line-up in the front playground and we will tick names off our lists in advance of the children heading into the discos so that there is no delay in them getting in as soon as it starts.
The Year 5/6 Disco will also have a small tuck shop for children to buy additional snacks – children at this disco ONLY can bring £1 with them to spend.
In addition, Wednesday 27th March will be a non-uniform day (with a suggested donation of £1 to FAB). This will also make it easier for the younger children attending the discos as they won’t need to change out of their uniforms before heading to the dance-floor!
Term Dates In-Set Dates
Term 1: Friday 1 September 2023 to Friday 20 October 2023 Thursday 28th March 2024
Term 2: Monday 30 October 2023 to Friday 15 December 2023
Term 3: Tuesday 2 January 2024 to Friday 9 February 2024
Term 4: Monday 19 February 2024 to Thursday 28 March 2024
Term 5: Monday 15 April 2024 to Friday 24 May 2024
Term 6: Monday 3 June 2024 to Tuesday 23 July 2024
School Closure – 2nd May
As outlined in the letter from Mr Browse earlier this term, school will be closed on Thursday 2nd May as it is to be used as a polling station.
We were informed of the decision to use Air Balloon as a polling station by Bristol City Council Electoral Services earlier this year. We have asked them to consider alternative sites but no other site in the local area matches their criteria. A risk assessment was also undertaken to see if it would be feasible to open parts of the school (including space cadets) but unfortunately this will not be possible. We are also unable to re-allocate any of the school’s inset days to the date of the local elections.
All parents and carers will therefore need to find alternative childcare on Thursday 2nd May.
The school will provide some home learning for children to complete and we will also provide a school packed lunch for children who receive free school meals. Details of this will be shared nearer the time.
We apologise for the disruption this will cause to your child’s time at school and for any inconvenience it causes families.
Job Vacancies at Air Balloon Hill Primary School
Please visit the vacancies section of the school website for our latest job opportunities, or visit https://www.eteach.com/schools/air-balloon-hill-primary-school-24934
Air Balloon Hill Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check are required for these positions. We particularly welcome applications from underrepresented groups including, ethnicity, gender, transgender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
For copies of any previous newsletters, please email the school office – airballoonhillp@bristol-schools.uk
Term 5
Term 6