Newsletters

Dear parents and carers,

You will be aware from today’s news reports that there has been a 77% rise in the number of children needing specialist treatment for severe mental health crises. Thankfully, we do not often access NHS psychiatric services but like most schools, we have experienced a surge in mental health problems below this high threshold. As a result, we are providing pupils with extra support such as 1:1 meetings, interventions with our pastoral leaders or counselling through the therapists who work across our cluster of schools. We also work closely with parents to support them at home and sometimes utilise the services of our Family Support Worker.

Given that it is Children's Mental Health Week next week, I thought it might be helpful to share a couple of useful resources with you. The apps in particular may be more relevant for parents of children in KS2 and Kooth is aimed at children aged 10 yrs and older.

• Kooth- free 1:1 online counselling for ages 10+
• Calm Harm- an app to support young people to resist the urge to self-harm
• Apart of Me- to support children and young people through grief after the loss of a parent (suitable for primary and secondary aged pupils)

Another useful resource for parents is the Mindmate website. The parents section has specific sections for under 5's, children aged 5-11rs and teenagers. It is normal for children to be anxious and upset at times, and we do want to help children to build up resilience for the challenges they will undoubtedly encounter throughout their lives. However, if you notice a change in your child or are worried about their mental health, please speak with your child’s class teacher in the first instance.

Parenting Clinics

During February there are two FREE Parenting Clinics focusing on Behaviour of our young people and how as parents and carers we can best support them. 

Join Anisa Lewis, a parenting coach, on the 10th of February for one of her monthly Free Parenting Clinics. This talk is focused on behaviour and what we can do to support ourselves and our young people.

Anisa writes:

I am an accredited and certified, Positive Parenting Coach, teacher and mother with 20+ years of experience working and supporting children and families.  I consider myself an expert in my field who specialises in empowering and positively transforming the lives of parents and their families. 

It’s really important to me that support for parents & families is accessible to everyone - so I do my best to pack these Clinics with help and guidance that parents can implement immediately at home.  

Held in a group session and hosted on Zoom, the parenting clinics last 30 minutes and are your community's chance to benefit from my years of experience in a safe space.  Members of staff are also welcome to join. Participants are made to feel welcome and there is no expectation for videos or microphones to be on unless the parent chooses too.

Join Anisa on zoom, for the 30-minute talk. Click HERE to book.

Parent Workshops

Next week, we will be running our Parenting in a digital world workshop, on Wednesday 9^th February from 7-9pm.

Mrs Hahnel and our digital leaders are looking forward to presenting at the evening and hope to welcome as many parents as possible.

We shall be talking about some of the key challenges the online world presents to parents as well as sharing some learnings specific to Bramhope.

Did you know for example that 85% of KS2 children are online for at least an hour every day and that 38% regularly use Tik Tok?

At Bramhope, we aim to give all children the skills they need to thrive in a digital world, and we look forward to sharing some key ideas to help parents navigate the digital parenting world. 

Please complete the online form HERE if you wish to attend. 

In order to mitigate Covid-19 risk and support the community, we request that all parents/carers attending the meeting take the following actions:

• Take a LFD test before coming into school (adults)
• Do not attend if you test positive, have been told to self-isolate or are displaying symptoms
• Sanitise hands on arrival and departure
• Wear a face covering whilst in school (adults)
• Maintain a reasonable distance between household groups, where possible

We hope to see you there.

Mrs Judd & Mrs Yeomans (Pastoral Leaders)

Space Talk

This week, Dr D'Vali come to speak to all the children in KS2 about space. We learnt lots of fascinating facts about the solar system, planets, our moon and current space exploration. The children had lots of brilliant questions to ask too!

Mrs Hurst and Mrs Lawson (Science Leaders)

British Science Week

This year we will be celebrating British Science Week from Monday 14 - Friday 18 March. The theme for this year's celebration of Science is 'Growth'.

We are planing to spend some time in our school garden studying plants, planting our vegetable patches and generally taking the opportunity to get outdoors!

We are looking for volunteers to come into school and talk about their careers in Science that tie in with the theme of 'Growth'. This doesn't necessarily need to be linked in with the garden or with plants. It could be something else to do with 'Growth' or you can come and talk about your journey throughout your career in Science.

If you would like to volunteer to come and speak to the children please contact the Admin Team. If you are able to offer something else Science related through your work, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you

Mrs Hurst and Mrs Lawson (Science Leaders)

Leeds Cross Country Qualifiers

Last week a large group of boys and girls, from Years 3 - 6, took part in the Leeds Cross Country Qualifiers.

The course was extremely tight with two laps of undulating ground. Year 3 girls were first to race and have now qualified as a team. The Year 3 boys ran second, and many finished with Personal Bests. Year 4 boys and girls followed on the same 900m course with an increased pace. The distance for Year 5 and 6s increased to 1500m. The Year 5 girls' race was won by Farrah G, with an incredible performance in a difficult field. Sophie earned a Personal Best in the Year 6 girls' race and four boys in Year 6 qualified, with finishes in the top 10.

Those who have qualified will now race in the Leeds Finals for a chance to represent Leeds in the West Yorkshire Finals. Getting this far is a huge achievement, and we are all incredibly proud of everyone who has raced.

The Leeds final will be held at Temple Newsam on Tuesday 8 February.

Mr McKeown (P.E. Leader)

Skylar's Missing Note

KS1 thoroughly enjoyed watching the performance of Skylar's Missing Note on Wednesday.

The children also took part in a musical workshop and learnt about tempo, pitch, rhythm and dynamics. All children were extremely enthusiastic and very well-behaved throughout the day. Here are some of their comments...

'I liked learning about how slow and how fast music can be'

Rosie (Year 1)

'We used our bodies and our voices to help us learn' 

Grace (Year 1)

'I enjoyed learning about dynamics, rhythm, pitch and tempo' 

Reuben (Year 2)

'My favourite part was when the piano was being played'

Austin (Year 2)

Miss Gregson  (Music Leader)

Win an outdoor classroom for the School

Creative Play are giving schools the chance to win a 5m Octavia Shelter, worth over £10,000! Both staff and parents can enter to win.

Octavia Shelter includes side panels, flooring and seating for up to 28 – perfect for taking those lessons outside!

Click on the LINK to complete an entry form.

Bug Club

Congratulations to our Bug Club Star Readers this week!  

The following pupils have been making excellent progress with their reading on Bug Club this week:

• RB - Bea W
• RF - Izzy D
• 2G - Elsie S
• 2D - Ruby P
• 45S - Lilia JL

If your child hasn't had a chance to log onto Bug Club yet, please encourage them to have a go this weekend!  The programme has been proven to help children with their reading and the games and rewards are very motivating.

Change one thing competition

This half-term, we will be running a competition to support families to change one thing relating to their use of technology over the weekend of 5/6 February.

It ties in with our key messages this half-term, which is around Health and Wellbeing surrounding technology use. This is something our digital leaders shared with children in assembly at the beginning of term.

View the slides HERE.  

Letters have been sent home today with entry forms for each child, in Reception and KS1. Entry forms for KS2 pupils can be found on Teams.

If you have a business which may be able to donate a prize for this event, please do get in touch with our computing lead Mrs Hahnel via the email

computing@bramhopeprimaryschool.co.uk.

A big well done to Hepworth!

Have a lovely weekend