Dear Parents / Carers / Colleagues and Friends of Birtley House,
We have been incredibly busy since term began settling back with our expanded two classes! We now have a Lower Junior Class (Year 3 and 4) and an Upper Junior Class (Year 5 and 6). The children have adapted brilliantly to their new classes and are now supported even more effectively in their numeracy and literacy learning.
Mr Tait, our new class teacher, is a fantastic asset to the school and brings with him a wealth of ideas for creative learning opportunities. This month we are also delighted to welcome Mrs Goldsmith who joins our super skilled teaching assistant team on a part time basis.
We are now welcoming admissions from Year 1 and Year 2 children - please contact the school office for further information.
The new uniform has proved very successful and the children are proud to be looking so smart. The supplier “Graduates” in Orpington are reliable and friendly. Items of uniform can be bought from stock (kept in school) or ordered via the form in the waiting room.
We are holding a community cake sale next Wednesday 12th October between 3.30 and 4.30pm. Everybody is welcome to this event. We hope to raise money to extend our library book selection.
The arrival of Mrs Sillitoe’s piano (all the way from sunny Birmingham!) has enabled us to extend our music provision including running Music Therapy sessions on Thursdays. The children participating in this are really enjoying the opportunity to express themselves creatively. Music therapy is available on Thursdays from 4pm. Attendance at the school is not required.
Gardening club has harvested its first crop, huge potatoes, juicy tomatoes and delicious sweet peas. The children decided to cook them into baked potatoes with an amazing array of fillings. We greatly enjoyed them and cannot wait for the next fruit and vegetables to be produced! Thank you Mrs Mason for all your hard work.
On Sunday 2nd October we joined in with the Royal Horticultural Society’s GYGG Day (Get Your Grown Up Gardening!). Staff, parents and friends of the school grabbed spades and forks to work on improving our school gardens and dig the ground ready to plant spring bulbs. The weather was beautiful so a huge thank you to all who gave up their time and energy!
Reverend Judy Thurlow from St. Edmund King and Martyr Church joined us for our first ever harvest assembly on Monday 3rd October. The children gathered a super collection of produce to be donated by the church to those within the West Kingsdown community and the Salvation Army in Dartford.
Kind Regards
Mrs Emma Sillitoe
