The Bonneville Buzz

September 2025

• To ensure our children are happy and we explain things well
• To ensure no child leaves our school unable to read
• To ensure children learn a broad vocabulary to access the world around them
• To enhance the educational experiences of diagnosed and undiagnosed children with SEND

It has been wonderful to welcome everyone back to school!

I would like to thank all staff for their hard work in ensuring such a smooth start for our children. Their transition back into school life has been seamless, and it is fantastic to see pupils already so engaged in their learning and activities. Many children have taken on new leadership roles, signed up for clubs, and shown great confidence by auditioning and trialling for opportunities. What a positive way to begin the year!

A special congratulations must go to last year’s Year 6 cohort for their outstanding end of Key Stage 2 results in Reading, Writing, Maths, and Combined outcomes. We are extremely proud of their achievements and wish them every success as they begin their secondary school journey.

Reading

Meeting 92%

Exceeding 55%

Writing

Meeting 94%

Exceeding 39%

Maths

Meeting 92%

Exceeding 53%

Combined

Meeting 89%

Exceeding 33%

Our annual calendar of events has now been issued. Please do make a note of these dates. While changes may occasionally be necessary, we will always provide families with as much notice as possible.

To help the school day run more smoothly, please ensure all of your child’s belongings — including clothing, coats, bikes, and scooters — are clearly labelled with their name and class. This greatly improves the chances of lost items being returned and supports our Year 6 Lost Property Monitors in reuniting belongings with their owners. Families are also encouraged to check the Lost Property trolley in the front playground at the end of each day.

Thank you to those who attended our SEND Coffee Morning today. Mrs Congdon shared our in-house strategies, such as the Zones of Regulation, alongside the range of external agencies we work with to support our neurodiverse learners. It was a valuable opportunity to celebrate the inclusive practices that are central to our school.

Looking ahead, there are some exciting developments in our Forest School provision. After months of preparation and training, sessions will resume soon under the leadership of Mrs Da Silva, with delivery from Mr Da Santos and Ms Davey. On Monday 22nd, we launch the Living Eggs Project, a 10-day programme after which the chicks will stay with us and grow into chickens, taking residence in our Forest School. Each year we invite volunteers to help care for them, and we look forward to many children experiencing the joy of watching them grow.

A huge thank you goes to Phil and Georgia Renna for generously building a portable coop for the chicks, ensuring that more pupils can access and enjoy this unique learning experience.

We are equally excited about our cooking projects this year, which will continue to enrich the curriculum and develop life skills across the school. We will be working hard to re-establish this curricullum over the coming terms.

While I am proud of all that has been achieved so far, I remain committed to further strengthening our provision in the months ahead.

Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you at the gate at 8.55am.

To learn more about the curriculum for your year group/s next term, visit the school's website to access the knowledge organisers.

Please help support your child with their spelling by looking at the spelling rules, sounds and patterns in each word. Practicing spellings daily (or as much as possible) will help your children to learn and remember each word. In KS1, children will need to choose five spelling words to put into sentences.

In KS2, children will need to write a sentence for each word, using neat, joined handwriting.

This will allow the children to understand the meaning of each word, put the word into context, and practice their handwriting.

All spelling books must be given to the Class Teacher every Wednesday. This will ensure that your teacher has enough time to get the new spellings stuck in. Children will be doing a weekly spelling test in the back of their homework books so you will be able to see how well they are doing.

We are delighted to invite you to a special Reading Morning on Tuesday 30th September 2025, from 8:45 to 9:10 AM. This will be a wonderful opportunity for you to visit your child’s classroom and share the joy of reading together.

At Bonneville Primary School, we believe that fostering a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. Reading not only strengthens literacy skills but also nurtures creativity, curiosity, and a lifelong passion for learning. By sharing books with your child, you are helping to build their confidence, comprehension, and enthusiasm for stories.

We look forward to seeing you and sharing this lovely experience with you and your child.

Many thanks,

Miss Neate,

Dive into science and be ready to get hands-on with surprising experiments, shocking facts and the odd explosion! This show is packed full of experiments for families to try at home as well as the Ri's trademark fiery demos. Join us as we learn how to build a rocket......... and launch it!

On Thursday 18th September, we were thrilled to welcome Louie Stowell, author of the hugely popular Loki book series, to our school.

Louie led a lively and inspiring assembly for pupils in Years 3 to 6, where she shared stories about her journey as a writer and what inspired her to create the mischievous character of Loki. The children were captivated by her humour, energy, and creative storytelling, and they had the chance to ask thoughtful questions about writing, imagination, and the life of an author.

Louie encouraged pupils to explore their own creative ideas. She emphasised the importance of reading widely, believing in your imagination, and not being afraid to make mistakes as part of the writing process.

The children left feeling inspired, with many eager to pick up their pens and start their own stories. It was a memorable visit that not only celebrated reading for pleasure but also showed our pupils how stories can spark creativity and open doors to new worlds.

We are very grateful to Louie Stowell for visiting our school and look forward to seeing the impact her visit will have on our budding young writers.

Thank you to Ms Neate for organising the event.

Did you know that London’s Air Ambulance has eight highly trained pilots? Or that it operates two helicopters, named Amy and Beth, each costing around £15 million? And did you know that the chevrons on the bottom of the helicopters are made up of the names of people who donated to the charity?

Neither did we, until Wednesday, when pupils in Years 2 to 6 were incredibly lucky to welcome visitors from the London Air Ambulance Charity for a very special assembly.

The team shared fascinating insights into how the Air Ambulance operates, as well as the rigorous training required for its pilots, paramedics, and doctors. The children were captivated by the amazing facts and showed their enthusiasm through thoughtful and inquisitive questions.

So much so that Rhiannon, from the charity, later emailed to say how impressed she was with Bonneville pupils’ attention and curiosity. She said she hoped that the next time our children see the Air Ambulance in the sky, or meet the team in the community, they will remember what they learned — and perhaps even feel inspired to become part of the Air Ambulance team in the future.

It was an inspiring visit that not only expanded our knowledge but also reminded us of the importance of this life-saving service in London.

Thank you to Ms Napier for organising the visit.

This term we were pleased to welcome our new school meals provider, Harrisons, who have now taken over the running of our school kitchen.

Harrisons bring with them a wealth of experience in providing healthy, balanced meals for schools. Their menus are carefully planned to meet nutritional standards while also ensuring variety and appeal for children. Meals are freshly prepared on site each day, with a focus on seasonal produce, balanced portions, and dishes that encourage children to try new foods.

As part of their approach, Harrisons also aim to promote healthy eating habits and an understanding of food sustainability. Over the course of the year, we look forward to working with them to introduce initiatives that encourage pupils to make healthy food choices and develop a positive relationship with food.

We are excited about this new partnership and the benefits it will bring to our school community.

Last week, we held trials for the girls' and mixed football teams.

Both sessions were well attended.

We are encouraged by our girls' interest in football and look forward to nurturing the interests of all our children together.

We always need more help and support. A donation of one hour per term (that’s only three hours per year) of your time is all we ask, whether it be as a class rep, planning/hosting an event, or standing on a stall. Some parents very generously agreed to host an event like our amazing wreath-making workshop or the gathering of donations for our incredible raffles. Every parent is a member of FAB. I ask that everyone get involved.

bonnevillefab@gmail.com

www.bonneville-primary.lambeth.sch.uk/scholl/fab/

Parentkind – the charity that supports school PTAs - have teamed up with Asda, who is making millions of pounds available to donate to primary schools across the UK through their ‘Cashpot for Schools’ initiative – all you have to do is:

1. Download the Asda Rewards app

2. Choose Bonneville as your primary school under Cash pots.

FAB will receive £1 for every new sign-up before 30 November. No purchase required.

Additional funds also raised if you scan in store or shop online at Asda.com, between 2nd September and 30th November 2024. Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to our Primary school.

Optional - The supermarket has joined forces with Joe Wicks to support the initiative – look out for the TV advert, radio ads and social media coverage

Optional - Asda does the rest, all money raised will be donated to schools to spend on the things they need the most.

Tuesday 2nd - Children return

Tuesday 2nd to Friday 5th - Early Years Stay and Play

Monday 8th - Homework begins/ Reception children start

Wednesday 10th - Girls Football Trials @ 7.45am

Friday 12th - Mixed Football Trials @ 7.45am

Monday 15th - Extra Curriculum Clubs begin/World Afro Hair Exhibition @ 3.15pm

Wednesday 17th - Year 2 - 6 Air Ambulance Assembly

Thursday 18th - Louis Stowell Author visit

Friday 19th - Jeans for Genes/ SEND Coffee morning @ 9am

Monday 22nd - Collections for Harvest begins/ Year 4 Ufton Court Meeting @ 9am

Tuesday 23rd - Year 4 Ufton Court Meeting @ 3.30pm

Wednesday 24th - Open morning @ 9.30am/ 4N start swimming/ Reception, Year 1& 2 Drama Workshop

Thursday 25th - Maths Parent Workshop @ 9.15am/ 3L start swimming/Secondary Transfer meeting @5 pm for years 5 & 6

Monday 29th - Macmillan Cake Sale/ Pre-loved uniform sale

Tuesday 30th - Reading drop-in

Parents of children in Years 5 and 6 are warmly invited to attend our Secondary Transfer Meeting on Tuesday 25th September.

To apply for secondary school transfer in Lambeth for September 2026, parents must submit the online Common Application Form (CAF) via eAdmissions by the deadline of 31 October 2025.

This session will provide an overview of the secondary school transfer process and offer the opportunity to hear directly from local secondary school leaders.

While the meeting is open to both Year 5 and Year 6 families, I particularly encourage Year 5 parents to also attend, as the information shared will be especially valuable in preparing for next year’s transition, in good time.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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The “Salt and Ice Challenge” is an online trend where young people place salt on their skin and press ice on top for as long as possible. Children and young people may underestimate the harm this can cause. Please read the attached document for more information.

We have been alerted to a fraudulent app in the Apple App Store that mimics ParentPay branding.

Security and safeguarding are top priorities at ParentPay Group, and we took swift action to report the app and are working closely with Apple to have it removed.

To date, we have recorded only 2 cases of affected parents.

Please be aware:

• ParentPay does not have an app available for download from any app stores

• To use ParentPay, parents should visit https://www.parentpay.com/ from a mobile phone or computer

• After logging in, parents can save a shortcut onto their phone’s home screen

This message is for awareness only, so you can confidently and quickly respond to any parent queries.

Yours sincerely,

ParentPay Group Customer Service Team

At Bonneville Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that our children and their families, staff and the community understand what it means to be seeking sanctuary and the struggles asylum seekers and refugees face. We extend a welcome to everyone as equal, valued members of the school community. We aim to extend a hand of friendship to those who need it; making everyone feel equal and valued as part of our ‘Bonneville family’.

When we need particular support from our parent community, we post for help on our 'Call to Action' page on the schools website, and send the direct page link in an email to our parent community. So signing up is really easy!

Perhaps you would like to be a secret reader (reading a story to your child’s class), or would like to support us in maximising children’s opportunity to practice their reading skills, we need you.

Press the title to find out more.

It is important to us that any concerns or questions you may have are dealt with as efficiently as possible. The structure we have in place is designed to do just that.

The structure

1) Your first port of call is -Your child’s class teacher

(email via the admin team to request a meeting)

2) You may contact the leader of your child’s phase (see below)

This includes issues regarding communication and organisation

(email via the admin team to request a meeting)

Should you be dissatisfied with the handling or outcome...

3) You may raise your concerns with Ms Parker

(email via the admin team to request a meeting outlining the nature for the purpose of the meeting)

Leaders are required to share items (as appropriate) with Ms Parker on a weekly basis, even if the matter is being handled by them.

We request that you do not field your concerns to FAB but instead work directly with the school staff as outlined above.

Rooms and spaces are available for hire at Bonneville. Use the link to check out our website and find out more.

Clubs run by external partners weekday evenings and at the weekend.

Tuesdays 6pm -7.15pm

Tuesdays 7.15pm - 8.45pm

Use this link to connect to the website and access community resources.

The Gaia Centre provides support for Lambeth residents affected by gender-based violence, including domestic abuse. An out-of-hours on-call service: 07725245779. Normal hours are 8am-6pm Monday – Friday. It also offers services for young people and advice for practitioners. Tel: 020 7733 8724, E: lambethvawg@refuge.org.uk.

Helpline support is available:

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 24/7
• Women’s Aid live chat, daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Men’s Advice Line, weekdays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Samaritans Helpline, 24/7
• Childline 24/7
• In emergencies, call 999

Additional resources are available on the Lambeth VAWG webpage and through Operation Encompass, a national initiative for children exposed to domestic abuse. For questions, contact: PS Laura Bennetts - laura.bennetts@met.police.uk or PC Rachel - Rachel.Dennison@met.police.uk or PC Nicola Smalldridge - Nicola.Smalldridge2@met.police.uk

Weekly- News Summary Video

Bi weekly- Year group learning updates on the school website

Monthly- Newsletter 'The Bonneville Buzz'

Monthly- Federation SEND Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/3ahfv

Termly- Annual Calendar of dates

Termly- Federation Newsletter

For more information on any of the above and more, press below to visit the schools website and follow us on Twitter!