Dear parents and carers

What a whirlwind of a week here at The Tynings. A very well done to all of our Year 6 children who have conducted themselves brilliantly through their national tests this week. I am confident that everyone has done their very best!

Last Saturday seems like a very long time ago….in the pouring rain myself, Mrs Shearing, Mr & Mrs Mundy, Mrs Pike, Miss Hudson and Miss Thomas all successfully abseiled from the roof of Southmead Hospital. It was a fantastic team effort, but a special well done to Mrs Shearing, who faced her fear of heights and made it to the bottom. We also nicknamed Mr Mundy ‘Spiderman’ for his speedy descent. Thank you to Tommy for coming to cheer us along, and to all of you who were able to donate. So far we have raised £1585, making us the top fundraising team of the weekend. If you still wish to make a donation the link is here Southmead Hospital Charity: Abseil Adventure (enthuse.com) A total of £39.9K was raised over the weekend!

Class organisation for 2023-24

Parents of our younger children received a letter last week to let them know about the mixing of year groups, so I thought I would take this opportunity to explain why we need to mix classes up. Unfortunately we are subject to a falling roll, so fewer children are coming to The Tynings, because there just aren’t so many children in the area, particularly now that the new Lyde Green School is built. Our current pupil admission number is 60, but we have not filled those spaces for the past 5 years. We are looking to reduce our admission number to 45, which will mean we have mixed age classes for the future, unless there is a significant baby boom in the area! The reason we need to do this, is because of funding – schools are funded according to the number of pupils, and as you can imagine, a smaller number of children does not provide funding for fourteen classes.

However the classes are arranged, it is always done with the children’s best interests at heart; this year, we will be having three parallel EYFS/Y1 classes, and three parallel Y2/3 classes (all other year groups will have two classes per year) We have established a rolling plan for the learning of subjects other than maths and English, so that the children do not repeat learning. In maths, reading and writing, the children will be taught so that they reach their end of year expectations.

If your child is in EYFS, Y1, Y2, or Y3, please can you make sure you have returned the information requested. Thank you

Congratulations to the following children who have received ‘Hot Chocolate Friday’ packs from Mrs Haydon:

Hedgehogs – Maddie,  Squirrels – Spencer,  Owls – Lacey,  Robins – Grayson,  Foxes – Willow,  Deer – Leo,  Kingfishers – Esme,  Woodpeckers – Josh,  Badgers – Rose,  Otters – Lily,  Kestrels –  George. 

Congratulations to the following children who are our ‘Champions of the Week!’

Hedgehogs – Jessica P,  Squirrels – Jayan,  Owls – Bow,  Robins – Jim,  Foxes – Fatimah,  Deer – Harriet,  Kingfishers – Ismaeel,  Woodpeckers – Kingsley, Badgers – Bella,  Otters – Emma,  Falcons – Whole class,  Kestrels – Whole class.

Upcoming dates for the diary:

Thursday 18th May: ASD coffee morning, 9.00 am

Thursday 18th May: Year 5 trip to Techniquest

Friday 26th May: Last day of Term 5

Monday 5th June: Start of Term 6, children return to school

Friday 9th June: Reading Cafe, 8.40 am