Dear Parents and Carers, 
We have had a wonderful first week back after half term. We started the week with an assembly about the children’s new PSHCE topic, Healthy Me. We talked about how we might keep our bodies and minds healthy, what healthy friendships look like, and the importance of developing good habits.
Unfortunately, I had to speak to the children about being respectful to the school building, because some children were not treating the toilets respectfully last term, which almost resulted in the school being flooded during half term! We’ve always trusted the children to use the facilities sensibly at school, which most of them do. I explained to them how they must look after the school building, resources and especially the toilets; otherwise, we will have no choice but to limit when they are used. I’m pleased to say the children have responded well this week, but they must keep up the good work throughout the term.
Next week
Some of our Year 6 children have volunteered to represent Beaford in the Exmoor Challenge this year, and next week Jane and I will take them on their first practice walk around the village on Monday. The children are building up to a 16-mile walk across Exmoor without adult support. We entered our first team last year, and I’m glad to see our current Year 6 children keen to challenge themselves.
The children have a skateboard and scooter workshop next Wednesday run by Team Rubicon. They came in last year to deliver a session and the children enjoyed it so much we thought we’d better have them back again. Children can wear trainers on Wednesday to take part. Thank you to Emily for organising it — she is always on the lookout for interesting initiatives for our children.
World Book Day is on Thursday and we’re celebrating at Beaford in the usual way. Children can come to school dressed as a character from fiction and bring in a beloved book to read. Have a think over the weekend about how you might get creative with what you have at home. In school, we’ll have an assembly, a character parade and teachers will run some special lessons in class.
After school wrap-around care
As I mentioned in previous newsletters, Sarah can no longer run our after-school wrap-around care four evenings a week. We have advertised for a replacement for the role, but it has proven difficult to find a candidate who has an EYFS qualification.
Sarah has very kindly offered to continue running the after-school club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and teachers are supporting Chantal to run the club on Mondays to ensure that Nursery children who attend wrap-around care can continue to do so until the end of the school year.
We can no longer take Nursery children on a Thursday, but the club is open to Reception–Year 6 children as normal. I apologise for the slight change in our offer. I know how important wrap-around care is to working families and have strived to find a solution that ensures the club continues and that the Nursery children we currently serve are unaffected by the change.
Breakfast club role
Our take-up of the new free breakfast club programme this year has been extremely successful. With many children taking up the offer of a soft start and a free breakfast. Unfortunately, Teresa, who runs the club three days a week, can no longer continue in the role after Easter.
We are looking for someone local or a member of our community to run our breakfast club. The role is from 8:00am–9:15am and is an opportunity to spend time with our wonderful children outside of the classroom. If you’re interested in the role, or know someone who would be, please come and have a chat for further details. No previous experience or specific qualifications are needed to apply. You can apply here:
https://mynewterm.com/jobs/149090/EDV-2026-BCPS-13724
Finally, we welcomed our three new staff members this week and they have all hit the ground running and made an immediate contribution to the school. We are very excited for them to join the team. I would like to thank Chantal, Chrissie and Anna for settling in so quickly and look forward to working with them in the future.
George Myers
Head of School
