1. education
2. school

APRIL
2015
BELMONT CASTLE ACADEMY
NEWSLETTER
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to you all and I hope you had a lovely Easter break. The Summer
term tends to be the busiest of the three with so much going on. I remember
promising you this time last year we would make more of St George’s Day and that
is precisely what we are going to do. On the day itself we will be marking the
occasion by asking the children to come in dressed as St George’s, Dragons and
even Fair Maidens. To keep things simple your child could come dressed in what
they wore for the Medieval Banquet. We will also be holding a Special ‘St George’s
Day’ lunch, assemblies linked to this theme as well as activities in class.
Sporting Success at County Level – Essex Cross-Country Final
Well done to all the children who took part in this year’s Essex Cross Country
final, which took place at the end of last half term. There were many successes
on the day including most notably; the Year 5 girls team coming 1st overall in
their race (pictured), Elliot achieving a silver medal individually in the Year 5 boys
race and the Year 3 girl’s team coming 2nd and getting the silver medal.
Our school came away with the second highest number of medals on the day, which
is a fabulous achievement considering this was a County Championship. Another
very proud day to be part of BCA and I must say once again a big thank you to Mr
Garcia, Mrs Croft and Mr Perkins for preparing the children so well.
Essex County Gymnastics Finals
Well done to all seven girls in the gymnastics team for getting 3rd place in this
year’s County finals. This is the second year we have got into the medals, which is a
brilliant achievement when you consider how high the standard is. This year was
even tougher than last year with very little between the top five teams in Essex.
Sporting Success at Borough level – KS1 Indoor Athletics Competition
Well done also to all the children in Year 1 and 2 children who took part in
the recent Indoor Athletics competition, winning many medals on the day
helping to secure a first place for BCA.
Mothers Day Celebration Event
Thank-you to all you mums, over 270 of you, who came into school on the
afternoon of 16th March and spent the afternoon with your child either in
class or having afternoon tea. For me, this has to be one of the highlights
of the year so far and judging by many of your lovely comments,
something we will have to repeat next year. I know Mrs Croom who
planned the event was sorry not to be there. Thanks once again to Mrs
Payne our catering manager, the rest of her team in the kitchen and all
the staff who helped to make this such a successful event.
Spring Concert
The Spring concert was a new event in our calendar, but it proved so successful with nearly two hundred
parents attending, that we will certainly hold it again next year. I have posted pictures on our website.
We are hoping that our Steel Pan group will be performing at this years’ Thurrock Music Festival in July.
Decorating Easter Egg competition
Well done to all the children who took part in this year’s KS1 Easter bonnet or KS2 decorating the egg
competition. There were some really great entries this year making judging very tricky. Thanks to the PTA
for donating the prizes and also providing the Chocolate eggs for the Easter egg hunt.
Update on money raised as part of the ‘HCPT – The Pilgrimage Trust’
Mrs Green who organised this event, has asked me to pass on her thanks to all the children who brought in
their 2p coins. Congratulations to R1 for making the longest line of coins an impressive 100m. In total £250
was raised.
Year 6’s
Once again, good luck to all the year 6’s for their SAT tests which commence on the 11th of May. Listed
below are dates of when they will be taking each test.
Monday
Reading Task
Tuesday
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling
Wednesday
Maths – Paper 1 and Mental maths
Thursday
Maths – Paper 2
Please let us know if your child is likely to miss one of the tests for any reason to see what we can do to
help. It is important to remember that your child must not miss any of the tests or they will score a zero
for that particular subject. All the year 6’s are invited to come into school a little earlier to have a free
breakfast to ensure they are relaxed and ready.
Phonics Workshop for Parents
We are planning to run a ‘Phonics’ workshop session for Year 1 and 2 parents, to provide information about
the Phonics Screening Test which takes place in June. Further information will be sent out in a separate
letter.
Recent Parents’ Meetings
I hope you were able to meet with your child’s teacher at the recent Parents meetings held on Thursday
26th of March. Judging by those of you I did get to speak to on the day, you seem to like this arrangement
of meeting either in one of the two halls for KS1 and 2 and in the Early Years block if your child is in
Reception.
Attendance Update
I am pleased to report that overall Attendance from the start of the year to the end of the Spring term is
95.4%, which not only is slightly above our target but also an improvement on previous years.
Uniform Reminder
As we are now in the Summer term please could you ensure children are wearing correct uniform as set out
in our School Uniform Policy: Girls; yellow or purple check dresses. Shoes must be flat and worn with
socks; no more than 3cm at the back of the heel. NO flashing lights, mules, sling backs, strappy sandals,
clogs or other fashion shoe is allowed. Boys; short grey trousers, white polo top or short sleeve shirt,
plain black footwear Jewellery - Small, plain stud earrings and small- faced watches only (Jewellery worn
for religious purposes must be agreed and removed for swimming and P.E.) Hair and Make Up - No visible
hair products, cut in hair designs, tattoos, body piercing, make up, perfume or nail varnish is allowed. Long
hair must be tied back with a simple/soft hair band or scrunchy / elastic. Hair ornaments such as bows and
hair bands must be small and plain coloured.
General Reminders
Just a quick reminder for children to bring in water bottles now that the weather is starting to get
warmer.
Please could you ensure that all money coming into school, ie school trips, dinners etc is in a sealed envelope.
School Websites
www.belmontcastleacademy.org
Yours sincerely
M Jones
Principal
SUMMER TERM DATES
April
Tue 14th
Wed 15th
Fri 17th
Tue 21st
Wed 22nd
Wed 22nd
Thur 23rd
rd
Thur 23
th
Tue 28
th
Thur 30
May
st
Fri 1
th
Thur 7
th
Fri 8
Tbc
th
Mon 11
th
Tue 12
th
Tue 12
Tue 12th
th
Wed 13
th
Thur 14
th
Fri 15
tbc
th
Wc Mon 18
th
Tue 19
st
Thur 21
nd
Fri 22
th
Wc Mon 25
Swimming for Year 1 starts – Class 19 and 20
Scooter Assembly
Class 17 Assembly
Class photos in the New Hall
Phonic Screening Workshop Old Hall 9.00am and 2.30pm
Class photos in the New Hall
St George’s Day (Knights and Dragons day)
Borough Olympics KS1 Cross country
Scooter skills session
Year 4 visit to Colchester Zoo
Class 7 Assembly
Year 1 to Legoland
Class 16 Assembly
Key Steps competition for Years 1,2,3 and 4
KS2 SATs – English Reading test
Year 5 visit to Kent Life museum
KS2 SATs - Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
Nursery New Parents meeting (6pm)
KS2 SATs – Mental maths / Maths paper 1
KS2 SATs – Maths paper 2
Class R3 assembly
KS1 SATs week
Spanish Trip
Reception intake meeting (6pm)
CATs production – Year 5 (Parents invited)
Class 15 assembly
Half term week
Just a reminder that like all organisations, at BCA we will not tolerate aggressive or abusive
behaviour and those who persist in doing this will be banned from the school site