Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the first Newsletter of the new academic year 2021-22. It is an absolute pleasure to welcome you and the children back to school after the Summer Break, and to see or brand new starters in Nursery and Reception, who are settling in brilliantly, playing together and making new friends.
In this edition you will find information about Wrap-Around Care, Nursery places, school times, term dates, sporting activities, drinking water in school and our ever-present need for donations of spare clothes. There is special information for parents and carers of children in Year 6, who need to make sure they attend secondary school open evenings/events from now to help them choose a secondary school for their child for September 2022, and an important reminder for everyone to return permission slips by Tuesday 14 September to ensure we are able to place images on Twitter and the school website. am delighted that the vast majority of you give permission for this; images are never presented in a way that children can be identified by name.
Brunswick Park is on Twitter @BrunswickParkPS. Mr Moudiotis is leading our Social Media and Communication Strategy this year to improve communication with the School Community and raise the profile of the school and the excellent work done here by our staff and children. We already communicate with you by telephone, letters sent home with your children, post, text, email, ParentMail and the school website. Now we have social media, all bases are covered, and we hope you find the school’s presence on it useful.
Brunswick’s children are motivated to learn, interested, inquisitive, polite and friendly, and I am proud of each and every one of them. At school we have noticed that during the Coronavirus pandemic they have become less confident to speak. Many are out of practice because they have been with fewer people, visited fewer different places and been online using technology more, when they do not need to talk. As Head Teacher, I need to ensure that Brunswick’s children go to secondary school as confident communicators, and that they have built sufficient cultural capital – how well an individual is able to succeed academically and engage in wider society – to know, understand and choose what they want to do. At the moment, the country is led by people who have only known privilege, and who take success for granted. Our children deserve the same opportunities. Fortune favours the brave, and those who have the courage, confidence and skill to talk to everyone. Through implementing our Oracy Strategy this year, we will enable our children to communicate clearly and with confidence. We have started with the importance of making and keeping eye contact when speaking, and of replying using full sentences. Please reinforce and encourage these at home; it is surprising how quickly conversation improves, but lots of practice is needed until habits are formed.
Finally, Brunswick is proud of its inclusive ethos. I wish Brunswick’s families a happy Pride Weekend, and a safe and healthy fortnight ahead.
Susannah Belling