Please note that school is closed for pupils this Friday (14/02/20).

As Saint David’s Day is coming up, we will be holding an Eisteddfod celebration in Rhydri Village Hall for both Bedwas Junior School and Rhydri Primary School on Friday 28th February 2020. Children are invited to wear Welsh costumes or red clothing.

As part of the Eisteddfod, one of the competitions children are invited to participate in is the home craft competition. This year all children will be invited to make a Love Spoon that represents themselves. This could be as simple as a drawing on paper to a 3d model- be as creative as you like! We will be judging entries from each of the classes on originality and how much work the children have contributed.

The children in Yellow Class thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Wales Millennium Centre yesterday where they were able to see behind the scenes of the theatre and catch a glimpse of an opera rehearsal. Blue class also enjoyed visiting Techniquest this term where they had an insight into Victorian medicine! Green and Orange class are looking forward to visiting Llancaiach Fawr Manor tomorrow where they are going to be joining ‘The Written Word’ workshop. The children have been excellent during their class outings and are a credit to the school. Thank you for your prompt payments which enable these experiences for the children. In response to parental feedback in the summer questionnaire, we have tried to organise more trips this academic year.

When parking around the school please make sure that you park as safely as possible and also ensure that no children are left unattended in your parked cars. This will help us all keep the children as safe as possible.

Please note that the PTA are hosting a hot chocolate morning tomorrow (13^th) where the children will be able to purchase a hot chocolate for 50p.

The payment cards for next year’s Year 6 residential trip will be sent out immediately after half-term.

A reminder that all year 6 will be visiting crucial crew in Blackwood today, and that children will require a packed lunch as they will be returning to school during lunch time.

Please note, Mr Wheeler will be in on Monday 10th February for Brass lessons instead of today.

A reminder of school book day tomorrow!

Children are invited to dress up as a book character, if they do not wish to do so, please send your child to school in their regular school uniform.

We would also like to remind you about the virtual book fayre which runs until Sunday evening. Please follow the instructions on the letter sent home with details on how to order so that you and the school can benefit from this special opportunity.

A reminder that it is our book day this Friday. Children are invited to dress up for the day to depict a book character or a book-related theme. Home-made / recycled costumes are encouraged!

Both schools will celebrate with a visit and workshops from the poet Paul Cookson during the day and the staff are busy planning some interesting and enjoyable poetry activities too.

Paul will be bringing some of his published books with him and the children will have an opportunity to buy a book for £5 or a comic for £1.

The deadline for payment for continuing access to music lessons and clubs for this term was Friday 24^th January. If payment has not been received we will assume that you no longer wish your child to access these groups and the places will be offered to pupils on any waiting lists; if this is not the case please contact the school office as soon as possible.

Further to the note sent home yesterday another reminder for these meetings –

The information presentation for parents of both Bedwas and Rhydri pupils will take place on Wednesday 5^th February; This will be led by a representative of the company that will be providing the residential trip in October. There will be a session in Bedwas at 3.20pm and in Rhydri at 5.30pm. Parents from both schools are welcome at either meeting if one time is more convenient than the other.

In order to recognise and celebrate our children’s achievements outside school we have prepared a display board where these achievements can be shared. So many of our children have such busy lives outside school with sport, art, music and activities such as Scouting / Guiding that we want to recognise these as they give a much more complete picture of our talented and committed young people. We also have children who attend national competitions in a variety of sports and activities and want to be able to celebrate these achievements. If they want to share these with the school community they will need to write a short explanation of what they have done and provide a picture (if appropriate), Mrs Thomas will then put these up on display in the main corridor next to reception. If we have enough new items through the year the board can then be updated regularly. Any submissions for the board can be given to your child’s class teacher. We are hoping to have our first ‘stars’ up straight after half-term!

Miss Ward, one of our teaching assistants, will be leaving us to start a new job just before half-term. I would like to thank her for her hard work and commitment to the school; we will all miss her and wish her the very best of luck in her new job!

Children are invited to dress up as a favourite book character or book-based theme.

Home-made or recycled costumes are encouraged. There will be a prize for the most creative costume in each class. Prizes have kindly been donated by the Rhydri and Bedwas PTAs.

As you know, we are excited that poet Paul Cookson will be visiting us.  After his performance and workshop sessions, children will have an opportunity to buy one of his books of poems (see below).

These will be available at the reduced price of £5 each. He will also be selling a comic called “Looney Verses” for £1.

Details of the Books For Bugs Virtual Book Fair taking place for the whole of this week are attached.  ALL BOOKS ARE £2.50!

The schools will be able to claim a free book for every five purchased during the week.

Please take advantage of the free postage and packing offer.

Choose from over 1000 brand new, popular children’s books.

Simply visit www.booksforbugs.co.uk/shop and choose your books

Once you get to the checkout stage please compete the billing details as normal but remember at the delivery details stage to add your child’s name and class where prompted.

For the delivery address please put Bedwas School and the schools postcode CF83 8EB this will remove all postage fees.

You can order up until midnight on Sunday 2nd February.

All orders will then be dispatched on the Monday.

Thank you for your support.

Mrs K Beeby

On Tuesday 4^th February Children in Blue Class, along with Years 5 and 6 at Rhydri Primary School, will be visiting Techniquest to attend a Victorian Medicine Workshop, as part of their Science curriculum.

The cost of the trip is £8.50 per child which goes towards covering the cost of the coach and the £5.00 entry fee to the workshop. Please complete the consent slip below and return to school with cash or cheques made payable to Bedwas Junior School, as soon as possible in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name and class.

The children will be leaving school first thing in the morning and will return to school by 3pm. Children will require a packed lunch. There will be an opportunity for children to visit the onsite shop and we recommend a maximum of £2 spending money.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact the school.