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The Week Ahead Updates and Communication for Parents

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Psalm 1 v 3

Growing Lives that Bear Fruit

    Quick Stop Notices ✋🏼📋

    Please check the Parent Portal for the latest Parent Agreement to read and agree to. Email help@bxs.org.uk for any assistance.

    eDen information
    What will the children do?
    Sessions will be led by Mr Kershaw, alongside other BCS staff, and may include activities such as:
    • Shelter building, rope-work and woodland crafts
    • Nature knowledge (recognise, or find out what this leaf / tree / plant / insect is)
    • Fire, outdoor cooking, food prep and eating together
    • Slicing, splitting, whittling & carving vegetables and wood using small hand tools (strict adult supervision)
    Clothing and Weather
    Forest School runs all year round, in almost all weather conditions. 
    "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." 
    We ask that you provide weather-appropriate clothing for your child to change into. Your child will need long sleeves, long trousers, a fully waterproof coat and wellies or sturdy boots. Hopefully they will come home wet, muddy and rosy-cheeked. 
    When will my child be outside?
    • Years 1-8 will be outside for a double lesson once every 3 weeks, on Wednesday afternoons 
    • Acorns will have an outside lesson every 2 weeks, on Friday afternoons
    • Oaks will have an outside every 2 weeks, alternating Tuesday and Friday afternoons
    Important Information

    Who to Contact First About Any Concerns

    If you have any day-to-day concerns about your child, please contact your child's form teacher(s) first. Most classes have two teachers who work in pairs, so it's helpful to copy both teachers into your email.

    Contact List by Year Group

    Early Years & Primary:

    • EYFS Nursery – Mrs Morley
    • Reception – Mrs Hutton and Mrs Kirkby
    • Year 1 and 2 (Joy Class) – Mrs Travis
    • Year 3 and 4 (Kindness Class) – Mrs Garcia and Mrs Lush
    • Year 5 and 6 – Mrs Ferreira Morfin and Mrs Marsden

    Secondary:

    • Year 7 and 8 – Mr Horton and Miss Hutcheson
    • Year 9 and 10 – Miss Stewart and Mr Coe
    • Year 11 – Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Taylor

    Acorn & Oak Classes:

    • Acorn – Miss Rowe
    • Oak 9/10 – Mrs Virgo
    • Oak 11 – Miss Grintals and Mrs Mackenzie

    Response Times

    Teachers will respond to your emails during school hours. Please note that staff will not respond to emails between 4pm and 9am to protect their work-life balance.

    If Your Concern Needs Further Support

    If your concern is not resolved by your child's form teacher, please contact:

    • Primary concerns – Mrs Garcia and Mrs Hutton
    • Middle and Upper School concerns – Mrs Taylor and Mrs Hoskins
    • SEND concerns – Mrs Kershaw, who may delegate to her SEND team - Mrs Virgo, Miss Rowe and Mrs Hutton 

     

    Breakfast Club
    Football (external)

    Gymnastics Classes (external)

    Parent Prayers

    Next Week ➡️👀

    Commencing 19th October 2026

    Monday:

    7:55 - 8:55: Breakfast Club 🥐

    15:30 - 16:30: Study Club (Yr5 - 11) 📖

    15:30 - 16:30: Upper School Sports Leadership ⚾🏀🏈🏉🎾⚽

    Tuesday:

    7:55 - 8:55: Breakfast Club 🥐

    9:00: SCHOOL PHOTOS. Please send your child in school uniform 📸 👔

    15:30 - 16:30: Study Club (Yr5 - 11) 📖

    15:30 - 16:30: Primary After School Sports ⚾🏀🏈🏉🎾⚽

    Wednesday: 

    7:55 - 8:55: Breakfast Club 🥐

    9:00 - 15:30: Yr11 Leadership ACSI 🧑‍🧒‍🧒

    15:30: Break-up for Half-term - Return on 3rd November

    15:30 - 16:30: Study Club (Yr5 - 11) 📖

    15:30 - 16:30: Middle School Football ⚽

    Thursday:

    SCHOOL CLOSED

    Friday:

    SCHOOL CLOSED

    Dates for your Diary 🗓️

    November 2026

    • Tue 3rd:
      • School re-opens
      • Year 10 Work experience week
    • 6th: DofE Practice day
    • 9th: National Childhood Measurement screening
    • 10 - 11th: Parents Evening TBC
    • 26th: Staff PD Day

    👨🏼‍🎓Students and Stars 🌟 of the Week

    Primary:

    Lewis (YN1) for amazing enthusiasm and participation in nursery phonics and showing his super reading skills!
    Caleb (YR) for thoughtful processing of our bible story and applying it in his prayers
    Tioluwanimi (Y1) Consistently hard working and kind to others
    Seth (Y1) Being adaptable to different routines and classrooms
    Tara (Y2) Great imagination in her writing
    Eliza (Y3) For a great start to learning Spanish.

    Middle:

    Theo (Y7) for: Applying effective learning strategies
    Roman (Y7) for: Brilliant work in RE - extensive knowledge of Rome
    Emilia (YAcorns) for: Starting full days.

    Upper:

    Eileena (Y11) for: Really engaged with English.
    Addie (Y11) for: Excellent standard of work in science.
    Musa (YOak) for: Working above and beyond requirements

    🎓 Classroom 👨‍🏫 News

    First Encounters Shakespeare: Julius Caesar

    On Wednesday, our Year 7 and 8 students visited Dixons Cottingley for a captivating
    performance of Julius Caesar by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
    Set against a dramatic prison backdrop, this dynamic 90-minute adaptation gripped our
    students from start to finish, sparking strong engagement with its central themes and
    dramatic techniques. Following the show, students joined the actors for an insightful Q&A,
    exploring the play’s message and its impact on the audience - with BCS students offering
    particularly thoughtful contributions.
    The ultimate highlight came after the show, when several cast members praised our
    students for their outstanding focus and enthusiasm, noting how much they enjoyed having
    them in the audience. As the youngest group in attendance, their exemplary behavior was a
    credit to the school. We could not be prouder of how brilliantly they represented BCS!
    Mrs K

    eDen this week

    Students wrote poetry, made sparks fly and hung out in the hammock this week.

    Thankfulness

    Year 1 and 2 children have been learning how to be a gold detective; someone who actively looks for things to be thankful for. They made gold thankful glasses, to help see all the wonderful things God has given us to be thankful for.

    Year 5 and 6 Residential

    This week, Year 5 and 6 spent 3 days at Curly Hill campsite. We did clip and climb (PICTURES FROM PREVIOUS EMAIL), went swimming, and had a campfire with Mr Kershaw, where they learnt how to build fires and toast marshmallows. Everyone had a good time, and the weather was great. We also got lots of compliments about how well-behaved the students were in all activities and even from passers-by when walking to and from Ilkley train station.

    PTFA 👨🏻‍👩🏼‍👧🏻‍👦🏼 💬 Parent, Teacher & Friends Association

     

    If you would like to know more or join the PTFA, please email admin.ptfa@bxs.org.uk

    🎯 Fundraising 🏆

    Stewardship are a Christian charity organisation who have been helping charities raise crucial funds since 1906! You can read more about them here.

    If you or anyone you know feel able to give regularly to the work of Bradford Christians School, click the yellow button above to get started and thank you!

    It's free to sign up to and start supporting us with Give as you Live. Send our unique campaign links to friends and family so they can support us for free too!

    (Click)

    Click to enlarge
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    £30 raised so far!

    Please continue to engage with this campaign.

    Thank you!

    (click)

    £30 raised so far!

    Please continue to engage with this campaign. Thank you!

    📰 Headteacher's Message

    Our Mission

    To provide a holistic Christian education for all and to inspire discipleship.

    Our Vision

    To be a Christian community in which everyone grows in character, faith, knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

    What a half term it's been!

    Hi everyone,

    We hope you've had a wonderful half term. We wanted to take a moment to share some of the exciting things that have been happening at school – and there's been a lot!

    Yes, we know there's still plenty to do (we're working on it!), but we're really proud of how far we've come and wanted to celebrate that with you.

    🏫 Settling into our new spaces

    Primary

    The Primary children have absolutely loved their new space! Watching them enjoy playtimes in the EYFS area has been brilliant – they're making the most of all the equipment and outdoor space.

    Oaks and Acorns

    Big news here – these classes are now in the main building, which means our students are right in the heart of school life. We can now move students between spaces depending on what works best for them, and all our Year 11s now have the same privileges. It's working really well!

    Looking after wellbeing

    Mrs Horton has joined us to offer trauma therapy, working alongside Mrs Walker (our counsellor). It's wonderful to have this extra support in place for our students.

    Welcome to our new team members!

    We've had some brilliant new staff join us this half term who've already become such valued members of the team. It's lovely to see everyone settling in so well.

    🎒 Amazing residential experiences

    What a term for trips! We're so proud of everything our students have experienced:

    Year 11 - ACSI Leadership Conference, Cheshire 🌟
    Some of our Year 11s are currently in Cheshire at a Christian conference centre, developing their leadership skills alongside young Christians from all across Europe. What an incredible opportunity!

    Year 7 and 8 - London calling! 🏛️
    Our Year 7 and 8 students had a fantastic time exploring London's history, culture and landmarks.

    Year 5 and 6 - Curly Hill adventure 🌲
    This week, Year 5 and 6 have been at Curly Hill enjoying outdoor education and team-building. We can't wait to hear all about their adventures!

    Coming up: Year 9 and 10 - Berlin in December ✈️
    Year 9 and 10 students will be heading to Berlin in December for a cultural and historical visit. Watch this space for more details!

    🏗️ Site improvements – the list keeps growing!

    What we've ticked off this half term:

    ✅ Painting and decorating in school - from the hall way down to the kitchen, and the primary toilets
    ✅ Playground and entrance tree removal and re-tarmacking
    ✅ Forest School area is up and running (the children are using it every week!)
    ✅ New art and music rooms in the portacabins
    ✅ New boilers installed back in March – ready to fire up after half term
    ✅ Shiny new radiators in the new classrooms and Oaks and Acorns
    ✅ Staff workroom (still a work in progress but already being put to good use!)
    ✅ A brand new washing machine donated for EYFS by a kind donor

    What's coming next:

    🔧 EYFS swings, fences, benches, grates and sheds getting some TLC
    🔧 Toilet reconfiguration plans
    🔧 New surface under the main playground swings
    🔧 Main playground swing repairs
    🔧 Outdoor furniture restoration
    🔧 Sensory garden development (exciting!)

     

    Meet Our Site Team!

    We're delighted to introduce two wonderful people who are helping transform our school grounds.

    Paul Clifford – Groundworks Contractor

    Paul has been with us since September and has already made fantastic progress on projects around the site. He's a skilled carpenter and groundworks contractor, but more than that, he's a lovely Christian man who genuinely feels called by God to help us renovate our school.

    Paul shares our vision for Bradford Christian School and sees his work here as ministry. He brings not only his practical skills but also his faith to everything he does – you'll often catch him praying about his work and his interactions with people around the site. He's passionate about creating outdoor spaces where our children can learn, play and flourish, and believes that the physical environment of our school should reflect God's beauty and care for His creation.

    Paul is a timely Godsend! Mr McGrail has been working closely with him to speed along the jobs we've been wanting to get done, and we're excited about the improvements he's helping us make.

    John Thomson – Painter

    We'd also like to introduce John Thomson, who works with us during school holidays to keep our buildings looking their best. John is married to Heather who used to work in school, and is now a governor, and he brings the same dedication and care to his painting work that Paul brings to the grounds.

    John shares our Christian values and takes real pride in making sure our school environment is welcoming, bright and well-maintained for our children and staff. His attention to detail and commitment to excellence means a new area of our school always looks its best when the new term begins.

    Both Paul and John are wonderful additions to our school community, and their work is helping us create the kind of environment where our children can thrive. Please make them both feel welcome when you see them around the site, and feel free to thank them for the difference they're making to our school.

    🎆 Bonfire Night fun for Primary!

    Mark your calendars – our Primary students will be enjoying a special quiter Bonfire Night celebration on the evening of 5th November. We'll send more details home soon about timings and tickets

    🌟 Thank you!

    We're so grateful for your continued support as we keep improving our facilities, wellbeing provision and the amazing experiences we can offer your children.

    The range of residential trips this term really shows our commitment to helping students grow, develop their character and broaden their horizons – and we couldn't do it without you.

    Have a great week!

    J.Prothero

    Jane Prothero

    MEd, NASENCO
    Headteacher, SLT
    "Growing Lives That Bear Fruit"
    "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord" – Colossians 3:23

    Thank you for your continued support of Bradford Christian School

    Have a Blessed Weekend!