The Week Ahead weekly newsletter

Growing Lives that Bear Fruit

This week...

Quick Stop Notices

Can you help - email suzannewells@bxs.org.uk

New School bank details

As a school we have decided to close our HSBC bank account, and have opened a new account with the Cooperative Bank.

The new account details are as follows:

Bradford Christian School

Sort code 08-92-99

Account no 63154896

As our HSBC account will be permanently closed in January, we would be grateful if you would arrange to change your fee payment to the new account as soon as possible.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Drama Workshops

We have an external drama workshop provider who is able to offer drama sessions for primary aged children. These will be held after school on Mondays, starting 15th January.

There is a cost for the lessons, it will be between £2 and £3 a session depending upon numbers. Children will sign up for the term, which is nine weeks long, so the cost will be between £18 and £27 for the term.

If you would like to enroll your child please email office@bxs.org.uk before Friday 15th December.

Dental places for under 16s

A local NHS dentist in the BD4 area are looking to register children under the age of 16, they are reaching out to local schools with a view to taking children who do not have a dentist at present.

"We take children’s oral health very seriously in our practice and as I’m sure you are aware the younger the children are seen and treated the better the outcome for them in adulthood."

Contact them regarding registration for you children. They cannot advise how long they will be registering so it would be advisable to contact them as soon as possible on 01274 688600.

Dentistry@BD4

134 Holme Lane,BD4 0PU

Discounted Train tickets

Building Project / Parking

We are now looking to be moved into the new building in January. Staff will be able to park in the car park and therefore there should be more room for parent parking.

Thank you for being flexible with routes around school and respectful parking so as to keep good relations with our neighbours.

This is a reminder about parking sensitively. We have received a complaint from a Wealdhere Street resident about a driveway being blocked again. A campaign to have yellow lines added to the streets around school is underway, which is an extreme response and one we hope to avoid. Please make sure you do not block a drive, do not block a corner and do not mount a kerb when you park your car. The council have instructed neighbours to photograph any cars parked badly and to report them to the police and to the council. It would be great if there was nothing to report.

Political actions on VAT policy

From the ICS:

All schools should be in touch with local politicians to make them aware of the impact of Labour’s tax proposals. We encourage you to focus on the impact on your parents, local state schooling, and your school operations. Stress whenever possible your school’s public benefit work, and existing links to the local community – as well as any specialised provision. While we still expect to see the tax proposals in the next Labour manifesto, our combined efforts are necessary to provide the best possible basis for conversations with Labour if they form the next government.

The ISC and associations are working at a national level to engage with the Labour VAT/charitable tax policy – but schools also have a vital role to play as local advocates. We are speaking to political parties, education groups, and unions – making them aware of the unintended consequences of the policy, but also the hugely positive role independent schools play in UK education. We are also highlighting the diversity of independent schools, the specialisms schools provide, and myth-busting about the true nature of our sector.

Chromebooks for School and home

You may be aware that school has now provided each student from year 5 to 11 with a Chromebook to use in school. These are allocated to individual students, who are responsible for looking after them, recharging them at the end of the day, and transporting them between lessons. In Year 5 all students receive a brand new machine.

Most schools charge a significant deposit for use of Chromebooks or alternative technology. We have decided against this, recognising it is an additional cost at a time when money is tight.

Most of our students are careful and responsible with Chromebooks, and they make it through their middle school and upper school years without a problem.

However, recently we are noticing a small number of students who are not taking appropriate care of their Chromebook. We can not afford to replace them when they are dropped, get wet, or get lost. A new screen is almost the cost of a new Chromebook. We are now expecting students to carry their Chromebooks in their bags to and from lessons.

From now on, we plan to make a charge to families if a student damages their Chromebook. This will be a flat £100 toward the cost of a replacement.

We do recognise that not all damage is the student's responsibility, and we will work hard to understand the cause of any damage before charging you. We understand that there may be wear and tear from daily use.

Thinking of getting your child a Chromebook for home? Check out our recommendation in this short article. Which Chromebook?

Google Classroom Clarification

If you are used to checking your child's google classroom summary of homework, all staff will use HOMEWORK in capitals as a prefix before the task. All other posts will refer to work undertaken in class.

Parent Prayers

Second use uniform

Parent WhatApp Group

Missed last weeks Week Ahead?

Go to our Parent Zone page to view the archive.

Parent Zone

Recent Policy Updates

Data Protection

Safeguarding

Next Week

No Study Club next two weeks.

Monday

Primary - Mr Phillips Christmas Play

Middle School - BFG play auditions

Tuesday

Primary - Christingle

Wednesday

Reception - Eye tests

Y5/6 - visit St James' Church Warm Space

Thursday

Y11 Careers Interviews

Friday

👇🏻Dates for your diary👇🏻

19th December - EYFS & Primary Nativity afternoon and early evening performances. Ticket details to be announced in November.
20th December - Early finish on last day of term - 12:00

🍕Lunches🍲

Order lunches here

Allergy advice

MIS latest version: v1.192

⭐️Stars & Students of the week⭐️

Primary School

Love

Evan for having a super week and overcoming some new challenges
Nina for super effort in her Phonics.

Peace

Ochifiye for having a super week and working hard in English.
Joshua for working hard in Maths on 2D shapes.

Kindness

Ethan for writing an excellent play script in English and fantastic poem.
Zachary for writing an excellent play script.

Bronze Award

Miriam
Myka
Maya
Angel

Middle School

Isaac for great enthusiasm in music during ensemble performance

Eileena for excellent engagement with music outside the classroom when creating her own lyrics.

Upper School

Y10

Zoe for supporting a student with science revision
Brayden for much more consistent effort in Science lessons
Anna for consistently mature and constructive approach in lessons
Jack for consistently high standard of work in Literature

Classroom News

AP Parents Christmas Cafe

Upper School Christmas Lunch

Mrs Trice-Parkin and Mrs Trice cooked both Upper school and the Staff a wonderful Christmas lunch on Wednesday. They all had a super time and the food was fantastic! Thank you ladies!

Primary Big Arts Day!

On Tuesday EYFS and Primary spent time together creating some scenes from the Nativity story to decorate the hall for our upcoming show 'I'm gonna shine'. The children enjoyed working together across year groups and created some fantastic art. Make sure you have a look at the display boards when you come and see the show to see what they created.

Helpful Links

Online Safety

Parent Resources

Prevent Stratergy

Fundraising

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!

We can win upto £1500 free if 5 new people signup to our Give as you Live campaign before the 17th December!

giveasyoulive-asset-christmas-shopping-twitter-post

Regular campaign link - https://www.giveasyoulive.com/charity/bradford-christian-school

£15 raised so far!

To say it's only been a short time we've been apart of the Stikins campaign, this is an incredible achievement. 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.

This term we have spent increasing amounts of staff time sorting out student issues with social media, usually happening at home.

Whilst the students may be part of our school, and are therefore our concern, we have no jurisdiction over their use of social media. This is really a parent responsibility. We can monitor use of school accounts, and are happy to work with you as parents, but we are not involved in monitoring their behaviour on Whatsapp, Snapchat, or other platforms. We teach them about online safety but the daily practice is beyond our control.

There is a reason for age limits on social media, and currently this is 16 for Whatsapp, 13 for Instagram, 13 for Snapchat, 13 for Facebook.

Although WhatsApp has an age restriction of 16+, it is becoming an increasingly popular messaging app amongst younger children. Depending on your child’s privacy settings, anyone can contact them or add them to group chats. Recently, WhatsApp have introduced new features which will ensure that the most appropriate settings are applied to the application for your child, to protect their safety.

If your child has a phone with internet access please make sure you have protective factors in place to help them navigate their use in a healthy way. The virtual world can be great, but requires maturity to navigate. Some children are ready for it, others need guidance and support.

Jane Prothero