The Week Ahead Updates and Communication for Parents

A note about communication

We're so grateful for the positive relationships we have with our families and the support you give our school community. Our compliments log is thirty times as long as our complaints log this year, which reflects the supportive community in our school. Paul Clifford, our new contractor who is working on repairs around school, has noticed the amazing welcome from parents and it makes him want to stay with us!

This spirit of love, respect and partnership is at the heart of our school vision: to be a Christian community in which everyone grows in character, faith, knowledge, understanding and wisdom. As it says in Psalm 1 v3, 'That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.' Your kindness and support help our whole community to flourish.

However, we've noticed that sometimes emails are being written using AI tools. While we understand AI might seem helpful, these tools can sometimes create messages that sound quite formal or harsh, even when that's not intended. This can be upsetting for our staff, who work so hard to support your children.

If you have a concern or question, we'd love to chat with you in person or over the phone. Face-to-face conversations are often the quickest and most effective way to resolve issues, and they help us maintain the warm, supportive relationships that make our school community special. Of course, if it's a quick question, email is helpful, but if it's a bigger issue a conversation is usually better.

Our mission is to provide a holistic Christian education for all and to inspire discipleship – and this includes the way we communicate with one another. Through partnership with parents, we want to ensure all BCS students are loved, valued and respected, and that starts with how we speak to each other.

Please contact the school office or the staff member directly to arrange a meeting – we're always happy to talk things through with you. We'll do our best to accommodate your needs, though we may need to balance meeting requests across all our families to ensure everyone receives the support they need.

Thank you so much for your continued support and partnership.

Healthy Eating

Working together on healthy eating

During our recent inspection, inspectors noted that some packed lunches were quite high in sugar, salt and processed foods. We'd love to work with you to make small, positive changes to support your child's energy and concentration.

School meals

If packed lunches are challenging, consider school meals. Our dinners are now nutritionally balanced with plenty of vegetables, wholegrains and protein – even our Friday fish fingers and chips come with veg as part of a balanced weekly menu!

What makes a healthy lunchbox?

For children able to eat a varied diet, try to include:

• Starchy carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice)
• Protein (meat, fish, eggs, beans, hummus)
• Dairy or alternatives (cheese, yoghurt)
• Fruit and vegetables
• Water only in bottles

Please limit: sugary drinks, chocolate bars, sweets, crisps and heavily processed foods. Keep these for after school!

Every child is different

If your child has ASD, ARFID, allergies or other special dietary needs, please don't worry – we understand their needs are unique. Contact your child's class teacher to discuss individual circumstances.

Resources:

• ARFID Awareness UK: www.arfidawarenessuk.org
• National Autistic Society: www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/food-and-eating

Allergies: We have children in our primary school with serious nut allergies. Please do not send any foods containing nuts in lunchboxes to keep everyone safe. Please check food labels carefully.

After half term: We'll be monitoring lunchboxes more closely after half term. If improvements are needed, we'll have a friendly chat with your child first, then contact you to see how we can support you. 

We have also put guidelines in place for our upper school students when they go out for lunch, and will be monitoring this more closely

Updates to Our Complaints Policy

Important updates to our complaints policy

This week we've updated our complaints policy and wanted to share the key changes with you. We really value the open and constructive relationships we have with our families, and we want to make sure you know how to raise any concerns you might have.

Why we've updated our policy

New legal requirements mean we need to update how we handle certain types of complaints, particularly those relating to data protection. We've also taken the opportunity to make our policy clearer and more accessible for everyone.

What's changed

You may remember that our previous policy stated we would acknowledge complaints within 10 days. We've now updated this to align with new legal requirements:

For data protection complaints specifically:

• From 19 June 2026, we must acknowledge data protection complaints within 30 days
• We must investigate these complaints without undue delay
• Examples include concerns about how we've handled requests for information, or how we've used or stored personal data

For all other complaints:

• We'll continue to respond as quickly as possible
• Our policy now makes it clearer how we support everyone to raise concerns, including those who need reasonable adjustments
• We've included guidance on different stages of the complaints process with clear timeframes

EYFS parents – your additional rights

If your child is in Reception or below, you have the right to complain directly to Ofsted (yes, although we are inspected by ISI our EYFS is still under Ofsted)  as well as to us if you believe we're not meeting Early Years Foundation Stage requirements. This includes concerns about learning and development, safeguarding and welfare, or staff qualifications and ratios.

You can contact Ofsted at: 0300 123 1231 or enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

However, we'd always encourage you to speak with us first so we can work together to resolve any concerns quickly.

Our approach to complaints

We want to reassure you that our approach hasn't changed – we're still committed to:

• Resolving concerns informally wherever possible through friendly, face-to-face conversations
• Listening carefully to your concerns
• Working in partnership with you to find solutions
• Being fair, thorough and timely in our investigations
• Maintaining the positive, supportive relationships that make our school community special

How to raise a concern

We always encourage you to raise concerns informally first by speaking with your child's class teacher or contacting the school office. Most issues can be resolved quickly through a conversation, and this is always our preferred approach.

If you need to make a formal complaint, our updated policy sets out a clear process with defined stages and timeframes.

Where to find the policy

The updated complaints policy is available on our school website. If you'd like support understanding the process, or if you have any questions about the changes, please don't hesitate to contact the school office.

Thank you