This page provides information news about events that have been happening in the school throughout the academic year.

• Wrap around care at St. Bede

  Mon 19 Jun 2023

  We will continue to run our own provision ‘ABC’ (After Bede Care) for pupils in Year 4 - 6, and this will provide children with an opportunity to take part in a staff led learning sessions and a supported homework club. Alongside structured sessions there will also be time for socialising and for creative play, board games and use of laptops. You can find more information about ABC here on our school website https://www.stbedewinchester.co.uk/abc-and-ark-after-school-provision-information/.  A registration form link to re-register or register new places at ABC has been emailed to all families in Year 4 to Year 6 and is also available at the following link: https://forms.gle/V34LN2PYfYzNjpZ78

  Please note that the registration for this will close on Friday 23^rd June.

• The Clean Air Scooter Challenge 2023!

  Mon 19 Jun 2023

  This week we have been taking part in the Clean Air Scooter Challenge!  On Tuesday, pupils safely decorated their scooters to become bright, colourful ‘Flags of the World’ and took part in a special parade around the playground.  Photographs of the children with their decorated scooters will be submitted as detailed in the newsletter last week, for our chance to win a school prize.

   

  Well done to everyone who entered and fingers crossed our entry to the scooter competition is successful!

• Key Stage 2 Sports Day – Friday 16th June

  Mon 19 Jun 2023

  It was so lovely to be able to hold our first sports day this morning. Children gave the best of themselves showing such determination and perseverance in the events and supported each other admirably. Thank you to all of the Heads of Sport and Sports Reps who helped set out equipment for races, or who took on other roles to make the event run smoothly.

   

  Thank you as well to everybody who was able to attend and provide such encouragement to the children, we do hope you haven’t ended up with pink shoulders or noses after such a sunny day.

   

  Congratulations to everyone who took part in an event, our overall winners today were Chimera who have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with!

   

  We look forward to our Lower School Sports Day next Friday (23^rd June), starting at 10.30 on the recreation field.

• HSA Summer Fayre

  Mon 19 Jun 2023

  Thank you to everyone who attended, supported, planned for, or was involved in the running of our summer fayre last week. It was an incredible event and lovely to see so many people at school enjoying such a lovely sunny evening and enjoying the opportunity to come together as a community.  Well done to our Year 2 pupils for their country dancing and well done to all of you who joined in the final country dance of the evening.  It was also lovely to see a performance from Integr8 Dance and we are very proud of our pupils who are members of this club.   

   

  We are delighted to share with you that the fayre raised a staggering £3,400 and on behalf of the children of St Bede, who will benefit directly from the money raised, another huge thank you. We will be meeting with the HSA soon to discuss plans for next year and what some of this money might help fund.

• Swimming Gala News

  Mon 19 Jun 2023

  On Friday the 9th of June, St Bede attended the Winchester City Penguins School Swimming Gala. 22 schools from across the district were represented, with some very strong squads in attendance. St Bede were confident going in to the competition, with a strong team of 11 children being picked from the 42 pupils who trialled. A massive well done and thank you must go out to everyone who participated and helped in the trials. To have so many children wanting to take part is fantastic, and being able to provide that opportunity was wonderful and only possible because of the support of our volunteers. Thank you very much!  

   

  The Penguins' Gala has historically been a fantastic event, with a high level of swimming talent on show. This year was no different. St Bede was able to mix it with the very best throughout. The boys managed to qualify for the finals in the mixed and the freestyle events. The girls finished a creditable third in both of their heats, and just missed out on qualification to their finals, in one case, by 0.2 of a second. However, the disappointment for the girls was short-lived. They had an opportunity to compete in the invitational race, which they duly won by a massive 22 seconds, against 16 other schools. A well-deserved trophy for a team that competed brilliantly.  

   

  For the boys, they achieved third place finishes in the mixed and in the free-style. The free-style medal was secured in the final touch on the wall, winning over the fourth place finisher by less than 0.1 of a second. This achievement was made even more creditable by the fact that the two private schools that placed first and second have their own pools.  

   

  A massive well done to the team and also to the reserve swimmers who were the biggest team players of all. They sacrificed their time; they supported the team fantastically and were incredibly selfless in their efforts. A great squad and great ambassadors for St Bede!

• Year 3 Learning

  Mon 05 Jun 2023

  In the final week of school before the half-term break, Year 3 children were whisked back in time to the Stone Age.  The children came dressed as cave men, women, and even woolly mammoths! The children took part in several activities linked to life in the Stone Age. The children learnt about pottery, tools, cave art and Stonehenge. They then made their own Stone Age pots out of clay; arrowheads and axe heads by carving soap; worked as a team to recreate Stonehenge out of biscuits as well as creating a whole class piece of cave art! The children showed amazing perseverance and teamwork throughout and were excited to learn more on their visit to Butser Ancient Farm later in the week.
   

  When the Year 3 children visited Ancient ‘Butser Farm’ they had the opportunity to learn more about life in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age by taking part in wattling- making fences from hazelwood saplings; clunching- to build walls using chalk, mud and water; along with jewellery making where they made bracelets or rings. The staff at Butser Farm also led a tour around the replica buildings so the children could compare buildings and life across the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. The children also enjoyed meeting the goats and sheep that are kept on the farm and spotting the wild deer up on the hillside. The children were excellent ambassadors for the school and upheld our school rules and values throughout the trip!

• Year 1 Learning - Water

  Mon 05 Jun 2023

  In the final week of May, Year 1 children have been learning about why water is important to Christians.  Both classes had the chance to visit St Bartholomew’s Church where Reverend Karen taught them about baptism. Children learned all about the different parts of the ceremony and about the people who are involved.

   

  As part of the learning, we took part in a pretend baptism, taking on the roles of parents and Godparents. This helped us all to understand how people are welcomed into the church family and why this is an important event.

• Caterpillars to Butterflies

  Mon 05 Jun 2023

  We are always looking for ways to bring learning to life and create memorable experiences for all of our children across the school. Recently, both Year R classes have enjoyed observing the life cycle of the butterfly by watching their tiny caterpillars grow and then watch them change into chrysalises before emerging a few weeks later as butterflies.  Great excitement was in the air when it was time to release the butterflies that had grown.

   

  The children waved an excited farewell to them as each flew away into the sunshine. We hope that this will be a special and memorable experience for our youngest learners!

• Year R Fund-Raising News

  Mon 05 Jun 2023

  In the final week of the May, the children in Year R took part in a fund-raising charity fun run, in line with their plans detailed in the St Bede ‘enrichment passport.’ The money raised will be given to the WWF linking really well with their current learning topic - Amazing Animals.

   

  The children had practised well for their run and did brilliantly whether they were running laps of the playgrounds or cheering others on.  The children showed great team work and perseverance skills and all tried their very best!

   

  Thank you to our families who have contributed to the charity by sending money into school with your child

• Promoting Inclusion and Diversity at St. Bede

  Mon 05 Jun 2023

  We believe that it is incredibly important for all of our pupils to see themselves represented in the people who lead their learning at St Bede as well as in the resources, stories and experiences that are used as part of teaching and learning. It is only by developing a better understanding of our differences and similarities that we will become a more inclusive community.
   

  We were delighted to welcome the parents of Ferris in Year 3, who spoke to children in our final afternoon worship session about their faith. As Muslims, the importance of living a life of peacefulness and demonstrating kindness to others was linked to teaching of other world religions helping children see similarities and differences.

   

  A huge thank you to Ferris and his parents for talking about their beliefs and for sharing how their faith impacts on their lives. We are always keen to welcome parents into school to help us show that everyone is welcome and valued at St Bede. If you would like to come and speak with us about a similar opportunity to speak with the children, please do get in touch via the school office email address- we would love to hear from you.