Newsletters

As we near the end of the Autumn term, we reflect on the strengths of our safeguarding culture in school. 

We started the year with a whole school staff INSET day to deliver our annual safeguarding training. This meant that all of the staff who support the children in school could come together to ensure that everyone hears the same key safeguarding messages in order to keep the school community safe.  Staff have also had training sessions from SARI (Stand Against Racism and Inequality) and a second INSET day to focus on supporting children’s behaviour by understanding how the brain develops and how all behaviour is a communication of need.

The children have had several assemblies to help support their understanding of safeguarding this year including:

• Learning about who the safeguarding team are in school;
• Who is a trusted adult and the importance of speaking out to stay safe;
• NSPCC PANTS assembly- meeting the ‘Pantosauarus’ who helps teach children how to keep their privates private;
• Playground safety and expectations;
• A visit from the Big Brush Club to help teach the children how to keep their teeth healthy;
• A very special assembly for KS2 through Winston’s Wish- the bereavement charity supporting children who have lost a loved one.

Furthermore, in our online safety lessons across school, the children have been learning about how to be responsible, safe and kind online- a theme which is becoming increasingly important in the technological age we live in.

We have also continued our work in school supporting Young Carers through our weekly club and drop in sessions on a Thursday lunch!

We have also welcomed parents to a number of workshops. These included:  ‘How to help young people develop resilience’ run by Young Somerset; and parent group coffee sessions run by Somerset Parent Carer Forum as part of the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) project.

 

For anyone struggling over the festive period, Mindline Somerset is open 24/7 for Christmas for mental health support at any time of the day or night; get the help you need, when you need it. Mindline is a confidential service and provides a safe place to talk. Mindline says that no problem is too small, and you’re not wasting anyone's time. Call Mindline Somerset on 01823 276892 or 0800 138 1692.

Alternatively, Mindline Live Web Chat is available on the Open Mental Health website every day, from 8pm to 11pm.

The NSPCC has got a lot of advice on their website about keeping children safe, but there are also specific tips to help families with tricky times over the holidays, such as toddler tantrums, family squabbles or managing screen time.

Take a look at this quiz to find out more:

You can also find specific help on the NSPCC website for these issues:

• early parenting advice for babies
• managing family life
• friends and relationships
• supporting yourself and young people
• staying safe online

Just follow this link.

Childline has got useful tips and reminders for staying safe online.

For example:

Keep personal details private

Never share anything online that means someone can find out who you are in the real world.

This means don’t share:

• your full name
• your address
• the name of the school you go to
• your phone number
• your location - so where you are or places you are going to.
• photos and videos that contain personal details, like:
  • the street where you live
  • your school, or your school uniform, or your school badge.

Ask a safe adult to help you make your online accounts as private as possible, so only your friends can see what you share. They can also check your settings to make sure that the website or app you’re using isn’t recording your location or sharing that with anyone else.

Follow this link for more information.

 

This year, the Reception children performed 'Christmas Counts.' It is a traditional nativity which tells the story of the birth of Jesus. The children enjoyed the songs and sang their hearts out. It was a pleasure to see them perform. 

Year 5 had an exciting and educational visit to Cold Harbour Mill, where they learnt about the fascinating history of the industrial revolution and textile manufacturing. The students had the opportunity to explore the working woollen mill, see the historical machinery in action, and discover how wool was spun and woven into fabric. They also participated in hands-on activities, gaining a deeper understanding of the hard work and innovation that powered the mill in its heyday. The trip was an engaging way to bring history to life and connect classroom learning with real-world experiences.

In October, Year 5 were invited to visit the Fallen Moon Project and Planetarium at Bridgwater Docks and Town Hall. Due to bad weather, we sadly were not able to see the Moon, but we enjoyed the Planetarium where the children experienced a space rocket trip to outer space! It was an inspiring trip that sparked curiosity about space prior to our Space topic after Christmas.

The Year 6 classes enjoyed their visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

 

We have been busy fundraising this term and would like to say a big 'Thank You' to everyone who has supported us.

Following on from Rosie's assembly about homeless people in Taunton, School Council decided to help by supporting the Christmas Shoebox appeal. We had lots of donations from across the whole school, which were sorted into 9 wrapped shoeboxes. We included things like toiletries, warm hats and gloves, as well as some delicious Christmas treats. Rosie's colleague Sam visited the school to collect the boxes which will be given to homeless people on Christmas Eve.

Nearly New Toy Sale - amount raised £167.27

Scholastic Book Fair - amount raised £635.27

Winston's Wish - amount raised £319.85 

Poppy  Appeal - amount raised £706.22

Girls Football: A big well done to our Girls Football team who managed to finish 4^th place out of 14 teams competing in the Sedgemoor schools Girls Football tournament.

Boys Football: Congratulations to our Boys Football team who finished in 2^nd place out of 9 teams competing and have qualified for the Somerset County Football Finals in January.

Year 5 Girls Futsal: Brilliant effort from our Year 5 Girls in the Futsal tournament.

Year 5 & 6 Boys Futsal: We had 2 boys teams go and play in a Sedgemoor schools Futsal tournament. Our Y5 team finished in 8^th place out of the 12 teams competing and our Y6 team finished in 3^rd place.

Year 5 & 6 Sportshall Athletics: Well done to our 18 athletes who took part in the large schools Sportshall Athletics competition at Bridgwater College. The team finished in 5^th place out of 9 schools competing.

Table Tennis: Congratulations to Owen, David, Hugo and Levi who played in the Somerset boys table tennis tournament and won impressively against Enmore, then had a close encounter in the final against Millfield, where the boys unfortunately lost and finished in 2^nd place overall.

Also, a big well done to Janice, Layla. P, Pippa and Megan who also went to compete in the Girls team Table Tennis tournament and have qualified to represent Somerset in the South West regional finals at Plymouth in January.

Cross Country: A massive well done to all the children who have gone to represent our school in the Sedgemoor schools cross-country races. In the races at Brymore we had 30 children take part and some impressive results for: Filip 4^th, Freddie 7^th, Jasper 5^th and Florence 6^th. In the races at BCA we had 34 children take part and some impressive results for: Freddie 10^th, Penny 2^nd, Maggie, 5^th, Lottie 8^th, Jasper 5^th, Florence 4^th and Willow 8^th.

We are currently in 6^th place in the overall school standings. A big thank you to all parents / carers who have supported their children in taking them to the cross-country races, and we hope to have more children go and take part in the final cross-country races at King Alfred on the 21^st and 22^nd January.

 

The Ambassadors have had a busy start to this academic year; the team meet weekly to discuss plans to help make our school even better and to discuss ways to involve the school community. They started the year supporting with the annual School Council elections which were a great success.  They then visited the local Country Park with Mrs Evans to help support our community use of the local area and launched the competition to deign new names for the pathways and ponds in the park.  More recently, they have helped decorate our beautiful school Christmas Tree and led a Christmas bauble design competition which had over 200 entries!

Well done Ambassadors- keep up the hard work!

 

 

 

Wow, what a busy start to the 2023/ 2024 school year.  We held our AGM on Tuesday 15^th October where we elected our new committee:  Chair, Jenny Manners, Treasurer, Michelle Dymond and Joint Secretaries Emily Philp and Mel Preece.  Our committee is made up of 18 committee members who vote on how the Friends of Somerset Bridge operates and how we fundraise.

We are always looking for new members, so if you wish to join our amazing team, please leave your details with the school office and we will get back to you.

Our first meeting of 2025 will be held on Monday 13^th January at 6.30pm in the practical room, everyone is welcome to attend, and we will be starting our event planning for the rest of the school year.

Autumn Family Rainbow Bingo – raised £1258

Thank you so much to everyone who supported our Autumn Family Rainbow Bingo on Friday 15^th October.  Thank you for donating the rainbow items for the prizes & raffle and to everyone who came to play bingo and to buy our food & drink.  It was such a successful event, and we raised a fantastic £1258

We are hoping to hold another bingo night soon, so get your bingo dabbers ready.

Asda Cashpot for Schools – raised £655.34

We are very lucky that the Friends of Somerset Bridge were able to be part of this new fundraising initiative, run by ASDA in conjunction with Joe Wickes.  Thank you to everyone who signed up and nominated our school to receive a percentage of money every time you shopped. We are thrilled to announce that in the new year we will be receiving £655.34 from ASDA.

Christmas Cards – raised £255

This was our second year using IQ cards and we opted for an online shop. Thank you to everyone who ordered cards and gifts.  We hope you liked the items you ordered, and you found the ordering system more straightforward this year.  We raised £255 so thank you.

Christmas Fair – raised £2000

We are so pleased to announce that we raised £2000 at our Christmas Fair on Friday 6^th December, this is the most we have ever raised at an event.

We are extremely grateful for all your donations and support. A huge THANK YOU has to go to the Teachers & Support staff, Ambassadors, school councillors and Year 6 children, who stayed after school to run the games, stalls & activities and entertained us with some fabulous music.

We hope you all enjoyed the Christmas Fair and well done if you were lucky enough to win in the amazing raffle. Thank you to all the local businesses who donated some of the lovely prizes and to family and friends who bought the tickets.

What have we spent the money on?

So far this school year, we have spent:

£500 – Class Donations - For helping at the Christmas Fair, we have given £50 each to Mrs Moseley’s and Reception class for raising the most money and £30 to all the other classes, plus the nursery £30 to spend on whatever they wish for their class.

Thank you once again and we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from the Friends of Somerset Bridge.

Thank you to Rhiannon Buckton from Lonsdale Plant Nursery, a family-run business based in Chedzoy, Bridgwater, for the kind donation of bulbs and plants. 

The Gardening Club enjoyed planting these seasonal vegetable plants in our raised beds and poly-tunnel in our school garden.