Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Anne Wan's Visit

  Tue 18 Oct 2016 Mrs Osborne

  Today, the children in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two enjoyed a visit from children's author Anne Wan.

   

  Anne talked to them about the process of writing a book and the importance of editing. She also explained how it is really improtant to never give up on ideas. 

   

  The children loved listening to Anne reading the first chapter of her book 'Secrets of the Snow Globe.'

   

  Take a look at the photos of her visit...

  

• Y4 Fencing Opportunities

  Thu 13 Oct 2016 Miss Rogers

  Our Year 4s have been really enjoying a new experience we have booked for them for this half term which is Fencing. The children have already learned so much in a short space of time and their coach has been really proud of them.  At GBP we aim to provide each year group with an exciting range of sports so that the children enjoy being active. The children certainly worked up a sweat after their session today.

  This sport offers our children the chance to develop their skills in a safe and enjoyable environment. The coach delivers structured classes that offer a mixture of games, balance and mobility exercises and blade skills to help children understand the sport and improve their balance, co-ordination, speed and timing. It is hoped that through developing these skills the children will also develop their confidence and self-discipline.

  

• Scooter Training for Early Years

  Thu 13 Oct 2016 Miss Khan
  Today Holly and Maple classes took part in some scooter training.  Before starting we made sure that everyone was being safe and had their helmets on.  The children were then split into two groups sent off to do different activities.  Throughout the morning the children were taken out to the road and taught the best way to stay safe when crossing the road and how to pass people without hurting them.  On the playground we played different games, thinking about how to control our scooters.  We also had a go at gliding on our scooters and developing our balance.  The sessions were lots of fun and we were all really impressed by the children's skills on their scooters.

  

• Year 3 First aid day

  Thu 13 Oct 2016
  Last week in Year 3 we were lucky enough to have a first aid day. Hazel and Hawthorn Class received their training in small groups and learnt important life skills. The session focussed on: finding somebody who had had an accident, the recovery position, using a bandage and a sling and how to stop a nosebleed. Have a look through our photos to see what we got up to.

  

• Come and do some welly planting at GBP!

  Wed 05 Oct 2016 Miss Rogers

  On Friday 14th October, Great Binfields will be Welly Planting. The aim is for the school to be full of colour; now and in the Spring. We will be planting winter flowers on top of last years bulbs.

  If you are able to donate any Autumn/Winter flowering plants that we could use that would be great. All donations will be gratefully received. Please could you drop off any plants to the bark area on the morning of Friday 14th October.

   

  Additionally, if you are able to volunteer some time in the afternoon of this date, please could you give your details to the school office. Your details will then be passed onto Miss Lyddon who is leading this project with her Outdoor Grounds hat on!

   

  Thank you very much.

• New Year R Open Mornings

  Tue 04 Oct 2016 Miss Rogers
  Do you have or do you know anyone who has a child due to start school in September 2017?  If so, we have 3 Open Mornings coming up giving them the opportunity to have a look around our school.

  They are:

  Tuesday 11th October 2016
  Wednesday 9th November 2016
  Thursday 17th November 2016

  On each of these days, we have either a 9.30 am or 10.30 am session.

  Attendees are asked to contact the school in order to book their place. Please spread the word.

• Year 5 and 6 Love of day

  Fri 30 Sep 2016 Mrs Osborne

  The year 5 and 6 children had an exciting 'Love of Chinese Language Day'. They began the day learning about different types of Chinese dragons. They then made their own origami Chinese dragon.

  After this, they tasted some Chinese food which included some delicious fortune cookies!

  In the afternoon, the children enjoyed a visit from Mrs Wilson's friend Yin who taught them some Chinese greetings and how to count to 20 in Chinese! A great day was had by all!

  

• Harvest Festival led by Father Alec

  Thu 29 Sep 2016 Miss Rogers
  Some of you may have seen our whole school walk down to St Mary’s Church on Thursday 29^th September for our annual Harvest Festival. Our 315 children really enjoyed our stroll there, the sun shone for us and the children took in all of the sights as we all made our way into Basing. The service led by Father Alec was super – it was thought provoking and pleasurable. The children listened intently, sang beautifully and they also loved his cartoon drawings which certainly added to our children’s experience. Many thanks, Father Alec for helping our school to say thank you to everyone who works so hard, to provide us with the food we eat and thank you for reminding us about the value of sharing. Our food donations, as in previous years, are going to Basingstoke Food Bank.

• Bronze School Games Award for GBP

  Wed 28 Sep 2016 Miss Grainger
  Congratulations everyone - our school has achieved a Bronze School Games Mark!

  The School Games Mark is a Government led awards scheme launched back in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Schools in England are able to assess themselves across bronze, silver and gold levels.

  The Mark is a retrospective award which validates our success over the academic year.

  We will have an official Mark certificate as evidence of our achievement and it will not be long before we will receive our Silver Award according to Miss Grainger. 

  I would like to thank Miss Grainger and our staff team for contributing towards the award as you have worked tirelessly with our school to improve competitive sports over the past couple of years and we are very grateful to our wonderful children who represent our school so beautifully. You should be so chuffed with yourselves.

   

• Why should children read?

  Tue 27 Sep 2016 Miss Rogers

  So why should children read? In terms of fiction or non-fiction, there are endless stories that broaden their understanding of the world. Although reading doesn’t always make one a better communicator, those who read tend to have a more varied range of words to express how they feel and to get their point across when writing. This increases exponentially with the more books they consume, giving a higher level of vocabulary to use in everyday life.

  Reading also improves focus and concentration. Sitting down with a book takes long periods of focus, which at first is hard to do. Being fully engaged in a book involves closing off the outside world and immersing yourself into the story, which over time will strengthen attention spans. We are limited by what we can imagine, and the worlds described in books, as well as other people’s views and opinions, will help our children expand their understanding of what is possible. By reading a written description of an event or a place, their mind is responsible for creating that image in their head, instead of having the image placed in front of them when watching television or playing video games.

  Books offer an outstanding wealth of learning and having a library of information that was picked up from non-fiction reading will come in handy for your children too.

  Reading helps our children to relax. Studies show that reading silently for just six minutes slows down the heart rate and eases tension in their muscles.

  All the benefits of reading mentioned above are a bonus result of the most important benefit of reading; Its entertainment value. If it were not for the entertainment value, reading would be a chore but it needn’t be. Reading is not only fun, but it has all the added benefits that we have discussed so far. Miss Brookes and the English Team are more than happy to help children choose appropriate books and I am more than willing to buy new ones too so that we can keep those interest levels up.
   
  Kind regards,
  Jules Rogers