Belvedere Junior School

As we continue to enjoy the heatwave, at Belvedere Junior School the school community enjoyed Culture Day!

With the sun shining gloriously all afternoon, dance became the focal point for the celebrations.

Children invited the audience to ‘consider themselves at home’ with a charming performance from Oliver Twist.  This was followed by an impressive performance from the school’s steel pans band.  The hypnotic Caribbean melody provided the perfect soundtrack to the current tropical temperatures!

The highlight of the day was a Bollywood dance performance, which featured many children from across the school.  Following the well-synchronised performance, the dance tutor – Mrs Pardip Bhogal – was inundated with requests for more lessons!

All in all, a fantastic day was had by all.  Mrs Lomax (Head Teacher) said, “At Belvedere Junior School we’re blessed with cultural diversity; our children relish opportunities to share and experience elements of their friends’ cultures.

Some of our Year 6 children have been spending the week showing us their creatives sides! Yesterday they worked together to make their very own pizza from scratch. They went home with extremely full stomachs and some new skills to teach their parents at home!

Well done to everyone who participated in the Pioneer Sports Day. It was a great day for all those involved and it was great that we got to visit Red Hill Primary along with all of our other Pioneer Schools. The day consisted of a netball, football and an athletics competition. Belvedere had a really successful day with the netball team being placed 3rd, the football team 4th and the athletics team 2nd! Congratulations to all of the children involved. Thanks also go to Red Hill for hosting!

Belvedere Juniors are very fortunate to have been the lucky recipients of 5 vegetable planters, tools and other equipment. This will encourage all of our children to engage with fresh, healthy, organic produce and to gain knowledge about the journey from seed to plate (yes, we will  be having a tasty, school-grown salad before the end of the year)

The new raised beds are built.They are full of soil and the plants are in! Watch this space...

Thank you to all  who attended the meeting this morning. Please see the powerpoint presentation attached explaining the application process for choosing a Secondary School for your child.

Please see the powerpoint attached for information about Year 6 SATs which take place in school week beginning Monday 14th May.

 Mr Gillett invited Joanne Bradley, the Waste Education Officer from Bexley Council, today to do an assembly on Litter.

The children learnt about what they could do to help make the environment a cleaner, safer place. 10 lucky Year 4 children were chosen by their teachers for their maturity and thoughtfulness to be our new Environment Champions. One of their responsibilities is to ensure the school environment remains clean and tidy.

Year 3's IPC topic is Choclate! As part of their learning in literacy, they are using Charlie and The Choclate Factory by Roald Dahl to inspire their imaginations. Look at some of these amazing chocolate factories created at home. Mrs. Lomax is trying her very best not to eat any parts of them!

As part of their new IPC topic, 'Temples, Tombs and Treasures', Year 4 spent the day dressed as explorers. Kitted out with magnifying glasses and backpacks, they spent the day immersing themselves in the learning they will be completing over this half term. Well done for all of the effort that went into the costumes.

Yesterday, as part of Bird College's Festival of Music, the choir from Belvedere and Burnt Oak spent the day rehearsing at The Royal Festival Hall. This was an opportunity not to be missed and culminated in a performance collaborating with over 30 Bexley primary and secondary schools. With a packed auditorium, the choir performed a selection of popular songs making Mrs. Lomax and Mrs. Murray extremely proud of every single individual.

The Easter Bunny decided to pay our school a visit again this year resulting in over 80 eggs for the raffle! Thank you to all of the staff who donated eggs for the children to win.

We also spent the last afternoon of term browsing the Easter bonnets that had been created at home. The array of colours and designs yet again amazed all. Congratulations to the winners of the competition and we look forward to seeing some more epic creations next year.

We held our very first ‘Belvedere has got talent’ show as an end of term celebration. Classes all had the chance to audition in front of their class then the best act from each class was voted for by the children in their class. Any mixed class entries were judged seperately with 2 of these being put into the final. In total we had 14 entries plus Mr. Lo- Pon who decided he would love to enter dressed up as a lion to sing a song from The Lion King! The competition was fierce but the decision was made by Miss. Hipkins and her team of judges The winners were Eliza- Rose from 6B and David from 5O.  The runners up were Adebola and Sara from 6W. We will be holding this annually from now on! 

Outdoor learning sessions have started for some groups of Year 3 children who have been working collaboratively within the natural environment to inspire their learning. They have been creating twig animals and giant moss snakes to help with literacy and storytelling. they have also made mini shelters for tiny woodland folk, to develop empathy and practical skills,.

They have thoroughly enjoyed this developing area of learning, and it has enhanced and supported the learning which takes place in the classroom.

Our PTA organised a fantastic event today, where parents and children could spend time in school working together to make their very own Easter bunny! Great fun was had by all involved and we look forward to holding more of these parent/child workshops in the near future.

Belvedere Junior School is delighted to announce the runners up of the ‘Young Art in Bexley’ competition, which took part in Hall Place. Each child was awarded a ‘Certificate of Merit’, which they collected in assembly. Have look at the amazing art work they have created!

As part of World Book Day, each class paired up with a different class around the school and shared their love of books! Mr .Arnold also held a reading workshop to support parents with strategies we use in school to teach reading. Take alook at the powerpoint presentation below if you couldn't attend.

Today, Billy and Jemima spent the day at Red Hill Primary School, part of the Pioneer Academy. They spent time in a Year 6 lesson, enjoyed lunchtime and got to see similarities and differences between our school and Red Hill. They will be sharing their experience with the children in assembly soon.

As part of their IPC topic, Year 6 have been busy at home creating models of their favourite fairground rides. Mrs. Lomax was amazed on Wednesday morning when all of these models appeared at school. Well done to all of the children who have spent so much time, energy and perseverance to produce these spectacular pieces of homework. Take a look at the gallery below!

Lots of parents attended a maths workshop this morning run by Mr. Lo-Pon. They learnt more about our calculation policy and how maths is now taught differently to how they may have been taught in the past. There were chances to join in with activities the children do in school as well as discussion around work in books and how to support their children at home. We will be running a reading workshop on 8th March so keep the date free in the diary.

Today we had a visit from Erith Fire Station. Years 5 and 6 took part in a series of workshops based around fire hazards and preventing fires in the home. Years 3 and 4 had the opportunity to find out what a fire engine looks like on the inside and even got to use the hose! Look at the video below to see what fun they had...

Today we were  lucky enough to have an assembly from Mad Science Club  to promote their after school club. Lots of children joined in last term depthening their scienctific knowledge and taking part in a variety of experiments every Wednesday after school. If you want to join the club make sure your parents sign you up for it and we hope to have some new children taking part.

On Monday 18^th December we bought festive smiles to the faces of our children and parents by providing a Christmas dinner, and a visit to Santa, free of charge.  We know that the festive period is an expensive one so wanted to support our families the best way we could. Over 200 children and parents attended the school's first free Christmas dinner and it was a great success. We hope to make it bigger and better next year!

On Friday we all wore our Christmas jumpers to raise money towards 'Save the Children'. Even Boris, our reading dog, came dressed for the occassion! The children who have read with him this term have made good progress with their reading and enjoy reading to him every single week. 

We love a bit of Christmas here at Belvedere! As part of our celebrations we decorate a Chritmas tree at Christ Church, Erith every year to support our local community.  This year Mrs. Mistry helped 12 children to make some beautiful decorations to make our tree shine!

We love a pantomime here at Belvedere! On Wednesday 6th December, we were delighted to welcome back M and M Theatre to perform Dick Whittington. The whole school had an amazing afternoon filled with singing, dancing and booing! The traditional chants of 'He's behind you' and 'Oh no he didn't' were heard from a far and the children all went home with enormous smiles on their faces.  We look forward to welcoming M and M back at the end of the year to perform Charlotte's Web.

As part of their 'Young Entreprenuers' topic, Year 4 had the priviledge to visit the local Asda Superstore for a 'behind the scenes' tour.  They saw the packing and distributions areas of the store as well as having a trip to the freezer section! The children witnessed the hard work that goes on everyday to ensure the smooth running of the store for customers and even had a go at working on the checkout. Thanks go to Summer in 4A's Mum for organising this trip for us.

This week Year 6 had a visit from The Home Front Bus. The children all took part in a range of activities and experiences to deepen their understanding of World War 2. These experiences included what it would be have been like to live on a bombed out street and what an Air Raid shelter would have looked like inside.  As you can see by the children's faces, fun was had by all!

We were delighted to welcome George Fouche to our school today to discuss his life story and to help raise the aspirations of our children. Being a professional and  international rugby player, he discussed what is needed to be successful, the effort that is needed and how we can all be anything we want to be when we put our minds to it!
 

On Wednesday 15th November the Head Boy and Girl from Red Hill Primary came to visit our school. They met Billy and Jemimah (our Head Boy and Head Girl) for a tour of the school, joined in an assembly and enjoyed lunch time at our school. Billy and Jemimah are looking forward to visiting some of our other academy schools in the New Year and seeing the similarities and differences between them all.

On Wednesday 15th November the whole school took place in a 'Big Bad Mile' to raise money towards the NSPCC. After the workshops last week the children were eager and ready to show off their fitness for a cause close to all of our hearts.  Well done to you all and don't forget to bring in any money raised.

On Friday 10th November the whole school celebrated Belvedere Junior School's 30th Birthday. We all dressed up in 80s fancy dress and sang an array of 80s classics in assembly. The day culminated in each class celebrating with a birthday cake , kindly donated by the PTA, where 'Happy Birthday Belvedere' was sung by each class.

Years 5 and 6 have been thinking carefully about their personal safety in a series of worshops run by the NSPCC. The whole school are currently busy fundraising for the NSPCC in preparation for their 'Big, Bad Belvedere Mile' which the whole school will be taking part in on Wednesday 15th November. Watch this space for the photos...

Cray Wanderers are running 2 lunchtime football clubs for girls this half term. Today they took part in their first session and had an amazing time learning some new skills!  We look forward to introducing a football team in the near future!

On Thursday 5th October, we celebrated our Harvest Festival in school. Children bought in an abundance of food to donate to Bexley Food Bank. Thanks go to everyone who donated and to Mr.Gillett for his homemade wheatsheaf display.  We look forward to delivering all of the items to the Food Bank early next week.

On Friday Mrs. Lomax and Miss.Wheble were delighted to attend City Hall in London to meet Sadiq Khan and receive a School for Success award. These awards are part of the Mayor's programme to tackle inequality in education across London.

We were 1 of 5 schools in Bexley recognised and celebrated for the outstanding progress our most disadvantaged pupils make from their Year 3 starting points. 

The award is proudly displayed in our reception area and is a reminder of all we do at our school to ensure all pupils can achieve whatever the set their sights on!

The PTA organised another successful Inflatables Afternoon this week. The children enjoyed jumping and bouncing away after school, whilst helping to raise the school over £600 to spend on new equipment and events for the year ahead.

Thanks to the PTA for putting on this event, the staff for their help and the parents for supporting our PTA. Keep a look out for lots more PTA events coming up in the near future.

The voting has taken place and the votes have been counted. We would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to Arshiya, Sara, Ezra and Usman for their campaigns and effort over the past week. Our new Head Boy and Girl are Billy Aird and Jemimah Mutamba. They will be representing the school and listening to the views of our pupils so Belvedere Juniors is the best it can possibly be.

The candidates for our new Head Boy and Head Girl presented their manifestos to the whole school today as to why they should be elected. Look out on Friday for some photos of the election afternoon and for the announcement of who has been elected! We can hardly wait...

At the end of every year we have a raffle with  the names of all of the children who have achieved 100% attendance during the school year.  We had 56 children in total- 6 more than last year! This year the winners were : Brooke in 40 and Lukas in 5G who accompanied Mrs. Lomax to Halfords. Grace in 6F has been at school every single day for 4 years so also won a bike of her choice.

An amazing job to everybody who achieved 100% attendance and we hope to have even more names in the pot next year.