NEW PUPIL WELCOME PACK

2012/2013

WELCOME

Hi, we are the Head Boy and Head Girl and we

would like to welcome you to our fabulous school.

Jay Boocock Tyler Lewis

We know you will be very happy here and thought

we would tell you a little bit about the school to help

you feel at home.

Our school motto is:

‘a small school with a big heart’

It’s true! We are only small but we are a friendly

bunch and we want everyone who comes here to

be happy and to learn lots!

Our school also works with lots of others in the Batley

and Birstall area.

WHAT ARE THE STAFF LIKE?

There are lots of staff at our school – we think they are

all great!

Mrs Joslin is the Headteacher- she loves shoes and

always wears ones that match her outfit! She gives us

prizes and stickers when we do good work or do

something special.

Mrs Hannam is our deputy head- she helps Mrs Joslin

to run the school and she also works in Reception

class. She is very organised and sorts everyone out!

Mrs Oddy works in Year 6- she is the assistant

headteacher and also helps Mrs Joslin run the school.

She is very funny and is always laughing! If you are

good she gets you treats.

Mrs Weir works in Year 5 and also looks after our

curriculum (that’s everything we are taught)- she

makes sure it is fun! She is very organised and loves

her coat!

Mrs Medley works in Reception class- she is funny and

makes us laugh. She likes to work with the little

children and likes Medley bars.

Miss McNulty is the teacher for our Year 1 class- she is

kind and wears high heels.She likes to work in groups

with us and wears nice dresses.

Miss Brook is our Year 2 teacher, she always trips over

things and is funny. Her classroom is bright and she

likes to decorate. She has a drawer full of sweets.

Miss Atkinson is our year 4 teacher- she loves PE and is

very sporty. She also looks after our website. She likes

to travel and has been all over the world- she is a bit

of a daredevil.

In year 3 we have 2 teachers- Mrs Hall and Mr

Coulby. Mrs Hall is very brainy and clever- she loves

science and never shouts! She has worked in nearly

every class so has lots of experience.

BUDDIES

When you start at our school we will make sure you

have a buddy.

This will be someone in your class who knows what to

do. They will help you settle in and make sure you

make new friends quickly.

The school has also made promises to the children:

We promise our pupils we will:

Keep you safe

Listen to you

Treat you fairly

Make learning fun

Help you

Recognise your efforts

Be there

BIRSTALL SCHOOL LISTENS TO US

In our school the pupils are important! Mrs Joslin

always asks us for our ideas and for our opinions.

We have been involved in lots of decisions such as

our new school uniform and new school dinner

menu.

We also have our own part of the school

development plan and get our own budget!

When you are in years 5 and 6 you even get to

teach lessons- they are called Pupil Choice lessons

and they are great! Pupil lessons last year were really

different- we had a lesson on star wars, Doctor Who,

healthy eating, playing hockey, Judo and lots more.

WHAT DO WE WEAR?

Last year we changed our school uniform and all the

pupils chose the design and the colour!

It is really bright and we all look really smart.

What do you think?

We think our logo is great.

You can wear grey or black trousers and skirts and

we all try to wear black shoes- Mrs Joslin doesn’t like

us wearing trainers!

In year 6 we even get to wear hoodies! The teachers

liked them so much they all have one as well!

PLAYTIMES!

We think playtimes are the best part of the day and

our playgrounds are much more interesting now!

The school council worked to find out what people

wanted to play during breaks and we now have lots

of things to do!

We have equipment boxes to play with, basketball,

football and lots of games around the place.

Key stage 1 also has a playhouse and a trim trail.

We get a playtime in the morning and then a long

lunchtime.

If it’s too wet to go outside we stay in our classrooms

and play board games , read , draw or go on

laptops.

OUR CLASSROOMS

Our classrooms are all really bright and fun places to

be.

All the teachers work hard to make sure our

classrooms are exciting places to learn. There are lots

of displays and things to help us learn on the walls.

We have smartboards in every classroom and we get

to use laptops and netbooks a lot!

LUNCHTIMES

We eat our lunch in the hall and you can have

school dinners or you can bring a packed lunch. We

are trying to keep our packed lunches healthy so we

try not to bring chocolate or sweets.

School dinners are yummy- you get to choose out of

three different meals- jam roly poly is one of the best

puddings we think!

We all wear bands when we have chosen what to

eat so we don’t get mixed up- it also means that we

always get what we have chosen for dinner.

LESSONS

We start the day in a ‘community class’ where we

get registered. This means we get to meet lots of

other children from different year groups. It means

you make lots of friends!

Then we normally have numeracy first – we do lots of

investigations and challenges and we get to work

together in groups or in pairs.

After break we normally have literacy- it might be

reading or writing or best of all drama!

In the afternoon we have theme lessons- we have a

theme for the half term and our lessons are all about

the theme.

We have had lots of exciting themes over the years-

Time travel

The Lion King

Japan

Muhammad Ali

London

At the end of every theme we have a challenge- we

get to work on a project in groups to show the

teachers what we can do!

Last year we had some brilliant challenges:

Making our own Sushi

Designing a new school

Building a bridge out of marshmallows and spaghetti

Making an animation of a boxing match

and loads more…

ATTENDANCE

We all try to come to school everyday- we know it is

important so that we learn lots!

Every week we have a competition to see which

class has the best attendance.

We get to keep Birstall Bear for a week if we win and

if we win for 2 weeks we get a class treat!

We also get badges and medals every half term- the

pupils who have 100% for the whole year get

vouchers for itunes!

GOOD TO BE GREEN

We all try hard to behave really well at school and

have a ‘good to be green’ system. If you stay on

green all day you get a stamp and when you get 10

stamps you go see Mrs Joslin for a prize!

SO WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT OUR

SCHOOL?

The best thing about

this school is I learn

a lot everyday-

Year 5 pupil

All the

teachers are

kind

Kaitlan

Playtime

equipment is

fun

Reece

We learn lots

of different

languages

Cameron

We work as a team

and everything is

lots of fun

Thomas

School spends

money on us

and not

extensions

Drew

We raise

money for

charities

Jay

They have

great PE

lessons

Gabriel

The teachers all

help you

Jak

The teachers plan lots of

fun lessons

Alex

The education

is good

Ben

It prepares

you for high

school

Year 6 pupil We go on fab trips every

year and the residentials are

really fun

Macey