It has been a genuine joy to welcome everybody to the new school year, and so lovely to see the children this week. A particularly warm welcome to all of our new families and thank you so much to everyone who has made them feel so welcome. We are delighted to have you join our school community, and we know you will find BPS a special place that we are all very proud of.
Whilst our teaching staff enjoyed a well-earned rest over the summer, our site and administration teams were busy getting the school ready for the new year and we are incredibly grateful for all the hard work they have put into many exciting new developments. The school is looking fantastic, and we are very pleased to have completed some significant roof repairs, decoration and other essential maintenance, but the star of the show is our wonderful new playground area next to white cottage. A huge thank you to our Banstead Parent Supporter’s Association for their generosity, without which we would not have been able to complete this project. The children have already been enjoying the fantastic new space which has a huge sand pit, multi-person swing, all sorts of loose parts items so the children can let their imagination and creativity run free, all in the knowledge that the rubber crumb flooring will hopefully provide a soft landing if things don’t always go to plan! This area will help us achieve our significant ambition to celebrate play in and out of the classroom as an essential element of learning at BPS, and we have created greater opportunities for this with adjustments to snack times and free-flow choices.
After a record-breaking year with more scholarships and senior school offers than ever before, we are excited to see all of our children continue to make fantastic progress across all subject areas in and out of the classroom. Whilst seemingly impossible to do, yet somehow we manage, we look forward to a huge number of musical and theatrical performances that seem to get better and better every year. I got to witness the excitement today of the Year 4 children receiving their parts and beginning work on the first production of the year, which has already begun! The Sports Team are looking forward with anticipation at another successful year across all sports, with talented year groups developing and improving across the school. All our children will get the chance to show off their artistic flair and the Art Exhibition is always a highlight of the school year. With trips, visits, projects, competitions, celebrations around every corner, this year promises to be another very exciting and rewarding one.
Thank you to all our staff for their hard work and enthusiasm to our start of year training, for getting the school ready and for welcoming the children so warmly. There are lots of exciting curriculum and timetable developments planned for the year and we look forward to telling you all about what lies ahead at our Meet the Teacher event on Wednesday 9 September. We also look forward to introducing our new members of staff to you, but I would just like to say a huge well done for the ease at which they have settled into life here.
Thank you as always for your support, it is the collective spirit we have all created here that helps us provide such incredible opportunities for the children, who we know, will continue to make us very proud.
Wishing everyone a really happy and successful year!
Jon Chesworth
Headteacher
