It has been lovely to welcome everyone back into school and hear about all sorts of adventures near and far over half term. Whilst many have enjoyed warmer climates abroad others have been embracing Autumn at home and I for one spent most of half term outside, soaking up my favourite season and feeling thankful for lots and lots of fresh air!
Environmentally, this week was an important one for the world as COP25, the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference held in Madrid, brought together world leaders to discuss how to put the Paris Agreement fully into action. The main focus was on agreeing how countries could fairly trade carbon emissions and how to help communities already affected by climate change. While some progress was made in supporting vulnerable nations, leaders could not reach agreement on the key rules for global carbon markets. This highlighted how urgent stronger climate action has become to protect our planet and people’s futures. COP25 is a valuable reminder of the vital role schools play in educating and inspiring our children, who are already becoming the changemakers to respect and cherish the world around them.
To start off the term, we had a fantastic visit from Teach Rex this week, which you can read more about later in the newsletter. During their visit, Fito the orangutan shared a powerful story about how climate change affects animals in the wild — it had every child completely hooked and even brought tears to the eyes of some, including staff!
A key element of our school development plan for this year is to further develop our commitment to outdoor learning, and we are delighted to share that BPS will be visiting Aspect Nature Reserve in Crawley in two weeks’ time to launch what we hope will be a long and special partnership. This amazing reserve is run and owned by Stella and Piers Clark, and we feel incredibly fortunate that they have invited BPS to be part of this magical project. You can learn more about what they are creating at Aspect here Home | Aspect Nature Reserve and as well as enjoying a variety of exciting activities during our visit, every single member of our school community will be planting their very own tree, which we hope they will get to look after and enjoy over the coming years as we return each term.
In a staffing update I am pleased to share that Mrs Clark is recovering well from her operation; we send her our best wishes for a speedy recovery. In her absence, Mrs Dawar is kindly following the very detailed lesson plans that Mrs Clark had prepared before she left and keeping science very much alive at school.
Whilst sorry to say goodbye we are very excited for Miss Herbert, who will be leaving us in December to embark on an amazing adventure around the world. Since joining us 5 years ago, she has done a fantastic job leading girls’ sport and introducing new opportunities such as football, touch rugby, and cricket. From January, Miss Hooper will be stepping into Miss Herbert’s shoes to continue championing girls’ sport at BPS, and we are pleased that she will be beginning her teaching career with us.
Mrs Stevens (Niamh) will also be leaving her position in the School Office to spend more time with her family. Niamh has been a welcoming face on the reception desk since 2022 and has supported many of you over the years.
We wish both Miss Herbert and Mrs Stevens every success and happiness in the future.
Thank you in advance to those families who will be joining Mrs Holmes and myself as BPS takes part in the Banstead Remembrance parade on Sunday.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
Mr Chesworth
