Message from Mrs Gunning
Dear parents, carers and families,
As we come to the end of term two of this academic year, I want to extend my gratitude and appreciation to every single member of our Beckfoot Priestthorpe School community. Every child, parent, staff and family member makes ‘Team Beckfoot Priestthorpe’ the most very special family to be a part of and it is my pleasure and purpose to serve you all. Belonging is very important to me and as a school we strive to ensure that all of our children and families feel safe, welcomed and valued.
We have welcomed several new families to school this term, with more joining us after the Easter break. When I show prospective parents around school they always comment on how warm, calm and purposeful school is, how welcoming the staff and children are, how well behaved and polite the children are, and we are filling empty places at a faster pace than ever before. They can see just how much we care and strive to do our very best and it always wonderful to show new people what we do here. We still have some places available in lower years, so please spread the word, support the Facebook posts and help us to help new families find us so that they can experience the welcome that your children always give new faces.
The end of a term is the point where we look back at all that we have achieved and enjoyed together and also plan next steps. We have had a term full of fun and learning where the whole team have pulled together to provide experiences like: Eid celebrations; World Book Day; bikeability; road safety training; play leader training; smoothie making; special visitors; teeth brushing; clubs; disco; celebration assemblies; trips; the Wonderdome; corridor makeover and so much more!
As we move into term three, we have exciting plans to improve our outdoor learning environment on the field and introduce forest school sessions in the final half term. We are also looking to extend clubs and opportunities. We are constantly evaluating the curriculum and improving teaching so that we can offer the best and brightest futures for all our children. We never stand still and have the mindset that we can always be better tomorrow than we are today.
We are excited about making further improvements together and we look forward to welcoming you all back after a well-deserved break for everyone. I wish you all peace and relaxation and hope that you get some time with loved ones over the Easter break.
Diary Dates
April
Monday 13 April, 8:35am School Reopens for the Summer Term
Wednesday 15 April, Fluoride Varnish Team visit Early Years
Thursday 16 April, 8:35am – 10:00am – SENCO drop in
Thursday 23 April, Sammy Clothing Collection – please drop clothing bags off at the school office
Monday 11 May – Thursday 14 May – Year 6 SATS week!
Monday 18 May, 3:05pm, FOPPS meeting – all parents, carers and families welcome
Tuesday 19 May, Year 6 Brownlee Triathlon – (more information to follow soon)
Thursday 21 May, 9:00am – 9:30am – Year 4 Class Assembly – all parents, carers and families welcome to attend
New key dates for your diary
School Field Working Group – Friday 17th April 2026
We are inviting parents, carers, staff, and community members to join our School Field Working Group. The aim is to explore how we can make better use of the school field to support outdoor learning, wellbeing, and wider opportunities for pupils.
Everyone is welcome, and we encourage you to share this with family members or others in the community who may be interested. A Microsoft Teams link will be available for those unable to attend in person just drop us an email or let the school office know.
We hope to see many of you there!
Sammy Clothing Collection – Thursday 23rd April 2026
It is coming up to that time of year when we know families will be having a Spring clean and a winter clear out, with this in mind we have partnered again with DONATE CLOTHES FOR SAMMY.
They will collect our clothing donations and make a financial donation to school to support extra activities – they then sort the donations and feed into their charity shops to raise funds for LEUKAEMIA & MYELOMA RESEARCH UK – you can help school and a charity whilst having a clear out.
Clothing will be collected on Thursday 23rd April 2026, so you have plenty of time to fill any bags. Please share with your family and friends as more donations we have, more money to school and the charity.
SAVE THE DATE! Bradford City Penalty Shoot Out! Friday 4th September 2026
We’re excited to share a fantastic opportunity coming up in September — a sponsored penalty shoot-out with Bradford City! This will be a fun and engaging way for children to come back to school after the summer break.
More details will follow in July, when a representative from Bradford City will visit the school to lead an assembly and tell us all about the event.
Attendance
Thank you to all our families for supporting us with getting your child to school, our whole school attendance for last week was 94.8%
Reception – 86.8%
Year 1 – 93.3%
Year 2 – 94.2%
Year 3 – 95.1%
Year 4 – 96.5%
Year 5 – 99.7%
Year 6 – 96.6%
Pride of Priestthorpe
No Pride of Priestthorpe this week, normal activity with resume after the Easter break.
Early Years
Early Years have been making repeating patterns.
Year 1
Year 1 have loved making their crowns for their special Eid lunch this week!
Year 2
Year 2 have worked incredibly hard in maths this week, exploring symmetry and learning about quadrilaterals. We have also finished our hand puppets and are very proud of our creations!
Year 3
In DT, Year 3 have been exploring pneumatics!
Year 4
In PE this week, we had our last lesson of the fitness unit with Miss Ingham. We have really enjoyed this topic.
Year 5
Year 5 had a fantastic time at the local church taking part in the “Rewind to Easter” experience. The children thoroughly enjoyed planting flowers with the volunteers from the church.
Year 6
In English, Year 6 have started to research writing their own non-chronological reports. We have looked at some examples and worked with learning partners to create a list of features that we will need to use when writing this type of report. We will base our own reports on our geography topic of North America; learning some interesting facts along the way!
Pride beyond school
Well done Aarushi
Aarushi recently took part in the British Science Week Family Day held at the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford. She supported an interactive science activity titled “Power from Sound & Movement: The Science of Smart Materials,” delivered by her mother and father as part of their research outreach from the University of Bradford. During the event, Aarushi engaged with families and children, helping demonstrate how simple actions such as touch and movement can generate electricity using smart materials. Well done Aarushi, we are very proud of you!
Well done Amelia
Amelia has been in Birmingham recently performing both Saturday and Sunday at BP Pulse Live Arena. She danced at the Legacy Cheer and Dance, Dream Extreme competition, which is a huge competition in England and is a 3-arena competition known for hosting hundreds of teams and offering bids to elite international events. Against these teams Amelia came 1st place, two 2nd place and a 4th place which is such an amazing achievement against such high level teams. Well done Amelia, we are very proud of you.
We love seeing what our children are achieving beyond the school day! Whether it’s sporting success, music and dance achievements, community involvement, or personal milestones, it’s wonderful to celebrate the talents and efforts our pupils show outside of school. Please email [email protected] if you would like us to share anything on the newsletter.
Times Tables Rock Stars – Times Tables Rock Stars
This week’s winners are; Harry (Year 2) Xander. R (Year 3), Aeyla (Year 4), Sophie (Year 5), George (Year 6)
Most improved in speed: Dheyon (Year 6). Most minutes played: Raph (Year 4)
Accelerated Reader will allow children to read a book and then take an online quiz to test their knowledge and understanding of the text, and receive immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to improve their reading skills.
Spelling Shed uses the science of spelling to teach it to pupils. Using phonics as a base and drawing upon proven approaches such as teaching morphology, etymology, and orthographic mapping, as well as teaching spelling patterns. Children are set new activities on here each week.
