Welcome to Balgowan Primary School
Balgowan is a very friendly, high achieving and heavily oversubscribed academy in Beckenham. There are 678 pupils taught in 22 classes. The academy follows a creative curriculum which is designed to engage and excite all the children whilst also ensuring the acquisition of key reading, writing and mathematical skills…
Language Leaders at Balgowan
With over 30 languages spoken in our school, we are giving our Year 6 bilingual pupils an opportunity to teach their other language to children in Year 2. Every half term, we choose three Language Leaders who are responsible for planning lessons, making resources and teaching short 20-minute sessions to a group of four pupils in Year 2. Our Year 6s are natural born teachers, very enthusiastic and they prepared some great activities for their groups. These are the languages that were taught this term: – Italian – Antonella (6AS) – Chinese – Holly E. (6NG) – German – Maia (6CR) ‘Bravo’ to our first Language Leaders of the year! Hélène Gilbert—French Teacher
Bromley F.C Tournament
Bromley F.C Tournament On the 16th December 2019, Balgowan girls’ football team played in a tournament at Bromley F.C. Firstly, we played Oak Lodge we beat them 1-0. Chloe scored a goal. The next game was Soughborough we beat them 1-0 with Chloe scoring again. After that we played Warren Road, who we beat 2-0 with Freya and Elissa scoring. Then we played Burnt Ash who we drew against with Chloe hitting the post and Alexa finishing it. After that we played Highfield with a 1-0 win with Freya scoring a fantastic goal. Finally we played Scotts Park who we unfortunately lost 3-0 against. In the end we finished joint first with Scotts Park, only to get 2nd place, losing
Balgowan Value Token Winners – Autumn Term
The children have been working extremely hard during the Autumn term, demonstrating the Balgowan values and earning tokens for their houses. The results for the Autumn term are as follows:- 1st = Discovery 1,106 tokens 2nd = Victory 1,089 tokens 3rd = Mayflower 974 tokens 4th = Endeavour 965 tokens Well done to all of the children in the winning house of Discovery who will be rewarded with an own clothes day on Wednesday 15th January.
Scootsure
During Road Safety week, some Year 3 children took part in scooter training delivered by the Borough of Bromley. In Scootsure we were learning how to be safe on scooters and learning some new skills. How to be safe: Before you scoot, always look behind you. Wear bright clothes and always wear suitable clothes for the weather. Always wear a helmet. Always look before you cross the road. Check your scooter is in good condition before you ride it. What we did First, we checked our scooters to see if they were good to ride. We learnt how to turn a corner without putting the brakes on. Then we followed Sarah (the teacher) on our scooters and went round curved
Forest School News
November has been a tree planting month and as part of the Woodland Trust Big Climate Fightback, children, staff and families have all planted trees at our field Forest School site. The Woodland Trust provided us with 130 saplings for the orchard area and to create a new wildlife corridor. We have also received individual donations from families who took part in the trees for London campaign We have installed some benches that were recycled from the school playground. These have proved to be a hit with the volunteers and children. If anyone has any garden seats or benches they would like to donate, we are looking to put more in the field. Mrs Cleveland— Forest School Leader
Be Bright Be Seen Day
On Friday 22nd November 2019 Balgowan School had a “Be bright, be seen” day when everyone in the school came in their bright clothes. This was planned to show how important it is to stay safe in the dark. The JTAs had to choose the brightest person in the class and they were awarded with a prize. By Eloise
E Safety – Digital Parenting – Building Good Habits
Helping our children to develop healthy relationships with technology can be challenging, but there is increasing support available, including apps which allow parents/carers to block or allow different apps on their children’s devices. For Apple devices, ‘Screen Time‘, allows parents to know how much time you and your kids spend on apps, websites, and more. Find support for using parental controls on Apple devices at: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201304 For Android devices, ‘Google Family Link‘, (also available for iOS) has a number of features, including managing your child’s apps, setting limits and viewing their activity. Find out more at: https://families.google.com/familylink/? Parents may find the following Live Event useful: LGFL are running a facebook live event for parents called “Will your kids be safe online at Christmas?” on 16th
London Children’s Flower Society
Six children in Year 1 travelled to Guildhall for the London Children’s Flower Society, award ceremony. We were awarded the trophy which was called the ‘Display cup’ for the display and progress of our front garden space, which the Year 1 children were heavily involved in. This was through planting fruit/vegetables/flowers and helping to maintain the space to make it an area which can be enjoyed by everyone in the school.
