We are extremely proud of our achievements, but don’t take the Borough of Poole’s word for it, or ours, come and see for yourself. Book an appointment to view our wonderful Early Years provision, on 01202 742871.

Welcome back!

Accompanying this letter will be your Calendar of Events, displaying quite clearly a very exciting and busy term ahead.

To say that it has been a busy Easter break is a bit of an understatement.

The great news is that everything that we were promised would happen has happened; all the new temporary classrooms are in place for Years 4, 5, 6 and 7. They contain brand new furniture and resources, including interactive whiteboards. They are positioned in such a way, along with a toilet block, so as not to encroach too much on the play area.

The Nursery classroom and hall now have heat, light and water and are being decorated as I write. Once the scaffolding is complete, another class will move across, while the hall will be available for assemblies, lunches, music lessons etc. And, on the subject of lunches, we are intending that the hot menu will be up and running again from Tuesday 7^th May.

Now that the dust has begun to settle, I have been able to start to consider the future and the wonderful opportunities this will afford us. I am very excited. While the bulk of the main shell of the original building will be kept in place (we don’t want to lose that warm and homely feel), the internal ‘fabric’ of the building will be reproduced as new. And, we are still on schedule for a September opening!

Rather than go into detail here about the exciting plans we are putting in place, I would like to invite you to an update meeting at the church on Tuesday 7^th May at 6.30pm. This will be an opportunity for you to ‘meet’ the project manager, architects etc and share any queries or questions you might have. We will also be able to update you on exactly what stage the project is at and plans going forward. We are intending to have a number of these meetings throughout the term, as things progress.

In the meantime, it is vital that if you have any concerns about any of the provision or facilities we have in place for our children, or any questions regarding the past, present or future of the school, then please come and speak to me.

Thanking you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

I Robertson

Headmaster

Children from across the age range have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities to become involved in activities with a number of different groups in our local community;

Years 4 and 5 competed in Pancake Day races at Poole day Centre, alongside the old folks and others from the Learning Disability community.

Younger pupils spent time at the Day Centre helping the old folks to decorate the Christmas trees, while on the same morning our oldest were at the church helping with the Poole Children’s Centre Christmas Party.

Our Year 7 pupils spent a lovely afternoon at the Day Centre enjoying a ‘Taste of India’ experience. They dressed up in traditional clothing, danced with the clients and tucked into delicious Indian cooking.

A number of our younger pupils with green fingers are becoming involved in planting projects at both the church and the Day Centre.

One of the highlights of the year so far, has to have been our Year 6 and 7 pupils delivering food parcels to the needy in Poole, following our wonderful Harvest Festival. The smiles say it all, although the letters that the children received were also quite special.

SCHOLARSHIPS AT BUCKHOLME TOWERS SCHOOL AND NURSERY

Buckholme Towers School offers a number of Scholarships to both external and internal candidates annually. Awards of up to 50% of the tuition fees are available to children who show exceptional academic ability. In addition, those who show special ability in non-academic fields such as Art, Music, Sport, and Drama may be considered for minor awards. Scholarships are available at ages 7+, 8+, and 9+ (Years 3, 4 and 5 entry).

The Scholarship Examination consists of four elements:

•           A test of reading comprehension and spelling ability.

•           An English writing test.

•           A test of mathematics.

•           A Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning Test according to age.

All are standardised tests and will test the potential of the candidate.

Parents should indicate, when entering their child for the Scholarship Examination, whether they would like a particular ability from a non-academic field to be taken into account. An additional examination or interview will then be arranged. Parents are requested to support such an application with relevant evidence e.g. music certificates, a list of sporting achievements, testimonials, art portfolio etc., at the time of application. Please note that all external applicants will be required to sit academic tests.

Scholarship examinations will take place on Saturday 9th February 2013 at 9.30am, in the school hall.

Parents will be notified of any scholarship offer within two weeks of the examination date. For external applicants, places can only be guaranteed once a full term’s fees have been paid in advance.

The school respects the confidentiality of scholarship award information and expects parents and pupils to do the same. Failure to meet these expectations will result in the withdrawal of awards.

Should you have any queries regarding any aspect of the Scholarship Examination, or to request an application form, please do not hesitate to contact either the Headmaster (headteacher@buckholme.dorset.sch.uk) or the School Secretary (office@buckholme.dorset.sch.uk).

Every one of our Year 7 pupils that took the 12+ test in September have passed. Congratulations, once again!

The second session for the 13 members of the Buckholme Towers Sailing Academy proved to be quite challenging. The wind was strong and tested their (limited) knowledge to the full. They did, however, all do very well, managing to helm (steer) the boat across the marina at Parkstone Yacht Club without incident – although several wetsuits were also tested during the afternoon!