Junior Section: Programme for Autumn Term 2017: Please see the note from Cathy below the programme
Dear Junior BB Parents,
‘Welcome to Juniors’ for those who have graduated from Anchors and ‘Hello again’ to those who already belong.
Please read the notes below because they give a summary and flavour of what you can expect in Juniors. In particular the START and FINISH times because they can be different to Anchors.
We have an exciting Autumn term of activities planned and, as many of them are offsite, I want to give you advanced notice so that you can organise lifts or lift shares.
Start and Finish Times
When we are meeting at Wycliffe our start and finish times will be the same as Anchors 6:15-7:45pm. However when we are meeting off site we will slightly adjust our start and finish times so that it is possible for parents to drop off/collect Anchors at Wycliffe and then be on time to drop off/collect Juniors. So off site times are 6:30-8:00pm. I hope this is going to make life easier rather than more complicated for parents, but I understand that different times on different nights might be confusing to remember!! We would ask that parents arrive promptly because we will only be waiting at the meeting point for 5 minutes before leaving to start activities.
Rain/bad weather
If we have an extremely cold or rainy day we may decide to abandon our plans to meet offsite and meet at Wycliffe instead. If this is the case our timings will revert to 6:15-7:45pm so that we are in line with the Anchors. We will email parents by Wednesday morning to confirm what the arrangements are for that evening. Please check we have correct email addresses for you so you are informed of any changes.
Transport/lifts
I’m afraid that we do not have the capacity to provide lifts for boys to offsite activities. In the past we walked the boys to Palmer Park from Wycliffe but this did make our evenings very complicated and so to make things simpler and safer we are now asking parents to bring their son’s to Palmer Park themselves. I understand this will be difficult for some parents who do not have transport and so where possible we would ask parents to arrange lift shares between themselves. If I have to ‘broker’ lifts between parents it becomes more complicated because we will need to follow the church’s safeguarding policy (ie application forms, references, DBS checks etc for drivers). However, if there are parents who don’t have anyone to ask and haven’t got transport please do speak to me and I will see if I can set up something. I am very keen that nobody is excluded from this term’s activities.
Uniform
Please dress your son in suitable clothing and footwear for the planned activity, taking into account the weather forecast. It is helpful if boys can wear their BB tops since it makes it more obvious to others that the boys are with us.
Opting in/out of activities
Another reason for letting you know what activities we are doing in advance is that we have a small number of boys who can be reluctant to join in BB activities. When on the Wycliffe site we ask boys who don’t want to join in to sit at the side quietly. However, this is more problematic when we are offsite because the boys who are not joining in have more opportunity to wander and then we have to take leaders away from the planned activities to supervise them. Please take the time to talk with your son about the planned programme for the term. If your son is not keen to join in a particular activity this may be a week to take a break!!
Risk assessments/Health and safety
All activities are risk assessed and we are clear with the boys about our behavioural expectations because while we want boys to enjoy themselves we also want to keep them safe. We will be taking a basic first aid pack with us when we are out and have parents’ mobile numbers should we need to contact you during the evening. It would be helpful if you could check that we have up to date contact details for you.
Behaviour
We don’t want BB to be like school but we still need some rules – these are to respond to the whistle by looking at the whistle blower, standing still and being quiet! To be respectful to one another and to use kind behaviour and words. Boundaries create the necessary structure so that we can have fun and stay safe. If a boy doesn’t comply with the rules they will be asked to sit out for a few minutes or part of the evening. On occasion I may have to speak to a parent about their child’s behaviour so that we can work together to find a solution. Very occasionally we may ask a boy to take a week off if there are repeated difficulties.
Issues and concerns
Our intention is for every Junior to enjoy BB and to feel included and welcome so please feel free to come and chat to me at the beginning or end of BB if you are worried or unhappy about anything that is happening at BB. Alternatively you can ring or email me and we can find a different time to meet and chat. More serious concerns can be escalated to Phil Carter, BB Captain (078 8151 1134).
I hope all of the above makes sense. Please contact me if you have any questions or queries,
Cathy Burges
BB Junior Section Leader
‘Welcome to Juniors’ for those who have graduated from Anchors and ‘Hello again’ to those who already belong.
Please read the notes below because they give a summary and flavour of what you can expect in Juniors. In particular the START and FINISH times because they can be different to Anchors.
We have an exciting Autumn term of activities planned and, as many of them are offsite, I want to give you advanced notice so that you can organise lifts or lift shares.
Start and Finish Times
When we are meeting at Wycliffe our start and finish times will be the same as Anchors 6:15-7:45pm. However when we are meeting off site we will slightly adjust our start and finish times so that it is possible for parents to drop off/collect Anchors at Wycliffe and then be on time to drop off/collect Juniors. So off site times are 6:30-8:00pm. I hope this is going to make life easier rather than more complicated for parents, but I understand that different times on different nights might be confusing to remember!! We would ask that parents arrive promptly because we will only be waiting at the meeting point for 5 minutes before leaving to start activities.
Rain/bad weather
If we have an extremely cold or rainy day we may decide to abandon our plans to meet offsite and meet at Wycliffe instead. If this is the case our timings will revert to 6:15-7:45pm so that we are in line with the Anchors. We will email parents by Wednesday morning to confirm what the arrangements are for that evening. Please check we have correct email addresses for you so you are informed of any changes.
Transport/lifts
I’m afraid that we do not have the capacity to provide lifts for boys to offsite activities. In the past we walked the boys to Palmer Park from Wycliffe but this did make our evenings very complicated and so to make things simpler and safer we are now asking parents to bring their son’s to Palmer Park themselves. I understand this will be difficult for some parents who do not have transport and so where possible we would ask parents to arrange lift shares between themselves. If I have to ‘broker’ lifts between parents it becomes more complicated because we will need to follow the church’s safeguarding policy (ie application forms, references, DBS checks etc for drivers). However, if there are parents who don’t have anyone to ask and haven’t got transport please do speak to me and I will see if I can set up something. I am very keen that nobody is excluded from this term’s activities.
Uniform
Please dress your son in suitable clothing and footwear for the planned activity, taking into account the weather forecast. It is helpful if boys can wear their BB tops since it makes it more obvious to others that the boys are with us.
Opting in/out of activities
Another reason for letting you know what activities we are doing in advance is that we have a small number of boys who can be reluctant to join in BB activities. When on the Wycliffe site we ask boys who don’t want to join in to sit at the side quietly. However, this is more problematic when we are offsite because the boys who are not joining in have more opportunity to wander and then we have to take leaders away from the planned activities to supervise them. Please take the time to talk with your son about the planned programme for the term. If your son is not keen to join in a particular activity this may be a week to take a break!!
Risk assessments/Health and safety
All activities are risk assessed and we are clear with the boys about our behavioural expectations because while we want boys to enjoy themselves we also want to keep them safe. We will be taking a basic first aid pack with us when we are out and have parents’ mobile numbers should we need to contact you during the evening. It would be helpful if you could check that we have up to date contact details for you.
Behaviour
We don’t want BB to be like school but we still need some rules – these are to respond to the whistle by looking at the whistle blower, standing still and being quiet! To be respectful to one another and to use kind behaviour and words. Boundaries create the necessary structure so that we can have fun and stay safe. If a boy doesn’t comply with the rules they will be asked to sit out for a few minutes or part of the evening. On occasion I may have to speak to a parent about their child’s behaviour so that we can work together to find a solution. Very occasionally we may ask a boy to take a week off if there are repeated difficulties.
Issues and concerns
Our intention is for every Junior to enjoy BB and to feel included and welcome so please feel free to come and chat to me at the beginning or end of BB if you are worried or unhappy about anything that is happening at BB. Alternatively you can ring or email me and we can find a different time to meet and chat. More serious concerns can be escalated to Phil Carter, BB Captain (078 8151 1134).
I hope all of the above makes sense. Please contact me if you have any questions or queries,
Cathy Burges
BB Junior Section Leader
