Headteacher's Welcome

Welcome to Bridgetown Primary School.

I am the Acting Headteacher of Bridgetown Primary School, having been the Deputy Head for ten years. I am delighted to be welcoming you to the website of our thriving, popular and forward-thinking primary school on the edge of Stratford-upon-Avon and to be leading the school until our new Headteacher, Mark Szortowski, joins us in January.

As a larger primary school we are able to offer an extensive range of expertise from  our dedicated staff team, as well as modern facilities, the latest technologies and spacious grounds, including our large sports field, memorial garden, MUGA, outdoor stage and Forest School.  

Here at Bridgetown we are very proud of Stratford’s heritage and we use every opportunity we can to make connections with the local and wider community, having strong connections with the RSC, Shakespeare's birthday and the Stratford Literary Festival.

Our website is intended to give you a taster of the events, activities and opportunities we offer, to celebrate the successes of our pupils and to provide regular, up to date information about the day to day life of the school.

But please don't just take my word for the successes... The following quotes are all from Bridgetown families or members of our community:

'Hats off to the year 5 team on Tuesday too, a super greek day! I really enjoyed helping and loved how much care and thought had gone into it. The children loved it, lots of life skills learnt and great to see how ambitious it was. Thanks to all' - Y5 parent, May 2023

'Huge thanks for organising the visit to Bridgetown this morning.  You have a truly lovely school.  I was really impressed by the children I saw and their fabulous attitudes to their learning and each other.  As well, all the staff made us feel very welcome and seemed very relaxed about having us visit their classrooms. I was particularly struck by the 'small school' feel as a result of the careful zoning by key stage.  The school building facilitates this so well.  Among the many excellent things we saw going round was the Aviary which is a delightful space and rightly located at the heart of the school.  I very much liked the nurturing and flexible ethos.  It's a hard thing to get right but I sense you have and in itself says much about the true values of the school. There was so much else to admire like the strong commitment to promoting values, the idea of developing your pupils as vocal citizens, the wide range of opportunities available, the importance attached to parental involvement and the general sense of enthusiasm and innovation. First impressions count for a lot and this morning certainly gave a super picture of your school. Please do pass on my thanks to all the staff who helped host our visit and also to Ms Pinkerton (apologies, I failed to note her first name) who was an excellent tour guide. Thank you again for such an enjoyable and uplifting morning' - Governor from SUAS, May 2023  

I had such a lovely time in Arete, I think the teachers are all superstars and deserve a medal!  The care and dedication is really impressive, I've always had a high opinion of the school and the trip just proved how supportive the teachers are to the children and each other. I was made to feel really welcome and included.  I would also like to add a massive thank you to Mrs Millward and group 1, for making the daily activities really fun. Thank you once again, it was really was a pleasure to attend the school trip' - Y6 parent, April 2023

'Thank you for arranging for parents (and grandparents) to come and watch the choir yesterday. It was really wonderful, and such joyful songs They are an absolute credit to the school. The children are so fortunate to be at such a brilliant school that facilitates such great opportunities for them' - Y6 and Y3 parent, March 2023

 'I thought after another action packed week I would just say how lovely it is to walk to school in the morning with the girls and listen to such positivity about Bridgetown on the way .They just  love coming to school. It isn’t only my grandchildren - it is all around. For me, it is a really great way to start the day with so many smiles. Thank you once again to you and your staff' - Y5 and Y2 grandparent, February 2023

'It is a real credit to you that Bridgetown is one of a handful of schools in Stratford which is continuing to operate, seemingly unaffected by the strikes. To us, this says that you have created an incredibly supportive and welcoming working environment for your staff, which in turn allows the teaching staff to create a similar environment, in which the children can grow and learn.

I was at the year assembly for the reception students this morning and, like you, was impressed by the support by the teaching staff and by the turnout of the parents. Again, this demonstrates the incredible successes of you and your teams’ efforts. Thank you for your hard work, it is very much appreciated, especially in this time of turmoil ' - Reception parent, February 2023

'I just wanted to say congratulations to you and the team on the Enhanced Values Award, and also the fact Bridgetown is nearly at capacity! Thoroughly well-deserved, we appreciate how hard you all work to make the school so great!' - Y5 parent, January 2023

Thank you for the lovely welcome at Bridgetown. There is such an energy and positivity about the whole school' - Values assessor, January 2023

'I wanted to write to thank you for your time and commitment in bringing the choir to the Young Voices event recently at Birmingham. We all really loved the performances and it was clearly such a wonderful experience for all of the children to be part of. 
We really appreciate that a lot of work goes into this and wanted to acknowledge our gratitude to all involved' - Y5 parent, January 2023

'It was such a great event and so lovely to see all the children enjoying themselves so much. Thank you for organising such great events for the children of Bridgetown. I can imagine the logistics and planning for things like this are huge, but it really is appreciated' - Y6 parent, January 2023 (re Young Voices event)

t was a magical concert as ever - you have certainly achieved your ambition of creating a very musical school!  We really enjoyed it and thank you for taking the children' - Y5 parent, January 2023 (re Young Voices event)

'The buoyant atmosphere of lively, cheerful children is uplifting; the dedication of focused, committed staff presents the quality of your flourishing school... The atmosphere was almost tangible the first time I walked down the corridor at Bridgetown Primary. Despite many years of working in a secondary school,  I was not prepared for the continued  alertness of the staff, nor the  confident enthusiasm of the pupils' - volunteer, January 2023

It was our first experience of the Bridgetown carol service and I just wanted to thank you for a magical and memorable service. It was wonderful to see all the children taking part, singing in harmonies and rounds, using instruments. I had to do some rapid blinking after the first choir song! I don't think I was expecting it to be so amazing, so thank you!' - Y4 parent, December 2022

'We are sincerely grateful for the care that we received in your wonderful school.  You are incredible' - Y2 parent, November 2022

'We would just like to thank you for such a warm welcome to Bridgetown today. The school at first glance was fantastic' - Y4 parent, October 2022

'We were really impressed with last night's presentation from the leadership team and the governors for Bridgetown.  The plans they've put in place to address the recent survey and the vision for the years ahead were really impressive' - Y5 parent, September 2022

Your organisation and regular communication with parents during Covid was amazing, and will not be forgotten and we are so pleased that life at school has finally returned to normal and we are able to enjoy events such as assemblies and concerts, which I know you and your team give so much time to, and which the children get so much from' - Y6 parent, July 2022

'Thank you for a wonderful year for H. He really enjoys being part of your school and I have to say that the quality of education and overall service that Bridgetown provides is exemplary' - Y3 parent, July 2022

'I just need to let you know how amazing some of your children were at the Jubilee service last weekend....Thank you for installing such a love of music and confidence within your children' - Community member, June 2022

'I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to Mrs Tailby and team for all the effort put in for the KS1 and 2 choir jubilee performances. My daughter  absolutely loved being a part of it and I can see what a wonderful impact these sorts of opportunities are having on building her confidence and seeing her and her friends blossom. We are so grateful that you give the opportunity for children to be successful at school in lots of ways' - Reception parent, June 2022

'Your passion and approach clearly shows a positive reflection in the vision of the school....We were both very impressed with your knowledge and hands on approach...very reassuring indeed' -  Reception parent, May 2022

'It's so heartening that you support the arts so much and give all the children a chance to express themselves and be a part of something'  - Y5 parent, May 2022

'I would like to express my admiration to you for the tremendous amount of creativity, work and effort which went into the Year 4 production of 'Friend or Foe' just before Easter' - Y4 parent, May 2022

If you are a prospective parent, grandparent or member of the community and would like to see the school in action, please do make an appointment through the school office for me to give you a tour of the school.  I look forward to welcoming you.

Lisa Pinkerton, 2023

Acting Headteacher