Summer Newsletter 10 [Friday 30th June]
Dear Parents & Carers
Last week, our Y6 children went on their residential to PGL Boreatton Park in Shropshire. We were there for 3 jam-packed days tackling all sorts of activities & challenges: trapeze, sensory trail, capture the flag, giant swing, challenge course, raft-building, campfire, zip wire & archery. The children’s behaviour was great. They listened carefully to the instructors on the activity bases & as a result ensured they got the maximum amount of turns on each activity. I can honestly say that in all the years I’ve been going to PGL (this was my sixteenth), we have never had such good behaviour after ‘lights out’ – the children were wonderful both nights. Mind you, they must have been shattered – they threw themselves into every activity with such gusto!
Tomorrow, it’s our summer fair. I’d like to give HUGE thanks to everyone who has helped or offered to help in any way. The organising committee members have, as always, been phenomenal; the time & effort that they put in to events such as this is incredible. They work so hard to ensure events are a success. I’d also like to thank the people who have volunteered to help at the summer fair – parents, carers & staff. These events would not be able to go ahead without people offering their time. Thank you!
Every time a pupil achieves TT Rock Stars Rock Hero status, we induct them into Woodlands Rock Hero Hall of Fame. We inducted another 4 children today?. Rock Heroes are pupils that can complete ten ‘Studio’ TT Rock Star games, based on multiplication & division facts from 1x1 to 12x12, in an average time of less than 1 second per question. We celebrate their achievement in our Star of the Week assembly on a Friday afternoon; they are presented with a Rock Hero badge & sign one of the electric guitars from our TT Rock Stars display. Each time pupils are inducted into the Woodlands Rock Hero Hall of Fame a different member of staff chooses a ‘rock’ song to play. I thought you may be interested in the most recent choices…
Gerry Rafferty ‘Baker Street’ [Mrs Rimmer 6R]
Meatloaf ‘Bat Out of Hell’ [Mrs Coleman Deputy]
AC/DC ‘Back in Black’ [Mrs Fortune Blue Class]
The Clash ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ [Mr Williams headteacher]
T Rex ‘Children of the Revolution’ [Mrs Mills Lunchtime Welfare Assistant]
Ash ‘Evil Eye’ [Miss Pickford 5/6P]
Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Can’t Stop’ [Mrs Dempster Yellow Class]
Guns N’ Roses ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ [Ms Roberts School Office]
This week’s ‘nudges’ to help you start conversations about your children’s learning are as follows…
Nursery
Can you remember what Milton saw on his holiday?
{Literacy: ‘Milton’s Suitcase Adventure’ Diane Distefano}
Reception [Red & Blue]
Talk about the different parts of a pirate ship.
{Understanding the World}
Y1&2 [Green, Yellow & Purple]
Can you describe Osebo the leopard?
{English topic: ‘The Leopard Drum’ Jessica Souhami}
Y3&4 [3A, 3/4M & 4G]
What is meant by the Elizabethan ‘Golden Age’?
{History topic: ‘Tudor Monarchs’}
Y5&6 [5D, 5/6P & 6R]
What did our traffic survey tell us about the traffic outside school on Woodlands Road?
{Geography topic: ‘Local Study’}
This week, our whole school attendance is 95.6%. We had no classes with 100% attendance this week & 6 classes reaching or exceeding our 97% target: Blue Class (97.23%), Yellow Class (99.6%), 3G (97.3%), 3/4M (97.1%), 5D (97.2%) & 5/6P (99.4%).
We had 4 classes who had no late marks this week: Red Class, 3G, 3/4M & 5/6P. We had 22 late marks across the whole school. 21 late marks were ‘before the register closed’ (that’s before 9.20am) & 1 late mark ‘after the register has closed’, that’s after 9.20am.
The reason I put this data (above) in the newsletter each week is to share with parents & carers the attendance figures for their children’s classes & punctuality figures for the whole school. Each week, I am always surprised at the number of occasions where children are not brought to school on time. When children arrive late into class they feel self-conscious – walking into a room where everyone else is already seated & have started their school day is embarrassing. Children arriving late also miss that vital social time with their classmates before lessons begin in earnest – it is a settling period before a busy day. Just as importantly, they miss the start of their learning, be it phonics, TT Rock Stars, guided reading, quick maths puzzles, etc. School starts at the same time every day; apart from the odd, exceptionally rare occasion, there is no reason for children to be arriving at school late.
Just a reminder, that next week we’ve got our sports days:
Tuesday 4th July KS2 (Y3-Y6) Sports Day [starting as close to 9.15am as possible]
Tuesday 4th July KS1 (Y1&2) Sports Day [starting as close to 1.30pm as possible]
Thursday 6th July Reception Sports Day [starting as close to 9.15am as possible]
Let’s hope for the right sort of weather.
I hope to see you at the summer fair tomorrow.
KD Williams
Headteacher
Last word
Who won the furniture competition?
It was a drawer.
Thanks to Mr Inskip
