Summer Newsletter 11 [Friday 7th July]
Dear Parents & Carers
I’d like to thank everyone who attended our sports days this week – the weather was kind & the children had great fun.
As is often at the end of the academic year in a school, it is a time to say goodbye to people who are moving on to pastures new. This week, I’d like to thank Claire Cowling for all that she has done for Woodlands since becoming chair of FOWSA 10 years ago. Never one to let the grass grow under her feet, Claire has ensured that FOWSA’s events are varied & don’t become stuck in a rut. She is backed by a wonderful core team of FOWSA volunteers but I think they’d agree that Claire has been the driving force behind the development of FOWSA over the past years. She must have spent thousands of hours of her own time working on events, dreaming up new ones & putting plans into action. Mind you, as a result of this dedication, FOWSA has raised tens of thousands of pounds over the past 10 years. This year alone, FOWSA has raised over £12000 – which is simply incredible! The money raised will be put to good use over the coming months; in the recent past, money raised by parents has been spent on Chromebooks, a reading scheme throughout the school & the junior trim trail. Claire has been an exceptional chair & has left FOWSA in ‘a good place’. Which brings me to introduce our new co-chairs of FOWSA: Suz Prior-Crossen & Louise Gibson (succession planning at its finest!). So, for one final time – Claire, THANK YOU!
I’d like to introduce 2 teachers to Woodlands who will be joining us in September (2023). Both teachers are known to us & we are very pleased to have been able to get them on our teamsheet. Mr Seery will be taking Green Class, covering Miss Morgan’s maternity leave. Ms Wall will be teaching 4W. Next Tuesday, children will be meeting their new teachers for the academic next year. Unfortunately, Ms Wall is working in another school at the moment & won’t be able to come into Woodalnds but we are hoping to get a video message from her so the children get to see & hear her! Yellow Class will meet Mrs Dempster on Wednesday.
For the last time this academic year, here are this week’s ‘nudges’ to help you start conversations about your children’s learning…
Nursery
This week have harvested & eaten our potatoes. What other foods are made from potatoes?
{Understanding the World}
Reception [Red & Blue]
How many ways can you make 10?
{Mathematics - number}
Y1&2 [Green, Yellow & Purple]
In our investigation, which materials were waterproof & what are their properties?
{Science topic: ‘Materials & Magnets’}
Y3&4 [3A, 3/4M & 4G]
What facts can you remember about the king cobra snake?
{English topic: ‘Writing a non-chronological report’}
Y5&6 [5D, 5/6P & 6R]
On the subject of weather, can you explain what the following are & the impact they have? A cold front. A warm front. An occluded front?
{Geography topic: ‘Meteorology’}
This week, our whole school attendance is 93.8%. We had no classes with 100% attendance this week & 2 classes reaching or exceeding our 97% target: Blue Class (97.7%) & 3/4M (97.2%).
We had 3 classes who had no late marks this week: Red Class, 3/4M & 5/6P. We had 32 late marks across the whole school. 21 late marks were ‘before the register closed’ (that’s before 9.20am) & 3 late mark ‘after the register has closed’, that’s after 9.20am.
Just a reminder, next week, we’ve got a couple of ‘end of year’ events for parents & carers:
Wednesday 12th July Y2 ‘The Bee Musical’ [junior hall, starting as close to 9.15am as possible]
Friday 14th July Y6 WOODfest III [school field, starting at 12.30pm]
I hope you have a lovely weekend
KD Williams
Headteacher
Last word
I threw a boomerang a few years ago.
Now I live in constant fear.
