Summer Newsletter 3 [Friday 5th May]

Dear Parents & Carers

I would like to thank everyone who helped Tabitha & her friends raise money for Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (& Ward 5 transplant team). It was great to see how the families of Woodlands have helped: buying enough loom band bracelets to stretch to the moon & back; bringing in generous donations for our non-uniform day today. We always say we want our children to try & make a difference in this world – our whole community has responded wonderfully. We are so proud of Tabitha, Dorothy & Nancy for what they have achieved. They raised over £330 through their loom band sales (to add the £400 they’d already raised outside of school). Donations for our non-uniform day reached £692 which is wonderful. In total, by my reckoning, Tabitha, Dorothy & Nancy have raised over £1492 so far. Simply wonderful!

Our Y6 pupils will be tackling their SATs next week. We wish them all well. I would like to say well done to every child in Y6 who has tried their best, worked hard & behaved brilliantly every single day – your efforts have not gone unnoticed. We know that with this attitude & approach to your learning, not only will you do as well as you can in your SATs, you will go to your chosen high school & continue to ‘fly’ there too. I’d like to say to these children the following: do not think that your SATs results will be the only thing that defines you as you move forward to the next stage of your educational career. SATs in reading, grammar & maths just measure a tiny bit of what makes you who you are. We want you to do as well as you can in your SATs but there is so much more to you: the creativity of some of you when it comes to drama or singing; the phenomenal skill & understanding you show when using information technology; the grace & power you show through your gymnastics & dancing; the exquisite paintings, sketches & drawings you produce in art (or on the back of your jotter!); the persistence & patience you have shown developing your equestrian skills; the calmness & intelligence you show when sailing; the intensity & strength you bring to your martial arts practice. The list could go on & on & on … on & on & on … on & on & on … on & on & on … 

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our Y6 team (Miss Pickford, Mrs Rimmer, Mrs Hughes & Mrs Powell) for all their hard work & dedication so far this year.

Yesterday, the children really enjoyed their picnic to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III; there were lots of crowns & union flags on display. I’d like to thank Holly & her wonderful team in the kitchen for making such a special lunch for the children – they especially loved the crown biscuits! The children were fascinated to see the footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation back in 1953 – how times (& commentators’ accents!) have changed. FOWSA gave every child in Woodlands a presentation pack with a commemorative badge to mark this historic event – I’m sure the children will treasure them for a long time.

Here’s this week’s ‘nudges’ to help you find out about your children’s learning:

Nursery

Can you talk about King Charles & where he lives?

{Understanding the World}

Reception [Red & Blue]

What is the Coronation of King Charles III? Talk about why it is taking place.

{Understanding the World / Communication & Language}

Y1&2 [Green, Yellow & Purple]

Can you describe the culture of the Maasai people?

{English topic: ‘Life in Kenya’}

Y3&4 [3A, 3/4M & 4G]

Can you give examples of items in everyday life which use pneumatics?

{DT topic: ‘Moving Monsters’}

Y5&6 [5D, 5/6P & 6R]

Can you give some examples of when you can hyphenate words in sentences?

{English topic: ‘Grammar’}

This week, our whole school attendance is 96.1% which is an improvement. We had 2 classes with 100% attendance this week: Blue Class & 5/6P & 3 other classes reaching or exceeding our 97% target: Green Class (96.7%), (96.3%) & 3/4M (98.9%).

We had had 3 classes who had no late marks this week: Purple Class, 3/4M & 5/6P. We had 20 late marks across the whole school. 20 late marks were ‘before the register closed’ (that’s before 9.20am) & 0 late marks ‘after the register has closed’, that’s after 9.20am.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

KD Williams

Headteacher

Last word

My friend lost his ear in an accident and had to have a pig’s ear transplanted on.

I asked him if it was working ok.

He said “It’s fine, apart from a bit of crackling...”