Autumn Newsletter 15

Dear Parents & Carers

The children have been having a wonderful time in school on the run up to the Christmas holidays – party season is in full swing (just like at No. 10 in 2020) & the children have loved being involved in everything that’s going on. FOWSA’s first Festive Friday has been a great success; the children loved being given a Santa hat to bling. The goody bags were a great success, as was the free raffle where two lucky families won a festive hamper each. The children loved taking part in the scaled-back Santa Dash. Thank you to everyone who supported this event in any way shape or form, but I’d like to especially thank the volunteers from FOWSA who gave up their time & energy to make this event a success.

I’d like to thank Scarlett & Dan (sixth formers from Range High School) who have filmed & taken photos of our Y3&4 children’s Christmas Concert. We hope to be able to share the results with you soon. Hopefully, Scarlett & Dan will be returning next week to film reception’s ‘The Greatest Snowman’. Nursery are currently in the midst of capturing a couple of festive songs from their Christmas Extravaganza to post on the website asap.

Next Tuesday, 21st December, it’s Christmas dinner at Woodlands. If they so wish, your child is free to wear a Santa hat, antlers, elf ears, etc. (school uniform is still to be worn as usual). If your child is staying for a packed lunch, why not decorate their lunchbox with a bit of tinsel or give them a festive treat (reindeer & cranberry baguette, perhaps)?

I don’t know if you managed to catch the Mary Berry: Love to Cook programme last night – it was a good watch!  Our children came across so well – they were a credit to their families & also to school. It was lovely to see Holly the Chef get the recognition she deserves. Once again, I’d like to thank Holly & her team in the kitchen, we are so lucky to have them. I’ve pasted the link to iPlayer below. If you’re short of time, our segment begins at 4 minutes 28 seconds, though the section on Cackleberry Farm is worth a watch too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0012l8r/mary-berry-love-to-cook-series-1-episode-6

Here’s the final conversation starters of 2021…

Nursery

We have been looking at The Nativity story. Where was Jesus born?

{Understanding the World}

Reception [Red & Blue]

Can you tell the Nativity story?

{Festivals - Understanding the World}

Y1&2 [Green, Yellow & Purple]

Can you tell me a fact about meerkats?

{English topic: ‘Meerkat Mail’ Emil Gravett}

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

Compare the cities of Athens & Venice. How are they similar? How are they different?

{Geography topic: ‘Mediterranean Europe’}

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

How many of the word class ‘raps’ can you remember? [Hint: noun, adjective, verb, adverb]

{English topic ‘Word classes’}

Again, no classes achieved 100% in their attendance this week but our overall attendance has again risen slightly to 94.6%. No classes managed class to have an attendance above 97%.

We had 2 classes who had no late marks this week: Yellow Class & 6R. There were 30 late marks across the whole school. 20 late marks ‘before the register closed’ – that’s before 9.20am & 10 late marks ‘after the register has closed’, that’s after 9.20am.

I like to take this opportunity to again thank the three teaching assistants who are leaving Woodlands at the end of this term. Everyone at Woodlands would like to wish Mrs Land, Mrs Rogers & Mrs Thompson all the best for the future. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the children over the years - you will be missed.

We break up for the Christmas holidays on Wednesday 22nd December at 2pm – please remember to pick up your children early – we don’t want them spending Christmas in the lost property cupboard!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

KD Williams

Headteacher

Last word

What do you get if you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Frostbite.

Thanks to Joe H for this one