Dear Parents and Carers

It is the penultimate week of term. We have had another busy week here at Woodside.

On Wednesday, both Year 1 and Year 6 went on trips to the Tower of London and the Imperial War Museum respectively. Speaking to staff, children and parents, the trips were thoroughly enjoyed by all. I heard lots about the kings and monarchy, as well as war weapons and memorabilia.

Last week, the school governors met to discuss reflections from the academic year so far, and looking ahead to the end of year. There was a lot of dialogue offering challenge and support for our journey moving forward. 

Children have been busy getting ready for our publishing where we have seen lots of art and DT lessons taking place, perfecting their outcomes. We can’t wait to see the updated displays across school next week. 

We are seeing a few children come down with illnesses over the past week. Please can everyone remember to follow good hygiene practices and if your child is ill, please do inform the school.

Wishing you all a great weekend.

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

We expect pupils to maintain a high standard of attendance here at Woodside. We want all our pupils to be able to achieve their very best and in order to do this, they need to be in school as much as possible so they don't miss out on any learning. Everyday is a new learning opportunity!

We want all children to come to school each day, but we know that there are some days children are just too ill to attend, or will spread illness to others.

The NHS website Is My Child Too Ill For School is a useful place to look for guidance.

Coughs and colds: It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or cold but if they have a fever they should stay at home until the fever goes.

High temperature: Please keep your child home from school until the high temperature goes away.

Chickenpox: Please keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over - usually 5 days after they first appeared.

Covid 19: If your child has a positive test (there is no requirement to test) they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day of the test.

Impetigo: Your child will need treatment from the GP and should stay off school until all sores have crusted over and healed or for 48 hours after antibiotic treatment has started.

Measles:  It is essential your child stays off school. You should call 111 for advice and you must notify the school. If there are other unvaccinated children who live in the house, they should also isolate in case they are infectious.

Ringworm: Your child should see a pharmacist (or the GP if it is on their scalp) and return to school when they have begun treatment.

Scarlet fever: Your child will need antibiotic treatment from the GP and must stay off school until 24 hours after starting their antibiotics.

If your child has vomiting or diarrhoea they should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).

Children can attend school with cold sores, conjunctivitis, hand, foot & mouth disease, slapped cheek (fifth) disease, sore throat, threadworms,  or ear infections as long as they don't have a temperature as well.

Please encourage your children to wash their hands regularly and use and throw away tissues properly.

Children’s Mental Health Week

Children's Mental Health Week is taking place from Monday 5th to 11th February 2024.

The theme this year is ‘My Voice Matters’ which focuses on empowering children and young people to use their voice to share what is important to them and to encourage those around them to really hear their voice.

Children’s Mental Health Week is organised each year by the charity ‘Place2Be’ - to find out further information and for resources for families, parents and carers so you can take part at home, click on the following link.

 Families - Children's Mental Health Week 

For adult services offering advice and support, please click on the following link;  Health and Wellbeing

Nest

The Children in the Nest have been very busy, they have all been enjoying our role play 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and they have been using their imaginative skills. They have been making porridge for the bears, getting into different roles and playing cooperatively with their peers, sharing resources and taking turns to feed the bears. Whilst engaged they were retelling the story in their own words. We have been also practicing our phonics by singing rhymes like “five currant buns in baker's shop” and “five little ducks went swimming one day”. To enhance children's language, we have been playing a game “What's in the bag?”, children have been taking turns to take an item out of a bag, describing the item, talking about what we can do with it or what sound it makes.

Nursery

This week in Nursery, children have been marking and using their mark making skills to write invitation cards to Goldilocks. They had to listen to the story ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ and then give their opinions on why Goldilocks had done the wrong thing by coming into the Bears’ house. They were inviting Goldilocks to come and apologise to them about eating Baby Bear’s porridge, breaking her chair and sleeping on her bed. 

In Maths, children were using their counting skills. They had to use their knowledge of counting with a good one to one correspondence. They even went as far as counting themselves on and off the bus. What a week it has been!

Year 2

In English this week, Year 2 explored different features of a newspaper report and reflected on ways they could construct their own newspaper article to an investigation that took place within the classroom. Children were examining areas for clues to add to their report.

In Maths, we focused on our 2, 5 and 10 timetables and came up with different strategies to help us with our calculations.

Year 5

In Maths, the children have continued their learning journey with division. They have been learning how to divide up to four digit numbers by a one digit number including remainders.

In English, the children are finishing their narrative based on the core text ‘The Windrush child'. The children then took time to publish their narratives, taking time to consider their presentation and handwriting.

In Art, the children have been creating a sculpture based on the work of Basil Watson. They have used tin foil and tape to construct their form and then used acrylic paint and pastels to recreate the bronze material used by Basil Watson.

Year 6

From the moment they stepped foot into the museum, our students were captivated by the exhibits. They marvelled at the actual planes, tanks, and other military vehicles used during the war, gaining a profound appreciation for the technological advancements of the time. They also explored personal items and documents, allowing them to connect on a human level with the individuals who lived through this tumultuous period of history.

The knowledge and insights gained from this visit will serve as a solid foundation as our students continue to explore and learn about World War II. In the coming days, they will be using their experiences to inform and inspire their writing as they craft WWII information leaflets, showcasing their understanding and creativity.

A number of policies have been updated on the school website

Please follow this link for more information: Woodside Primary School Policies Page

Updated policies:

Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) Policy 

Privacy Notice for Pupils 

Privacy Notice for Staff 

Staff Pupil AUPs

Check your Child's Data

Please log in to Arbor and check your child's/children's details are correct - and let us know if not. You can also request changes directly through the app which will take place once we have seen them - if we have questions, we will get in touch. Or you can let the office know directly.

It is important we have the correct data for all our families.

Please remember to check Arbor - either the Parent Portal (at https://login.arbor.sc/)  or the parent app (available from the App Store or Google Play).

Parents who log in can:

* see their child's attendance

* log consent for local trips and those further afield

* pay for trips and book and pay for clubs

* receive In-App messages - and message the school

* book parent consultations

* see their child's details and request changes to ensure they are completely up to date

If you have more than one child at the school, they should be visible via a drop-down so you only need to login once.

To set up your account, you need the email you use for school communications and the date of birth of one of your children. Follow the Forgotten Password link on either the app or the website.

If you need support with logging in, please talk to the office team who will be glad to help.

Consent for local trips

You will have spotted that you can now give your consent for your child to attend trips in the locality on Arbor. You will always be told if they are attending a trip locally.

If you have not yet given your consent, please do so by logging into Arbor and checking the Notices section. Here you will see an arrow that allows you to consent.

Please note that this year, we are asking children to change in school. They should bring in their PE bags and keep them in school for the term and take them home at the end of the term. Thank you for supporting us with this.

All children need elastic fronted plimsolls for indoor/outdoor PE which are best kept in a drawstring bag on their cloak peg. Children will need black/blue shorts and a white t-shirt in their PE bag to wear for PE lessons. 

Places are limited for school-run clubs and parents can sign children up for school clubs by signing into Arbor online or using the Arbor App. This help page will show you how this is done: Arbor support to sign-up for clubs

Collaboration matters   Excellence in everything   Community first   Equity for everyone   Continuous growth