We have an wonderful week at Woodside and reflected upon our value of the month, forgiveness in assemblies. Throughout the month the children are reflecting upon the importance of forgiveness and what it looks like. Thinking about questions such as 'How do you show forgiveness to others?' 'Why may you have to forgive someone?'.

Shelley Davies, the Director of Education in Croydon visited our school recently. She was really impressed with the children's behaviour to learning and their engagement in lessons.

We have formed a link with the Lawn and Tennis Association which means that we are one of the only schools outside Merton (if not the only) to get support from them. Yesterday all our teachers received professional development tennis training from them and teachers will use this to do high quality tennis lessons in P.E. moving forwards. We have also secured two tennis coaches for the school and children will be getting lessons in our school. Thank you Mrs Pearce for arranging all of this.

Year 6 have their SATs next week, we are all proud of them and their hard work this year. This is nothing for them to worry about. They are ready and it's is not a determiner of how successful they will become in the future, but an indication on how well we have taught them in their time at Woodside. All we want is for them to do their best and we are grateful to all the children and parents for their hard work and support.

A gentle reminder to complete our parent survey, thanks you so much to those who you who have done this so far. We have gone from 50+ to 130+ but 200 would be fantastic. We do look at these and use them to inform our strengths and next steps as a school.

We hope you have a fantastic bank holiday weekend.

Mrs Ashley and the Woodside Team

Attendance

These are this week's attendance figures and leading class in each phase

EYFS: Cherry Class 91.4%

KS1: 1 Ash and 2 Oak 94.8%

KS2: 4 Ash 94.7%

Inclusion

Ask parents, teachers and other adults in a school if they remember their time in primary school and you will likely be met with recollections of fun times on the playground and learning about everything from vertices through to Victorians throughout the school day.

SATs and mental health was probably the last thing on their minds.

However, fast forward to today and a very different picture would be painted if you asked the current cohort of primary school children, especially after their recent experiences with Covid-19 and school closures and disruptions.Compared to a decade ago, school life is more intense and children are under more pressure to achieve, and this is having a negative effect on many young minds.

Whilst these stats may put the SATs in a negative light, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom when it comes to the infamous Year 6 tests.

There are a number of things you can do to support your child’s mental wellbeing before, during and after the SATs.

1. Just as important as agreeing a set time for your child to do revision each day is setting aside some time for your child to unwind and participate in activities they enjoy. So schedule regular breaks, which will help to motivate them.

2. Especially important to your child's ability to relax and get a decent night's sleep is ensuring that they stop doing work at least an hour and a half before bedtime, otherwise their mind will be too active for sleep.

3. As well as a comfortable study area stocked with stationery, set up a comfortable relaxation area, too. It can be filled with cushions and soft fabrics, with music and incense, and favourite toys and books.

4. Take your child on plenty of walks during their breaks. They help stimulate the mind and a blast of air will really refresh their brain cells.

5. Listen to your child's worries and anxieties and encourage them to be open with you. Plenty of hugs, reassurance and positive encouragement will go a long way to helping them to relax.

6. Help them to unwind at bedtime with plenty of relaxing bubble baths, soothing music and fun bedtime stories.

7. Don't give your child any sugary foods before bedtime. Hot milk is a great drink to help soothe and relax your child.

8. On the actual SATs day, make sure they arrive at school in good time so they don't feel rushed or stressed and give plenty of encouragement.

9. Model positive language and behaviour – never talk about ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.

10. Give your child something to look forward to after SATs, such as a day out or a special treat, regardless of their results

EYFS

After a long bank holiday holiday weekend, the children in Reception returned to school ready to continue with their learning. This week our literacy learning is focused on 'Friendship' and we are enjoying the book, It's O.K to be Different'. The children have been talking about their friends, writing about them, playing sharing games, making bracelets and pictures of their friends.

Our maths learning has focused on finding half of an amount and shapes. We named the shapes, found the half of the shape, drew a line and then cut the shape in half. Do you know what happens when we cut a circle in half? You can do some investigations with your child, drawing shapes and cutting them in half. In Phonics, the children have started the Phase 4 programme. Please support your child with their reading, saying the sounds in a word and then blending those sounds together.

Well done children and keep up the good work!

Key Stage One

This week, year two have been busy learning about tally charts, we had a fantastic time collecting data about our favourite chocolate bars, and then added the information to our tally chart.

Ask your mathematician about the special rule when using a tally chart.

In English this week, year two have been very busy learning about instructions and why they are so important. Next week, we will be writing our own instructions on how to make a bird feeder.

Adults, we need your help, do you have any clean plastic pots at home? If your answer is yes, please bring them in.

Lower Key Stage Two

In Year 3 we have been using the computer program 2Question to create branching databases in order to identify fruit. The children were able to create questions that once answered, identify the fruit in question.

This week in Maths, Year 4's developed their understanding of pounds and pence. They converted between different units of money and applied their knowledge in real life situations.

Upper Key Stage Two

Year 6 learnt about batteries and how they work. They then applied their knowledge to make a fruit batteries. Using their scientific knowledge, they recorded their predictions, listed their equipment and explained their method in their books and worked collaboratively to draw conclusions to their experiment. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

This week, Year 5 have been finalising their biographies on David Attenborough. They have used their knowledge of what is to be included within a biography to independently write their own using their own found facts. In maths, the children have been reading and interpreting a range of graphs, answering word problems and also drawing their own graphs to represent data given.

Some Year 5 children were fortunate to attend Trinity School, they took part in a STEM activity. They used their science, technology, engineering and maths knowledge and skills to make cars and test the distance they travelled.

Weekly Mental Maths Contest

Our weekly competition winners are:

KS1: 2 Ash

KS2: 4 Willow

Well done for practising you mental maths skills. We wonder who the winners will be next week?

Key Dates

Monday 17th April - First day of the Summer term

Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th April - Year 1 hearing tests

Wednesday 19th April - Year 3 cable car trip to Greenwich

Monday 24th April - Year 3, 4, 5 Cross country at Ashburton Park

Wednesday 26th April - Year 5 trip to the Buddhist Temple

Monday 1st May - School closed for Bank Holiday

Tuesday 2nd May - School closed Teacher Strikes

Monday 8th May - School closed for Bank Holiday for the Coronation of King Charles

Tuesday 9th to Friday 12th May - Year 6 SATs week

Friday 12th May - Celebration of King's Coronation (wear something Red, White, Blue or dress as the King and Queen) bring a snack for a class party. (Celebrated at the end of SATs week, as a whole school, for a double celebration).

Monday 15th May - Year 5 trip to the Science Museum

Friday 26th May - Last day of half term

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