Dear Parents and Carers

We are roughly half-way through the term already. This week has been a very busy week where we have celebrated World Book Day. On Wednesday, it was lovely to welcome our parents and carers for “Books & Breakfast”. Seeing our children and community engage in shared reading was a lovely sight. Yesterday, we saw an array of costumes from all age groups and the other additional reading activities have been well received. I want to thank Miss Ogundare for organising and leading on this the whole week.

We sent a letter yesterday to remind our parents and carers of our communication processes. As a school, we have a clear complaints policy and we expect all members of our community to follow our systems in place. This not only supports clear positive communications, but also allows clarity around the process. If there are concerns that wish to be raised, this should be done through the class teacher in the first instance. There is a clear graduated response if you remain unhappy and this is available in the letter, Parental Communication. 

We look forward to welcoming everyone back next week - have a good 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.

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, thread-worms 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.

Upcoming Coffee Mornings and Parent Forums

Friday 22nd March 2024 - Parent-Led SEND Coffee Morning 

Meet other parents/carers and enjoy some tea, coffee, and biscuits. These regular Parent-Led coffee mornings will be an opportunity for parents & carers of children with SEND, to meet one another and share experiences and ask questions. It is always great to realise that you are not alone on this journey; there are many of us treading a similar path! 

• Need some advice about how to manage challenging behaviour?

• Share tips about how to support your child to manage their anxieties?

• Have questions about how to put routines in place and enforce boundaries?

Come and join Emma (one of our lovely Woodside Parents) & Mrs Georgiades (Family Support) at 9am in the Community Room for a cup of coffee or tea, a biscuit and a chat.

Thursday 14th March 2024 - Safeguarding Parent Forum

An opportunity to hear information about how the school promotes safeguarding with children (curriculum) as well as an overview of our systems and processes and for parents to ask any questions in relation to Safeguarding, 9am in the Community Room.

Thursday 28th March 2024 - EDI Parent Forum

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Curriculum - an opportunity to have an overview of our curriculum and to provide feedback on how we promote and explore our culture of inclusion, using real life contexts, 9am in the Community Room.

Nest

This week children have been really enjoying making Mothers Day cards. They made hand prints on their cards and made marks in the cards to represent their name and a message. Whilst the children were making marks, they were talking about what they are writing, who it was for and why. This activity has supported children's communication and language, fine motor skills and many other areas of learning. Children also have been enjoying the other indoor and outdoor activities. They have been continuing to develop their gross motor skills by completing a small obstacle course, where the children were using positional language like, in, out, over and under.

Nursery

This week in Nursery, the children have been learning about listening closely to the story 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. They were using actions to show what Jack had been doing in each of the parts of the story. They were also using descriptive language for the characters in the story. To remind themselves of the story, they made a zig zag book using pictures from the story. Children have also been taking part in World Book Day activities and also dressed up as story book characters.

In Maths, children have been learning to solve number problems using stories such as 'Teddy Bear’s Picnic'.

Year 1

Year 1 have been using all their previous learning about 'Grandad’s Island' and Antarctica to independently write about Grandad and Syd’s adventure. They have used their phonics and vocabulary banks to support their writing and then done some editing looking to see if they have used capital letters and full stops correctly and correcting some spellings. 

In maths, we have been measuring height and length. We compared some items then started off using objects such as cubes, paper clips and hands and realised that we mustn’t leave gaps between the objects and that different objects give different answers. We then introduced centimetres. We learnt that when using a ruler we must always start at 0. 

In science, we had fun learning about our sense of taste. We learnt about bitter, sour, sweet and salty tastes and tried some foods with these tastes.

Year 2

This week in Literacy, we generated descriptive phrases to describe a setting, then they applied commas when listing adjectives, conjunctions, expanded noun phrases, chronological order and prepositions. Children also used noun phrases to described a narrative to build suspense. 

This week in Maths, children split different shapes into equal parts to find fractions such as three-quarters.  

This week has been a very busy week where we have celebrated World Book Day.

Year 3

In Literacy this week, the children have started their paragraphs for their story on ‘The Hunter’ but adapting the content to base the story in the stone age setting. Each day the children have been writing a paragraph which helps them to focus on how to paragraph effectively and ensuring that they are using literary devices in their writing. 

In Maths, we are still focussing on how to compare and order the non unit fractions and understanding fractions on a scale. They have learnt that when the denominators are the same, the greater the numerator the greater the fraction is.

Children have really enjoyed dressing up today. Have a look at the different characters they have come in as. The children have put in so much effort into their costumes.

Year 4

In a recent Religious Education (R.E.) lesson, students delved into the topic of discrimination, focusing on influential figures who have made significant strides in combating it. Throughout the session, the children engaged in research to explore the unique qualities and impactful actions of individuals such as Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, and several others who have left a profound mark on society's battle against discrimination.

Through their research, the children gained a deeper understanding of the systemic injustices faced by marginalized communities and the power of individuals to affect meaningful change. They explored the strategies and tactics employed by these trailblazers, from peaceful protests to legal advocacy, and reflected on the enduring impact of their efforts on contemporary society.

Overall, the lesson provided students with valuable insights into the importance of empathy, resilience, and activism in addressing discrimination and fostering a more inclusive and equitable world. It encouraged them to draw inspiration from the courage and determination of those who have come before them, empowering them to become agents of positive change in their own communities.

Year 5

In English, the children have continued exploring our new core text - 'A Kind of Spark' by Elle McNicoll. We have been using the main character’s thoughts and feelings to write an internal monologue documenting her daily struggles at school.

In Maths, we have been finalising our fractions journey, recapping what we have been learning. We will be moving on to decimals next week.

In Science, the children have been carrying out practical experiments, concentrating on air and water resistance. We did an experiment to document how water resistance and up-thrust affects objects moving through water.

Year 6

Over the past few weeks, our budding Year 6 mathematicians have been immersed in the captivating world of geometry, specifically exploring the concept of volume.

These foundational three-dimensional shapes have captured the imagination of our young learners as they discover the secrets of volume calculation.

Equipped with rulers, measuring tapes, and plenty of enthusiasm, our students have been engaging in hands-on activities to deepen their understanding of volume. From constructing their own cube and cuboid models using craft materials to measuring real-life objects in the classroom, every activity is a chance for discovery and learning.

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.

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