Woodhill

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Message from the Headteacher

It has been a busy week at Woodhill full of enrichment and events which have been enjoyed by children and parents alike. Wednesday and Thursday were particularly busy days with our school choir having the experience of a lifetime at The O2, Greenwich as they performed with 10,000 other children at the Young Voices concert. While they were at school, our catering provider, Chartwells, led a healthy eating cooking workshop with our parent community.

One parent said 'The Chartwells cooking workshop was a hit yesterday. I got so many ideas about different ingredients and how I can use them.'

On Thursday, our Y3 children went to the Science museum to support their learning and thank you to all of the parents who accompanied them. Back at school, music provider, Rocksteady, led exciting (and rather loud) music workshops where the whole school sang their hearts out to the likes of George Ezra, Pharell and others.

Then today, our Junior Leadership Team led a learning walk of the school and split into teams with key questions to support their development and to gather pupil voice on areas that the children think are going well as well as suggestions for improvement.

Have a great weekend

Mr Phillips and the team

Messages from the office

Pancakes Theme Day Lunch - Tuesday 06th February (If your child is normally pack lunch and would like a theme day lunch then Please let the office know by Wednesday 31st Jan)

Chinese New Year Theme Day Lunch - Thursday 8th February (If your child is normally pack lunch and would like a theme day lunch then Please let the office know by Wednesday 31st Jan)

Medical Appointments

WE have had a increase of children attending eye appointments during the school day, going forward these appointments will not be authorised and we ask that routine eye appointments are made at weekends/after school/school holidays

Headlice

We have received reports of head lice in several year groups across the school. Please check your child’s hair tonight and for the next 7 days to make sure there are no eggs hatching. You may wish to run conditioner through the hair using a fine-tooth comb.

Unfortunately, this is a common problem in all schools. It helps to keep all long hair tied up to prevent the spread. Legally the school cannot check children’s hair or send a pupil home if they have head lice.

It is therefore important that all parents are vigilant and act quickly if head lice are found.

Lost Property / Valuables

Can we also remind parents not to send children into school with expensive clothing as children often misplace their belongs and the school accepts no responsibility for any lost belongs, this is the responsibility of your child to ensure they look after their property. To support with this please can you ensure all children's clothing is labelled with their names.

Bee Ready Competition

We are encouraging all children to enter the 'Bee Ready' competition and design a colourful 3D flower garden for bumblebees to feast on when they come out of hibernation.

Each child will be handed out a A4 poster template this afternoon by the class teacher to draw their design and then make it 3D by adding bits of material, paper, wood, card, buttons or anything else you have. Once you have designed your entry, please hand it into the school office to have a chance of winning a flower garden starter kit for your child's classroom.

Entries are open from Monday 15th January until Friday 9th February 2024.

Measles

In light of recent news coverage regarding measles we wanted to share some important information with you to ensure the health and well-being of our school community is supported.

Measles is a highly contagious infection that can lead to serious complications. Studies indicate that 9 out of 10 unvaccinated children are at risk of contracting measles if a classmate is infected.

The most effective preventive measure against measles is the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, also known as German Measles). Typically administered at 1 year old and again at three years old, the two doses offer lifetime immunity.

A shortfall in the number of MMR vaccines administered nationally, particularly in London, has been noticed. If you are uncertain about your child's vaccination status, please check their red book or contact your GP surgery for clarification.

If your child needs to catch up on vaccinations, it can be done at any time at your GP practice, and appointments with nurses are available, making it a convenient and cost-free service provided by the NHS.

Measles often begins with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Small spots in the mouth may also develop. For detailed information on measles signs and symptoms, please refer to the NHS website at www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles.

Should you suspect your child has measles, please call 111 or inform your GP practice, which may conduct a phone appointment due to the highly contagious nature of the virus. It's crucial not to attend nursery, school, work, or medical facilities to prevent the spread. Additionally, avoid close contact with infants, pregnant individuals, and those with weakened immune systems, as they are more vulnerable to measles.

If your child is diagnosed with measles, it is essential for them to stay off nursery or school and you must notify the school. If there are other unvaccinated children who live in the house, they should also isolate incase they are infectious.

For further information on health and well-being, the www.nhs.org website is a valuable resource. To learn more about measles and the MMR vaccine, please visit the following pages

● Measles: www.nhs.uk/measles

● MMR vaccine: www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Wishing you and your family continued good health.

FareShare Market

Recently, our Friends of Woodhill and staff have been collecting parent and pupil voice on ways they can help improve at Woodhill. Lots of feedback gained was around our FareShare Market on a Friday.

While we understand that it is a staple of our community, we want to ensure that as many people as possible are able to access it fairly.

While we always seek to support our community in any way we can, we would like to remind everyone of the principles of the Fareshare market. The school pays a set fee each year to the Fareshare charity and as a result, we then receive the variety of consumable goods and items which you see on a Friday.

The rationale is then that members of the community pay a fare to receive some of the items and that we hold in mind that we would like everyone to have the option to access the Fareshare market. Please be considerate of others on Fridays and be balanced in what you take and please do continue to support the charity; any funds made that exceed what Woodhill pay for the service go into the school fund and support us to provide prizes and food at other events such as World cafe, the summer and winter fairs.

Please continue to access the Fareshare market and give what you can and take fairly so that as many members of the community as possible can continue to access this provision. Thank you for your continued support.

Absence from School procedure

If your child is absent from school, please ensure you follow this guidance: -

Telephone 0208 8545055 or email info@inspirewoodhill.co.uk or message on Arbor by 8.30 am on the 1st day that your child is absent. Please continue to update the school daily on your child’s illness. Please also follow it up with medical evidence, where possible.
Absences will only be authorised if medical evidence has been supplied to the school. Medical evidence can be a copy of a prescription for medicine, the prescribed medicine or packaging and medical appointment letters/card or text message.
Make any dentist/doctor/hospital appointments outside of school hours or school holidays where possible.
Do not keep your child away from school if there is a school issue. Please contact the school to discuss the problem with a senior member of staff to help resolve the issue.
Do not keep your child away from school for reasons other than severe illness. Absences due to birthdays, holidays, relatives’ visits, shopping trips and your own ill health will not be authorised.
All holidays will not be authorised and you will be at risk of a penalty fine from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Attendance Advisory Service.

What we have learned this week

Catkins Class - This week Catkins have been learning about the colouring monster and creating lovely paintings which represent emotions. The children have also been learning about phonics and have also enjoying reading time. The children have had a great week.

Year 3 - In maths the children have been learning measuring lengths using centimetres and mililimetres. The children used rulers to explore the length of different objects around the classroom and measured with accuracy and compared their results.

In DT the children have been practicing sewing their backstitch and running stitch skills using binca needles and thread. The children will be applying their knowledge of stitching on their final design.

In science we have been exploring different types of forces and recording different contact and non contact forces around us.

A big thank you to all the parents who joined us on our Science Museum trip.

Year 6 - Have had an exciting few weeks, in their curriculum learning, as they started learning more about The Ancient Kingdom of Benin - particularly its contribution to the Art World- as well as researching about its culture and importance on the continent of Africa. To keep those arithmetic skills developing, the children continue to improve their `Personal Bests` as well as fine tuning their application of arithmetic skills to real - life word problems and puzzles. Christian commented , `` Bring on the arithmetic challenges.``

In Science, year 6 have been exploring and finding out about heart. lungs, the circulatory system in humans along with blood groups, and nutrition. Je`Vaun said , `` I didnt know the differences between blood groups and that the most popular blood group is Group O.``

In English, the children have been reading and exploring `No Ballet Shoes in Syria ` - a fascinating story set in Syria and UK - which follows the journey of Aya - and hrr family - as they aim to flee war torn Syria , and reach the UK. Although a fictional story , the themes of despair and hope permeate the whole story. Aya`s talent and resilience shine through. The events in the story have prompted excellent discussions in class .

Nilton commented that, `` Aya and her family must have been terrified- but were so brave .`` The children have really explored the rich vocabulary , the plot, sequence of events , and background to the story to compose language rich taster drafts - as well as amazing published work. Bella said of her final outcome , `` I feel ready proud of my newspaper article ``

Additionally, the children also took part in exciting discussions and enquiry tasks in RE, whereby they explored faith systems in the local area -using the `5Ws` - to develop very well researched presentations . Lastly, but not least, in P.E the children continued to improve and develop their practical skills and teamwork in a range of sports. Computing has focused on investigating Apps and Internet Safety. Several year 6 children also participated in Young Voices - and were part of the 9,000 young people that performed at the O2 London. Rebecca just said, ``THAT WAS AMAZING!``