It has been an eventful week at Woodhill with the buzz from last week's Junior Leadership jobs fair continuing into this week and on Tuesday we saw our Year 5 peer mediators receive their certificates following the training they have received and they are now ready to formally start their work across the school with the younger children. This week, our Year 6 children visited London Zoo as part of their evolution and inheritance learning and despite it being a long day, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and have returned with lots of new knowledge. It was good to see parents in attendance at our Chartwells coffee morning too this week and we look forward to more and more parent events as we move into the second half of Autumn and beyond. 

Next week is the last week of a half-term that feels like it has raced by and we will be saying a goodbye to Miss Murphy and Sid. Miss Murphy, as you will have noticed, is expecting her first child and has been a part of the Woodhill furniture. I am sure you will all join us in wishing her well.

Safe and respectful parking in the school community 

As we are all aware, there are a number of works happening in and around the school which has for the time has had a significant impact on parking before and after school. Even so, I felt it was important to write to you once more about our collective responsibility to maintain a safe journey to school for everyone while also respecting the local residents. We can do this in a number of ways: 

• Please refrain from parking over driveways as many residents including some of our parents have contacted the school frequently since the start of September about the impact this is having on them and not being able to get to work or go about their daily duties. Some residents have spoken of being insulted when they have asked parents to not park over their drive. Please remember to uphold the school values and to remain respectful

 • On Woodhill, cars must not be parked on the yellow zigzag “School Keep Clear” markings. These markings are to prevent vehicles stopping or parking specifically outside the entrance of the school in order to keep sight lines clear for motorists and pedestrians 

• Please do not park too close to a road junction (for example, between Woodhill and Godfrey Hill) as this is an illegal offence. Take note of the signs that are placed on the junction 

• Cars should not be parked on pathways during drop off and collection times 

• Please consider the safety of young children and parents with pushchairs who may have to walk into the road and into the path of oncoming traffic to get past. Again, it is illegal to park a car on a pavement.

In the meantime, we will continue to speak with parents who place members of our school community at risk and if deemed appropriate, warning letters will be distributed. 

Please consider whether you really need to use your car to make the journey to school at all. Not only is walking a healthier option and better for the environment, but it also helps to alleviate some of the problems we are currently facing at the start and end of the school day. 

I am sure we are all in agreement that the safety of all our children must continue to be our primary responsibility. In these circumstances, I appreciate your support in ensuring this takes priority over a convenient drop off or pick up.

Year 1 - This week, Year 1 have been writing a guide for a new arrival, based on the core text of the half term, Beegu. They discussed how Beegu might feel when arriving at Woodhill and have thought about what she might need to know when she arrives. Noah said ‘This is the classroom. In the classroom we learn. This helps us to be smarter!’ The children thought about the key value of kindness and discussed how they could make Beegu feel welcome when she arrived at the school. The children produced some beautiful pieces of writing that they are really proud of.

In Maths, they have been learning about ‘greater than’ and less than’ and practicing ordering their numbers. In Hazel Tree class they worked together as a class to order different numbers and used whiteboards to demonstrate the mathematical symbols that represent greater than and smaller than. Olivia said ‘the wider end always points at the bigger number!’ The children have really enjoyed the ‘hands on’ activities that we have been doing and have been using the resources to order numbers outside of lessons!

In Science, Year 1 have been comparing the properties of different materials. This week they have been using venn diagrams to compare materials, based on their properties. They have classified a range of material into different properties, which has given the children the ability to deepen their understanding of key vocabulary in the subject. They have had some great discussions both with their friends and their adults in the classroom regarding what they have found during their Science lesson. “I am comparing objects that are hard and smooth. A metal spoon is hard and smooth, so I would need to put it in the middle of my venn diagram”, explained Gabriel. 

In Art, we have been preparing for our final piece of work for the half term - relief print building - and have been busy making backgrounds and cutting cardboard buildings. They had great fun practicing making marks with paint in order to create windows in the style of Alexis Deacon. The children used unifix, numicon pegs, and even their fingers! They got very creative using things they could find in the classroom and considered what would make a good print and what wouldn’t. Logan said ‘I have to be careful not to use too much ink on my fingers or both my book and I will get messy!’ The children showed huge resilience in this lesson, trying something different when their initial plan didn’t work. They were able to talk through their reasoning and there was a lot of discussion and self evaluation at tables.

Year 4 -  This week, year 4 have been exploring different sentence structures and creating their own mythical creature and setting for their narratives. They worked hard to create a story mountain outlining the key events including creating a problem that needs to be solved. Damien said, ‘I really enjoyed drawing my creature and making up similes about him!’

In maths, year 4 have been adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers and using their understanding of place value to answer reasoning questions. They have also been practicing their arithmetic and times-tables to support their fluency. Rachel said, ‘I like applying my knowledge to my new learning!’ 

The children have also enjoyed learning new gymnastic skills this week in PE. They have used mats and gym benches to combine their learning and place movements into a sequence. Colby said, ‘I really enjoyed using the step to practice jumping in different ways.’ Gloria said, ‘it was great fun, I was able to remember my skills from last week!’