Watling Weekly

5th December 2024

Busy time of the year

Sorry that we have missed a couple of editions of the newsletter, hence why I am putting out a Thursday edition. A mix of technical problems and time getting squeezed has meant that there hasn't been an update so this will be quite a big one. I hope to get back on track next week.

Attendance

For the week beginning the 25th November, Hedgehogs stormed into first place with over 99% attendance followed by Woodpeckers, Otters and Caterpillars who were all over 94%.

Students who attend school regularly perform better than those who don't. For example, one study found that 84% of Key Stage 2 pupils with 100% attendance achieved the expected standard, compared to 40% of pupils who were persistently absent (pupils under 90%).

Paralympic Assembly

On Wednesday 20th November, we were very fortunate to welcome Charlie Hyde, a paraswimmer, to a special assembly in which she shared her swimming journey with us. It was inspiring to hear how she worked so hard to become an elite athlete with British records and the ability to compete at the world level. We will be keeping an eye out for all her future successes!

Futsal

Last Wednesday, it was the boys turn to take part in a Futsal competition. They played really well and represented the school brilliantly, making it through to the quarter final stage. Well done to Marcus, Joshua, Edward, Leo Z and Oliver from Year 4 and Tudor, felix, Oliver E and Jenson from Year 3.

Christmas Carols and Torchlight

Last Friday night we took part in the town's Torchlight Procession and Christmas Carol Concert in the square. We had a great time and hope that everyone who came along enjoyed the show.

Thank you to all the children who took part and the staff who came along to help. It has certainly kick-started the festive period with a bang - especially because we were right next to one of the canons!

Christmas Post Box

Our Christmas post box is now open. If your child wants to send Christmas cards around the school, they just need to make sure they write the child's full name and their class on the envelope. Then our special helpers will deliver them around the school - no stamp required.

School trips

On Monday 25th November, Year 1 visited the Milton Keynes museum to learn all about life in Victorian times, including what a classroom would have been like. Hopefully they can appreciate how much nicer things are nowadays after that. They also had the chance

And in the Early Years, Grasshoppers and Butterflies have been visiting the Post Office over the last week to learn all about posting a letter to Santa. I am sure the excitement of leaving the school and walking to Tesco with their classmates was as much a part of the fun.

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to help out on all of these trips. It is really appreciated as they can't go ahead without it.

Christmas Tree Festival

We will once again be taking part in the Christmas Tree Festival this year at the Priory Church. The children have been busy making decorations, ready to dress our tree for Saturday and Sunday's festival.

Hopefully many of you can go along and see not only our winning tree (hopefully) but also, all of the other wonderful entries.

Bullying Poster competition

Our values for November have been kindness and respect, specifically looking at Bullying. We are holding a poster competition and would like children to design a bright colourful poster that promotes awareness of an aspect of bullying. The poster should include a slogan and illustrations. If you don’t have colours at home, a black and white design is fine and we can let your child colour it in at school.

To help you with ideas for the poster, these are the key concepts that we have covered in our assemblies:

The definition of bullying is persistent unkindness directed towards a targeted person or persons.
We talked about the lasting impact it has on the person being bullied and how it makes them unhappy and scared even when they are at home. It can affect their relationships and make them less confident to be themselves.
We looked at the reasons that people bully, including thinking that the bully themself may be very unhappy, lacking confidence or feeling jealous. This isn’t to diminish the hurt they have caused, but to show that it is even more important to speak out because both children may need help.
We looked at what actions we should take to help. In every scenario, the most important thing to do is to talk to a trusted adult.
Bullies rely on people staying silent and keeping that control over the person they are bullying. When we speak out, we take back that control. If we know someone is being bullied, we must also speak out, but we can also make a big difference by showing them kindness, support and friendship.

We will judge the winners after the Christmas break and so the closing date is Friday 10th January. We will then use some of the designs as posters around the school.

Christmas Kindness

Once again, we are asking children to think about others at this time of year and to complete a kind act for someone. This could be a family member, a friend, a neighbour or even the whole community. All that we ask is that the act should not be a part of their normal routine and that it takes some effort on their part to show the person that they care.

The kind act in and of itself is worth doing because we enjoy that feeling of doing something for others. But to encourage children to also bring back their present card, we will put all of the completed ones into a raffle to win a prize.

Children will come home with a present card and on the back, the kind act can be written. Don't forget to include the child's full name.

Break The Rules Day!

Next Friday, 13th December, is our Break the Rules Day. Children are able to break 'some' and I must stress that it is some of our rules, which can be seen on the poster. It costs 50p to break each one or pay £3 to break them all.

It promises to be an exciting day because in the afternoon, we are travelling to The Grove Theatre for the Pantomime.

Panto arrangements: Yr 1 - 4

It is really important that you are aware of all of the arrangements for the day, especially the pick-up routine. All of these can be found in the letter below.

Panto arrangement letter 2024.pdf

Christmas Nativity Plays

We are not far away from Early Years and KS1 nativity plays. Parents and carers in the relevant classes should have received a Parentmail with details of our ticket arrangements. We are allocating two tickets per child per performance. We won't be producing an actual ticket but will tick names off against the list of children who are performing. We have set up payment items in Parentmail to make a donation towards the licenses, cost of the scripts and costumes etc.

Early Years Nativity - Grasshoppers and Butterflies

KS1 Nativity - Foxes and Hedgehogs

Christmas Dinner and Jumper Day - Wednesday 18th December

On Wednesday 18th December we will be raising money for Save the Children by Wearing our Christmas Jumpers that day and donating towards the charity. It is not the charities chosen day but we have aligned it with our Christmas Dinner day to make it extra festive.

Just Giving page link: https://christmas.savethechildren.org.uk/fundraising/CJD240010669