🦉 Contents of this week's newsletter 🦉
Tuesday 3rd February - Y6 Trip to Warwick Castle
Wednesday 4th February - Y5 Trip to National Space Centre
Friday 6th February - Y2 Multiskills Event at SHS Dome
Friday 13th February - Change the Rules Day (linked with Children's Mental Health Week)
Monday 16th - Friday 20th February - Half Term
Polite reminder - Deposits and payments required for the following Autumn/Spring trips on ParentPay:-
Y5 Space Centre Instalments & deposit - Consent & payment needed ASAP
Y6 Warwick Castle - Consent & payment needed ASAP
Y2 Multiskills Event - Consent needed ASAP
Y4 The Lion King instalments - Consent & payment needed by 29 January
Y3 Deposit Frank Chapman - Consent & payment needed by 29 January
Y3 Instalments Frank Chapman - Consent & payment needed by 29 January
Y6 Blackwell Court instalments - Consent & payment needed by 30 January
It
Next Friday 6th February is 'Number day'. We will be doing lots of Maths activities throughout the morning, including a KS2 interhouse Timestable Rockstars battle. On this day we are inviting children to come to school on this day dressed in clothing related to numbers.
This could include:
· Clothing with numbers, shapes, or patterns
· Sports tops with numbers on them
· Homemade number outfits or accessories
· Anything creative that represents numbers
Please don’t feel any pressure to buy anything new - you can be as a creative as you like. School uniform is not required on this day.
Number Day is organised by the NSPCC so if you would like to make a donation to this worthwhile charity the link to their website is here.
West Mercia Police are offering a free online session for parents and carers to help them better understand the risks of exploitation and online safety for children of all ages.
Exploitation & Online Safety Session for Parents and Carers
Hosted by: West Mercia Police
Format: Free online event
Who it’s for: Parents, carers, and guardians of children and young people
This accessible and informative session will help parents and carers build confidence in recognising risks and supporting their children to stay safe. It will cover:
Spotting the signs of exploitation and knowing when something isn’t right
How to keep children safe online, including practical steps families can take
The influence of online personalities and influencers on children’s thinking, behaviour, and self‑image
Useful, easy‑to-follow safety tips that parents and carers can use straight away
The session is suitable for those caring for children of any age and will provide reassurance as well as practical guidance.
We continue to need to remind parents to make safe choices around their parking.
This week we have had an email from a member of the public who drives down Wilden Lane daily and is seeing the same cars parked unsafely and illegally. She has reported these to Operation Snap and I would advise all parents to do the same.
The subtle bend that our school sits on makes cross the road very dangerous if parents have parked on the zigzag lines. Please don't endanger the lives of our children.
Please could we also remind parents that they should not be parking in the staff carpark even if collecting from WASPs. This is a small parking area and often staff need to be able to get out at different times of the day.
To celebrate the end of Children's Mental Health week on Friday 13th February we will be encouraging the children to really express themselves by changing the school rules for the day! Please see poster for information. Payment link will be shared closer to the time.
Reading with your child as regularly as possible is really so important and has far reaching benefits to them. Whether you're sharing a bedtime story with a toddler, listening to a 7-year-old tackle new words, or discussing an independent readers latest book obsession, these moments build literacy skills, emotional resilience, and a lifelong love of learning.
What the data says/Key facts about children's reading in the UK:
Children who read daily are three times more likely to have high wellbeing than children who rarely read, according to the National Literacy Trust's 2024 research
The average child who reads for pleasure performs better in reading tests by the equivalent of 8 months of schooling, according to the Education Endowment Foundation
We all know both how hard children work in school and often how busy they are with afterschool activities, but reading for 5 minutes with your child should be achievable for most people.
Although we do we read with as many children in school as possible (often thanks to regualar volunteers) doing this daily will rarely be possible. You have the power however to make so much difference to your child.
We know that this is always a hot topic and sometimes a controversial one. As parents are aware unathorised absence of your child from school is a fineable offence. If it happens repeatedly it may result in parents receiving a criminal record.
However we also ask parents to really consider the the negative impact academically and socially that absence has on children. Nationally data shows that statistically children with the best rates of attendance achieve higher academically. When looking at Wilden data, this is the case with our school too. So please think very carefully before taking your children out of school.
Finally IF you do take your children out, please don't ask your children to lie about why they were off school. The value of honesty is very important to us and is fundamental in our relationships with parents and the children.
Please can we give you the important reminder that we are a nut free school due to several children in different year groups having serious nut allergies. No nuts should be in school including 'nutella' products.
Today some of our year 5 girls shared a presentation with the school about our Spring term photography competition. There is plenty of time as the closing date is the end of the Spring term (before Easter). But they are asking children to enter photos they have taken under the following categories;
Funny Spring photos
Animal photos
Nature/flower photos
Fun with the family photos
We have reminded children that they are the ones that need to take the photos so we wouldn't be expecting to see them in the photo!
Entries should be emailed to office@wil.saet.co.uk
Lots of Exciting Events at Kidderminster Town Hall coming up!
Men United – Free Local Support for Dads and Male Carers
A new support group, Men United, is running locally to help dads and male caregivers
who may be finding things tough.
The group is for men (18+) who might be experiencing:
Low mood, anxiety or stress
Everyday pressures of family life and caregiving
Sessions are led by trained Wellbeing & Mindset Coaches (who are also dads) and offer a
safe, friendly space to talk, share experiences, and build strategies for positive mental
health.
When & Where
Brookside Children’s Centre, Kidderminster – Tuesdays (fortnightly) 1–3pm
Half Crown Wood, Stourport – Tuesdays (fortnightly) 9.30–11.30am
Burlish Bike Park, Stourport – Wednesdays (fortnightly, evenings) 7.15–8.45pm
All sessions are free and men can come along as often or as little as they like.
Find out more:
We are always keen to welcome parents into school to help listen to readers or join us on trips and visits. If you would like to become a volunteer please contact the school office. We do need to ask you to complete some paperwork and gain a DBS check, but we can help you with this.
You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to
help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is
disabled (up to £4,000 a year).
If you get Tax-Free Childcare, you’ll set up an online childcare account for your child. For
every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your
provider.
You can check your eligibility and apply here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare
For those struggling with the cost of living at the moment, it may be worth you looking at this service O2 are offering of free data for those that need it most. Follow this link for details
During this very unsettled time family’s circumstances can change, please check to see if you are entitled to Free School meals. This not only gives you Free School Meals within school but you receive shopping vouchers throughout the holiday periods (£2.20 per day per child) You will also receive assistance with trips costs and Holiday activity clubs. We therefore encourage even those children that currently receive Universal Free School meals (Reception - Year 2) to apply so they are entitled to vouchers, trip assistance and activity clubs. Please click here to access the link.
All families come under different strains at times, and as part of our Early Help offer, we would always want you to talk to us and see if there is support that we can offer. WCF Virtual Family Hub Page offers a wide range of services to support families. Click this link or picture below to take you to the site.