Welcome to our Spring Term 1 newsletter, it's my pleasure to share our recent highlights with you.

Each year, in January, we begin the new year with a whole school project on Doncaster's Heritage and Community that focuses on Doncaster's rich and varied History and Geography and helps the children to gain knowledge and understanding about their home community and develop a sense of pride.  

At the end of the project, the children displayed their learning for each other in a showcase event and I'm proud to share some of the photos from this event with you below.  If you've been able to come along to one of our Stay and Share events, I'm sure you'll have been impressed with the standard of knowledge and engagement from the children - I'm so proud of them all. 

This term, we made a big change in school by moving from Microsoft to Google. This might not seem like a big deal right now because most things won't look different but it's the beginning of an exciting journey for us towards using Google in all aspects of our teaching, learning and communications. Our Teachers, Leaders and Business team are now officially trained by Google and we have exciting plans to develop the children's use of IT so they have an impressive skill set that will help them to be successful as they grow through life.

I also want to extend a warm welcome to all the new families who have recently joined our school community.  Over the last term, we have welcomed lots of new families into our school, some from Doncaster and others from across the UK and other parts of the world and as the numbers of pupils who come to our school have risen, we have fewer available places and now have waiting lists for many year groups!  We were delighted to learn that we have over 100 applications for 60 places to join Reception in September 2024 which is great news that so many families want their children to join our lovely school community and experience 'The Willow Way'! 

I've been working with a local timber firm to design a play area for the children in Key Stage 2 and we plan to use the funds we raised last term and what we raise over this year to help pay for it.  We've also used some of the funds raised for more storage and equipment for our Reception and Key Stage One play areas. Thank you to everyone who helps us raise funds for the school, as I've said before, our budget is incredibly tight and without such generosity and kindness shown by our families and community, we simply would not be able to afford for the 'extras' we can provide for the children.

We have a Teacher Training day on 19th February so the children return to school on Tuesday 20th February. 

Thank you for all your support over the last half term, I hope you all enjoy a relaxing break over the half term holiday. 

Mrs Sumner

Principal.

We have continued to celebrate reading at Willow this term and  develop our reading areas and class libraries. 

Our book review team have been busy reading and reviewing books and in exchange for these book reviews, we get to keep the books in school and add them to our bookshelves. They have recently enjoyed some magazines and "Peril on the Atlantic" by AM Howell.

We are really proud to be part of the judging panel for the Royal Society Young People's  Book Prize which is awarded to science books. An amazing group of pupils formed a panel with Mrs Rossall and have met weekly to read and share the shortlisted books before submitting which one we think should win the prize. The final is on March 19th and we will see if other judging panels agreed with us!

We also welcomed author and illustrator Phil Sheppard into school to deliver an assembly to launch this year's Danum Read Aloud competition. It is open to pupils in Years 4,5 and 6 and this year's theme is story openings.  After half term, those interested will perform in front of the class before the class winners perform in assembly and we choose 1 finalist to go through to the final at Doncaster Gallery, Library and Museum in March. If your child is interested and has not chosen their book opening, then please see Mrs Rossall.

STEM at Willow (Science, Technology, Computing, Maths) 

Over the next few weeks Mr. Parkinson , in coordination with Multiply, will be running some parent workshops for maths.  Multiply is a government-funded adult programme, led by the Department for Education (DfE), which is funded as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to help adults build confidence and give them the information they need to become familiar with numeracy skills their children use in school so they are able to support and help them.   

We had a great response and  would like to thank all the parents who have signed up.  The sign up has now closed but the presentation for the workshop will be put in the maths section of the school website when they are finished.  

Reception - Field Mice and Hedgehogs Classes

In Reception term began with unexplained footprints...the visitor was a little bear named Paddington. He helped the children learn about the heritage and experiences in his story and develop curiosity about their own heritage and places that are important to them. Thank you to parents and carers who contributed to this topic. Reception were delighted to share their learning with you.

Children discovered that Paddington the toy was first created in Doncaster. They compared him and other toys from the past and their own favourite toys and this will link to their first history unit when they join Year 1 next year. They used resilience to create a portrait of a bear and we are proud of the results.

The book ‘There is No Dragon in this Story’ brought together favourite fairy-tale characters and helped children to consider and evaluate the roles of heroes and villains.

Reception prepared for Chinese New Year by collaborating to move to the rhythm of a drum in a dragon dance.

Year 1 - Squirrels and Rabbits Classes

This Spring, Year One experienced an exciting visit from Leanne and her animal zoo which features a variety of animals. 

The diverse array of creatures captured the curiosity of every child and  provided links to learning in Science about Animals groups and their features. Additional fascinating facts were shared, allowing the children to learn about the animal’s habitats and their unique characteristics.

Year One have also worked hard on their Doncaster's Heritage and Community project and the children know that in the past the Yorkshire Wildlife Park was Brockholes Farm Riding School. They know that we can now visit the Wildlife Park and see many animals from around the world and they expressed this knowledge when working collaboratively to design and make models of Brockholes Farm and Yorkshire Wildlife Park. 

Thank you to families who have shared photographs and memories via SeeSaw as this has all helped support learning and to engage the pupils. 

Year 2 - Robins and Kingfishers Classes

Year 2 had a fantastic time during Heritage and Community week, where their focus was Doncaster Racecourse. They took part in a range of activities over the two weeks such as creating a human time line to understand the history of the racecourse, designing and making their own race day hats and even holding their own 'Day at the races' in school. The children were also lucky enough to have a visit from Carrie and Toby from Racing to School. They shared a wealth of knowledge with the children about Doncaster racecourse and horse racing in general. The highlight for the children though was wearing jockey silks and riding on the horse simulator.

This half term, Year 2 have also started their new Geography topic of Rainforests which will continue though the rest of the Spring Term. Within this topic so far they have learnt the names and location of the different continents and where the Amazon rainforest is located. 

Year 3 - Newts and Frogs Classes

Year 3 enjoyed taking part in a range of activities linked to Heritage week. Their focus was to investigate how the arts are celebrated in Doncaster.

As part of this, they went on a local walk to The Dome and Lakeside to find out about leisure facilities in the area. Firstly, they mapped out their route and then created non-chronological reports about what they saw.

Children took part in an art masterclass with Chinwe Russell, a Nigerian born local artist who has exhibited her work internationally, including at Le Louvre in Paris.

Following a workshop with musician Mark Ellis, where they learned about different styles of music and instruments like the saxophone, children have been learning how to play the recorder in their music lessons.

In Design Technology, Year 3 have enjoyed making and eating a range of healthy snacks, which has helped them to understand the importance of a balanced diet and exercise.

Year 4 - Kestrels and Owls Classes

Year 4 had had a wonderful first half term and have really enjoyed their Heritage and Community topic. They went on a fascinating trip to Doncaster Gallery, Library and Museum to visit the Rail Heritage centre. Here they learned all about the history of railways in Doncaster, all about Sir Nigel Gresley and two of the famous steam locomotives, The Flying Scotsman and the Mallard. They used this information to write an information sheet when back in school.

They also completed some fieldwork in Geography linked to our community and asked the question "What facilities are there for someone settling in Bessacarr?". They took part in a local walk to gather information and presented this information in a labelled map. They all agreed that Bessacarr was a great place to live because of the schools, the shops, the footpaths and parks.

Year 5 - Badgers and Otters Classes

Year 5 had a wonderful experience delving into their Heritage and Community project. They dedicated their time learning about The River Don and its transformation throughout history due to industrialisation. 

One aspect of their exploration involved studying the renowned 'salmon sculpture' by local artist Jason Heppenstall and using it as inspiration to create their own watercolour paintings. 

During their English lessons, they had the opportunity to explore various types of poetry and crafted their own emotive poems depicting the journey of the River Don from the Pennines to the sea. They incorporated similes, metaphors, and personification to add depth and creativity to their poems.

In Science, year 5 have enjoyed exploring the concept of forces. As a part of their learning, they conducted research on the famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton and crafted an information page highlighting his life and ground-breaking discovery of gravity. 

Year 6 - Wildcats and Foxes Classes

Year 6 have enjoyed learning about a The Doncaster Sand House, a unique building built in Victorian times, for their Heritage project this year.  To start with we had a visit from Richard Bell, who is a descendent of Henry Senior, who built the house.  He came to talk to the children and share all his research about this fascinating but little-known building from Doncaster's history.  

The children then produced some fantastic information posters in their History lessons and wrote a a balanced argument in English, based on whether or not it should have demolished. In Art, they produced some detailed sketches of the sculptures from The Sand House.  The children worked so hard and produced work to be proud of!

They have just started their next topic (The Environment) where they will be leaning about biomes, climate zones and climate change.  We look forward to showing you the outcomes in the following weeks.

Online Safety

Pupil Leadership: Art Ambassador update

Just before Christmas, the Willow Art Ambassador team launched a competition called ‘Our Beautiful Planet’. They invited children to create a piece of art which was linked to David Attenborough’s BBC TV series Planet Earth III.

Thank you so much to everybody who entered.  We were amazed by the quality of work that was submitted and had a very difficult task to decide upon just one winner for each key stage. Winners received their art prizes in assembly and a display has been made in school to showcase the fantastic art talent that we have here at Willow!

The Winning Entries:

Reception – Joel Lockwood

KS1 – Lucas Stoddart

LKS2 – Seren Conroy

UKS2 – Maddy Orcott and Rosie Micklethwaite

Dates for your diary 

• Tuesday 20th February 24: Young Voices Year 5 and 6 

• Tuesday 20th February 24: Multiply Parents Maths Workshop 1:30pm to 3pm 

• Wednesday 21st February 24: Doncaster Racecourse Trip YR 2

• Tuesday 27th February 24: Multiply Parents Maths Workshop 1:30pm to 3pm 

• Tuesday 5th March 24: Doncaster Central Mosque and Museum Trip 

• Thursday 7th March 24: World book day

• Thursday 7th March 24: Synagogue and Madir Trip YR 4 

• Friday 8th March 24: Mothers Day Gift shop

• Thursday 21st March 24: National Coal Mining Museum Trip YR 5

• Tuesday 26th March 24: White Post Farm Trip Reception

• Wednesday 27th March 24: Crucial Crew Trip YR 6

Teacher Training Days

  The teacher training days for 2023/2024 are: 

• Monday 19th February 2024

• Friday 24th May 2024

School holidays

Our school holiday information is available on our website Click here

Please note that the school holiday pattern for 2023/ 24 has been published and can be found on the website https://www.willowprimaryschool.co.uk/school-holiday-pattern/

We do not authorise Term Time Holidays.

General Information about Willow Primary School

Start and finish times

Lessons will begin at 8.45am to maximize learning time in our day.

• The gates will open at 8.40am

• Teachers will be available to meet and greet children from 8.40am with all children in school by 8.45am

• The doors and gates will be locked and lessons will start at 8.45am

Any urgent messages can be passed to an adult during meet and greet, however, if parents/ carers need to speak in more detail to teachers, they will be available for a short time at the end of the day or an appointment can be made for a longer conversation.

Children who arrive at school after 8.45am will be marked as late and this will be monitored closely because it’s important all children arrive on time so that they don’t miss out on vital learning opportunities.

We encourage parents of children in Year 3 – 6 to drop them off on the playground and leave, children can walk to their classrooms themselves; this is to promote independence.

The collection times at the end of the day are:

• 3.05pm for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (gates open at 3pm)

• 3.15pm for Years 3 to 6 

Lunchtimes

Lunch is served in both the Coppice and Forest Halls, using two sittings:

• Reception, Year 1, 5 and 6 on First Sitting (out to play second)

• Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 on Second Sitting (out to play first) 

Uniform including PE uniform

The school’s high expectations for uniform remain the same and children are expected to wear their PE Uniform on the days they  have PE. All children must  wear either a plain black PE uniform or the PE uniform with the school’s logo (available on Gooddies website). We will  not allow branded PE items. 

Please see the uniform section on the website for more details: https://www.willowprimaryschool.co.uk/uniforminformation/

Hand Hygiene

We will continue to ask children to wash their hands regularly and will continue to provide hand sanitiser; the children and staff have got into good habits with this so we want to continue this  to reduce the risk of more viruses spreading.