It was our third year taking part in the mini marathon on Friday 1st May 2026—and what a fantastic day it was! The children have truly embraced this event and now count it as one of the highlights of the year. With the sun shining brightly on a perfect May day, pupils from all year groups put on their trainers, brought their energy, and challenged themselves to complete as many laps of the circuit as possible. The atmosphere was full of excitement, determination, and plenty of smiles all around!

Hot Honey cakes

Birch class have been busy baking cakes. Learning to follow a recipe, measuring ingredients and planning cooking times. The verdict was that they were super tasty.

Happy Birthday 🎂🎉

We would like to congratulate Sir David Attenborough on his special birthday on Friday 8th May 2026. The broadcaster, naturalist and national treasure reaches his milestone 100th birthday this week. Sir David with his distinct voice has brought the natural world and animal world to everyone's home via TV and radio for seven decades. He now is dedicated to raising awareness for conservation and climate change.

Last year Sir David visited Paradise fields in Greenford (next to Westway), home to the Ealing Beaver Project as part of the Wildlife BBC documentary. He was impressed with how the project is having a positive impact on the area. He took part in releasing harvest mice into the meadow.

Sir David has always encouraged children to explore and discover and care for the natural world and we would like to join the world in celebrating Happy Birthday Sir David from everyone at Wood End Primary School.

Farm animals come to visit🐐

Nursery and Reception children were very excited to come and see the farm animals close up. They got to spend time with sheep, pigs, goats, lots ducks, chickens, rabbits, a dog and a donkey who all enjoyed munching on the fresh Wood End grass. The children were very brave and helped feed and groom the animals, however the goats did try and munch on tasty coats and jackets too.

How to support your child through KS2 SATs

Next week, Year 6 children will be tested on their reading, mathematics, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. They’ll also have their writing assessed. Here is our advice on helping your child to do their very best in the KS2 national tests, and how these assessments can be approached so they’re the most positive experience they can be for everyone involved. If they are unwell and unable to attend school please call the school in the morning to inform us before 9am.

How can I help?

1. Focus your efforts -Talk to your child to try and find out the areas of the curriculum where they feel confident and where they might need some extra support. It can be very tempting for children to spend time on the topics they enjoy and are already good at. The best way to learn and prepare involves writing or doing something. This might be making notes, answering questions or explaining an idea to someone else.

2. Acknowledge the progress they’ve made - During the assessment week, aim to spend some time the weekend before thinking about all the things children can now do that they couldn’t do before Year 6. This can provide a really useful confidence boost, as it shows children how far they’ve come and reminds them that with hard work they can improve and learn new things.

3. Don’t break from routine- It will help if the actual test week is as normal as possible. Don’t rearrange things: It helps to stop the week becoming a big thing, rather than just a few quick tests to show what your child can do.

4. Keeping healthy- Encourage children to eat well, drink plenty of water, get some exercise each day, and go to bed nice and early. We want children to feel their best for what might well be a busy week.

5. Don’t dwell on the tests - Once the tests are finished, they’re finished, and worrying about them won’t change the result. Hopefully they’ve gone brilliantly, but there are lots of reasons why sometimes a test doesn’t go as well as we’d hoped, but what matters is having learnt the skills within maths or English, rather than what happened in the test.

6. Celebrate - Once the tests are over, it’s good to celebrate with a treat. It can be helpful to reward the hard work and preparation that has gone into the tests, rather than rewarding the results. What we want is to show children that we value the effort they put into their learning.

Nursery Open Day

Saturday 16th May 2026 from 9am to 11am the Nursery will be open to anybody who is looking for a nursery place for September. If you know anybody who is looking for a Nursery place, part time or full time place ask them to get in touch.

Early Years

Early Problem Solvers

In EYFS, we encourage children to become confident problem solvers by giving them opportunities to think, explore, investigate, and try things out independently. Problem solving happens throughout the day in many different ways—whether children are building a tower that keeps falling down, working out how to fit pieces together, sharing resources with others, or figuring out how to complete a task.

These everyday moments are incredibly valuable because they help children develop important lifelong skills such as resilience, perseverance, creativity, and flexible thinking.

Young children learn best when they are actively involved in finding solutions for themselves. Rather than stepping in immediately with the answer, we often use supportive prompts such as:

“What could you try next?”
“Why do you think that happened?”
“Is there another way?”
“What might make it work?”

This encourages children to think critically, make decisions, and develop confidence in their own ideas.

Sometimes children may become frustrated when something feels difficult or doesn’t work straight away. This is a very normal part of learning. In EYFS, we help children understand that making mistakes is part of the process and that trying again helps our brains grow stronger.

Over time, children begin to develop greater independence and are more willing to take risks in their learning because they know they do not always need an adult to fix things for them.

Have you noticed?
You may see your child becoming more determined when completing tasks, trying different approaches, or proudly explaining how they solved a problem. These are all important signs of growing confidence and resilience.

At home, you might try:

Giving your child time to think before offering help
Praising effort rather than simply the end result
Using encouraging language such as “You’re working really hard on that”
Allowing children to experience small challenges rather than solving everything immediately
Talking through problems together instead of providing the answer straight away

Inclusion

Click on the link to access the Padlet:

https://padlet.com/agohil5/the-wood-end-primary-school-inclusion-toolkit-b8sdiw0559h1jd1b

1) Your Voice, Our Strategy: An NHS-led event focusing on Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy for children and young people.

- Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026. Time: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
- Location: Parkside Yard, Southall.

2) Talk and Play session for children under 5 and their parents/carers is scheduled for next week:

Ealing South Acton: Tuesday, May 12, 2026, from 1:45 PM to 2:45 PM.

3) Parent Group – Makaton Sign Time: Wednesday, 13th May 2026

Opportunity to learn 100 signs and symbols!

Weekly parent support sessions offering opportunities to connect with other families and access advice and guidance.

More information:

Parent Group Information

4) Food Allergy Awareness Week – Wednesday, 13th May 2026 onwards

An opportunity to raise awareness of food allergies and promote safe, inclusive practices around packed lunches and school meals.

More information: https://www.allergyuk.org/allergy-awareness-week-2024/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Counselling

Thank you to those that came to the workshop on Wednesday. Setting boundaries around tech is one of the most common struggles parents describe today. Holding firm limits is a fine balance. Screens are designed to be compelling, for adults and children alike. Dopamine-driven reward loops mean that devices are not simply fun; they actively resist being put down. When your child melts down at screen-off time, they are not being deliberately difficult. Their brain is experiencing something close to a genuine withdrawal response. Research and attachment theory agree on several key developmental needs for 4–11 year olds in relation to tech:

Predictability Clear, consistent rules about when and how long — ideally the same each day. Predictability reduces anxiety and the need to negotiate every time.

Co-regulation Primary-age children are still developing the ability to self-regulate. When screens go off, they need a calm, regulated adult alongside them — not just an instruction.

Real-world connection Tech competes with face-to-face connection. Children need unstructured time with caregivers and peers — messy, slow, and device-free — to build secure attachment and social skills.

Transition support Moving from a screen to another activity is a genuine cognitive shift. Children do better with advance warnings, transition rituals, and an immediate positive activity to move towards.

GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON CHILDREN and SOCIAL MEDIA

Did you know that the government is currently consulting on the statutory minimum age for social media (ages 13, 14, 15, or 16). Also on more robust age-assurance mechanisms, raising the UK's age of digital consent, restrictions on certain features like live streaming and disappearing messages and cracking down on addictive elements of social media such as auto-play and infinite scrolling which keep children "hooked on their screens for hours“
Have your say, your voice matters, the government is actively seeking parent input RIGHT NOW. Deadline 26 th May 2026:- MAIN CONSULTATION SURVEY FOR PARENTS: https://survey.savanta.com/?id=a957374a58Sa03ba4b9&lng=en-G

OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PAGE: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation
Someone to talk to. If you would like to meet Helen for a confidential and non-judgemental chat about you, your child, or any other worries, they are available on Wednesdays from 9-10am. You can call/text 07429654584 or email helen@schoolscounsellingpartnership.co.uk

Dates For Your Diary - Events Coming Up Soon

11th to 15th Year 6 SATs Week
13th May 2026 - Cedar Class Assembly at 9am in Studio hall
14th May 2026 - Kew Gardens Trip - Year 1
15th May 2026 - Parent/Carer Helpers needed to paint in playground 1.30pm to 3.30pm
20th May 2026 - Year 6 Ace Adventures Residential Trip
21st May 2026 - Hazel Class Assembly at 9am in Studio Hall
4th June 2026 - Opal Open Afternoon for Parents and Carers 2.15pm to 3.15pm

Calendar of Events

Scan the QR code or click HERE to view the SCHOOL CALENDAR. This is on our school website to keep you updated with our range of events at school. We will do our best to inform parents and carers well in advance of any changes.

Ealing Family Support Network:

To access family services such as parent courses, financial services and food banks. Click the link: https://padlet.com/EalingFSN/EalingFamilySupportNetwork

OUR 3 RULES...

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