Welcome back!
It has been wonderful to see our children and families return after the February half term. We’ve had lots happen already and are so proud of our children’s hard work, care and resilience.
Please make sure your children are here every day, with their book bags and reading books. Children should come to school in correct uniform and bring PE kit to change into on their allocated days. PE days for our year groups are:
For two weeks each year at the end of February and start of March, thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks, mine our gold and who grow the cotton in our clothes, people who are often exploited and underpaid.
Working with our sponsor, Co-op, the children at Woodlands took part in a range of Fairtrade acitvities linked to our Design Technology curriculum focus of food and nutrition. The children explored the use of Fairtrade ingredients to make and sell a range of delicious goodies! The money raised this year will be donated to the Ukraine Conflict appeal.
Thursday 3rd March was World Book Day! This year’s theme was ‘you are a reader.’ The children and staff came to school dressed as their favourite book characters and took part in lots of different reading and book-related activities, sharing stories and enjoying reading together.
Our mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them. Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.
February Half Term
We’d like to say a massive thank you to our children and families for their hard work and support this half term. Also a massive thank you to our staff for their dedication to our children too.
We hope you have a restful, safe half term and are looking forward to seeing you on Monday 28th February at 8:50 am.
Monday 7 – Sunday 13 February was Children’s Mental Health week.
The theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week was Growing Together.
Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow. Challenges and setbacks can help us to grow and adapt and trying new things can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential. However, emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’.
1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, and many more struggle with challenges from bullying to bereavement.
At Woodlands, the children took part in a range of activities throughout the week, talking about mental health and wellbeing and raising money for the Place 2 Be Mental Health charity. Take a look!
Andy Gibson- Head of Early Career Framework with Initial Teacher Training
11 of our Year 5 and 6 children travelled to Monmouth in Wales to stay and help out at Jamie’s Farm. Spending 5 days away from home, working to run a farm is no easy task and our children certainly did our school and their parents proud. Find out what they got up to! 👇
What is Jamie’s Farm?
Jamie’s Farm uniquely combines farming, family and mindfulness sessions into a 5-day residential with a focus on giving children time and space to reflect, to renew and determine a new path for themselves. We do this by creating an environment where they feel respected, and are given opportunities to display their talents and show responsibility.
What does a typical day look like on the farm?
| 7:30 am | Rise and shine! Morning jobs start at 8 am! |
| 9:15 am | A delicious breakfast made by one of the groups. |
| 10:30 am | Farm jobs – working with the animals, doing maintenance on the farm, cooking lunch and preparing food. |
| 12:15 pm | A delicious lunch prepared by one of the groups |
| 1:30 pm | Farm jobs – again out on the farm, doing the jobs that need doing to keep the animals healthy and what is best for the farm. |
| 4:00 pm | A tasty snack and then a walk or adventure! |
| 5:30 pm | Shower time – farm work is smelly so it’s time to get clean. |
| 6:30 pm | A delicious evening meal and games round the table. Then a film or time by the bonfire. |
| 8:30 pm | Time for bed! |
Take a look at what we got up to! We had tons of fun and are so thankful to the Jamie’s Farm team for giving us a chance to help run their farm, to explore beautiful countryside and to thrive and be successful. We can’t wait to come back again soon.
Friday 4th February was NSPCC Number Day!
We came to school wearing stars or numbers and took part in lots of different maths activities, raising money for the NSPCC.
The money you raise could help the NSPCC run its Speak out Stay safe programme to help children understand what abuse is and what to do if they’re scared or worried.
Take a look at what we got up to!
This half term, Year 3 are learning about the human body in science.
On Thursday 3rd February, a physiotherapist came in to talk to the children. She spoke to the children about her job and taught the them the names of some of the human bones. Some children wanted to know how they can become physiotherapists too!
One in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
On Thursday 3rd February, we took part in Time to Talk Day. To celebrate, we invited parents into school for coffee, cake, chat and chill, with a separate session for staff after school. It was great to see so many parents come together and have a natter, spending time catching up and socialising. We hope to run more sessions in the future and can’t wait to see even more parents getting involved!
Time to Talk Day with Mind and Co-op
This Thursday, 3rd February, was Time to Talk Day. To celebrate, we invited parents into the hall for coffee, cake, chat and chill. It was great to see so many parents together and we hope to do more sessions soon. Time to Talk Day aims at getting us to start conversations about mental health and wellbeing.
Time to Talk Day with Mind and Co-op
We are working closely with the mental health charity Mind and our Trust to look into ways how school can support our families and community further with their mental wellbeing.
Thursday 3rd February is Time to Talk day. Next week, our children will be learning about wellebing and mental health, exploring lots of different ways to look after themselves each day.
On Time to Talk day, we will be inviting parents into school for coffee, cake, chat and chill! Our children and staff will be taking part in this too. Look out for more information coming up – there will be limited spaces for this event so keep your eyes peeled!
Following Time to Talk Day, for Children’s Mental Health week, we will be showcasing the children’s learning with you.
