Newsletters

17 December 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s hard to believe that the autumn term has flown by so quickly; it seems like yesterday that we were welcoming the children back after the summer!  Thank you for your ongoing support this term.  In particular, thank you for supporting our important fundraising endeavours.  After the success of the amazing colour run in September we have raised an additional £1321.40 for the school.  This has been through £126.90 raised from the Bags2School collection, £517 from the Arts Projects for Schools and more recently, our colour hamper auction raised an amazing £677.50.   We didn’t quite beat last year’s total but the money raised has covered the cost of the gifts from Santa and the crackers for the children’s Christmas dinner.  This term alone we have raised an amazing £5289.35 for our school.  Thank you so much for your donations, contributions and support of our fundraising events.  I am hoping that we will be able to invite parents in for a fundraising event in the spring or summer term; we have missed having you in school!

This week at school we have been treated to the magic of Christmas that makes primary schools such a wonderful place to be.  Foundation Stage did a wonderful nativity with beautiful singing and great speaking.  It is always such a joy to see our youngest children doing the nativity.  Key Stage One did a wonderful performance of ‘We’re Going on a Baby Hunt’ with beautiful singing and very impressive acting and learning of lines!  Both performances have been uploaded to Google Classroom and I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I did.  In addition to this, Key Stage Two children have all been singing their hearts out!  Each class has recorded a Christmas song for you and this is also on your child’s Google Classroom.  

Yesterday the children enjoyed the most wonderful Christmas dinner.  It was a real feast cooked by Barry, Sue and Steph.  I was chief gravy pourer and the children all had wonderful manners and behaved fantastically.  KS2 were also treated to Mr Clark playing the guitar and Miss Leigh-Hunt singing carols to them as they ate – an extra special treat!

On behalf on the staff team, I would like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you for your kind words, Christmas greetings, gifts and support.  Wooden Hill School is a very special place and I feel honoured to be a part of it. 

We don’t know what the new year will bring with the new omicron variant in circulation, but I am certain that as a school community, we will rise to whatever challenges we face.  I wish you all a restful, healthy and joyful break and look forward to seeing you all again in 2022.

Best wishes,

Mrs Lagares

VIP Visitor 

All the children were today visited by Father Christmas who was in the neighbourhood delivering presents. 

Poppy Appeal 2021

We are very pleased to share that we collected £517.22 for the Poppy Appeal this year. Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Nursery Roundup

The highlight of the children's week was going to the school hall to join Reception for the Early Years Nativity. The children walked SO sensibly through the school and joined in with singing. 

The children have been busy doing lots of Christmas themed crafts and listening to Christmas stories over the last week and have been playing games to work on their listening and understanding skills, such as Kim’s game and joining in with action stories.

Everyone in the Nursery would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Click here to keep up with all the Nursery news.

Reception Roundup

Reception have had a busy couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas. The children have been very busy practicing their Christmas production. They also really enjoyed watching the Aladdin panto and have been extra busy making lots of Christmas crafts and decorations.

In readiness for the big day the children have read the story ‘Father Christmas’ letter’ and talked about why they might write a letter to Father Christmas. The children got to write their own list/letter to Father Christmas and the staff have been so proud to see them all using their phonics sounds to attempt to write he words.

The whole of Reception would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all again in 2022.

Click here to keep up with all the Reception news.

Year 1 Roundup

The children have been enjoying their festive activities this week. The children particularly enjoyed making and decorating salt dough with Mrs Spacey and Miss Mistry. It was a particularly messy activity but a lot of fun!

The children have been rehearsing for their festive performance where the children sang alongside the Year 2 children acting, and they have been singing their hearts out.

On Thursday, it was the schools Christmas Dinner and the children had the traditional crackers and party hats and even got to decorate their own place mats. There was music was playing, and the children were singing as they were served by the teachers. Well done to Mrs Nunn and the lunchtime controllers for being so amazing and organising the festivities, and also to the fantastic cooks for the lovely food.

It has been a lovely term with the Year 1 children and the staff have been so impressed by their hard work and positivity. All the teachers and teaching assistants in Year 1 would like to take this opportunity to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Click here to keep up with all the Year 1 news.

Year 2 Roundup

This week Year Two have been very busy performing their Christmas Nativity. They all did an amazing job in remembering their lines and songs whilst performing to their audiences!

In amongst the festivities the children have been busy writing their recount of a Christmas advert in English for their independent writing task and have also celebrated Christmas with a class Christmas party, playing games and lots of dancing!

The children have worked so hard over the last few weeks.

Year 2 would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Click here to keep up with all the Year 2 news.

Year 3 Roundup

Year 3 have had a busy few weeks in the run up to Christmas! 

The children enjoyed their first school trip this term. They watched Cinderella at the South Hill Park Panto and had a fabulous time with lots of cheering, booing, singing and dancing.

In English, the children have been learning how to write a non-chronological report about an animal called the pangolin. They learnt some fascinating facts and included these in some exciting reports. The children have now finished the term by writing their own report about another interesting animal including the walrus and a sea turtle.

In maths, the children have been continuing their knowledge of multiplication and division applying these problem solving skills to their 3, 4 and 8 times tables. They have been using arrays, bar models and repeated addition to solve word problems. All this practise is paying off as the children are becoming more confident in their times tables which is great to see!

Year 3 had a fantastic DT day last week planning, designing and making their own sandwiches. The children thought really carefully about how to make this sandwich part of a healthy balanced diet by including foods from different food groups and thinking about portions. They put great effort into the design and look of the sandwich, we had some very interesting shapes, which were all finished off with their own packaging label.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, from Year 3! 

Click here to keep up with all the Year 3 news.

Year 4 Roundup

Year Four have finished the term on a high. They thoroughly enjoyed visiting St Michael’s church and joining in with the Christmas workshop there. Then last week, we visited Winchester Science Museum. The children got so much from exploring the interactive exhibits and attending a workshop on ‘Sound’. On both occasions, they represented Wooden Hill very well.

Merry Christmas, from Year 4!

Click here to keep up with all the Year 4 news.

Year 5 Roundup

It has been a very busy half-term for Year 5. The children completed their study of the Ancient Islamic Empire, taking time to think about how we know what we know about the past, the use of sources and their reliability to inform us about the past and taking time to enjoy the beauty and wonder of ancient artefacts. 

In PSHE, Year 5 have spent time looking at money, considering types of bank accounts, how payments have changed and how to shop safely online. The children also got to look at peoples attitudes to money and how to understand a bank statement and work out a simple budget. This led to looking at debt and how money can cause us stress and anxiety and ways to help deal with this. 

The children got to look at the Pop Art movement, particularly focussing on Andy Warhol. The children looked at his techniques and experimented with different types of print making and use of colour.

The children made felt purses in DT, firstly focussing on the process of planning a project, then the construction of the item and finally evaluating the finished product.

In Science, the children got to look at different materials and their properties, with many opportunities for experiments and hands-on experiences. They even managed to make some crystals.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from Year 5! 

Click here to keep up with all the Year 5 news.

Year 6 Roundup

Over the last few weeks Year 6 have been looking at the poem 'Coming Home' by Michael Morpurgo. They have used this Christmas-themed poem to inspire their own version of 'Coming Home' based on the idea of coming home from the last day of school for Christmas. 

They continued with their learning about adaptation, natural selection, and evolution, by studied the work of Charles Darwin and the Galápagos Islands. They looked at a range of different areas relating to their subject and in teams created an information poster and speech around this.

This half-term, the children have been introduced to STEM learning - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They were posed with a real-life problem for villagers in Nepal and had to develop a solution to help transport tomatoes for farmers living in the mountains. By using their prior knowledge from Year 5 of levers and pulleys, they got to work as a team effectively.

During PE, the children have been developing their indoor athletic skills and learning about the importance of body control and how to move their bodies in a range of ways, specifically jumping.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, from Year 6!

Click here to keep up with all the Year 6 news.

~ Dates for the Diary ~