Newsletters

24 June 2022

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Wow!  What an amazing few days our Jubilee celebrations were! We started the half term with the ‘Wooden Hill Bake Off’. We had so many incredible entries from children and staff that we ran out of tables to put them on.  In the afternoon, the judging team had the very difficult job of choosing the winners for each category. This was so hard to do as all of the creations looked and tasted so good. We managed it in the end and the winners were presented with their prizes at the celebration picnic.  

The next morning was Jubilee Celebration Day.  It started with the staff and parent team setting up the hall for high tea. The hall was transformed! Thank you to Mrs Klemova and Kayleigh for the balloon decorations. Parents then spent the morning being treated to tea and cake served by children from across the school.  Many of our visitors commented how polite and chatty the children were and how fantastic they were at serving. 

The sun shone beautifully for our Jubilee picnic that afternoon. All of the children in the school picnicked on tables set up across the playground. They then played with toys and other equipment that Mrs Gosling had sourced for us from First Day’s Toy Library. We all had so much fun in the sun.  As an absolute bonus we ended the day with an impromptu cake sale which raised as extra £273 for the school. 

A huge thank you needs to go to Miss Smart, Miss Mistry, and Mrs Nunn as well as all of the other school staff who helped.

We would also like to thank:

• Longacres Garden Centre for donating plants
• Mr Nunn for taking a day off work and helping 
• Mrs Mash for taking day off work and helping
• Mrs Gosling for taking a day of work and helping
• Mr and Mrs Hood for helping sort materials for the flower beds at front of school
• Mr Harvey for sourcing a Tesco voucher for hanging baskets
• Mr Hall for fixing the school's back gate
• Ms Newman for sourcing plants and planting some for us
• Elaine Laver for donating the china for the afternoon tea
• Meg Horton for taking such amazing photos of the day

It was an amazing few days and it was so lovely to celebrate together after so long apart.

Kind regards

Mrs Lagares

Diversity, Racism and Discrimination Assemblies

Later this term we shall be having an organisation called Arise (anti-racism in schools and education) coming in to deliver assemblies for Year 1 to Year 6 on diversity, racism and discrimination. The assemblies will all be age appropriate.

KS1 Assembly

During this assembly, we start to explore ideas around diversity. We will talk about different, religions, communities, physical abilities and skin colour, stressing the importance of treating everybody equally. We will then go on to discuss racism, what it means and what it can look like. The children are encouraged to think about how it would feel to be a victim of racism then think about whom to talk to if they witness/experience racism. We will also talk about afro hair and the importance of being kind to people regardless of their hair texture. Throughout the session the children will hear stories and have a chance to talk to each other about what they are learning. The overarching message of the assembly is to see the beauty in diversity, treat everybody fairly and equally and stand up for ourselves and each other.

Lower KS2 Assembly

During this assembly, we will look at vocabulary around equality in particular discrimination, prejudice and racism. We will look at various communities in the UK and discuss the importance of treating everybody equally regardless of who they are, what language they speak and what they look like. The children will then hear stories about racism and are encouraged to think about why it is wrong and how a victim or racism might feel. We will then discuss different examples of racism and (telling jokes, making fun of people's names etc) allowing the children to see how it manifests itself. The session will end with the children gaining the skills to be actively anti-racist and know what to do if they see or experience racism. The children are also empowered to follow their dreams regardless of who they are and what they look like. 

Upper KS2 Assembly

This assembly starts by looking at Human Rights. The children are encouraged to think about what Human Rights are and whether they should ever be denied. The children will then be introduced to the idea of anti-racism as a human right. We will discuss why it's important and what we can do to ensure everybody is afforded this right. We will then look at racism in detail, discussing individual acts of racism and institutional racism. The children will then have a look at some anti-racism activists of the past and are encouraged to do their bit to make the world a better place

We are looking forward to discussing these important themes in school.  We also hope that your children will talk with you about what they have learned when they get home.

Nursery Roundup

The highlight of the new term was continuing with the Jubilee celebrations. The whole school took part in games and enjoyed some tasty snacks. The children had lots of fun. The children took part in lots of royal themed activities in the classroom, making crowns and flags as well as playing 'Pin the Tail on the Corgi!'. They also played a fantastic game made by Mrs Findlay, which involved rolling a di and putting numbered jewels onto a crown picture. They listened to some stories including 'Peppa Meets the Queen', 'The Queen's Knickers', and 'The Birthday Crown' (changed to jubilee crown!).

The children have been looking ‘Under the Sea’, and focusing on sea creatures, creating beautiful light catching fish,  finding out facts about sea creatures and listened to lots of stories including the ‘Commotion in the Ocean’.

Lately the children have been busy practising for their Sports Morning and have really enjoyed using the astro turf and taking part in races within their groups.

Click here to keep up with all the Nursery news.

Year 1 Roundup

It was all about the Platinum Jubilee after half-term as the children celebrated 70 years since the Queen was crowned. There was the Wooden Hill Bake Off, and Harley in Otter Class won the best biscuit category. The children helped to serve parents and carers whilst having their 'High Tea' and were all commended for their beautiful manners. In the afternoon, the children got to enjoy their own tea and played lawn games in the sunshine.

The children have loved exploring their new maths topic of 'money' and has really engaged the children due to its real life importance. They have particularly enjoyed role playing shops and counting coins. Many of the children were confident with recognising British Coins, and it was fascinating to hear what the children thought the value of money was too. We did have to explain that you cannot buy a house for £300!

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

Year 2 Roundup

The new term started with the whole school Platinum Jubilee celebrations where children got involved in helping with a high tea before enjoying their own picnic outside. The children have also been on a trip to Mudeford Beach where they had a fun packed day of building sandcastles, paddling in the sea, riding on a ferry and crabbing!

In English the children have been learning about Queen Elizabeth II. The children have been reading information about her and watching video’s to learn about her life. They found out lots of interesting facts about her, did you know she has had 30 corgi dogs in her time and her first was aged 7 named Dookie. The research helped the children to write their own biographies. Why not ask your children about the interesting facts we have learnt.

In Maths the children have been learning to tell the time, looking at quarter past and quarter to, and learning that the minute hand points to either the 3 or 9 and the hour hand towards the hour or past the hour. They have also looked at 5 minute intervals, learning to read times such as 3:10, 5:35 reminding the children of their 5 times tables. They have been reading clocks and writing times. Why not practise these at home.

The children have had a lot of fun conducting various Science investigations this week! They have been exploring everyday materials, discussing their properties and suitability for a variety of purposes. We began by finding out which materials would make the best boat, discussing which ones might be light, heavy, waterproof and able to float. They carried out a ‘rocket mice’ investigation, where the children designed their own paper mice and then blasted them from milk containers, observing and discussing which one travelled the furthest. 

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

Year 3 Roundup

We have had a busy start to our last half-term. In science, the children began the topic of plants by dissecting plants to find out what the stem looks like, labelling a plant with the different functions of each part and investigating how water is transported in plants.

In geography, they have begun learning about rainforests, have attended a Zoom meeting, organised by the WWF, with a scientist who is completing work about birds in the rainforest and located the Amazon River before creating a map showing some its tributaries. 

In DT, the children have explored levers and pulleys before designing and creating a home for their robot animals using a simple machine. 

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

Year 4 Roundup

Following half-term the Year 4 started their final big writing topic: The Creature. The purpose of the text is to inform, the audience for the text will be those who purchase newspapers and the form for the writing will be a newspaper report...

A mysterious whale-looking creature has washed up on shore. As people begin to notice it, they soon realise that now all is as it seems. As they take a closer look, they realise that it's blow-hole is filled with plastic pollution from the seas. Despite their best efforts to remove all the waste and save the creature, they are unsuccessful. 

This piece of writing will aim to build on the children's writing skills whilst tackling and discussing the world-wide and highly debated issue of plastic waste in our oceans. 

In science, the children are learning about living things and their habitats and included thinking about how to classify animals and plants using a classification key. In geography, the children have been learning about different kinds of waterways, the different parts of a river and the journey that a river goes on from source to sea.

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

Year 5 Roundup

Year 5 started the term with a DT/History week by creating The Globe Theatre! Each child made a wattle and daub panel (using modern alternatives) and took on a task to create each part to bring together to create the finished product. 

In English, the children have had some brilliant debates and delivered some impressive public speaking, arguing whether refugee children should be given places at Wooden Hill. This week, the children have been researching information about Queen Elizabeth I to write facts and questions which they will use to write their own biography.

In maths, the children have been looking at shapes, angles as well as the amount of faces, edges and vertices of 3D shapes.

In Geography, the children have been learning about maps and exploring human and physical features, and thinking about topography. They were able to apply this and their drawing skills when the class walked to South Hill Park to observe them for themselves.

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

Year 6 Roundup 

The children have returned from half-term full of enthusiasm, looking forward to all of the exciting events that take place during their final months at Wooden Hill. 

The children have been immersing themselves in their new topic – crime and punishment – to help them learn and understand how this has changed throughout history. They have carried out a particular study into the death penalty and how this may still be used today. The children were able to write some mature and compelling debates about whether or not the death penalty should exist.

The children have continued their swimming lessons this term and are making fantastic progress in the water. It is lovely to see all of the children improving, pushing themselves to be better swimmers and improve their water safety. They are especially looking forward to the upcoming survival lesson.

This week, the children have been given their roles for the end of year production. The children have been incredibly excited and can’t wait to put on a fantastic performance at the end of the term. We have been singing the songs and reading through the performance to understand how the story is told

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

~ Dates for the Diary ~