Welcome back to the new term and Happy New Year to everyone. It has been a delight to see everyone again this week. 

Teaching staff began the new term with some inspiring training focused on teaching and learning in maths.  This gave a great opportunity to reflect on what we already do well and think about how we can develop it further.

On Tuesday we were pleased to see all of our Short Woodies return and hear of their holiday adventures.  Then it was time to work!  New topics have been introduced, Early Years are being explorers, Key Stage 1's topic of Up Up and Away will see them exploring flying machines and imagining where they could travel to.  Years 3 and 4 are studying rainforests, a visit to Chester Zoo is planned, Year 5 are developing an understanding of life during the second world war while Year 6 are studying Myths, Monsters and The Ancient Greeks.

Mrs Harris was hoping to be back at the start of this term, however her knee is not quite healed yet so she will need a little more time off.  She is keeping in touch on a regular basis and is looking forward to being back later in the term.  In the meantime Mrs Butele will remain as Acting Head, supported by the great team at Short Wood.  If you have any questions, queries or concerns please do no hesitate to contact us in school.  You can call in, ring the office for an appointment or speak to staff at the start or end of the days.

We look forward to a busy term ahead.  Please support your child at home by reading with them as often as possible, they will bring home a reading book daily.  We also need you to be practising key number facts such as multiplication tables and spelling patterns. Looking at these for short periods of time on a regular basis really does make such a difference to your child's progress in school.  Thank you in advance for your ongoing support.

Congratulations to our first Golden Leaf winners of 2020 - they are all great examples of all of our Short Wood values and continue to be super role models throughout school.