Latest News

Happy half term!

Fri 26 Oct 2018

Wow - what a hectic half term. Pupils and staff are all ready for a well earned rest next week.

The Year 6 pupils at Arthog have had a great time this week, they have experienced hill walking, gorge walking, raft building and much more. As well as that they have learnt how to be a little more independent and have had to take responsibility for themselves and others. Thank you to the staff team who have given up their family time this week to accompany the group and to the instructors and team at Arthog North Wales for their support and guidance throughout the week. Take a look at the Sport page (this is under the Children's tab) on the website for a daily diary of the activities the children have taken part in.

Key Stage 1 have been preparing for their show this week, they have been reading the Katie Morag stories all term and are celebrating with a show afternoon. Next term they will be preparing a concert as their Christmas performance.

We had a visit from CSO Lynn Harris this week to talk to the children in assembly. She joined Mrs Harris in talking about how to stay safe at Halloween. These can be exciting, fun, magical times for many but we have talked to the children about ensuring they think about vulnerable members of our community who may not want people in costumes knocking on their doors. We are also encouraging children only to visit homes of family and friends NOT strangers, and to be sure a responsible adult is with them and checking anything they may be given before eating it. We want all of our Short Woodies to have fun, but to do it in a safe and thoughtful way.

PTA discos were well attended this week, there were some ghoulish costumes and make up. We are really grateful to the volunteers of the PTA for arranging and running the event, without them we couldn't offer these fun activities. The PTA held their AGM earlier this week, they have some great ideas about raising funds to purchase equipment for the playground. The school council will be working with the PTA volunteers to choose what the children would like.

Well done to the Golden Leaf winners this week - they are pictured below, we are really proud of their achievements.

Next week is half term, we wish you a happy holiday. Please encourage your children to read a favourite book and perhaps logon to Sumdog if they get chance, but most of all take time to have fun and enjoy time together with family and friends.

Enquiring minds

Fri 19 Oct 2018

So, another busy week has passed by. This week our Year 5 pupils have been taking part in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) workshops. They have been developing their enquiry and problem solving skills. The children have discussed how pleased they felt with themselves, working as a team and figuring out their mistakes. Photos are on the class pages and the events page of the website.

The school council met this week and elected their School Council Captains. Most members were willing to stand for election - standing up and telling their council colleagues why they could be a good choice. It was a very close vote, the children chose Rebecca and Dylan who are pictured along with the Golden Leaves below.

On a safety note, please can we remind all parents and carers about the importance of being considerate and careful around and about school. We work hard to support our neighbours so please do not block driveways when parking at the start and end of the day. We have also had a couple of near miss incidents reported. One was as a result of someone reversing in a dangerous manner, another was as a result of children running into the path of moving cars. Parking outside most schools is an issue, the more people that walk the better the situation is. If you do need to drive please allow plenty of time for your journey as this reduces frustration levels, and please be patient with fellow Short Wood families and our local community. We are working with our local policing team and local council to monitor the parking issues an identify potential ways of easing the issues, but the responsibility for safety is everyone's

We have had sporting success this week with our Tag Rugby team and our two Netball teams qualifying for the finals later in the term. The Tag Rugby was decided on a 'golden try' adding to the excitement of the evening. Congratulations to all involved, for pictures and details of the event have a look at the the Sports section of the website in the Children's menu.

A highlight of the week has been our ceremony around the tree on Thursday. Every child has written their name on a leaf and added it to the tree in Tim's garden, a beautiful, reflective space. This represents the agreement between home and school but also reminds all Short Woodies of the promises they have made to be part of the Short Wood team. The video of 'The Power in Me' is on the events page of the website. Our Year 2 pupils then reported on the ceremony - the work of 2 children is include in the pictures below.

Next week we are waving some of our Year 6 pupils off to Arthog in North Wales. This is always a very exciting time. As always we are grateful to our staff who are accompanying the group, without them giving up their time these kinds of trips would not be possible. Keep an eye on our Twitter feed to stay up to date with the adventurers.

Next week is the final week of this half term. We are in school all week - we do not have a PD day next Friday, we are aware that many local schools do.

Congratulations as always to our Golden Leaf winners this week, in our assembly today we have heard about resilient learners, pupils persevering and master mathematicians. We are really proud.

Inspiring young people

Fri 12 Oct 2018

We have all been inspired this week by a photo shared by Arthog following Class 6's adventure up the Wrekin. They tweeted

"Another great day up the Wrekin, the whole group helped get a child's wheelchair up to Heaven Gate. He then walked all the way up the rocks to complete the ascent and get to the summit with his friends." We are so proud of the whole class, including this little chap. The team work, resilience and determination are an inspiration to us all.

Mrs Harris and Mrs Butele were also inspired by a talk from England Rugby Star Johnny Wilkinson this week, they were invited to the House of Lords following the publication of The Parliamentary Review, a document produced by Government to celebrate the hard work of schools across the region. Take a look at Short Wood's entry by following the link below:

http://www.theparliamentaryreview.co.uk/editions/primary-education/primary-education-west-midlands

As part of Wellington Literary Festival pupils from Year 5 attended the launch of Catherine Cooper's new book this week. They enjoyed a talk by the author herself and heard all about her inspiration for the novel.

Teachers have had training on Mathematics this week, as lifelong learners we always enjoy the opportunity to reflect on how we deliver learning to our pupils and to ensure we are up to date with the latest research and approaches.

Hopefully you have had chance to read the home-school agreement that has been sent home. We know from experience that working together results in the very best outcomes for everyone, this agreement is important as it makes clear what we can all expect from each other. If you have not already done so please return the signed slip to school as next week we will be getting each child to sign their leaf to be attached to the tree in Tim's Garden. The tree represents everyone's commitment to being part of the Short Wood team. Being in the playground, children often go and sit near the tree, it is a calm, positive and reflective space.

As always on a Friday we have had our Golden Leaf assembly to celebrate individuals who have shone this week. As well as wearing their leaf to share how brilliant they are with everyone, they have enjoyed lunch at the top table. Well done to all of them.

Back in time....

Fri 05 Oct 2018

Pupils from Class 9 have been transported back to the Stone Age this week. Making the most of our amazing outdoor space they used knives to create their own wooden implements for eating, they created fire to help them understand how important this would have been for the Stone Age people. Later in the day they used their fire to cook their own food. The energy and enthusiasm the pupils and staff put into their learning experience was brilliant. Take a look at Class 9's web page for photos soon.

Learning beyond the classroom is an ongoing feature of our approach at Short Wood. Year 5 pupils summed up their support for this approach earlier this week - "Well it is just more fun and you learn more, feel better and remember it this way". Caving and climbing groups have been out and about again, and more KS1 pupils have had their opportunity to explore the Wrekin.

As a Calm Brain school we are introducing a new calm brain sequence this week for our pupils to master. Calm brain allows our pupils and staff to take time out of their day to feel relaxed and re energised, reminding us that looking after our emotional and mental health is as important as taking physical exercise. Please ask your child about Calm Brain.

We have hosted a number of visiting teachers from other schools this week to share our Short Wood approach. As always our pupils and staff made the visitors very welcome and talked confidently about the learning at our school, they were happy to share. We are really proud of how all our Short Woodies represented the school in such a positive way.

Congratulations to our Golden Leaf winners this week who are pictured here, we are really proud of them all.