Latest News

Happy half term

Fri 24 May 2019

Four members of staff have been on a visit to Sweden this week to look at how the Swedish approach education. They have returned from their trip excited to share their ideas and what they have seen. We are looking forward to exploring how we can use the Swedish visit to inspire our own school development plan.

Congratulations to our runners in the Bailey Mile this week, they were a little nervous before but really enjoyed taking part, Miss Wheat took part in the adults race and achieved an impressive 4th place!

Thank you to everyone who attended our meeting about the PSHE/RSE curriculum resources we will be trialling next half term. We really appreciate the opportunity to share how we have used the feedback from previous meetings to draft our policy and will be writing to all parents early next half term.

Next half term is looking like a busy one with Sports Days, various visits and transition days planned. We will be sending out key dates as early as we can to enable you to plan effectively. We are hoping to work closely with The Friends of the Bowring Park to support their efforts at making this a great community space for local people to enjoy - more details will follow next half term.

We would like to wish everyone in our community, who is celebrating, Happy Eid for the beginning of June. We know many of our pupils are really looking forward to this special time of year. We look forward to hearing all about it after the holiday.

Just a reminder that it is half term next week. Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th June are all PD days, so school will re open for children on Thursday 6th June.

On Thursday 6th June we are excited to be hosting a visit from the author Luke Temple, he will also be in school on Friday 7th June to sell and sign copies of his books. On the theme of reading, Mrs Link is launching a summer term reading challenge in the library too - so why not go along and join in.

Well done to our Golden Leaf winners today they are all brilliant and we are really proud of them. We do hope you have a happy and peaceful half term and look forward to welcoming everyone back on the 6th June.

Resilience in action

Fri 17 May 2019

This week has certainly been a busy one for Year 6 pupils across the country and there was no exception here at Short Wood. We are so proud of the attitude, resilience and positive energy our Year 6 pupils have displayed in the way they have approached their SATs tests. This is a busy time of year for staff as they prepare their end of year assessments but as we tell the children tests are a snapshot on the day they are taken. Staff are working hard currently to create individual, personalised reports - it is a pleasure to reflect on how our young learners have developed and celebrate their success. The reports will be shared towards the end of next term.

Keeping the class libraries stocked up is always a challenge - if you have any 'preloved' books which are in good condition we are always happy to receive donations.

Early years have continued their outdoor adventures with Arthog this week - taking a walk into the woods to explore our local environments. They have really enjoyed finding out about the wildlife they have discovered. We are so lucky to have the Arthog team as part of our team to support our staff team in providing such opportunities.

Earlier this term we held a meeting about the 'Respect yourself' resource that looks at all aspects of Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) and relationships and sex education. Following that meeting we have taken the views and comments we received and considered how the resource will be implemented. There will be another meeting on Tuesday next week - 21st May - at 2.30pm and 5.00pm (you only need to attend one of the meetings) to share how we intend to use the resource next half term.

We have 4 members of staff taking part in a European project next week which will take them to Sweden to visit schools and find out what we can learn from their approach to education. These are great professional development opportunities and result in new and innovative ideas coming back to Short Wood. Working with colleagues from abroad can really challenge our thinking, but also provides us with a great platform to share the work that happens at Short Wood.

This week has been Mental Health Awareness week nationally. Maintaining a positive sense of health and well being has never been more important and at school we work hard to develop strategies for all of our Short Woodies to have in their toolkit. Our recent Ofsted feedback highlighted this:

'You have introduced successfully a mental health focus in your school. Pupils and children complete the ‘calm brain’ activities at least three times a day. During these times, pupils are equipped with mental health and mind-calming techniques that they can deploy independently. This helps them to refocus their minds after breaktime and lunchtime, for example. As a result, the school is a calm and very purposeful learning environment.'

Please chat to your children about their experiences of calm brain and how it makes them feel.

Fresh air and exercise is a great way of supporting emotional health and well being - next week is walk to school week, we would really like to see as many families as possible walking to and from school. It's a great opportunity to chat about the day and it reduces the amount of cars outside school - so we are saving the environment as well.

Well done to our Golden Leaf stars again this week - we are delighted with their achievements. Have a great weekend.

The Bluebells are beautiful

Fri 10 May 2019

Year 5 have been exploring the Bluebell Woods this week as part of their focus on our local community. The children have explored the different trees, plants and wildlife - seeing deer was a real highlight today. It has been a pleasure to walk and talk with the children. Tomorrow we have the family bluebell walk - Alan over at the Arthog team is telling us the weather is going to stay fine all morning so please come along and join us. We will meet at 11am at the Sports Hall and take a gentle walk to see the bluebells, bring a picnic along, we will be back by approximately 2pm.

We had great support at the Bucks Head last night for the Year 5/6 football final. Short Wood were playing Old Park. It was a great match ending in victory for Old Park 4-1. The teamwork was brilliant to see, despite the disappointment at the loss. We are really proud of how the team represented the school. Thanks to Coach Butler and Coach CK for their belief and powers of motivation.

Key Stage 1 SATs are well underway and the children are enjoying the challenge of showing what they can do. Year 6 are well prepared for their SATs next week, the pupils and staff have worked hard to ensure children are confident in giving their best. Please support your child by ensuring they have a lovely relaxed weekend and plenty of early nights next week too. We will be providing them with toast and smoothies as an extra treat but a good breakfast is really helpful. We have also reminded the children about having their own water bottles in school to remain hydrated too. We understand some pupils are choosing to keep some of the fasts during Ramadan, we are asking that children do not fast during the tests to enable the children to be as focused as they can be.

Well done to our Golden Leaf winners this week, we are proud of all their hard work.

Welcome back

Fri 03 May 2019

Welcome back to the new term. The children have returned refreshed and ready for the learning adventures the staff have planned.

Key Stage 1 will be completing their SATS during the month of May. The children will be working with their class teacher and other familiar adults in school in a relaxed, calm environment. The children are keen to do their very best.

Some of our Year 5 pupils took part in the Big Sing this week at Oakengates theatre on Wednesday evening. This was a fantastic event organised by The Schools Arts Trust. A number of schools came together to create a mass choir to entertain an enthusiastic audience of parents and friends. Jack Pierce and his team from the Schools Arts Trust and The Arts Centre Telford (TACT) led and inspired everyone to a brilliant performance. We hope even more children can take part next year. Thank you to everyone who supported this event.

Key Stage 1 had a visit from the planetarium this week to launch their 'Planet Awesome' topic. The children loved the experience and this has resulted in some lovely work back in class. Take a look a the Key Stage 1 pages of this site to see pictures.

Early Years are taking to the outdoors over the coming weeks supported by the Arthog team. The children are excited about sharing their outdoor learning and adventurous activities with their grown ups, we hope it will inspire families to get outdoors as the summer months approach.

Our Year 5/6 football team are taking part in the final being played at The Bucks Head ground on Thursday 9th May at 8pm. We are encouraging as many Short Woodies as possible to go along and cheer the team on. Tickets are available at £2 each on the gate.

Another date for your diary is Saturday 11th May, we will be holding the annual Bluebell Walk up to Limekiln Woods. This is an old local community May tradition that we re-introduced a few years ago. We meet at 11am at the Sports Hall site for a gentle walk with family and friends into the woods. This is a really informal friendly event, led by members of the Arthog team who share their wealth of knowledge (and sense of direction!) along the way. Be sure to dress appropriately for the weather - we hope for spring sunshine but you can never be sure - and pack a picnic which we will have up in the woods before returning for around 2pm. It would be lovely to see lots of you there.

A quick reminder that last term we committed to reducing the use of plastic in school, starting with a ban on single use water bottles. As (we hope) the weather will be warming up soon please get your child into the habit of bringing their new water bottles home each day to be washed and refilled for the following day. Our Eco Council are keen to explore what their next focus will be. Members of the council are talking to Radio Shropshire today about their efforts, including how they have worked towards Short Wood achieving the Green Flag award.

We have celebrated our first Golden Leaf Assembly of the term today, well done to all of our winners who have had a flying start to the term. We were treated to a performance for our Big Sing choir too, a great start to our summer term.

We have lots of events and activities planned in the coming weeks and will be sharing important dates shortly. As always if you have any queries, questions or concerns please chat to the staff on the doors, teachers are available at the end of the day or call into the office where staff will be happy to help.