Latest News

It's good to talk

Fri 31 Jan 2020

Thank you to everyone who attended parents evenings this week. We had a super turn out and I know teachers have offered additional appointments to those of you who couldn’t make it this week. Mrs Weston and Mrs Doult will be in touch shortly with details of their rearranged evenings. It was great to chat to lots of parents and carers and hear your feedback about how your children are getting in. We know that the best progress is made when we work together to support your children.

On Thursday this week we held our first Primary Futures Assembly. A number of volunteers from a range of professions came along, year 5 and 6 pupils had prepared questions to quiz the professionals and deduce from the evidence just what career path they had followed. Year 6 pupils then had the chance to talk to each person in turn in smaller groups. Our pupils were inspired by the morning and it generated lots of conversations about their own ambitions and aspirations. We would like to thank each professional who gave up their time to come in to school and share their experiences. We talk a lot to our pupils about aiming high and growing dreams, this was a great example of how we are inspiring them to believe they can do whatever they want to and how their hard work and the skills they are developing as learners now will really support them in their futures. Many of the professionals were keen to come back to Short Wood and work with our pupils again, they were impressed by their approach to the session, their attitudes and behaviour. While we would expect nothing less of our pupils we are proud of them for being such great ambassadors for the school.

Our Year 5 and Year 2 pupils have taken part in Singing workshops with Jack from The Schools Arts Trust this week in preparation for ‘The Big Sing’ events this term. These were excellent events last year and in partnership with the trust Short Wood are supporting the organisation of this years event, aiming for it to be even bigger and better. Tickets for the event which will be held at Telford International Centre will be on sale online soon. They sounded amazing today, it will be an event not to be missed.

We had a team of children out orienteering this week. They were a resilient team, especially as the weather was not on their side! Well done to all involved.

Our Golden Leaf winners this week were commended for all sorts of Short Woody values but in particular their positive attitudes which not only help their own learning but also the learning of their peers.

Gold medal success

Fri 24 Jan 2020

Our Basketball team celebrated Coach Butler's birthday with a gold medal winning performance this week. The team worked really well together and showed fantastic skills and as importantly the right attitude. They returned triumphant and we have enjoyed sharing in their success. They will represent Telford and Wrekin in the summer at the School Games in Shrewsbury.

We have had lots of queries about how Mrs Harris is recovering from her planned operation. She is working really hard with her physiotherapy to ensure she can return to school soon. Thank you for all of your kind messages, she is really touched and is looking forward to seeing everyone.

Our full governing body met this week. We are delighted to welcome Helen and Flora to the team of Governors. We are really grateful to the time our Governing body give to support our school. Part of this weeks meeting was spent discussing the traffic issues outside of school. We will be in touch soon to inform you of changes that are happening to the parking outside of school, we have been working with the traffic and road safety team as a result of concerns expressed about the safety of our pupils and their adults at the start and end of the day.

Many of you will have noticed the new clocks we have installed around school. This is an idea developed after one of our educational visits to Sweden. Telling the time is taught across school and is a tricky concept for children to develop. We hope by having the outdoor clocks children will have more opportunities to notice the time at different points of the day. Please chat to your children on the way in and out of school and encourage them to tell you the time that is displayed and possibly, as the seasons change, what they notice about their environment at different times of the day. This was a really simple but successful strategy observed in Sweden, we are hoping it will support our pupils learning too - as well as being a useful tool for you to use to encourage your children to get into school on time.

Maths has been a real theme in our Golden Leaf assembly today. We are working hard to raise the profile of maths across school to inspire children to learn key facts and really challenge themselves with problems. On February 7th we are joining with schools across the country to support the NSPCC Maths day where we will be encouraging children to come to school in a maths themed outfit or as their favourite Times table Rockstar. It may that they have clothing with numbers on, dress as a shape or do their hair in plaits in multiples of 2 or 3, be as creative as you like we do not want families spending money on costumes. We are inviting you to donate to the NSPCC to support this great charity if you would like to.

Congratulations to our Golden Leaf winners this week, we are really proud of you all - we have had a technical problem with the pictures so we will take them again and add them next week.

Young Voices adventure!

Fri 17 Jan 2020

Last night over 40 pupils attended the regional Young Voices concert in Birmingham to become part of a mass choir which entertained an audience of thousands of family and friends. While we have some tired, weary faces this morning (pupils and staff) everyone agrees it was an amazing night to be part of. Feedback form parents who were able to attend as part of the audience has been lovely to hear too - special memories made. Thank you to the team of staff who have given up their time to support the children in preparing for the event and for going along to ensure we could take such a large number, without our staff being willing to 'go the extra mile' we wouldn't be able to have such great adventures.

We have been holding pupil progress meetings across school this week. These give us an opportunity to come together as a team to discuss the progress of each pupil, and ensure we are doing all we can to meet their needs. Teachers will share this with parent and carers at the parents evenings planned for the week after next - look out for the information being sent soon.

As the weather is so unpredictable at the moment please do not forget to ensure your children come to school in appropriate clothing, in particular coats. They will also need their outdoor kits for Forest School. We do get the children out in almost all weather conditions, they are really enjoying muddy play at the moment so old clothes for forest school are a good idea. Indoor shoes/ slippers are really important too.

The Archery team came 7th out of 21 schools this week in their competition, they were really resilient in their approach to the competition and were great ambassadors for the school.

Well done to the children who are building up their dojos as a result of their reading efforts at home. Every time children read and get an adult to sign their diary to confirm they have read dojos are awarded.

Our Golden Leaf winners this week have been working really hard across the curriculum, it has been lovely to see the work they are so proud of. Kindness was another theme this week, with many of our winners showing really positive traits to their friends. Well done.

Happy New Year

Fri 10 Jan 2020

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.