Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Be kind to yourselves

  Thu 26 Mar 2020

  Thank you for all the positive feedback we have received this week.  We are hearing all sorts of lovely stories about how families are keeping themselves busy in these totally unprecedented times.  It has never been more important than now to follow the Government rules and stay at home if you can. 

   

  You will have heard schools have been asked to remain open for children of key workers and identified pupils, we are no exception and have also opened up the school kitchens to support the delivery of free school meals in the local area.  The school staff, cleaning team, catering teams and council staff, drafted in to do the delivering, are working brilliantly together to support our local community. 

   

  We have sent out a number of letters containing information on how to support your child while at home, please refer back to these for information on how to access Calm Brain and how to keep in touch with us via a dedicated email address.

   

  PE with Joe Wickes at 9am daily is proving to be a big hit in many households - whole families are getting involved for an active half hour to start the day.  David Walliams 'elevenses' is a good time to stop and listen to a story (this is a time for drinks and snacks in Mrs Butele's house) he is reading a new story every day.  Steve Backshall is doing live Science talks at 9.30 too.  Many of these links can be found on our website, either on the class pages or on the Short Wood Community Learning pages.

   

  Some of you may have noticed a new home learning tab that has been added to our website by our website suppliers.  This page is not currently live as we are exploring how we may use the functionality.

   

  As a staff team we are very aware of the pressure many families are feeling to 'home school' their children.  Whilst we will continue to provide ideas we are mindful that we do not want you to feel overwhelmed.  Please do not feel you have to be sat at a desk from 9-3 'doing school work'.  Learning comes in all shapes and sizes, the more creative you can be the better. Spending time together playing simple games, setting each other a quiz, scavenger hunts around the house to find objects beginning with a certain letter, making pictures from random objects, challenging each other to remember number facts and just sharing stories will see time whizz by you will be creating some positive memories as you go.  We are all adapting, let's try and have some fun as we do.

   

  Please keep sharing your fun with us via the dedicated shortwoodies email you have been sent.  We have also sent contact details for our main office - this email is monitored regularly and we can arrange to contact you if you need us to. 

   

  Our staff are really missing seeing the children every day. Be kind to yourselves and each other. 

   

   

• School Closure

  Fri 20 Mar 2020

  It is with a great deal of sadness that we have closed the school today to most of our pupils in order to follow the Government guidance.  We will be opening to a small number of pupils on Monday to enable those people classified as 'Key Workers' to continue in their crucial roles.  When deciding if you need to send your child into school please consider the latest advice that the best place for your children to be is at home, if you do have an alternative to sending them to school the please use it.  The latest advice is to reduce social contacts to a minimum.  We are grateful to the commitment that has been shown by our staff to ensuring we had sufficient cover in place to create a safe, nurturing environment for the pupils who do need to attend.  We are working hard to support our staff and their families at this challenging time.

   

  In order to support pupils at home we have put a range of activities on our website.  Each year group has added age related fun things for you to do at home.  We do recommend that you try to keep a routine to your day and we have discussed this with your children this week.    Our staff will be adding to these activities in the weeks to come.

   

  Staff are also choosing favourite stories to read aloud to add to the 'Read all about it' page so you can listen to a variety of stories too. 

   

  In school we do 'Calm Brain' three times a day - the team at Calm Brain have arranged for parents to be able to access this resource during these extraordinary times.- we will email details out about how to access this next week.

   

  Golden leaf celebrations for the Golden Leaf winners was a little different today as they were presented in classes.  We are really proud of all of our winners as always.

   

  Finally, in a week that has been so unpredictable we want to pay tribute to our Short Wood community.  The pupils have shown real strength of character and resilience, likewise our staff have shown their true colours supporting pupils and each other in an amazing way, it is humbling to be part of such an incredible team. At what is a challenging time we have also seen some really kind supportive acts of sharing on the playground. Thank you.  Please keep following the latest advice, this is changing rapidly.  We ALL have a responsibility to fight this pandemic and we can all play our part in slowing the spread of the virus.  Stay safe and look after each other.

  

• BEAM closure

  Tue 17 Mar 2020

  Please be advised Beam will be CLOSED on Tuesday 17^th March 2020.

   

  We will continue to update with any further closures via Twitter.  Workshops will be rescheduled.

   

   

• Coronavrus update

  Tue 17 Mar 2020

  In what are challenging times we are striving to maintain some sense of normality for our pupils, staff and community.   However inevitably there will be some things that have to change.  We will endeavour to keep you up to date with what is a fast moving situation.  Anything that we consider to be non essential group contact will be cancelled.

   

  As of today we have postponed our Toddlers Group on a Tuesday morning and the Shining Stars group on Fridays. 

   

  We have been informed by our Sports Partnership team that all competitions are cancelled until further notice. 

   

  We will not be running the DT workshops and Family Learning sessions.

   

  We will continue our Breakfast club and After School Club provision currently. 

   

  We have consulted the Swim England guidance and the current advice is that so long as children shower before and after they swim then swimming can continue, we will continue to offer this provision at the moment.

   

  Please ensure you are up to date with the changing advice from the Government.  Currently as of today (17/3/20) the advice is if anyone in the household has flu like symptoms, a high temperature, or a new and persistent cough then everyone in the household needs to isolate for 14 days - see the government website for up to date advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

   

   At times like these we need to be mindful of the physical symptoms but also the impact on the emotional health and well being of everyone.  So, in true Short Woody style we are talking to the children about following the rules but also being sure we are all going the extra mile to be kind to ourselves and each other, we would encourage everyone in our community (and beyond) to do the same.  Many thanks for your ongoing support.

• Big sing success

  Fri 13 Mar 2020

  This week Year 2 and Year 5/6 representatives were amazing ambassadors for our school this week at The Big Sing events.  This event was organised by The Arts Centre Telford (TACT) in collaboration with Short Wood. The children and staff have worked hard to learn all the words to the songs across all of the schools, then got together to create memorable performances for the audience and participants alike. 

   

  You will have received details about how we are continuing to monitor the situation regarding the Coronavirus.  We are following the guidance from Public Health England closely.  All of the children are being encouraged to wash their hands regularly, using the 'Happy Birthday' song to help them wash their hands for long enough.  Our site team are taking additional precautions across the day to ensure the school is as clean as possible to support the cleaning routine that is carried out daily.  If you do come in to school we will ask you to wash your hands and follow the hygiene guidance our staff and pupils are following.

   

  We were visited this week by representatives from a school in Wolverhampton to hear about Calm Brain.  They observed children from Nursery to Year 6, all of whom were able to discuss how Calm Brain helps them to feel relaxed and how it supports their focus on learning.

   

  DT workshops started this week - Key Stage 1 parents were invited in to prepare for next week when they will be working alongside their children. 

   

  Year 6 pupils visited the Knife Angel at Southwater this week along with schools across Telford.  There were some powerful messages delivered in an age related manner, addressing many of the challenges our young people are facing locally.  Staff were impressed with the way the children responded to the information they received and will follow up the issues in the following weeks.

   

  Children came to school in sports kit today to raise money for Sports Relief.  The staff and pupils were keen to support this worthy cause, thank you for the donations that were sent in.

   

  The traffic on the car park is far safer with the new drop off zone in place.  We are grateful for everyone co operating with the new arrangements, the safety of our pupils, staff and families is our highest priority.

   

  Our Golden Leaf winners are all stars this week, they have all shown the qualities of a true Short Woody.

  

• Parking improvements

  Fri 06 Mar 2020

  You will have noticed the new markings on the car park that have been done this week.  Thank you to everyone for your cooperation in making our school safer for everyone.  We have talked to the children today about the difference it has made already.  We have remarked the disabled bays, please only use these if you have a blue badge.  The drop off zone is being used effectively at the moment, please remember that the younger children do still need an adult to accompany them into school and cannot be dropped off to come in on their own.

   

  Mrs Butele was invited to The Netherlands this week to speak at a teacher training event to share the benefits of planning a curriculum that includes learning opportunities beyond the classroom, for example forest school and outdoor maths. She also visited a number of schools in and around Rotterdam to explore and compare our school system and the Dutch system.  We have various links with schools across Europe and enjoy the opportunities to explore different educational systems and compare them with our own approach.

   

  Our Key Stage One pupils have had exciting trips to RAF Cosford this week.  The children have been really excited about the opportunity to explore the aircraft on display and take part in various workshops to support their Up Up and Away topic.

   

  Year 5 pupils have been code breaking today outdoors, using their book 'Letters from the Lighthouse' they have been developing their understanding of the World War 2 topic.  The children have loved the experience of working in this way.  Year 6 pupils are returning to school this evening for a film night, the children are really looking forward to this event.

   

  As a school we are receiving regular updates regarding the evolving situation with the Coronavirus.  We are talking to the children about the importance of good personal hygiene - the following link has some useful guidance.  https://twitter.com/NHSuk/status/1235112744917049346

  We will of course keep you fully informed of any further developments we are made aware.

   

  Congratulations to our Golden Leaf winners this week.  We have been talking to the children about kindness this week and many of the golden leaves highlighted this quality.

   

  Have a great weekend.