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

• Eid Mubarak

  Mon 25 May 2020

  We want to wish Eid Mubarak to all of our families and community members celebrating Eid this weekend.  It will be a very different feeling to the celebrations at this time but I am sure you are finding ways of connecting with family and friends while celebrating in your own homes safely.

   

  We made the decision at the end of last week to delay extending the opening of Short Wood from June 1st. We will remain open over half term for key worker children as a holiday club provision and we will be open for those and other identified children after the half term break.  We will be reviewing the situation on an ongoing basis and considering all of the information and guidance available to us.  Our staff have worked hard to prepare classroom spaces to support social distancing and are planning a curriculum that supports the ongoing emotional health and well being of our pupils as well as their academic outcomes. The delay to opening will enable us to complete the thorough risk assessment we are undertaking and ensure all of identified issues can be addressed to make the return to school as safe as possible for pupils, staff and the wider community. 

   

  We understand the delay to reopening may present some challenges and are grateful for the ongoing support and understanding of our families and community.  Everyone is making difficult decisions that are going to be unique to each family's circumstances, we are happy to discuss our plans and the changes we will be implementing, we will provide additional information about these in due course, but please be reassured that we respect the decisions that each family is making at this time.  Working together is how we will move through these challenging times, while many aspects are difficult we hope to harness some of the opportunities too.

   

  We will not be using Dojo or the website to send learning home this week, we want you all to enjoy the sunshine and a well earned break, while following the current lockdown rules.   Following half term we will return to updating our online learning ideas as well as creating new learning packs to be sent home. 

   

  Stay safe in the coming days, be kind to yourselves and take care of each other.  We look forward to seeing you very soon.

• Inspired!

  Fri 01 May 2020

  We have been really inspired this week by the feedback you have been sending to your class teachers, showing us the lovely things you have been doing.  From a pupil writing to a local care home weekly to keep the spirits of the residents and staff up to videos and pictures of singing, drama and really creative work.

   

  All families should have received packs in the post this week containing ideas for learning at home and some little extras like seeds to grow and a stretchy man to create adventures with! Please remember these are ideas for activities, do not feel everything has to be completed.  Have fun with the ideas, get older and younger children working together some days if you can.  You can always contact your child's teacher via dojo if you need additional support. Mrs Harris, Mrs Butele, Mrs Waterhouse and Mrs Saunders are in school throughout the week too on different days, if you would like to chat to any of us just drop us an email or give us a call.

   

  Online safety is a topic that we all need to be really aware of just now.  We have had some concerned members of the Short Wood community getting in touch to say inappropriate things are being shared during video calls and online chats.  Please ensure you know who your children are talking to and monitor their activity.  We have added some really useful resources from childnet onto our website today - some of this information is translated into a number of languages to support our bilingual families.

   

  We are getting many enquiries about when and how school will reopen, at the moment we do not have any more information than is in the daily news update.  As soon as we have further information we will get in touch.

   

  Letters will go out shortly to the families of the children who will be joining our Reception next year.  We are delighted you have chosen Short Wood and we will do our best to make the transition into school as smooth and enjoyable as we can for children and parents as we know it is a big change for everyone.

   

  For now, keep getting in touch with your lovely work and just to let us know you are ok. Please continue to follow the public health guidance of staying at home in order to look after yourselves and the wider community.  We hope we will be seeing you all very soon.

• Summer term like no other...

  Mon 20 Apr 2020

  Summer term 2020 started today - a summer term like no other.  We hope you have had a good Easter break with possibly some chocolate treats....

   

  We have been listening to your feedback and have been thinking about how we can continue to support children, while they need to be at home, with their learning.  We have decided to send out packs to all of our pupils with some ideas, in addition to this we will be adding daily ideas to the website.  Our intention is to enable you as much flexibility as you need, but to provide some structure to your week too.  Please do not put yourselves under any pressure - use these unprecedented times as an opportunity to explore, be imaginative and find your inner creativity!!  Please continue to use the email addresses or Dojo system to keep in contact with your child's class teacher. 

   

  We have been working hard to get Free School Meal vouchers out to all eligible families.  This has been a challenge in the timescale and we understand that the site is frustrating to access, please be patient and keep trying if you get error messages as we do know families are managing to get their vouchers now.  If you have not received anything from Edenred, the company supplying the voucher codes, please contact the school office and we will do our best to follow up any issues arising.

   

  We are receiving many queries about when school will be fully open again.  As a school we do not have any information other than that given in the daily briefings from the government.  As soon as we have any further details we will be in touch.

   

  For those families who have received letters to say your child has a place at our school in September - we are delighted you have chosen Short Wood.  We would normally be letting you know about our transition programme, however at present this is on hold until we are aware of how and when school will fully reopen.  We will be in touch as soon as we know any further details.

   

  We have been thrilled to see so many people sending in information for our Community Learning page, sharing your learning at home is a pleasure.  As a staff we really miss seeing the children everyday and love seeing what they have been doing.

   

  Please continue to take care of yourselves by staying at home if possible.  We continue to be here at Short Wood so please do get in touch if we can be of any support.

• BEAM Update

  Wed 01 Apr 2020

  Information shared on behalf of BEAM:

   

  Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Beam – Phone-based support 

  From 2^nd April 2020, Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Beam will be offering a call-back telephone service.

  Please note that they are not offering a crisis or instant response service.

  The support being offered is purely phone-based.  They cannot provide support via email, text/messaging apps or on video calling platforms. 

   

  Information for Parents/carers:

  If you feel your child(ren)/young person would benefit from support, please take a look at the website https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/beam/coronavirus.

  For young people aged 13+ please ask them to contact via AskBeam@childrenssociety.org.uk. 

  For young people who are aged 13 and under, you will need to contact on their behalf via AskBeam@childrenssociety.org.uk.

  As with face to face drop-ins, the young person should want to engage, and be able to do so over the phone.

  The team will continue to innovate and adapt as they need to. This is an enormous effort from every corner of The Children’s Society to ensure they can continue to offer support to the children and young people they work with.  For more information about how the charity is working at the moment, or to donate to the emergency Coronavirus appeal, please go to the website at https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/

• Keeping in touch

  Wed 01 Apr 2020

  As we hit the midway point of the week, we hope you are managing to keep your spirits high and are mindfully taking care of each other.  Information and updates are coming our way thick and fast and our staff team are doing their very best to keep on top of everything.  Below is a link sent to schools today with information for parents and carers:

   

  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

   

  This week all of our teachers have sent a Dojo or email message to their classes.  We really want our pupils and community to know that everyone at school is thinking of them and we would really love to hear about what you have been doing.  Some great learning, that has been emailed in to the address sent home earlier last week, has been shared on our Short Wood Community Learning page; if you have anything you would like to share please send it in or you could share it via Dojo with your child's class teacher.  We would like everyone to write a short reply to your dojo/email so we know you are all keeping well.  If there is anything you need support with, please let us know  and if we can help we will do our best. If you are not receiving the messages please contact school, there are staff in the office daily and we will try to sort out any issues.

   

  Please remember we sent out an email address that you can contact to be able to logon to calm brain at home - short woodies do this 3 times a day in school and it certainly helps to create a calm sense of positive well being, please use this service and enjoy the benefits with your child. 

   

  As a school we are aiming to support our families and community where we can.  Our teachers are regularly updating the website with ideas and activities - please be aware there is no expectation that you will do ALL of the suggestions, we do not want you adding any unnecessary pressure to family life.  Regular reading is a great place to start, listening to stories and playing with numbers can be fun family activities.  Board games are another great past time - how about seeking out old  ones you haven't played for a while if you have them or make up your own, our Short Woodies have great imaginations.

   

  This is a strange time for us all so please do remember to be kind to yourself and each other.

   

   

• 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.