This week, there has been so much to celebrate, with fantastic learning taking place across the school, valuable conversations with families and plenty of opportunities to recognise the things that make our school community so special.

➗ Maths Development Day

One of our key areas of focus continues to be how we achieve the very best outcomes for our pupils in maths. This week, I had the privilege of visiting every classroom, from Nursery right through to Year 6, as part of a whole-school maths learning walk alongside our Trust Maths Lead, Mrs Evans. It was wonderful to see how hard the children were working, and we were particularly impressed by the creative and engaging ways in which our teachers are planning mathematical learning.

I even got stuck into the teaching myself, leading a times tables intervention for our support staff team to observe, helping them to develop their confidence and consistency when running daily intervention sessions with pupils.

A huge well done to our children and staff. There was lots for us to feel proud of! 

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parents’ Evening Success

We know how important it is for families to feel fully informed about how their children are getting on at school, so it was fantastic to see such a strong response to our Parents’ Evenings. 187 out of a possible 238 families booked an appointment with their child’s class teacher. Thank you to everyone who came along and took the opportunity to discuss their child’s learning, progress and next steps.

Our aim is that, by the end of Term 1, every family has had an opportunity to liaise closely with their child’s class teacher. Your child’s teacher should be your first point of contact for regular communication, questions, concerns or feedback. Building strong relationships between home and school really matters to us, and we very much value our parents and carers as partners in their children’s education.

❤️ Show Racism the Red Card

On Friday, Oakwood became a sea of red as pupils and staff came together to Show Racism the Red Card and take a clear stand against racism and discrimination. Thank you to everyone who supported the day.

Across the school, children participated in different activities linked to this year’s Black History Month theme,‘Honouring Our Communities’, which focuses on recognising the people and everyday contributions that help communities thrive. We shared the book 'All Are Welcome' in our assemblies, before exploring important themes of belonging, inclusion and respect in our class workshops on Friday. Some classes got creative by producing their own poetry about challenging racism and Year 5 particularly impressed us with their whole-class poetry recital! 

These conversations are an important part of helping our children understand that everyone deserves to feel valued, respected and that they belong.

🏫 Attendance Matters!

As we head into Week 8 of our first term, we are continuing our big push on attendance.

I have been amazed by the number of positive attendance recognition messages I have been able to send out to pupils who have achieved over 98% attendance, with a huge number of children still sitting proudly at 100% attendance so far this year. What a fantastic achievement!

Next term, we’ll be taking a fresh look at our attendance initiatives and how we can make them even more motivating and exciting, ensuring that individual pupils and whole classes know just how much we value excellent attendance.

Keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page for our weekly class attendance update! 

👻 Get Ready for Spooky Hair Day!

We’re going to end next week with a little bit of spooky fun!

On Spooky Hair Day, children should come to school wearing their normal school uniform, but they can add their craziest, funniest or spookiest hairstyle! Think wild hair, creepy colours or simply something wonderfully wacky. 🕷️🎃

Participation is completely optional. For those who would like to get involved, we’ll be collecting £1 donations at the school gates. Every penny raised will go towards developing our OPAL playtime provision, including an extension to our KS2 mud kitchen and helping us raise funds for Summer sandpits.

We can’t wait to see your spooky styles!

💛 And Finally...

Thank you, as always, for the support you continue to show our pupils, staff and school. From coming along to Parents’ Evening to supporting our special events, it is that partnership between home and school that helps make Oakwood such a positive community.

We have one more busy week before a well-earned half-term break. Let’s make it a brilliant one!

Warmest wishes,
Mrs Morgan