Headteacher Update - Friday 8th September 2023

Welcome to the entire Oakwood community to a brand new school year! I hope you have all had a lovely Summer break and, like me, hope you're looking ahead to the start of a school year!

A warm welcome to all of our new pupils who have joined us this year. We have some new faces who have joined our classes, from other schools or even other countries - +'Welcome' to you all! We also have a brand new class of Reception of pupils! They have all been in school this week and have come into school happily and calmly...they have been brilliant! I look forward to welcoming them all to school, together, next week! And finally, 'Welcome' to all our new staff this year. Joining us this term are Mr. Mitchell in Year 3 and Ms Seath in Year 4, teaching Hewett and Logie-Baird Classes; Mrs Mack, who has joined the Inclusion Administration Team; and Miss Wordsworth, Mr Hampson, Miss Jehad and Miss Dunn, who have joined our Support Staff teams. I hope you enjoy your time at Oakwood!

I have been incredibly impressed with the settled start that children have made in their classes. Despite some very late Summer sunshine (and heat), it's been a purposeful first few days and a real buzz for learning across the school. Staff have worked hard to prepare some fabulous learning environments and the children have enjoyed finding out about the learning journeys for this term. I am looking forward to seeing some outstanding Homework Projects across the next few weeks.

We have taken time this week to reinforce school expectations; to revisit the school rules; and to take care to understand our School Values. We also have some brand new Class Icons to help us name our classes. Our School Values were certainly evident in our first set of 'Stars of the Week' - an excellent achievement to set the standard in the first week of the first term. This week's Stars are:

'Well done' to all of this week's winners. Next week, we will launch our brand new Attendance Challenge. As always, continue to check our weekly Bulletin for attendance updates.

'Thank you' to our PTFA who have launched some events for this term. We have a planned Coffee Morning and Doughnut Sale, as well as a new 'Penny Wars' challenge for each class. This week, they have given out a magnet and badge to all children, as a Welcome to the new term. The full list of PTFA dates for Term 1, as well as other key dates, can be found on this week's Bulletin.

You hopefully will have received a copy of your child's Learning Journey for this term. This aims to provide an overview of your child's learning across each of the curriculum areas and details about your child's PE lessons and our expectations for reading. Please take the time to read through the Curriculum Newsletter.

If you have any queries, questions or concerns, please speak to your child's class teacher in the first instance, who will be happy to help you. We know how important this is, particularly during the first few weeks of a new school year. 

There will be much to share in the coming weeks. I have really enjoyed welcoming all the children back to school this week, and look forward to the momentum continuing into next week. I hope all of the children have a fantastic Term 1. I look forward to seeing their learning and sharing their progress with you.

Have a great weekend!

Ryan Laker

Headteacher