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Head of School Update - Friday 29th January 2021

Fri 29 Jan 2021

Welcome to this week's 'Weekly Update'! I hope everyone reading this is well and continuing to look after each other!

Thank you for the many positive comments across the past few weeks - these have been lovely to hear! We're really missing not having all of the pupils in school and hope that we can welcome all pupils back soon. I'm sure you will have watched or heard the Government announcement this week. Although there was no set date or re-opening plan, it's clear that our remote-learning offer will continue until at least the 8th March, with the school continuing to provide provision to critical keyworkers and vulnerable pupils only. We will, of course, keep you updated!

Well done to all of our 'Star of the Week' award winners for this week. This week's certificates were awarded to lots of remote learners, writers, mathematicians and those who have persevered. The full list of winners can be found by following this link:

https://www.oakwoodprimaryacademy.org/head-of-school-awards/

The photos below show a range of fantastic learning, both at home and at school, from children in YR, 1, 3 and 5.

Continue to do the great job you are all doing! We've seen lots of work being submitted and it's been lovely to see the learning and other activities that you've been up to at home. But please remember - just do what you can! We know the challenges that remote-learning presents and it's important to do what's right for your family.

Next week is 'Children's Mental Health Week' - there is a link to some online activities and guidance, below:

https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/

Please check out this week's Bulletin, for further information. Next week's remote learning will be available from Monday.

Have a great weekend!

With my best wishes,

Mr Laker
Head of School

Head of School Update - Friday 22nd January 2021

Fri 22 Jan 2021

Welcome to this week's 'Weekly Update'! I hope that all of our pupils and their families are well. We're missing all of our pupils, who are not currently at school, and know, from all the photographs, messages, emails and handed-in booklets, that parents and carers are doing an incredible job supporting with remote-learning activities! In Reception, pupils have been making Jackson Pollock inspired artwork, having lots of fun doing so, and practising their counting skills and writing and pupils in Year 1 have been tree detectives in Science and colour-mixing in Art. Whist in Year 3, pupils have been keeping active and musical. In Year 5, pupils have been learning about Ancient Egypt, specifically mummification - I'm not sure Mrs Wilkinson appreciated being a life-size model for the demonstration!

I know that teachers have really enjoyed receiving all of the home-learning that has been sent in this week and we hope that all of our pupils have been able to engage with the range of learning activities. If you haven't been able to or are continuing to have difficulties accessing the learning, please speak to your child's class teacher who will be happy to help.

We've wanted to keep as many aspects of school life the same during this lockdown, regardless of whether children are learning in school or at home. All of the activities set for home are being learned in school, too. One aspect we will be continuing with is our weekly Celebration Assembly. Today, I was delighted to announce our 'Star of the Week' award winners for fantastic learning in school and at home. You can find the list of this week's winners by watching this week's assembly, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_NamauoA9M

Earlier today, I shared a story with our pupils in Reception, which is available for all of our pupils by following the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3o6F9D9iNs&feature=youtu.be

This week, the children chose, 'It Could Have Been Worse' by A.H. Benjamin. We'll have another story and another reader next week...

Please check out this week's Bulletin, with updates and information about school.

Have a great weekend!

Mr Laker
Head of School

Head of School Update - Friday 15th January 2021

Fri 15 Jan 2021

Welcome to this week's 'Weekly Update'!

I hope that all of our pupils and their families are well. It's sad not to be able to welcome all of our pupils into school at this time...it's just not quite the same without everyone here!

I hope you have been able to engage with the remote learning tasks for this week at home. I know that the staff have really enjoyed talking with pupils and parents and finding out about their learning. All the staff are working hard to ensure that the activities are enjoyable, engaging and can be accessed by all.

In Reception, our pupils in school and at home have been making and describing their own little mice, as part of their writing for this week - we hope you like the models in the pictures below! The children have also been practising their numbers and counting skills.

Pupils in Year 1 have been practising finding a quarter and writing about their Gruffalo adventures. Children have been out in the woods, as part of their daily exercise, to get some inspiration.

Pupils in Year 3 have been experimenting with spinners and windmills. The children used different surfaces to see if this would make a difference to how well the spinners spun. The children tested air-resistance, making paper windmills and taking them outside. Unfortunately, the children seemed to choose the one day this week where there wasn't much wind but had a go at making some themselves!

In Year 5, pupils have been investigating the effects of temperature on three different types of milk and testing the pH level after a different number of days. The children enjoyed observing the changes across the week. Whilst in Year 6, pupils have been classifying animals and practising their sketching technique.

Throughout next week, teachers will be available via email, each day, so that you can send work and photos to them directly or be on-hand to answer any questions or talk through any queries. We hope this will be useful for you. All of the details will be shared by class teachers at the start of next week.

Next week, we will continue with our 'Star of the Week' awards. Teachers will be looking at all of the learning, from home and in school, to choose a Star of the Week. I know the children enjoy our Friday Assemblies so this will be a great way of connecting all of the pupils together.

Our brand new gates and fences are nearly finished; these look really smart and the on-site time have been working in some pretty abysmal weather to get this done. I'll look forward to sharing some photographs of these, once they're completed.

Please stay safe! We hope to see you all very soon!

Have a good weekend!

Mr Laker
Head of School