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Head of School Update - Friday 26th November 2021
Fri 26 Nov 2021Welcome to this week’s Weekly Update!
It was lovely to welcome you into school this week for our Parents’ Evening event. I really enjoyed talking to so many of you and I know that teachers have appreciated the opportunity to talk to your child about their progress and attitude to learning. I hope you enjoyed looking around the school and your child’s classroom.
As always, I’ve been extremely proud of all of our pupils this week, for their effort, determination and achievement. In Year 1, pupils have been enjoying their Art lessons. The children have been experimenting with blocks of colour and shade, using a range of different media. The children looked carefully at images from magazines to understand the colours that had been used, and used this as inspiration for their own work. In Year 4, children have been enjoying their Maths lessons and learning about the different types of teeth, in Science. What better way to learn about them than to look at the teeth we have ourselves!
I’ve shared some pictures at the end of this update. Please take a look. The list of ‘Stars of the Week’ features later on.
Next week, we will be launching our Oakwood Postal Service in school. From Wednesday 1st December, pupils will be able to bring in festive cards for their friends and classmates. They can be posted in the postbox, situated in school, and our Year 6 Student Ambassadors will be on hand to sort these and return them to the correct classrooms. The last day for our postal service will be Wednesday 15th December.
We will also be hosting our Christmas Lunch and Festive Jumper Day on Friday 17th December (the last day of term). You will have received a letter day with details of how to book a Christmas Lunch for your child.
Well done to all of this week’s certificate winners.
Our ‘Stars of the Week’ are:
YR Stephenson Class – Ellie K. for Knowledge – For her super engagement in phonics and Maths inputs on the carpet.
Y1 Nightingale Class – Gjoleka G. for Equality – For having great respect for others, his manners and always trying his very best.
Y2 Brunel Class – Ethan B. for Determination – For brilliant participation in the classroom.
Y2 Seacole Class – Dolcie-Mai B. for Achievement – For having a brilliant week and working hard.
Y3 Ashe Class – Ava-Grace R. for Achievement – For taking an active role in classroom discussions.
Y3 Turing Class – Asia P. for Knowledge – For always using her knowledge, and using this knowledge to help her friends.
Y4 Logie-Baird Class – Blake D. for Achievement – For settling in to Oakwood well, working hard and being a good friend.
Y4 Thunberg Class – Lillie-May R-G. for Determination – For always trying her best and giving everything a go, particularly her singing rehearsals.
Y5 Hamilton Class – Chloe H. for Determination and Achievement – For always having a positive attitude and being determined to try her best.
Y5 Pankhurst Class – Macy B. for Equality – For her beautiful manners, kind words and for always demonstrating ‘Equality’ every day.
Y6 Amundsen Class – Kyle T. for Determination – For determination to achieve in everything that he does.
Y6 Parks Class – Nicole W. for Determination – For always being determined and achieving the best she can.
Well done to all of this week’s certificate winners!
This afternoon, you will have received two letters – one from East Sussex County Council and one from Mr. McCarthy, CEO for Aurora Academies Trust. The letters outline the current picture surrounding Covid-19 cases in East Sussex and that this has led to a decision that all Aurora schools will not be holding this year’s festive events with parents and carers. I appreciate that this will be disappointing for parents, however, as a school we will do all that we can to ensure that we are able to bring these festive performances to you, somehow, and we will update you with our plans for how we will do this, next week.
Please take the time to read both of these letters.
The weather is certainly changing. Despite some pleasant sunshine across this week, this is very deceptive and the temperature is dropping. Please can I remind all parents to ensure that their child has a suitable coat for these colder conditions.
And finally, as always, ‘Thank you’ for your continued support of the school. I’m incredibly grateful for this.
Please check-out this week’s Bulletin with further information, including an update on our Attendance Challenge.
Have a great weekend!
Ryan Laker
Head of School
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Head of School Update - Friday 19th November 2021
Fri 19 Nov 2021Welcome to this week’s Weekly Update!
Today, we splashed a sprinkling of ‘Children In Need’ magic, with either something yellow or something spotty. The children have had a great day. We will count up the donations and let you know how much has been raised for search a worthy cause.
To add, a few weeks ago, the school was painted red in support of St. Wilfrid’s Hospice and I’m pleased to announce that your generous donations helped to raise more than £300 Thank you for your generosity.
We’ve been raising awareness for ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ this week. The week started with an assembly for all pupils and the children have taken part in a number of activities across the week, including celebrating ‘Odd Sock Day’. Thank you to Mrs Wilkinson who helped put together our new display board in the school. This is situated by the Library in Key Stage 2 and shows how our individual bits of the puzzle fit together to make our school brilliant.
Hopefully, you will have all received a copy of your child’s school photograph proof from Tempest photography. I have seen a few of the portraits and the quality of the photographs are excellent and I hope you enjoyed seeing your child’s photographs.
Well done to all of our pupils who have been giving their best with their assessments this week. All of the teachers have been impressed with the effort and focus that the children have shown.
Next Tuesday and Thursday we will be holding our Parents’ Evening, and I am looking forward to welcoming you to school. Consultations will be held in classrooms this time around, and there will be a chance to look at your child’s books too. The opportunity to meet with your child’s class teacher is an important one, to talk about your child's progress and effort in school. I do hope you have made an appointment on one of the two days. Bookings can still be made through your Parent Portal account.
Well done to all of this week’s certificate winners. Our ‘Stars of the Week’ are:
YR Stephenson Class – Freddie C. for Determination – For his fantastic listening and blending in Phonics.
Y1 Nightingale Class – Jake H. for Equality – For his wonderful attitude and enthusiasm towards his learning.
Y2 Brunel Class – Ashton-Jay J. for Determination – For speaking about his Geography learning in a confident manner.
Y2 Seacole Class – Jasmine P. for Achievement – For achieving some great work this week.
Y3 Ashe Class – Caleb C. for Determination – For being helpful and trying hard to remain focused in lessons.
Y3 Turing Class – Olly M. for Achievement – For being confident when sharing ideas and answering questions in class.
Y4 Logie-Baird Class – Adam M. for Determination – For great improvement in his attitude.
Y4 Thunberg Class – Elle B. for Equality – For always leading by example regarding behaviour, work, effort and kindness.
Y5 Hamilton Class – Kobi O. for Determination – For always having a positive attitude and for always trying his best.
Y5 Pankhurst Class – Jaydon H. for Achievement – For excellent determination and effort all week, particularly in Music.
Y6 Amundsen Class – Blake S. for Achievement – For excellent achievement and presentation and excellent effort tin all of his work.
Y6 Parks Class – Zeeshan A. for Knowledge – For gaining the most merits this week.
We’ve included all of the dates for this year’s festive events at Oakwood to our Bulletin. Please, get them in your diary! We look forward to seeing you at one (or many) of this year’s Christmas performances.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 6 Student Leaders for their help during this week’s Open Evening event. I was very proud of their politeness, courtesy, confidence and maturity and our visitors commented on the fantastic tours they gave of the school.
And finally, we said ‘Goodbye’ to Mrs McCarthy today. She is leaving us to be a little closer to her family. I know she is looking forward to her new challenge but will miss the children of Oakwood very much. She leaves us with our very best wishes for the future.
Have a good weekend!
Mr Laker
Head of School -
Head of School Update - Friday 5th November 2021
Fri 05 Nov 2021Welcome to this week’s Weekly Update!
Firstly, ‘Welcome Back’ to all of our pupils. I hope everyone had a great half term break. All of the staff are looking forward to the term ahead and were excited to welcome their classes back in to school on Monday.
This week, our assembly theme has been about ‘Politeness’. Pupils have certainly been taking that message on board this week! I have been incredibly impressed with the children’s manners, kindness and appreciation of others – it has been lovely to see and let’s hope it continues throughout the term. In assembly today, pupils were thanking our Year 6 Student Leaders, who were holding open doors; just one example of politeness.
In Year 4, Art lessons have been going off with a ‘bang’. The children have been exploring colour and applying paint to make these fantastic firework pictures. Please see the photographs on this week’s photograph slideshow.
‘Well done’ to Y3 Turing Class and Y4 Thunberg Class who won the Term 1 Attendance Challenge, with each collecting £20 of resources for their classroom! The challenge starts again in Term 2, with all classes reset to 0 points. We’ll update you with progress in the challenge next week.
Our first ‘Stars of the Week’ are:
YR Stephenson Class – Lola D. for Achievement – for super sounding-out with her phonics.
Y1 Nightingale Class – Elsie-Mai H. for Achievement – for great enthusiasm and always trying her best.
Y2 Brunel Class – Joshua W. for Determination – for showing great resilience.
Y2 Seacole Class – Adam A. for Determination – for always trying his best and showing excellent behaviour.
Y3 Ashe Class – Isabella P for Determination – for persevering and never giving up.Y3 Turing Class – Brenin R. for Achievement – for his enthusiasm and dedication to all of his learning.
Y4 Logie-Baird Class – Bethany V. for Achievement – for reading 250,000 words.
Y4 Thunberg Class – Dexter P-S. for Achievement – for an excellent start to his new school.
Y5 Hamilton Class – Leah J. for Determination and Achievement – for working hard on her presentation and handwriting.
Y5 Pankhurst Class – Ethan C. for Achievement – for his super effort and helpful nature in all aspects of school life.
Y6 Amundsen Class – Esther B. for Achievement – for setting an excellent expectation of behaviour.
Y6 Parks Class – Manya D. for Knowledge – for being determined to be the best he can be.
‘Well done’ to all of our certificate winners!
Next week, we’re looking forward to running our scheduled School Photograph sessions in school, for individual pupils and siblings. These will take place throughout the day on Tuesday 9th November. Please can I ask you to ensure that your child has their full school uniform on Tuesday.
And just to remind all parents and carers that next Friday 12th November is an INSET Day and the school is closed to all pupils. A day off for pupils…but not for staff!
Have a great weekend!
Mr Laker
Head of School
