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Deputy Headteacher Update - Friday 19th January 2024

Fri 19 Jan 2024 Mr Sharp

It has been another fantastic week of learning at Oakwood! Mr Laker was especially impressed with the standard of presentation in Year 5 during their writing sessions. He also saw some wonderful examples of maths books from Year 6.

I have witnessed a whole variety of superb work during the week. I thoroughly enjoyed reading some really exciting and imaginative portal stories from Year 5, whilst Year 3 have been making great use of our History artefacts box that we have borrowed from Hastings Museum. It has supported their learning and understanding of life in Britain during Roman times.

Year 2 pupils have been appreciating different musical genres, while Year 4 have been exploring electricity in their Science unit.

With calm (if cold!) weather this week, the children have been able to really enjoy their variety of activities during our 'Happy Lunchtimes'. There have been a great range of 'zone' activities and the children continue to enjoy their fair play focused 'Kickabout' sessions in our recently christened 'Arena of Fun' (previously known by many as 'The Cage!') Congratulations to Year 1 Nightingale Class for winning the coveted 'Golden Lunchbox' this week. This is awarded to the class collecting the most pompoms at lunchtime. These can be award for many reasons such as kindness, good manners and sportsmanship.

Our celebration assembly was overflowing with awards as usual for our fantastic children - please see the bulletin for the names of the stars of the week. Be sure to note the wonderful reasons why these awards were given too!

Our attendance challenge was as dramatic as ever, with our early pace-setters, Leah Williamson class, again having a great week. They came in second, behind David Attenborough class, and therefore extended their lead at the top to 4 points! Marcus Rashford class remain hot on their heels in second place, with David Attenborough in third. In our attendance raffle, number 80 was drawn. This was Isabella's number (year 2) and she chose a frisbee. Well done Isabellla!

Please catch up on lots more information in this week's bulletin and I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday.

I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

David Sharp

Deputy Headteacher

Headteacher Update - Friday 12th January 2024

Fri 12 Jan 2024

Welcome to this week's 'Weekly Update'...

I have seen some exceptional handwriting this week; pupils in Year 5 were incredibly focused and hard-working, continuing to make progress with their presentation. Children in Year 1 and 2 are making great progress with their reading - incredibly fluent and confident. I enjoyed reading with a small group this week, and their skill of reading means they are able to enjoy so many books and new words.

Our Year 6 pupils joined us for an after-school Maths Booster this week. We saw 33 children, which was amazing! Mr. Croft and Miss Elms were incredibly impressed with their enthusiasm, focus and concentration, and gave their best. We will look forward to seeing them next week!

I am delighted to announce that we have been awarded our 'Happy Lunchtimes' Award, which can be seen in the School Office. Our children are really enjoying collecting the pom-poms, and adding these to their class jars, and are excited about the different activities in The Zone; this week we have had 'Bubble Blowing' and 'Shadow Drawings' - perfect for the sunny days this week. In assembly today, we awarded our latest Happy Lunchtime certificates, for exceptional play and manners at lunchtime and trying new foods. We have our full list on the Bulletin. Our 'Golden Lunchbox' winners were Year 2 Roper Class - 'Well done' to them! They've earned a 10 minute reward to be used next week!

In our Celebration Assembly, we gave out lots of certificates to so many children. 'Well done' to them all! There were some brilliant reasons why children were Stars this week, and teachers have been particularly impressed with the positive start to 2024!

Our 'Attendance Challenge' has been reset. All classes went into today's assembly on 0 points. Three classes had attendance of more than 98% and it was very close at the top! With 98.9%, Year 6 Williamson Class picked up the 10 points and leads the way, but it's early days, with much to play for. In the 100% Raffle, there were 251 children in the draw this week. The number 223 was chosen at random - Congratulations to Lexi S. in Year 3, who chose the metallic pencils.

'Well done' to our Improved Attendance Award winners for Term 2, too.

There's lots more information in this week's Bulletin, so please remember to check this! I'll look forward to seeing all of the pupils on Monday!

Have a good weekend!

Ryan Laker

Headteacher

Headteacher Update - Friday 5th January 2024

Fri 05 Jan 2024

Welcome to this week's Weekly Update!

Firstly a Happy New Year to all of our pupils and their families. I hope 2024 is a happy, healthy and positive year for everyone!

A very warm 'Welcome' to all of the new pupils who have joined us this week. We have had new pupils starting in Year 2, Year 5 and Year 6. I hope you really enjoy your learning at Oakwood!

It's already been a very busy few days back at school, with children settling into their routines, revisiting expectations and finding out about their new learning journeys. Pupils in Year 1 have been learning about the story of 'The Lost Son', as part of their RE learning this week. The children made story cubes, with a picture to show the story on each face. Inside the cube, children wrote the words 'love' and 'forgiveness', to show Christians that God is loving and forgiving. Some of the children are shown in the pictures. In Year 4, children have been practising their arrays to support them with the learning of their tables this week and our pupils in Reception have also been working hard on their Maths, looking at the weight of different objects and comparing these.

Despite a three-day week, we've been proud of our achievements, and celebrated these in assembly. 'Well done' to our Writers and Mathematicians of the Week, and also to our 'Stars of the Week', our first for 2024! A full list of names can be found on the Bulletin.

We have concluded our Term 2 Attendance Challenge. In a last-ditch effort, Year 6 Parks Class were crowned Champions, having picked up 9 points. This took them to 47 points, ahead of Hewett and Logie-Baird. The challenge now resets and we will track the attendance of each class across the coming weeks.

In our '100% Attendance Challenge', there were 228 children in the draw. The number 225 was drawn at random. 'Well done' to Joshua W. in Year 4, who was this week's winner.

I am really looking forward to the term ahead and, along with all the staff, helping all of the children to be successful. I am also looking forward to seeing your child's homework project, across the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend.

Ryan Laker

Headteacher