Newsletter: 21st April 2023

Posted on April 21, 2023 | By Mr Cole

Welcome Back

It’s lovely to see the summer term finally arrive – I hope you had a lovely break over Easter even though the weather didn’t always behave! We have lots going on this term and I know your children’s teachers will be sending out topic information to you in the next week or so, so that you know what areas of learning the children are looking at across the term.

London Residential

Thank you to all of the families who came to the Year 5 London Residential information sessions this week. I hope you found them useful! If you weren’t able to be there, I have an information pack with key timings, kit list and contact information for you – please make sure you look in your child’s book bag for it. If you have any questions at all, just let me know and I will be able to help. Key messages are:

• Meet at Woolsery School on 22nd May at 8:30am ready for a 9am departure
• Children need a packed lunch and early evening snack for the first day
• Return will be to Woolsery at approx 11pm on Wednesday 23rd May
• Please ensure you have gone onto the Jotter 2 app and under the Notices settings switch on notifications for the “London 2023” group so we can update you on exact return times
• Spending money – maximum £10 for London merchandise and £20 for LegoLand, in two separate envelopes which need to be brought into school by Weds 17th May at the latest

Family Group Cross Country

It was a fabulous atmosphere at the Cross Country event yesterday – thank you to all of the parents who came and supported so enthusiastically – it really made for a special occasion. The children’s determination to complete their events was great to see and the encouragement they gave to other members of their Family Groups, Schools and indeed all other competitors was wonderful. Every time we bring the three schools together it gives our partnership a real lift and I hope you felt that too – we will certainly be doing more events of this type in the future.

If you haven’t yet seen the photos of the afternoon they are on the Blog – follow this link to have a look and perhaps leave a comment:

https://woolseryprimaryschool.edublogs.org/2023/04/20/vsp-family-group-cross-country/

Staff changes…

We are really sad to say that at the end of this term we will be saying goodbye to Miss Orchard who teaches Melbury Class at Parkham. Miss Orchard has been with the school since it moved to a 3-class structure in 2021 and she has brought many skills and ideas to the Partnership which we will miss enormously. I am still working on staffing across the Partnership for the next academic year and will write to everyone soon with full details, but can confirm that in September, Mrs Lizzie Nisbet will be teaching in Melbury Class. The children already know Mrs Nisbet as she has covered all classes at Parkham on a supply basis over the last year. We wish Miss Orchard the very best for her retirement and hope she will come back to see us from time to time!

One Year Old

Next week, the Village Schools Partnership will be one year old – our Federation began on 25th April last year and that time has just flown by! We are very pleased with the way the new Partnership has developed over the last year, and will continue to do so into the future – this is thanks to the hard work of the staff and governor team and enthusiasm of the children, but also due to the strong support we have felt from parents and the wider community who have recognised the benefits of the change, understanding that in the present financial climate the formation of a partnership of like-minded schools is the best way of securing our collective and individual futures. We are certainly much stronger together than we would be as stand-alone schools. So, thank you for the support we’ve received over the past year, it is deeply appreciated by the whole team.

Clubs!

Clubs begin next week in Buckland Brewer and Woolsery.

There are two types of club running – some at lunchtime, and some after school. For those taking place at lunchtime, children can just speak to their teacher or the member of staff running the club in order to sign up, no consent is required from you.

However, for clubs running before or after school, you will need to book via ScoPay. This is a change for all three schools which is possible now we are all running the same system. this does not mean there is a charge for the club and staff continue to give up their time voluntarily to run clubs – all clubs remain free except for Cooking where a charge is made for ingredients only.

We will hopefully be adding more clubs at Parkham very soon!

Lunchtime Clubs:

Before/After School Clubs (these need to be booked on ScoPay)

FOBBS Thanks

A huge thank you to everyone who supported FOBBS’ Bingo at the end of last term. An amazing £770 was raised – this will go to FOBBS’ ongoing project to upgrade the outdoor learning space for Orleigh Class. We are hopeful that thanks to this and other fundraising some artificial grass and other enhancements can be installed in Orleigh’s learning space to make the area nicer to use.

Table Top Sale

On Sunday, FOWS are holding their Table Top Sale in Woolsery Village Hall.

Today, the children were presented with the first Certificates of the summer term: Well done to everyone who received recognition for great work in aspects of their learning behaviours which are represented by our six Learning Animals. As many children have received awards for resilience at yesterday’s Cross Country, the award of Tortoise seems a bit conflicted – the children were much more hare-like than tortoise-like – but well done to everyone!!

Orleigh: Alfie (dolphin)- for diving into his learning and doing an amazing retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk; Elsie (tortoise)- for being resilient and giving it a go and completing the cross country

Tythecott: Ada (bee)  – for fantastic collaboration with your peers when running your cross country race! Well done Ada you kept your team going!; Charlotte (tortoise) – fantastic perseverance when running your cross country race! Well done Charlotte!

Gorwood: Ava (tortoise) – for showing incredible resilience when taking part in the family group cross country run; Sophi (dolphin) – for diving into her learning in all areas, particularly using her oracy skills during paired and group discussions

Foxdown: Arya-Rose (tortoise) Arya was a little unsure about taking part in cross country. She did not give up and was very brave. Arya really enjoyed it and we are very proud of her for running so well. Athea (spider) Athea has really enjoyed our Maths this week. She is able to count in 2’s and 10’s and has enjoyed looking at the patterns she can see.

Melbury: Oli (tortoise) – Oli has shown resilience with his writing, working hard to include different features and also to improve his handwriting. Great work Oli; Harry (dolphin) – Harry has dived into his learning this half term and worked hard to complete different tasks. Well done Harry

Goldworthy: Ben H (dolphin) for diving into your learning; working hard on your spelling and number facts; Molly (tortoise) for being resilient and working hard in your learning.

Sunflowers: 

Cranford: Grace for getting all her spellings right today and for using the correct ow sound; Elliott for always being so kind and helpful in class.  Thank you for always trying your best.

Burscott: Ronnie (dolphin) – diving into all his learning this week and showing good progress; Rogan (spider) – super independent writing with punctuation and adjectives to add interest

Stroxworthy: Jacob (dolphin) – for diving into his learning like a dolphin and showing amazing determination to produce his best work in both English and Maths; Lyonie (tortoise) – for being resilient like a tortoise and finding more confidence to tackle maths with determination.

Alminstone: Freya (dolphin) – diving into her learning at Forest Schools to create a fantastic wreath; Ella-Mai (tortoise) – Huge effort and resilience at the Cross Country Festival and attaching an amazing 3rd place

Ashmansworthy: Elayna (dolphin) -for constant enthusiasm for learning and for asking probing questions to deepen her understanding; Lola (tortoise) – for showing determination to get to grips with long multiplication and long division

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Monday	Orleigh Class to RHS Rosemoor All Day Governors’ Meeting 6pm (Parkham)
Tuesday
Wednesday	Goldworthy Class Swimming continues RNLI Visit (Parkham, PM)
Thursday	Key Stage 1 Multiskills at Atlantic Racquet Centre (am)
Friday

Mr Cole’s planned schedule

Monday	All Day
Tuesday		All Day
Wednesday		Morning	Afternoon
Thursday			All Day
Friday	Morning	Morning	Afternoon

With best wishes,

 

Matt Cole, Headteacher

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