September Newsletter IMPORTANT DATES: October Half Term Holiday School closes on Friday, 25th October and reopens on Tuesday, 5th November
Dear Parents, Carers, Friends and Governors Welcome to our first newsletter of the new school year. I hope that you all had a good summer and enjoyed the unusually warm weather; it’s not very often that we can say that! As you know, in the best interests of the children and young people, the governing bodies of Highfurlong and Woodlands schools will be working more closely together in the future. This is to ensure that the highest standards of care and education are maintained and developed and the best opportunities are available for all of our children and young people. The governors will be exploring the appointment of a common Head Teacher and establishing a common governing body. In the meantime I will be Acting Headteacher at Woodlands, Bev Salthouse will be Acting Deputy Headteacher and Toni Fairholm will continue to be the School Business Manager. It’s been a busy summer at school with work carried out on refurbishing the bathrooms in the primary and senior departments which has been a great improvement. Thanks must go to Toni and Richard for ensuring everything was ready for the start of term. Toni has also been working very hard to get our new web-site up and running. This term we welcome Carly Fitzpatrick back to school following her secondment to the Local Authority. We also welcome two new teachers to school; Catherine O’Brien who is the teacher for Purple class and Paul Davison who is the teacher for Gold class. We say hello to our new pupils Thomas, Zion, Bradley, Sophie R, Courtney and Kayden. We hope that they all enjoy school and learning and we look forward to celebrating their achievements. We also say hello again to Rebecca who has just returned to Woodlands. We would like to congratulate members of the Blackpool Polar Bears who took part in the Special Olympics GB National Games held in Bath during August. The team of eight returned to Blackpool with 5 Gold medals, 6 Silver medals and 9 Bronze medals, with one of our former pupils Ellie winning 2 Gold and a Bronze medal. Well done to all, “their Dream came true”, and a huge congratulations to Linda Inglis and her family who devote a great deal of time to the Polar Bears. This term we also see the launch of the Muli Mutya Project in collaboration with Tramshed. Children from Woodlands will be working with childre n from St Bernadettes. We look forward to the performance. We have planned several events in school and I hope that you will come in to join us for the Harvest Festival and the Meet the Teacher Coffee Morning. Glynis Alexander Acting Head Teacher
Events
Additional information will be sent home separately
Talk like a Pirate Day
Thursday, 19th September
Class event
Harvest Festival
Monday, 23rd September
Parents event - Flyer to follow
Meet the Teacher Coffee Morning
Friday, 27th September
Parents event
New School Website We have a new website that has been designed to specifically meet your needs as the parents of children at Woodlands School. You'll find it easy to access information on everything to do with the school and there are some new features that we hope you'll find helpful. One of the key things is that the site looks great wherever you're accessing it from; so if you're on your phone, you'll see a nice trimmed down version of the site you'll see on your laptop or PC. Under ‘News and Events’ you can find information about what is happening in school. They can be accessed via the front page of the site and also under 'Information for Families'. Make this your first stop when you visit the site and you'll always be up to date with what's happening at school. Under ‘Our Classes’ there is a new blog for each class so you can quickly find more information on what your child has been learning. The blog pages will be kept up to date by each class so it really is a great place to go to have a look around. You will also be able to leave comments in response to the blogs. Have a good look at the rest of the site to make yourself familiar with it and if you've got any questions head to the 'Contact Us' page. Your enquiry will be sent to the right person so you can be sure of a speedy, helpful response. We really do hope you find the new site easy to use and helpful. www.woodlands.blackpool.sch.uk
Parental Survey
Meet the Teacher at the Macmillan Coffee Morning We’re combining our Meet the Teacher Morning with Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday, 27th September. Come into school and meet your child’s class team at the same time as raising funds for this fantastic cause.
Together Centre Activities Tuesdays, 10am—3pm. Disability Living Allowance Guidance Sessions are being held at the Together Centre every Tuesday between 10am and 3pm. If you are applying for DLA or renewing a claim, the Together Centre staff can support and advise. Please note these sessions are by appointment only. 8th October 2013, 1:30 - 2:30pm - Contact a Family Coffee Afternoon
As part of our ongoing school improvement processes we have developed a questionnaire to help us identify better ways in which we can support you and your child more effectively.
This is an opportunity for families to come and speak to Corriena Tomkinson (Contact a Family North West Development Worker). Corriena can offer families support to access information about your child’s disability or medical condition, inform parents/carers about other services, charities and groups that are available to them and advise on issues that families may be experiencing. Children are very welcome to attend; toys and activities will be provided.
You can access an electronic version of the survey via the Announcements section of the new website. Otherwise please complete the survey sent out with this newsletter.
Sleep Counselling - Thursday, 10th October 2013
We really value your thoughts about how we work with you to provide the best possible education for your child.
Harvest Festival Once again we are collecting goods for Streetlife during our Harvest Festival. Parents are welcome to attend the events, which is being held in school on Monday, 23rd September at 10:00 a.m.
Moira Draper, a Sleep Practitioner from Cerebra, is holding a sleep counselling information session in the Together Centre on Thursday, 10th October at 10:00am until 11:30am. She offers help and advice on sleep issues, some of which include settling problems, difficulty sleeping alone and early rising. Following the session, parents will be invited to make an appointment to attend a sleep clinic with Moira at the Together Centre. At these appointments, you will receive individual advice to help to develop a sleep programme for your child. If you would like to attend the session on Thursday, 10th October, please contact the Together Centre by telephone on 476322 or by email to TogetherCentre@woodlands.blackpool.sch.uk.