HEADTEACHER'S BLOG

Swimming Gala

09/03/2012 00:00:00

Swimming Gala today was amazing! 150+ pupils participating and their parents watching made for a real spectacle of sport. Lots of school records fell today, although our records only date back to 2010.

Pupils abilities range from club swimmer to complete novice but the participation nets points for each of our House teams.

Results today

5th Romans 78 points

4th Vikings 116 points

3rd Brions 119 points

Joint 1st Saxons and Normans on 126 points each.

MK Dons

09/03/2012 00:00:00

I am lead to believe that the pupils expecting to go to watch the MK Dons this weekend did not get their free tickets because the MK Dons had problems with their printing. The tickets are ready for collection from 2pm (Sat 10th Mar) at the Club Office at the right hand side of the Hotel entrance.

Mardi Gras press report

25/02/2012 00:00:00

If you haven't seen the press reports for our excellent celebration of Mardi Gras - please see a copy of the Times and Citizen Thursday 23rd Feb 2012 and see pages 42&43 for a double page colour spread of photos.

We have a few of our own in the gallery too click here

Half term looming

07/02/2012 00:00:00

Half term week begins on Feb 13th 2012. To all the staff, pupils and parents; have a restful week. JC

Happy New Year

01/01/2012 00:00:00

Happy New Year to all our pupils, staff and governors and all of your families too.

Staff traning, uniform shop, PTA business and general queries on 3rd January 2012

School re-opens to pupils on 4th January 2012

Have a great one! JC

National Strike

30/11/2011 00:00:00

The National strike called by many unions representing public sector workers, means that our school is unfortunately having to close to pupils on Weds 30th Nov. The school has in excess of 20 staff striking and due to health and safety concerns, the governing body has taken the decision to close the school. Apologies for the inconvenience caused especially for the additional child minding arrangements that have been caused by the closure. JC

Register for the SOS website

29/11/2011 00:00:00

The local authority run an SOS website that sends alerts to families in the event of a school closure (eg due to snow this winter). To register you will need to go to http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/webApps/SOS/cbc.aspx

The school will also use this website and our text message service to alert parents of any school closure.

Open Evening

09/11/2011 00:00:00

The school’s annual Open Evening on November 9^th 2011 is a significant milestone in the school calendar. It is the opportunity for all parents of Year 4 pupils with their children to have their first look at our school before deciding which middle school they would like to attend. We always have lots of pupil volunteers to come in on the evening to help make the school a lively and entertaining place so please look out for the ‘volunteer’ letter that is likely to come home this coming week for your approval. The evening lasts from 5.30pm to about 8,30pm however, many pupils are asked to come in for all or part of this time. Thanks in advance for the loan of your child!

Electronic registration

06/11/2011 00:00:00

Last week we trialled our new electronic registration system (SIMS Learning Gateway) with all year groups. The trial was very succesful and is now to be used by all form groups morning and afternoon. It means that the speed with which absent pupils can be identified is sped up considerably. The same system will also be used for recording behaviour incidents, rewards and data about attainment.

Olympic Ticket Package

06/11/2011 00:00:00

Many parents in Flitwick applied for Olympic tickets through the lottery and failed to get any. I am very pleased to be able to offer an Olympic package to parents of children at Woodland. The school has secured 40 tickets (30 for children and 10 for adults) for an Olympic experience. The package includes coach travel to/from the venues and the accommodation plus the entry tickets for two Olympic sessions. Accommodation is in single rooms (university style) and the venues are Earl’s Court for Women’s volleyball (5^th Aug 2012 evening) and the Olympic Stadium for Athletics (6^th Aug 2012 morning).

This could be the chance to allow your kids to say ‘I was there at the London Olympics’.

Because of the ratio of tickets that we have, we are selling bundles of tickets in fours (1 adult and 3 children) with each ticket being £255 ie £1020 per bundle. The children that come need not be from Woodland but they must be 18 years or younger, you may bring four children if you wish as this will mean that someone else can bring just two. Although this trip is arranged by the school, each group will take responsibility for their own children, it is different to normal school trips. Any staff/governors attending will be bringing their own children. We now have 3 packages left.

If you would like to know more – or to book a ticket bundle please contact Theresa in our Finance Office by calling 01525 750400 x 217 or emailing cusackt@woodlandacademy.co.uk

Y6 Victorian School visit

21/10/2011 00:23:37

New article online about the Y6 visit to the Hitchin British School Museum.

http://www.woodlandacademy.co.uk/Articles

Article by Emily Barrett. Click on the link above.

Mock Ofsted

20/10/2011 23:51:28

On Wednesday 19th October I invited an Ofsted Lead Inspector (Barney Payne) accompanied by 6 Middle School Headteachers into Woodland to put our staff through their paces by watching lots of lessons and interviewing pupils, school leaders and governors.

The visiting headteachers were Mr Sharpe (Ashton Middle School, Dunstable), Mr Haddon (Holywell Middle School, Cranfield), Mrs Burrows (Newnham Middle School, Bedford), Mr Neeves (Gilbert Inglefield Middle School, Leighton Buzzard), Mrs Lourencsz (Alameda Middle School, Ampthill) and Mrs Teague (Caddington Village School, Caddington).

The visit took the exact format of an Ofsted but condensed into one day with twice the number of inspectors.

The inspection team made the following judgments:

Achievement by the pupils is GOOD

Teaching and Learning are GOOD

Behaviour and Attendance are OUTSTANDING

Leadership and Management are GOOD.

Following on so soon after the Values Education Quality Mark last week - we really are very pleased indeed and do feel that our hard work has been recognised by really credible experts.

Values Education Quality Mark

16/10/2011 11:43:39

On Friday 14th Oct we were visited by Dr Neil Hawkes a Values Education consultant (and former headteacher, education authority director and Ofsted inspector) who has given us the seal of approval to be awarded the Values Education Quality Mark. We are extremely pleased and feel that it is a dseserved reward for 4 years of hard work and ethos change at Woodland.

BBC 3 Counties Broadcast

16/10/2011 11:20:57

The school was visited on Oct 6th by Dr Robert Beckford www.robertbeckford.co.uk for our RE AGM but he also spoke to our pupils about the religious aspects of Hip Hop culture. Some pupils and staff were also recorded after his address and the broadcast on BBC 3 Counties Radio. You can listen to the clip by clicking on play button above.

Y7 & 8 Netball

22/09/2011 00:00:00

Y7 Netball team news

The girl's of Y7 & 8 played in a triangular netball tournaments this evening.

Y7 beat Holywell Middle (Cranfield) 7-2 and Parkfields Middle (Toddington) 6-2

Y8 drew 3-3 with Holywell and unfortunately lost 7-4 to Parkfields Middle.

Well played girls!

Fun Run 2011

17/09/2011 00:00:00

A new photo gallery is online with some photos of our 2011 PTA fundraiser - The Fun Run.

Click here to open the gallery in a new window.

New Term

06/09/2011 00:00:00

I would like to welcome back all our pupils and staff for a brand new year at Woodland.

I hope that everyone has had a great holiday and is ready to start a fresh chapter - working hard and attaining well.

Have a great year everyone!

New VLE

05/09/2011 00:00:00

We have purchased a new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Its Learning to replace our rather tired Netmedia VLE from the previous two years.

All pupils can log onto their new VLE with the same username and password as the previous VLE with one change.

The username now has .wo after it.

All will be explained in class over the next week or so.

Enrichment tasks will be set online as in previous years but we have updated the format taking onboard what we have been told my parents, pupils and staff.

GCSE success for Y8

25/08/2011 00:00:00

This year we entered a Year 8 class (28 pupils of set 1 English) for a GCSE in Thinking and Reasoning skills. Mrs Hardacre was the teacher and had the vision behind the idea to stretch our most able pupils.

Today the results came in and we are pleased to announce that despite the tender age of our Y8 pupils (age 13 and some even just 12 at the time of the exams) our entire group attained Grade C (Pass) or better. In fact the 100% A*-C pass rate included Grade A (Distinction) and 16 Grade Bs (Merit).

As far as we know we are the only Middle School in the country to be an official GCSE centre and have a complete class entered for GCSE....let alone have a 100% pass rate.

Well done to our pupils in Y8 and also to Mrs Hardacre - you deserve to celebrate. JC

House Cup

22/07/2011 00:00:00

The final results of the House Cup 2011 are:

1st Normans - 922

2nd Vikings - 868

3rd Britons - 797

4th Saxons - 761

5th Romans - 672

Have a great holiday everyone. Term starts for pupils on 6th Sept 2011.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

18/07/2011 00:00:00

New gallery with images from the amazing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Y7 & Y8 Rounders

29/06/2011 00:00:00

Tonight the Y7 and Y8 girls rounders teams played their first matches of the season at home against Arnold Middle of Barton-le-Clay. The teams played well but unfortunately lost both matches. Y7 lost by 15 rounders to 10 and the Y8 team lost by 9.5 rounders to 6.

Comedy moment was Chloe G and Georgia P running for the same catch without calling for it and ran into each other AND dropped the catch!

Well done girls especially Lilly D and Charlotte W for stepping in at the last moment! NH

Strike Action June 30th 2011

22/06/2011 00:00:00

All parents and staff; today I was given notice that there will be several members of the NUT and ATL unions striking on June 30th 2011 in response to the government's proposals for the future of teachers' pensions. The numbers are too great to open the school and maintain a safe working environment for our pupils. I have taken the decision with the chair of governors, to close the school on that day to all pupils.

All staff that are in non-striking unions are expected in school and so the school will be open but without pupils.

Sports Day was planned for June 30th and we will now attempt to agree an alternative date.

I would like to apologise for the disruption to the learning that the strike causes and urge everyone to listen to and join in the debate that this day will certainly cause.

Website crashing

18/06/2011 00:00:00

We have been informed by a number of parents that our website crashing frequently in Internet Explorer. We have reported the problem to our website provider, however it would be useful if those that have problems could help us by reporting which versions of IE they are using. Many thanks.

Union strike

18/06/2011 00:00:00

At this stage I have not been informed by the union representatives in the school what the numbers of striking staff will be for the nationally arranged arranged strike on 30th June 2011.

As soon as I know I will alert all parents swiftly as to the consequences for the school's opening.

Health Day Gallery

18/06/2011 00:00:00

A new gallery has been added with images from the Health and Fitness Day. Click here.

online library access

09/06/2011 00:00:00

Our online library access is now available from the homepage of our website. This tool allows you to literally see our books, read the blurb, reserve and write reviews all online, You will need a password - but these are coming from the librarian this and next week. Parents if you ask for the password you can check up on your child's reading habits and help make selections.

PGL trip 2012

09/06/2011 00:00:00

Letters for the PGL trip in Year 6 2012 are coming home today to all Year 5 pupils. If you would like your child to come on this amazing fun filled week long residential trip - please send in a deposit cheque for £50 by 23rd June. Places may be available after this date but we are expecting a high take up given the trips huge acclaim.

Full details of costs and payment schedule is withing the letter.

You can see this year's images in the gallery and read an account in the pupil section.

Teacher Vacancy for Sept 2011

29/05/2011 00:00:00

Due to the internal promotion of the current post holder we have a vacancy for a teacher from September 2011. The position is for an initial 12 month fixed term and is for a Year 5 primary qualified teacher with the ability to teach English to KS3.

Further details and application information are available by clicking here.

Training Day & Half Term

26/05/2011 00:00:00

Please remember that Friday 27th May is a training day and this means that all our pupils have a long weekend to start off their Whitsun half term week. Enjoy yourselves. Term starts again on Monday 6th June.

NB some pupils have been requested to attend school on May 27th because they are behind in their enrichment tasks. Attendance is compulsory unless the enrichment tasks are handed in before or on the day.

Photo Competition

25/05/2011 00:00:00

Winning images from the 2011 House Photo Competition are online in the Gallery/Pupils Work section click here

PGL Article

25/05/2011 00:00:00

Read about the fun that was had on the PGL trip - a personal account by Niamh McMahon and Emelia Dengel click here

Vacancies

23/05/2011 00:00:00

Please see our vacancies for site manager, art technician and teaching assistant in our AboutUs/Vacancies section.

PGL

14/05/2011 00:00:00

PGL trip to Torquay, Devon departs on Monday 14th at 10.30am - Y6 pupils on the trip are not required in school until 9.30am - but are very welcome at the usual time of course.

Please remember any last minute changes to medication for Mr Hughes (boys) or Miss Cannon (girls).

Last minute reminders letter was sent home on Friday: now available in the Parents/Letters section.

Library online

13/05/2011 00:00:00

It was announced in school today that our library is going online so that all renewals, requests, searching, reviewing and fines can be actioned from home. The idea is that pupils will in the near future be able to click on a link on our homepage and be taken to our vitual library to access all our services. Parents can also see what books are being chosen (and presumably read) and encourage each one to be reviewed online.

Woodland on the BBC

12/05/2011 00:00:00

On the teatime BBC Look East programme several of our pupils and staff made it onto prime time TV. Some of our gifted scientists attended a 'Scientists in Sport' conference where they took part in testing samples for enhancing substances and studied the science behind sports rehab. Unfortunately the clip is now off iPlayer but a different video is available by clicking here.

Athletics Results

11/05/2011 00:00:00

Last evening our combined Year 7&8 Athletics teams had their first match at Abbey Middle School, Bedford.

The girls team won the event and the boys team came second.

Well done in this first meet, hope there are lots of successes yet to come this term.

C'mon Y6!

09/05/2011 00:00:00

KS2 SATs week starts this Monday - good luck to all our pupils and well done to all our Maths and English KS2 teachers who have really strived to make sure that our pupils are at their most prepared. Thanks especially for the hours of commitment from Mrs Hardacre, Ms Gibson and Mr Lambert.

Year 8 Footballers

05/05/2011 00:00:00

Well done to the Year 8 football team who reached the semi final of the County U13 League competition narrowly losing this week to Alban Academy in extra time. Football team of the year for sure.

Year 5 Football

05/05/2011 00:00:00

The Y5 football teams (A and B sides) played ane won both matches away at Arnold Middle (Barton-le-Clay). The A team won 2:1 with a very late winner from goal poacher Ryan Wing after a early goal from Cameron Edwards. The B team won 7:4 with both Freddy McKay and Sam Needham scoring hat-tricks.

Well done Y5 - a succesful first season.

Olympic Park Trip

04/05/2011 00:00:00

The Woodland Geogrpahy department has taken two minibus loads down to the Olympic Park today for some G&T work across several of the Olympic venues.

Football Matches

04/05/2011 00:00:00

The Y5 and Y8 football teams take on opposition tonight. Y5 away at Arnold Middle in teh final match of the season and Y8 in their District semi-final match at Redborne against the visiting side Alban Academy of Gt Barford. Supporters welcome!

Website live

03/05/2011 00:00:00

The new school website has gone live today on www.woodlandacademy.co.uk and will shortly replace www.woodland.beds.sch.uk too. Hope you enjoy!

Last week before SATs

03/05/2011 00:00:00

This is the last week before the Y6 SATs and so Thursday and Friday have been turned over to some serious last minute coaching. The reward week is coming straight after so dig deep Y6!

Training Day

26/04/2011 00:00:00

School closed to pupils (apart from those that owe 3 or more enrichment tasks) but open for training for all our staff on Apr 26th from 08.30am

Have a great Easter holiday

08/04/2011 00:00:00

I would like to wish all the pupils, staff and parents a fantastic Easter break

Mr New's 76%

08/04/2011 00:00:00

Ask you child what Mr New's 76% factoid in Easter assembly was all about - no-one is certain if he made it up or it actually is a fact?!

Academy Launch

01/04/2011 00:00:00

Today the Department for Education confirmed in writing that Woodland Middle School opened as an Academy School today which means that we have become the first Middle School in Central Bedfordshire to become an Independent School funded by central government.

New Website Launched

22/02/2011 00:00:00

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