World of Woodland Issue 02

This month’s value is:  Co-operation

Thank you so much everyone for supporting our PTA Fun Run last week, although the start was rain interrupted the sunshine soon came out and the parental support was again fantastic! The pupils that elect for fancy dress always brighten up the event – a few of their photos are included below. The winners of the fancy dress competition are 1st place: Natalie Baker, Matilda Akroyd and Elizabeth McFarlane (the camel) 2nd place Alex Dunne (Ringmaster) and 3rd place Ella Wilshaw, Charlotte Hooper & Annabelle Fensom (the Harry Potter spoof). Prizes from the PTA are on the way via Miss Hart. Thanks to Miss Hart for putting all the Fun Run together and to the PTA for serving the water and buying all the fun runners an ice pop!

Letters have gone out this week to all parents with their login details for the ‘Meet the Form Tutor Parents’ Evening’ – if you did not receive the letter and after a bag ‘shake out’ it remains undiscovered, please contact Liam on griffinl@woodlandacademy.co.uk for assistance to make your appointment. This parents’ evening is just to have a chat about your child’s settling in this term and to share information, rather than feedback on academic attainment and       progress. Each year group will have a parents’ evening for academic reporting later in the year.

 Vacancies
Last week we have made an appointment for Mrs Claire Whelan to join our staff in October, as a DT Technician, we’d like to welcome her back to Woodland after an absence of a month…given that Claire was a PTA committee member last year!

We do have a vacancy at the moment for a Teaching Assistant post (full time, temporary contract for the rest if this     academic year). This post is available due to an unexpected increase in the number of pupils that require additional       support. We have stated that being sporty would be an advantage and that is because we would like the successful     candidate to regularly ‘referee’ a lunchtime football match (completely informal – jumpers for goal posts style). If you are interested the application pack is on our website and we will accept applications over the weekend and Monday morning.

School Governor Vacancy
Our school governors are seeking an additional parent governor to join the Academy Board. Our governors have used a skill audit and seek a parent that has either Facilities Management experience or IT Network experience. If you are interested in joining the governing body and have either of these skills please do contact me in the first instance on                                     conquestj@woodlandacademy.co.uk .

Y5 France Trip
Y5 parents will know that we have run a day trip to France for a few years now in the summer (planned for June 2019) but the costs of this trip have escalated to about £80. The trip includes travel to and from Boulogne, a walking tour of the old city, entry to the world class aquarium Nausicaá, time on the beach and a meal on the way home. More than this is the adventure that the pupils experience… I will be writing home soon to seek Y5 parents views on whether we should continue this trip or plan a cheaper (but probably less adventurous) option…keep your eye out for the letter please.

School Crossing Patrols, we have received notification of NO crossing patrol on the below dates:

 Glebe Road Flitwick - Near Flitwick Lower School

No cover PM - Friday 28th September

No cover AM or PM - Monday 1st October

No cover AM - Tuesday 2nd October

No cover PM - Wednesday 3rd October

No cover PM - Monday 29th October

 
Locker Key Cutting—Did you know?
Shorts in Flitwick will cut your child’s key from the code engraved on their locker, just present this code (9****). They  always stamp the keys they cut so they can make their way back to your child if lost.  Hopefully making our job easier!

Is your child entitled to Free School Meals?
The qualifying benefits to receive free school meals for children in Year 3 and over are:

Income support

Income based Jobseekers Allowance

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

Child Tax Credit provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and your     annual gross income does not exceed £16,190 as assessed by her Majesty’s Revenue and     Customs).

To apply for free school meals please call 0300 3008306, please have the following                information ready:-

• National Insurance Numbers and Dates of Birth for you and your partner
• Dates of Birth for your children
• If you receive support from the National Asylum Support Service, your NASS number.

Attendance
Pupils are expected to attend school regularly; it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their child attends school regularly and punctually. The Home-School partnership agreement clearly informs parent and pupils of this responsibility. School staff will encourage good attendance and punctuality. Staff will convey to pupils that lateness is very disruptive and affects learning of not only the individual but also the class.

Satisfactory attendance is above 95%. Anything below 90% attendance is considered to be persistence absence. 90-95% attendance needs to be improved. 97%+ attendance is considered good, Illustration: 90% attendance over a year means that 20 days ( 4 weeks of school) have been missed. This could never be described as satisfactory at Woodland.

 Family Holiday during term time including extended holidays
The school strongly discourages family holidays in term time. No permission will be given for an annual holiday except in exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances might include parents working in the armed forces, siblings or parents with exceptional needs that cannot be catered for in school holidays. Not being granted annual leave by an employer is not an exceptional circumstance.

In any event, no permission will be given for any school time holiday that will result in a pupils’ attendance dropping below 93%.

If a request form is not completed, the holiday will be unauthorised.

Other leave requests
Each request for leave will be taken on its merits but the current attendance will always be taken into account. Leave cannot be authorised if the current attendance will drop below 90% as this would be sanctioning persistent absenteeism.

Common examples of requested leave are:

• Weddings—always permitted upon receipt of copy of the wedding invitation
• Overseas wedding—a travel day either side of the wedding is usually permitted
• Funerals—always permitted
• Overseas funeral—as with weddings
• Family events—considered in line with current attendance and the ease at which the event could take place at a weekend or in a holiday period.

Reporting a child’s absence
If your child is going to be absent from school due to a medical appointment or illness—please notify Mrs T .K. Barker (Attendance Officer) on 01525 750400 Ext 205 or email:  barkert@woodlandacademy.co.uk.

Key Dates 2018—2019

October

Mon 8th                                       Y7 & Y8 House Netball & Rugby week

Mon 8th—Thurs 11th             Book Fair in the Library

Fri 11th                                        Meet the Form Tutor Parents Evening

Mon 15th                                     Y5 House Handball week & Y6 House Netball/Football week

Tue 16th                                      Key Stage 3 Xmas Card Workshop day

Maths Awareness Evening Y5 5.30pm

Thurs 18th World Values Day

Halloween Disco KS2 5-6pm, KS3 7-8.30pm

Fri 19th Y5 Zoo trip

Mon 22nd—Fri 26th Half Term School Closed

Mon 29th Training Day—School Closed

Tues 30th First Day back

Halloween art & cooking 2.00-4.30pm

November

Thurs 8th Open Evening

Fri 9th PTA Quiz night

12th –16th Nov Year 4 School Tours

Anti-bullying week

Wed 14thSki Trip Parents Information Evening

Fri 16th Y8 Skills Show

Mon 19-23rd Road Safety Week

Mon 19th– 22ndMock SATS

Tue 27th Y5 Flu Immunisations

Wed28th-Fri 30th Book Fair in Library

Attachments: 
World of Woodland Issue 02