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Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you so much to all of the parents who answered the questions about celebrating birthdays. There were a whopping 137 responses. The overwhelming majority would like their child to be able to bring treats to share with the class at the end of the day, if they want, and also wear their own clothes for the day, if they want. This means that to celebrate your child’s birthday your child can do any of the following:
- Not wear uniform for the day (if at the weekend or during a holiday, then this can be just before or just after)
- Bring treats to share with the class at the end of the day
- Do both
- Celebrate at home only
Please be aware that treats must be shop bought and remain in the original packaging – this is due to Natasha’s Law regarding the labelling of food items. Unfortunately we cannot allow children to give out home made items.
The build up to the Christmas festivities begins soon, please see the Christmas letter and key dates that went out yesterday. Don’t forget that next Friday is a non-uniform day in return for an item for your child’s class colour hamper. Last year’s was amazing and I am sure that this year’s will be even better.
Best wishes,
Mrs Lagares
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OPEN MORNINGS
We are running a series of open morning for prospective parents looking for school places in September 2022. Spread the word about Wooden Hill and come along to one of our open mornings on either;
- 2nd December 2021 at 9.30am
- or 7th January 2022 at 9.30am.
To book a place click here and complete an online booking form or email bookings@office.woodenhill.bracknell-forest.sch.uk
We look forward to seeing you.
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UNIFORM REMINDER
Please ensure the correct uniform is worn at all times, including the correct PE uniform. The PE hoody must be plain black, without any logos (unless Wooden Hill logo), images or text.
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PARKING
Please park considerately for our neighbours property and driveways. To maintain the air quality, it is recommended that engines are switched off while waiting. Please do not stop on the yellow lines outside the school.
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READING AGENCY - WINTER MINI CHALLENGE
Once again Bracknell Forest Libraries will be supporting the Reading Agency’s - Winter Mini Challenge. The Challenge will take place online. Children unlock their own virtual badges and certificates.
- Sign in or register- www.wintermini.org.uk
- Read 3 books
- Review books
The Winter Mini Challenge will start on Wednesday 1 December and finish on Sunday 16 January 2022.
Be a Wild World Hero this Winter!
This year, The Reading Agency teamed up with WWF UK for the Wild World Heroes Summer Reading Challenge - exploring nature and action for the environment through reading.
Now the Heroes are back to help with the Winter Mini Challenge!
Join the Wild World Heroes as they embark on an Arctic adventure to find out about the creatures that live there. You will find out about the environmental issues facing this remote place and might even spot a narwhal or two.
Taking part in the Winter Mini Challenge is simple. Children can read at least three books between 1 December and 16 January and add them to their online profile at www.wintermini.org.uk to unlock the special virtual badge and certificate. They will be able to find other fun activities on the website too, including games, book reviews, and author content.
How does the challenge help?
The Winter Mini Challenge encourages children to keep up their reading habits over the winter holidays, with a free-to-access website featuring rewards and incentives for reading and reviewing books. Over the school holidays children can experience a 'dip' in reading skills and learning. With the persistent disruption to education caused by Covid-19 this is predicted to have an even greater impact on learning loss. We hope the Winter Mini Challenge can provide reading encouragement and fun for children and families.
See below for more details....
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Wild World Heroes Winter Mini Challenge
Be a Wild World Hero this Winter!
The Wild World Heroes are back to help with the Winter Mini Challenge after the success of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. The Reading Agency are teaming up again with the WWF to explore through reading.
Join the Wild World Heroes as they embark on an Arctic adventure to find out about the creatures that live there. You will find out about the environmental issues facing this remote place and might even spot a narwhal or two.
Taking part in the Winter Mini Challenge is simple. Children can read at least three books between 1st December and 16th January and add them to their online profile at www.wintermini.org.uk to unlock the special virtual badge and certificate. They will be able to find other fun activities on the website too, including games, book reviews, and author content.
- Sign in: Visit the Reading Challenge website from 1st December 2021 to sign in or register.
- Read 3 books: Need ideas? Check the Reading Agency books sorter. Audiobooks and e-books count too!
- Review your books: Leave a review of your books on the Winter Reading Challenge website.
Wild World Heroes Book List
Younger Readers
- Claude on the Slopes by Alex Smith
- Ice Bear by Nicola Davies
- Poles Apart by Jeanne Willis
- If Polar Bears Disappeared by Lily Williams
- Pip Likes Snow by Lynn Rickards
- Algy's amazing adventures in the Arctic by Kaye Umansky
Older Readers
- Arctic Star by Tom Palmer
- The Good Bear by Sarah Lean
- Luna by Holly Webb
- Snow Foal by Susanna Bailey
- The Wild Before by Piers Torday
- The Snow Merchant by Sam Gayton
- The Arctic challenge by Bear Grylls
Illustrations © Heath McKenzie 2021
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Nursery Roundup
Over the past couple of weeks, the children have been listening to the story of ‘The Jolly Postman’ and as last week was ‘Anti-bullying week’ they also got to listen to stories about friendship and spoke about what makes a good friend.
On Friday, the children celebrated 'Children in Need', and they learnt about the meaning of the event, and why they weren’t wearing school uniforms and got to decorate ‘Pudsey Bear’ pictures.
This week the children have listened to different versions of the traditional tale ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and linked this to the story of ‘The Jolly Postman’. They also listened to an alternate version ‘Jim and the Beanstalk’, as well as planting beans and predicting what will happen.
The children have collected autumnal resources and were very excited to go into the big playground for this! They then had the opportunity to be creative and use natural autumn resources to make a textured collage and also make their own beanstalk pictures.
To keep up with all the Nursery news follow this link...
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Reception Roundup
Over the past few weeks the children have had a very interesting and exciting time. They have learnt about 'Remembrance Day' and why we wear poppies, and even got to make their own poppy paintings by using vegetable printing methods.
In Literacy the children have continued with the story ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ and have used their senses to describe what they can see, smell, hear and feel on the bear hunt and have thought of adjectives to describe these. Some of the words that the children came up with to describe the grass were: green, soft, swishy, pointy, soggy and long. The class even received a letter from the bear and his bear friends who were hiding in the playground! Fortunately when found the bears turned out to be very friendly.
The children have been busy using forks to paint a bear face, making binoculars to look for the bears and using collage techniques to decorate a bear. They have also practised their cutting by cutting out and ordering by size different types of bears.
To keep up with all the Reception news follow this link...
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Year 1 Roundup
Undoubtedly, Year 1 have been having a brilliant few weeks. They have had an unforgettable experience day when the children came into school in their finest dress or dressed as Kings, Queens, Princesses, Knights or anyone they might find in a castle. There were some incredible costumes and it was described by the children as "THE BEST DAY EVER!"- music to Miss Smart and Mrs Critchlow's ears!
The children enjoyed viewing a tour of Buckingham Palace, participating in some royal dancing and a lot of role play, fully immersing themselves in the topic.
The KS1 children then had a 'Come Snuggle Up With A Good Book' day when the children came to school in their pyjamas and had a day based on celebrating reading. In the morning, the children rotated around different classes, meeting other KS1 teachers and learning about their favourite books. They also completed an activity in each class related to each book, using their comprehension skills.
In the afternoon, the children enjoyed building dens, snuggling up with a hot chocolate and biscuit and reading stories with their classes.
To keep up with all the Year 1 news follow this link...
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Year 2 Roundup
Since half-term Year 2 have started a new non-fiction unit on instructions. The children started by looking at a set of instructions on ‘How to build your own den’, identifying the key features such as heading, hook, question and steps. They got to give each feature a different ‘shape’ or jigsaw piece so that they could see clearly the parts that fit together to make up a set of instructions. They have then explored imperative verbs, a key feature of instructions, and had fun acting out and playing games like Simon Says with a range of bossy verbs (e.g. stir, boil, hammer, build, find).
They then started following a set of instructions to make their own bird feeder using cooking fat, bird seed, cooked rice and pine cones. They began the project by researching foods that are harmful to birds so that they could include these in the ‘What not to use’ section. They have looked at how to use brackets to explain a point further and also learnt to use precise adjectives when describing the ingredients to give the reader more detail e.g. uncooked rice, salty foods, whole nuts.
Linked to their learning about instructions they had great fun following a recipe to make bread. We took turns to add the ingredients and knead the dough. When the rolls came out of the oven they smelt absolutely delicious and we enjoyed eating them!
Last week, the children enjoyed taking part in ‘Snuggle up with a good book’ day. The children came to school in their pyjamas and spent the day reading and sharing their favourite books with each other. There was a session with each of the teachers in Key Stage One and enjoyed learning based around their favourite stories. The day was topped off with a hot chocolate and a biscuit!
To keep up with all the Year 2 new follow this link...
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Year 3 Roundup
In Year 3, the children have been busy practising different brush strokes to create art work in the style of Van Gogh ready to create their final piece which will be displayed at Bracknell train station. The final piece is going to be a collaborative piece of work so that everyone can take part!
In maths, the children have been busy applying their times tables to answer multiplication and division questions. They have explored the relationship between division and multiplication, the commutative law and have spotted patterns in the 2, 5 and 3 times table to help us to identify multiples.
In English, the children have planned and written a story based on ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’. The children's characters were eating things from pencils to tissues and gaining skills such as fast swimming or super high bouncing!
In science, the children have been learning about the human skeleton. We have looked at x-rays and practised labelling the different parts of the skeleton in different ways. We then looked at x-rays of a variety of vertebrates and compared their skeletons to ours.
In geography, the children have applied their knowledge of maps to create a map showing their journeys to school and has shown that all the children are experts at using keys!
To keep up with all the Year 3 news follow this link...
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Year 4 Roundup
Year Four have been very busy in the four weeks since we came back after half term. We have been to different parts of the world via our English topic – Scott of the Antartic – and by exploring different climate regions in our geography.
Closer to home, we have investigated circuits in science with our electricity topic, and chosen our school council representatives. We are looking forward to being able to have a school council again!
To keep up with all the Year 4 new follow this link...
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Year 5 Roundup
This term, we have been focusing on materials, what they are and where they come from. In English, we have linked this learning to factories and those that produce their materials using child labour, using the book “Kick” by Mitch Johnson. The story follows young Budi, who loves football but is forced to work in a boot factory. Using our research and the book, we have been writing persuasive letters to encourage companies to support Child Labour Free Zones. Do you know where your clothes come from?
In maths, we have completed a statistics block, looking at data and different ways to share and present these, including tables, graphs and timetables. Now, we have moved on to multiplication and division – it is so important that children are practising their times tables at home using TTRS to help them effectively access the tasks in lessons.
In science, we have explored materials including reversible and irreversible changes – mixing substances and observing what happens. We have carried out investigations and discussed fair tests and variables each time. We have talked a lot about finding out results and measuring accurately, and presenting our data (which, again, links to maths!)
In art we have been studying Andy Warhol, looking at his art and printing styles, again using a variety of materials including soup cans!
To keep up with all the Year 5 news follow this link...
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Year 6 Roundup
Year 6 got to go on a school trip to Reading Museum! We took a coach to Reading Museum to continue our learning of the Industrial Revolution, the Victorian Era, and local history.
We were able to get a 'first-hand' experience using Victorian classroom equipment as well as trying on some typical Victorian school clothes, too. We even had a Victorian teacher, who was particularly strict!
We had a great time learning through all of these experiences and exploring the history of Reading, too.
In art and following on from last half-term's research into William Morris, the children got to create their own nature-inspired tiles to create their very own 'Morris & Co' wallpaper designs. The children used layering and minimal materials to help create them, and they had a great deal of fun!
To keep up with all the Year 6 news follow this link...
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Wooden Hill Primary and Nursery School
Staplehurst, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 8DB
T: 01344 421117 E: secretary@office.woodenhill.bracknell-forest.sch.uk
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