Wednesday, 12 th December 2018

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1 Wednesday, 12 th December 2018 Dear Parents and Carers, As we approach the end of the term, you may have noticed that life is busier than ever in school and that the children appear to be getting very excited! This newsletter contains all the news about our recent PTA fundraising events, the Pantomime and all our excursions to local sites. At the heart of the school, our office and kitchen teams are working extra hard to juggle all the extra events and are doing an amazing job. Many thanks to the teams for their dedication and tireless care! This week is very special for us in school; the Reception class held their lovely Nativity play today; this was well attended by parents, carers and grandparents. The children all showed great confidence and were well supported by the teaching staff. It was simply wonderful to see how much Reception children enjoyed taking part in the play! Years 1 to 6 will be holding their annual festive Carol Concerts on Thursday 13 th (2:00pm and 6:30PM) and Friday, 14 th December 2018 (9:30am). Friday s performance will replace the coffee morning. If you have not yet booked your tickets, please contact the office. Whilst we are all enjoying the preparations for the festivities, the learning journey continues and we are pleased with the outstanding progress our pupils are making in all areas. I am delighted that the children have embraced their personal learning targets, set high aspirations for themselves and are supporting each other as true team players. From Reception to Year 6, we have seen strong learning progress notably in: listening, speaking, reading, writing, mathematics, teamwork and social skills. I would like to thank our amazing team of Teachers and Learning Support Assistants who are ensuring that the learning progress continues apace whilst organising all the events on the December calendar. As we approach term-end, a reminder that our last day of the term will be Friday, 21 st December and we will close at 3:15pm as usual. The children will be issued with some holiday homework, including reading, times tables and spellings. Please ensure that your child completes any home learning which forms an important part of their learning. The first day of term will be Monday, 7 th January 2019 at 8:40am prompt. Whilst I look forward to seeing you on the school gate, I would like to thank you for your continued support of the school and your children s education. Best regards from the whole team for a wonderful festive holiday. Leslie Semper Headteacher

2 Forthcoming Events Thursday 13 th December at 2.00pm and 6.30pm Year 1 6 Carol concert Friday 14 th December 9.30am Carol concert Friday 14 th December - Christmas Jumper Day (suggested charitable contribution of 1 for Save The Children) Wednesday 19 th December - Christmas Lunch Thursday 20 th December - Class Christmas Parties (teachers will issue helpful letters) Friday 21 st December at 3.15pm End of Term Monday 7 th January 2019 at 8.40am Start of Term Regular, Prompt Attendance Leads to Strong Learning Progress For the period 3 rd September to 10 th December percentage attendance for each class was: Year % Year % Year % Year % Year % Year % Only Year 2 managed to make the school s target of 97% for this year; I would ask that all parents make every effort to ensure that their child is in school regularly and does not miss any school unless they are ill. A gentle reminder to all parents to ensure that your children arrive on time for school every morning. School opens at 8:40am and we start with Early Work, which teachers set as a foundation to the day s learning. It is important that every child arrives on time and does not miss their early work. Regular, good attendance is also important; I would remind parents and carers that I am unable to authorise any absence for holidays, etc. Our school target for this year is 97.0% and our attendance stood at 96.4% up to 10 th December Safeguarding: Fire Drills and Lock-downs I would like to reassure parents and carers that we conduct fire drills at least once termly so that the children are always prepared to move calmly and rapidly in the event of a real fire at some point in their life experience. As part of our safeguarding, we also conduct lockdown drills where the children shelter in their classrooms and the building is locked. School Fayre: Saturday 1 st December 2018 The annual Wildmoor School Christmas Fayre was a huge success and was very well attended. A total of 2,200 was raised by the PTA which is a significant achievement at this time of year. There were so many fun activities including: Santa s Grotto, the sale of wonderful homemade Christmas decorations from Mrs Green and her elves, a games room, face painting, a raffle, the highly successful tombola and numerous other stalls. We also enjoyed a fabulous turkey roast lunch prepared by our Cook, and cakes and goodies donated by all our families. A massive thank you to all those who attended and supported us in any way. Special thanks are due to: Mrs Charles, Mr and Mrs Green, Mrs Cooper, Mrs

3 Nicholson, Mrs Bridges Mr and Mrs Castle and all the PTA team and staff, without whom this wonderful event could just not take place. I would personally like to thank Mr and Mrs Coates and their two daughters for their support over many years as I know this is their last year in the school. Hanukkah Assembly, Monday 3 rd December 2018 We were delighted to welcome Mrs Merzer, and her brother, who led a whole school assembly and quiz on the festival of Hanukkah and its origins. This was an interesting insight for our pupils, in keeping with the values of diversity, respect and tolerance. In particular, we learned about the significance of the Menorah candlestick and how a candle is lit for each of the eight days of the Hanukkah festival. We hope that the Merzer family and all Jewish families in the community had a very Happy Hanukkah. Wellington College, Sunday 9 th December We have been delighted to welcome six students from Wellington College every Wednesday afternoon as part of their Community Service. The students are working with our Year 2 and 6 children and have supported us in P.E. lessons. They are delightful and Wildmoor children enjoy working with them. Mrs Semper attended the Lower Sixth Form Carol Service at Wellington College on Sunday, 9 th December 2018 in the Wellington s Chapel of the Holy Spirit. This was a joyous service of lessons and carols.

4 Christmas Assembly, Monday 10 th December 2018 Martin Caesar led his final whole school assembly at Wildmoor Heath; this was an unusual telling of the Christmas story using fruits and vegetables. As ever, Martin kept the children engaged with his humour and guitar playing. Martin will join us on Thursday for our two carol concerts, and then in January 2019 he is moving on to his new parish. On behalf of the children, staff, governors and parents, I would like to thank Martin for his refreshing assemblies and uplifting contributions to Wildmoor life. His new parish are gaining a truly inspirational leader whom we will remember fondly. Beauty and the Beast Pantomime On behalf of the whole school all our wonderful pupils and staff we would like to thank the Wildmoor Heath Parent Teacher Association for their generosity in funding our whole school pantomime Beauty and the Beast on 15 th November We received fantastic feedback from children across all the year groups and there was a real look of awe and wonder on their faces throughout the show. M and M Productions gave a superb performance with colourful backdrops and costumes, hilarious acting, dancing plus many popular songs known by the children. They even practised times tables (Year 3s were confident as they have been perfecting their 3X table!). The cast interacted with our pupils throughout and even invited some staff up to dance with them. There are plenty of photos on the website which show that a great time was had by all! Many, many thanks to the PTA this was a special learning treat for us all. I was very touched when the M and M cast commented on how engaged and supportive our children were they rarely see such enthusiasm, super interaction and impeccable behaviour.

5 Reception Nativity The Reception children treated us all to an amazing performance of the nativity on Wednesday 12 th December. Parents, grandparents and family joined us to watch the play. We have a hugely talented group of children and they should be incredibly proud of themselves. Well done to all the children and thank you to the the staff in preparing the children for their Nativity. Roots to Food, Thursday 22 nd November The KS2 classes spent the day with Darren, the Chef, from Roots to Food, cooking their own meal of Rogan Josh chicken, sultana rice and pitta bread. The children all took turns to prepare, cook and taste the curry, it was a great success with children who had never tasted curry before trying it and gave it the thumbs up.

6 PTA Night Walk, Friday 16 th November The PTA organised the annual night walk which was extremely well attended and enjoyed by everyone. This was a great opportunity for families to enjoy the sights and sounds of the heath at night time. After the walk, we shared hotdogs and hot chocolate in the school hall. Friday 23 rd November, Myeloma UK Coffee Morning The Myeloma UK coffee morning raised 233 in support of Donna Cooper s London Marathon fundraising. Many of you will know that Donna s husband Jason, who is also the Co-chair of Wildmoor Heath s Governing Body, was diagnosed with Myeloma last year. Thank you to everyone who helped support this event. Saturday 24 th November, Fund raising at the Co- Op On Saturday 24 th November, members of staff participated in some fundraising activities and a held a raffle at the Co-op in Crowthorne. Mrs Semper was presented with a cheque for 3600 towards to the development of the Nature Garden. School Choir Entertain the Community Bracknell Forest Christmas Concert, Sunday 1 st December Some of our choir members, attended the annual Bracknell Forest Schools Christmas Concert at the Bracknell Leisure Centre. This was organised by Berkshire Maestros and is always a very special event, the children joined choirs from other local Bracknell Schools and all the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and their singing was amazing. Our thanks go to Mrs Leach, Mrs Webb and Mrs Castle for organising the choir and supporting the children. St John s Church, Friday 6 th December The choir was invited to St John s Church to perform for a group of elderly Crowthorne residents, they sang some of their songs from the Bracknell Christmas concert and also some well know festive carols. It was a lovely afternoon and the residents were very grateful for the visit. COATS Carol Singing

7 On Monday the choir walked to COATS Day Centre in Crowthorne and sang to the old people, this included a solo by Erin and joint singing by the choir and the old people. Afterwards the children were treated to homemade cakes and squash. COATS were delighted with the visit and the choir have been invited back in the New Year. Choir at St Brendan s Next week the choir will be walking to St Brendan s Care home to entertain the residents with more Christmas singing, this will be our last festive performance in what has been a busy and rewarding experience for all our choir members.