17 February 2017
Issue 241
Dear Parents and Carers,
Where do I begin? The past 4 years have been exciting and over-whelming. I’ve learnt things that I never
knew about and achieved things that I only thought about. I started off as a Year 5 with no idea what I
would achieve in my future years at Walkwood.
I have had my ups and downs—my fails and triumphs but each time was another experience. I didn’t think
failing was bad, I just thought that I was learning to do better the next time.
I went for takeover Principal because I wanted to prove that I could achieve something that I really wanted.
I’m sure that if you wanted to become a writer, a runner or even a scientist, all you have to do is be
determined and focused. And the most important thing is to always be happy with yourself.
Anisa Ilyas
Takeover Day Principal
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:11
Now it is my turn!
Year 5 had a lesson in cartoon drawing from Tony De Salles, who is the illustrator for the ‘Horrible Science’
books. There were may excellent pictures, especially of the snail, which the pupils seemed to enjoy
changing the picture so that the creature was on a fork. A snail ready to eat—horrible indeed!
We have said ‘goodbye’ to Mrs Shanley who has been covering for Mrs Hughes during her maternity leave.
Mrs Hughes returns after half term, and Mrs Shanley will herself be having a baby soon after. The mutual
good timing has worked for us, as well as both of them.
Year 5 and Year 7 reports were published through Insight this week. I hope the reading of these is helpful.
Rev. Clive Leach
Principal
A Prayer for St. David
Dear Lord,
Take me from all pride and vanity, all boasting and self-assertion,
and give me the true courage
that shows itself in gentleness;
the true vision that shows itself
in simplicity; and the true power
that shows itself in modesty.
Help us to remember to do the
little things as St. David taught us
to do, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Amen.
This week’s theme was:
St David
Be joyful and keep your faith and
your belief, and do the little
things that you heard and saw
from me. St David
Takeover day
Arts evenings
Book fair
Understanding reports
Sports news
Sign 2 sing
For the week ahead
The Fruit of Faith
is:
The tutor group
virtue:
The assembly
theme:
Thankfulness
Gratitude
Being thankful
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. Psalm 118:28
I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose
children rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with bodily
eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said. 2 Esdras 1:36-37
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 118:1
We ask your thoughts and prayers in the week ahead for:
The weekend
our eyes to be open to the coming
of spring in God’s creation.
Monday
fun and safety for our pupils.
Tuesday
rest and refreshment for Walkwood
staff.
Wednesday
pupils and staff at St. Stephen’s
Church of England First School.
Thursday
the work of the United Nations in
the promotion of peace between
countries.
Friday
God’s inspiration for the return to
school (and not forgetting any
homework!).
By Ryan Moisy, Y6
NUMBER CHALLENGE
W/c 6th February
Answer
06.02.2017 to 10.02.2017
Whole school Attendance - 95.88 %
Year 5 — 97.50 %
Year 6 — 95.79 %
Whole School Target – 95.20 %
Year 7 — 95.54 %
for 17th January to 179th February
Congratulations to:
Top Girl
Enya Hussain BEGE Year 6 who has read an outstanding 1,398,799 words
Top Boy
Thomas Seaton BCJO Year 6 who has read a fabulous 732,084 words
Year 8 — 93.94 %
World Book Day this year is on Thursday 2nd March and pupils (as well as
staff) are invited to dress up as their favourite book character. In the
past we have had some hilarious and well considered costumes - it is a
day which our pupils love and is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the
school's love of reading. Many lessons throughout the day will have a
focus on shared reading and discussions around reading for pleasure. We
hope that parents and pupils enjoy planning their costumes together!
Should you have any questions, please ask.
Happy planning,
Mrs M Johnson
Book Fair
We are hosting a children’s Book Fair from Travelling Books, of Books and Stationery.
The Book Fair will be open in the school Library from Thursday 2nd March until Wednesday 8th March
2017.
A timetable has been created to allow all pupils time to view and buy books and buy stationery products.
Leaflets with a small selection of the titles available are being sent home.
There are hundreds of titles to choose from so please browse the full selection, on
www.travellingbooks.co.uk
Reminder- if pupils are unable to take part in PE a note needs to be provided to a PE member
of staff. We also ask that, unless physically unable to get changed, students change into their
PE kit so they can be part of the lesson, either through umpiring, leading or managing, and are therefore dressed appropriately for the environment
and activities.
Parent Governors
The Governing Body has vacancies for parents of current Walkwood pupils to serve as school Governors. The Full Board meets once a term, and each Governor also serves on one of the two subcommittees which also meet once in each term. As Walkwood is an academy school, there are legal
duties to ensure its smooth running and financial stability, along with
supporting and holding to account the school’s leaders. Governors
put aside the needs of their own child and look to support the school
in delivering to all pupils.
For an initial conversation, please contact the PA’s Office at school,
or email
[email protected] .
If your beloved child has lost something—we may well have it! Please ask them to
check at Reception who keep a box of lost property. We also put out belongings for collection every other Friday. We have a permanent pen if a child needs to name clothing or
their lunchbox.
Today, saw our 3rd Takeover Day.
After a half term’s build up, which involved applying for jobs and
being interviewed for a number of roles across the school, the successful
candidates finally took up their positions today to run the school. Many
pupils took on over 50 roles across the whole school, from Principal to
teachers, receptionists and caretakers.
Pupils arrived dressed for the occasion at 8:30am this morning and were straight into their roles, being involved in a staff briefing. This was then followed by our whole school Celebration assembly
which was led by our new Principal for the day. As lessons got started and the day got into full flow it
became clear that pupils were taking their roles very seriously and were definitely doing the jobs justice, with well thought out lessons and a real professionalism towards what they were doing. Visitors
to the school have been greeted by our new receptionists for the day, including a visiting photographer from the Redditch Standard.
During the course of the day, the pupils have taken on all of the roles and responsibilities associated
with their job and have done this with enthusiasm and maturity. There has been a real buzz around
the school. Some staff have been in uniform today and some have even found themselves being told
off for not fully completing their work!
We are very proud of all of our Takeover Day pupils today and of all those who have taken part in the
process of applying and hope that valuable lessons and skills have been learnt throughout the experience. We very much look forward to this event returning again next year and hope it will continue
to be the success it has been this year.
Please look out for some photos of the event throughout this Insider.
Instrumental Music Tuition.
Thank you to those parents who have paid for this term’s instrumental
tuition. This is also a polite reminder to those of you who still need to
pay for the Spring term. If there is ever a problem about payments,
please contact our finance office.
Arts Evening 2017
Preparations for our Arts Evenings have been going on, and are now starting to intensify ready for
our two evenings of performance on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th April. Details about tickets will
be published in The Insider after half term.
Walkwood are now collecting vouchers as part of
‘Sainsbury’s Active Kids.’ With these vouchers we are
able to order equipment which aims to help children
‘move well and live well.’
There is a box in reception where students can drop off
any vouchers should you wish to donate them. We will
be collecting them until the 30th June.
Thank you for your support.
Our charity event raised a fantastic sum of £176.69.
Pupils who need a special mention are the SIGNING CLUB MEMBERS - all of whom assisted the whole
school to come together and sign this year’s song – ‘Together’.
Alesha Amin
BHLI
Toyah Browning CMBI Olivia Davies
MKRE Tianae Ebanks AMLA
Elle-May Faulkner CAMI
Emily Fergie
MKRE
Emily Flynn
BSTA
Anya Harrison CTPO
Jodie Hartles
BSTA
Lucy Hawkes
CTPO Amy Higgins
MKRE
Megan Ierston AMLA
Noah Kelly
BCJO
Lily McAfee
BHLI
BHLI
Abigail Gibson MDSL
Ruby McAfee
Charlotte Meekins ANCA Megan Nearn BHLI
Brooke Powell MHBA Millie Stanway MKRE
Emily Tarver
Evie West MDSL
CMBI
Ellie Wakeman CTPO
The following pupils also helped by running a raffle and making and selling cakes:
Millie Stanway – KRE
Toyah Browning – MBI Amelia Watkiss TTO
Anya Harrison TPO
Amy Higgins – KRE
Zaynab Noor – CJO
Ellie Harper – LWA
Niamh Power RMA
Lexie Coleman STA
Emily Nattress LBA
Briony Wiggins– MMG
Olivia Davies KRE
First Schools’ hockey
On Friday 10th February, all of our sports councillors umpired the year 4 hockey tournament at Redditch and Bromsgrove Hockey Club.
Most members were able to attend this event and the training course, which was
held the week before this. All participants put 101% effort into umpiring and coaching and made Mr. Hunt a very proud father! Even though the weather was horrendous with gale force
winds and rapid snow, our umpires made a sensible and good impression on the year 4 players at all
times.
The support our councillors gave the year 4’s was exceptional! Also, the advice and instructions they
gave them as well was
again helpful and intelligent. Another great Friday, with the sports
council team!
Keep it up!
by Taylor Reynolds.
Year 5 and 7 Academic Reports
Understanding the report
How achievement and progress is reported to you:
Curriculum
stage
4
5
6
7
8
New assessment
stages we are using
4 Emerging
4 Developing
4 Secure
4 Mastered
5 Emerging
5 Developing
5 Secure
5 Mastered
6 Emerging
6 Developing
6 Secure
6 Mastered
7 Emerging
7 Developing
7 Secure
7 Mastered
8 Emerging
8 Developing
8 Secure
8 Mastered
There are four sections to each
stage: emerging, developing, secure and mastered.
To be working at ‘Age related expectations’ your child will be secure in their
curriculum stage by the end of the academic year.
e.g. Year 5 to be stage 5 secure.
Year 7 to be stage 7 secure.
Mastered recognises those pupils who
can demonstrate exceptional depth,
breadth and application of understanding within their age range.
For each subject in this school report, you will see:
Current
stage
5E
Target
stage
This is the stage they were
assessed at working within
at the end of the Autumn
term.
For this pupil that is a Stage
5 emerging.
5M
Attitude to
Learning
This is the stage the teacher set
as an end of year target at the
beginning of the academic year.
For this pupil it is Stage 5 Mastered.
Targets are set based on the
starting stage of the pupil and
teachers knowledge of them as
learners.
Standard of
Homework
Pupils are given a score from 14 (4 being the best). For a
more detailed breakdown of
this please see the Attitude to
Learning and homework matrix below.
For some subjects they do not
receive homework so the final
box will be blank.
Attitude to Learning and homework matrix
Attitude to Learning
4
3
2
1
Exceeding Expectations
Meeting Expectations
Improvement Needed
Cause for Concern
The behaviour of your child
contributes positively to their
own and others learning.
The behaviour of your child
contributes positively to their
own learning.
The inconsistent behaviour
of your child limits their progress.
Your child is highly motivated
and enjoys a challenge. They
use initiative, are highly motivated and resilient. They fully
engage with all tasks that are
set.
Your child is motivated in lessons to complete the tasks
that are set. They show an
interest in improving their
learning. Work produced by
your child is completed with
due care and attention.
Your child often requires
some teacher support to
stay on task. They can be
reluctant to participate in all
activities. Work produced by
your child is usually completed but may be lacking in care
and attention.
The inconsistent behaviour
of your child limits their
own and others progress.
They often display disruptive behaviour which impacts on learning.
Your child demands a high
level of teacher/TA time to
stay on task.
Work produced by your child is
always completed with a high
level of care and attention.
They take an active role in all
lessons.
Staff are delighted with their
effort.
When confident to do so they
will share their ideas during
whole class teaching.
Staff are pleased with their
effort.
They rarely volunteer ideas
during whole class teaching.
Staff have some concerns
about their effort.
Work is rarely completed to
the expected standard and
lacks care and attention.
They show little interest in
improving their understanding of the subject.
Staff have major concerns
about their effort.
Homework
4
3
2
1
Exceeding Expectations
Meeting Expectations
Improvement Needed
Cause for Concern
All independent learning
tasks undertaken by your
child are completed to an
outstanding level. Deadlines
are always met. At times they
complete independent learning tasks that have not been
set by the teacher.
All independent learning
tasks undertaken by your
child are completed to a good
standard. Deadlines are met.
Any independent learning
undertaken by your child is
usually completed but deadlines are not always met.
Independent learning is rarely
completed by your child and/
or deadlines are missed.
DATE
ACTIVITY
LOCATION
OPEN TO
COST
LEADER
Outward Bound
Wales
Y8
£ 300
Mr Jenkin
Fri 9—
Mon 12
Thu 22—
Mon 26
Outward Bound
Yorkshire
Y6
£ 250
Mr Sanders
WWI Battlefield
Tour
Belgium
Y7
£ 320
Miss Philpotts
Fri 23—
Mon 26
Outward Bound
Yorkshire
Y6
£ 250
Mr Sanders
Wed 28—
Fri 30
Arts and Theatres
London
Y8
£ 225
Rev Leach
Fri 30—
Mon 3 July
Outward Bound
Brecon Beacons
Y5
£ 145
Mrs Cull
Theme Park
Drayton Manor
Y8
£TBC
May
Mon 22–
Fri 26
June
July
Wed 19
Spring Term 2
Day
Before School
from 7:45am
Lunchtime
After School
Monday
Homework Club
Y7 & Y8 Art Club
Homework Club
(Library)
Tuesday
Wednesday
3.30–4.30pm
Orchestra
(Music Room)
8.45-9.30am
Movie Club— all year
groups (DT block)
Dynamite cheerleading 4-6pm
Homework Club
Week One only:
Homework Club
(Library)
Green Ambassadors
(Lab 3, week 1)
(Library) 3.30–4.30pm
Gifted and Talented
STEM club (DT block)
Signing Club - all year
groups
All girls Hockey 3.30—4.45 pm
(Textiles Room)
Cooking Club 3.30–4.45pm
Silent reading Club
(Rm 19)
Y5 & 6 Netball 3.30-4.45 pm
Homework Club
(Library)
Thursday
(Library)
Homework Club
(Library)
Gardening Club - all
year groups (Textiles
Room)
Choir - all year groups
(Music Room) 12.50—
1.20 pm
Y7 & Y8 netball 3.30-4.45pm
Homework Club
(Library) 3.30–4.30pm
Homework Club
(Library) 3.30–4.30pm
Y5 & 6 Tag 3.30—4.45 pm
Arts Evening Rehearsals 3.304.45pm
ICT Club (DT block)
KS3 week 1, KS2 week 2
(sign up only)
Friday
Homework Club
(Library)
Y5 Art Club
Homework Club
(Library) 3.30–4.30pm
Recreational Football (Boys all
years) 3.30—4.45 pm
Date
Event
2
Monday 20 – Friday 24 February
Half-Term
Monday 27 February
Parent Focus Group 6.00pm - 7.00pm
0
Tuesday 4 April
Arts Evening 7.00 pm
Wednesday 5 April
Arts Evening 7.00 pm
Friday 7 April
End of term
Monday 24 April
First day of the Summer Term
Friday 19 May
Parent Focus Group 2.00pm - 3.00pm
Monday 29 May – Friday 2 June
Half-Term
Monday 5 June
Staff Development Day
Thursday 8 June
Y5 & Y7 Parents’ Evening 4.00pm - 7.00pm
Wednesday 14 June
Y5 & Y7 Parents’ Evening 4.00pm - 7.00pm
Wednesday 5 July
Y 6 & Y8 report to Parents / Carers
Monday 10 July
Parent Focus Group 6.00pm - 7.00pm
Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 July
Transition Days
Friday 21 July
End of term
Monday 4 & Tuesday 5 September
Staff Development Days
Wednesday 6 September
First day of the Autumn Term
Friday 20 October
Staff Development Day
Monday 23 – Friday 27 October
Half-Term
Tuesday 19 December
End of term
Wednesday 3 January
Staff Development Day
Thursday 4 January
First day of the Spring Term
Monday 19 – Friday 23 February
Half-Term
Thursday 29 March
End of term
Monday 16 April
First day of the Summer Term
Monday 28 May—Friday 1 June
Half-Term
Monday 4 June
Staff Development Day
Tuesday 24 July
End of term
1
7
2
0
1
8