24 hours ago

Junior Newsletter

Friday 15th November

Headteacher's Update

As I write this Newsletter direct from Stubbington Study Centre, I can say that our Year 4 pupils have had a wonderful few days learning and living away from home. If you have not had a chance to catch up with blog updates from the Centre - please read them here. My thanks to the staff team who accompanied the children on this fantastic learning opportunity.

The recent Scholastic book fair was a resounding success. It has raised an amazing £414 in new books for the library. Our pupil librarians will work with Mrs Dickson to choose the titles. Children have asked for more graphic novels, comics and joke books. My thanks to Mrs Dickson for organising this opportunity and to all the families who supported it.

We have also received a thank you from West Berks Foodbank for the donations so far this year.

Governor Update

Chris McGowan - Chair of Governors Gemma Duff - Vice Chair

As Chair and Vice Chair of the School Governors we would like to take this opportunity to introduce the role of the School Governors.

School governor is a voluntary role providing strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Holding the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent. We are therefore not involved in the day to day running of the school.

The Governor Board is made of up of:

- Members of staff, including the Executive Headteacher;

- Foundation Governors, who's appointment is approved by the Diocese (Church);

- Parent Governors, elected by Parents; and

- Co-Opted Governors, appointed by the Governing Board to provide necessary skills or experience.

In addition to the Full Governing Body which meets twice per term we also have sub committee's covering Teaching & Learning and Resources. The Full Board meets twice per term and will receive a report from the Head Teacher as to progress at the School and any ongoing issues. Our role is to question the Leadership Team and benchmark performance against Education Performance across the school, Safety, SEND, Policy and Compliance and ongoing school budgets. As part of this overview Governors will visit to school to observe and monitor teaching and the daily life of the school.

We are pleased to celebrate several recent highlights within the life of the school.

Excellent educational outcomes across the school highlighted by our SATS results.
A very positive appraisal from the recent LLP (Local Learning Partner) visit. This is visit from the Local Authority which highly praised the School overall. Nice for us that the Governing Body also received high praise for our role in school life.
The launch of our Outdoor Learning facility
Good uptake for the various school clubs

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the pupils, teaching staff, support staff and parents and families for your support and contributions to Woolton Hill Schools.

More information regarding the Governors can be found on the school web site. Additional Governors will be introducing themselves in future issues of the Newsletter.

Governors are approachable and can be contacted on any issues or concerns you may have via the School Office.

Outdoor Learning Update

Our school grounds improvements continue! At the start of the year our Junior School Councillors asked classes 'what would make our school an even better place to be?'

Responses were varied and there were lots of good ideas shared, which the School Council are working on with Miss Knapp. One of the improvements the children wanted was more seating on the field. We have installed a new log circle for use at lunchtimes in the summer months and for Outdoor Learning lesson inputs. We think it looks great and the children love it!

The Eco Team have helped to set it up and move the logs which were donated free of charge to the school from a local business 'Butlers...the tree people'. We want to say a huge thank you from the school community to Butlers for their kind donation to the Schools of Woolton Hill.

We are quickly gaining a reputation for excellence in outdoor learning. Hampshire Outdoors have recently published an article about the Outdoor Learning journey at the Schools of Woolton Hill, you can read the article here.

Clubs at the Junior School

We wanted to make parents aware that the school gates at the Junior School will remain closed from 3.35pm until all school clubs have finished. This is to ensure pupils remain safe i.e. that strangers are unable to wander onto the premises. Pupils will be dismissed from the gate at the end of the club.

School Trips

We have a calendar of our curriculum enrichment opportunities which can be found on our website here. This provides parents with a guide to which trips and school-based workshops accompany each topic. Although costs change, typically an in-school experience is priced at £5-£10. An off site trip is priced at £20-£30 depending on coach travel costs.

School Photographer

The school photographer will be at WHJS on Wednesday 20th November to take individual portraits, full uniform and best smiles please.

Starting Infant or Junior School in September 2025?

Does your child start junior school in September 2025? Do you know someone who is looking for a Year 3 place for next year? Come along to our next open morning on Tues 26th November @9am to meet staff and children and to see our brilliant school in action.

Due to extra demand we have added an addition Open Morning tour on Thursday 9th January 2025.

The Schools of Woolton Hill Open Mornings

26 November 2024, 09:00–10:30|St Thomas Infant School

The Schools of Woolton Hill Open Mornings

9 January 2025, 09:00–10:30|St Thomas Infant School

Christmas Dates

We have a packed programme of events taking place across the Federation in the run up to Christmas. Here are the dates for your diary:

Thursday 12th Dec 10am	EYFS Nativity Play
Mon 16th Dec 9.30am	KS1 Nativity Dress Rehearsal
Mon 16th Dec 2pm	KS1 Nativity Performance to Parents
Mon 16th Dec 5pm	Lower KS2 Carol Concert to Parents
Tues 17th Dec 5pm	KS1 Nativity Performance to Parents
Weds 18th Dec	Infant Christmas Jumper & Lunch day
Weds 18th Dec	Junior Whole School Pantomime at the Watermill Theatre
Weds 18th Dec 5pm	Junior Musical Extravaganza
Thurs 19th Dec	Junior Christmas Jumper and Lunch Day
Thurs 19th Dec 9.30am	Christmas Church Service - pupils only
Fri 20th Dec	Junior Ambassador Charity Fund Day

Lower Key Stage Two Carol Concert

Parents of Lower key Stage Two can book tickets for the Carol Concert here:

Lower KS2 Carols at the Church

16 December 2024, 17:00–18:00|St Thomas' Church

Hampshire music service event

Prayer Group

Would you like to meet with other parents for support and to pray for the children and teachers at The Schools of Woolton Hill?

If so, do join us for coffee, chat and prayer on Wednesday, 20th November at 9 a.m. We will be meeting in Room 2 of Woolton Hill Church Hall (WHCH) next to the Infants School.

If you are interested and would like to join us, please just come along on the 20th Nov. If you are interested but can’t make this date, but would like to meet up with us another time, please let us know, either by email fionaash@btconnect.com or phone Tel: 07980009790. We look forward to hearing from you and meeting with you.

Alice Maclean and Fiona Ashworth (Foundation Governors).

'Right To Choose' for Autism and ADHD assessments:

What is Right to Choose?

This means that you have the legal right to choose which mental healthcare provider you want to be referred to for assessment and treatment. This means that if you decide the waiting time for your Autism/ADHD assessment (in our case this is west Berkshire CAMHS) is too long, then you can choose another provider.

The process of assessment starts with an appointment with your GP and they then make the referral. This is a quicker process than referring through a school.

There are many Mental Health assessment providers which you can explore through a google search. This one is local to us in Basingstoke.

Psicon (the provider) say: "Psicon can offer your child an assessment for autism, ADHD (or both) and, following a Psicon assessment, ADHD medication at our Basingstoke, Hampshire clinic. If clinically appropriate, we may also be able to offer online assessment (ADHD only) regardless of where you live in England. From 1st November 2024, the wait time is 9-12 months from the date all pre-assessment paperwork is returned."

West Berkshire CAMHS continue to offer a great service but parents might find Right To Choose is a quicker route to assessment for their child. We do recommend this page for more details about how parents can access help and support whilst they wait for assessment.

Please discuss your concerns with our SENCO Miss Knapp before reaching out to your GP for referral.

Hampshire Healthy Steps

Hampshire Healthy Steps is a new service in Hampshire for families with children aged 2-12 years supporting families health and wellbeing. They can offer practical advice on healthy eating, physical activity, sleep and dental care. More information including how to contact them and what will happen next is in the leaflet below.

Sporting Update

Netball

This week a group of Upper School children took part in a Netball Festival at Thorngrove School. This was a Hi 5 round robin festival with 10 teams taking part. Our team worked hard throughout the afternoon showing our school values of courage and respect with great team work and support for each other.