Dear Parents and Carers,

The first 2 weeks of the second half of the Summer term have flown by and we are very fortunate at the moment to be blessed with some amazing sunshine and weather. It is important that the children are well equipped for the warmer weather, hats are essential, water to stay hydrated and application of sunscreen before school are both a must! It has been pleasing to see and hear about so many children who are doing this.

Mrs Willis, our new Deputy Headteacher, and I have been very busy visiting classrooms across the school to see learning in action. We have also been looking through children’s books to get a flavour of the progress the children have made across the year. This is best part of the day. The children are so eager to learn! They are all very polite and hard working.

Parents and carers will also get a flavour of what has been happening in school by visiting the school blogs section on our school website and our school twitter feed @WigmorePrimary @WigmorePe . Do take some time to have a look at these pages.

The Back Page

Well done to the children in Year 3 and 4 who took part in a Multi Sports Festival last week.

A number of children also took part in the Zone Athletics event on Thursday of this week. Huge well done to these children for doing so well.

Thank you to all the adults who have worked hard to make these things happen for the future sports stars at Wigmore.

Year 1 Phonics Screening

Last week the children in Year 1 and some children in Year 2 took part in the phonics screening check. Our Read Write Inc groups have helped focus the children on learning the important skills of word reading. Thank you to all the adults for teaching these skills and to Mr White for leading this important assessment.

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check

Well done to the children in Year 4 who have been busy practicing for and completing the Multiplication Tables Check using our fantastic laptops in school. Thank you to Mr Omer and the Year 4 team for supporting the children with this task and to all the staff and parents who have contributed to the success of the children learning all their time tables up to and including 12 times 12.

Moderation of standards of children’s writing

On Monday the teachers from Wigmore made the short trek to Stopsley Primary School to look at the outcomes in writing from our two week unit of work on Little Red Riding Hood. It was a productive afternoon sharing good practice from across both schools. Thank you to the children for producing some amazing writing and to the staff who planned the amazing activities on offer over the 2 weeks before half term.

Enrichment

Today the children had their first opportunity at a range of different enrichment activities that will be taking place over the next 5 weeks. Thank you to the staff who have prepared a range of exciting activities for the children to be involved in.

Year 6 Production

It has been great to hear the sounds of rehearsals coming from the school hall for the up and coming Year 6 production. Well done to all involved in this!

Value of the month of June – humility

Our value for the month of June is humility. I think the quote by CS Lewis sums up the value of humility so well. Work hard to achieve but always stay humble and thankful for the things we have. The children and teachers will be focusing on this value in class and on the playground throughout the month of June.

Give Me Ten

Well done to all the children and their parents for supporting our reading at home initiative. It was pleasing to see so many children for hot chocolate at the end of last half term. We now have a number of children who approaching significant milestones. This is a massive achievement and we know that regular reading at home benefits the children in so many different ways. It would be great to see numbers increase this term and we need to continue working hard on reading for 10 minutes every day at home. It makes a huge difference!

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

451 (Week beginning 13.6.22) children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.9% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,

Mr Johnston

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope everyone is keeping well and looking forward to a week of celebration and relaxation over half term.

It has been a productive and busy two weeks in school and there have been a number of highlights coming from the classrooms which are captured on our class blogs and school Twitter feed. Do take the opportunity to read these to gain an insight into what is happening in school. Follow @WigmorePrimary on Twitter!

Producing the authors of the future! 

Over the last two weeks the children at Wigmore and Stopsley have been developing their writing skills with some amazing opportunities in the classroom and outside. We look forward to celebrating the success of the children in this unit of work in the second half of the Summer term.

The importance of reading!

Today I have spent some time having hot chocolate with our reading superstars at Wigmore. These children have read over 150 times at home over the year and have been well supported by their parent and carers to achieve this. Well done to all the children who have achieved this milestone! I have also had the opportunity to visit a number of classes throughout the week to look at how children are learning the skills of reading at Wigmore. Mrs Gilbert and Miss Islam have done a fantastic job as reading leads implementing a new approach to teach the skills of reading following staff training completed on one of our INSET Days. The children have talked positively about the new approach and are engaged in their regular visits to the library, borrowing books and learning other new skills. Reading regularly at home can be your child’s golden ticket to success! Well done to the children below and all who have been in my blog throughout the year.

Young Voices 

Huge thanks to the children, staff and parents who participated in this wonderful event in Birmingham last week. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves and there are a number of photos on our school Twitter feed that provide some great evidence of this. The children are already looking forward to next year! The sound of singing at Wigmore is always a great one.

The Back Page 

Well done to the Year 5 and 6 children who were involved in the quad kids athletics event at Stockwood Park last week.

On Wednesday the children were also involved in a range of activities for the Commonwealth Games Baton Relay. Our country of focus was South Africa and the children did some amazing activites about this wonderful country on the day. The baton has now been passed on to Ramridge Primary School.

Thanks to all the adults involved who helped make these events happen for the young people at Wigmore.

Thank you

The children are thoroughly enjoying our new play equipment in school. Thank you to all families who are keeping the children off this equipment before and after school.

It was national Thank a Teacher Day on Thursday in school. It is my belief that anyone who chooses to work in an education setting is a teacher. Thank you to all those staff who do their best every single day to make sure the young people at Wigmore have access to the best possible education. The adults at Wigmore are in a very privileged position to make a difference to the lives of the young people we work with. If you see them today please offer your thanks. Something as small as a thank you can go a long way! Showing gratitude is so important.

Passport to the World 

Last week Year 5 had an amazing afternoon to launch the beginning of their new unit of work. Thank you to the staff who organised this and to the staff at Easyjet for being so well prepared and organised to make learning magical for the children.

Anglo Saxon Day in Year 4

Well done to the children and staff in Year 4 for taking part and organising a great themed day of learning linked to Anglo Saxons.

Jubilee Picnic Lunch

Thank you to the staff who organised a fantastic picnic lunch for the children on Wednesday of this week. Unfortunately the great British weather played a part and we had to consume the delights on offer indoors but fingers crossed we will all be able to celebrate this wonderful milestone with family and friends in better weather over the half term break.

Creating mathematicans!

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet with Mr Quinton – Headteacher of Caroline Haslett Primary in Milton Keynes. It was a productive morning of collaboration with an outstanding Headteacher of an outstanding school. We visited different classes and looked at different children’s books and look forward to implementing further improvements to maths in September. Wigmore have been working with the Enigma Maths Hub and this visit was extremely beneficial.

Key Stage 1 assessments

Well done to the children in Year 2 have recently completed their end of year assessments. Their willingness to do their best makes me very proud. The children make progress in so many different ways and these assessments are just one way of measuring this. Thank you to the teachers for organising these.

SEN Coffee Morning

Thank you to the parents and carers who attended our recent SEN Coffee Morning. Your feedback is vital in the school improvement process. Huge thanks to Mrs Willis who organised this opportunity to converse with parents and carers.

PC Sally Simmonds visits Wigmore

Thank you to Bedfordshire Police for visiting the school on Monday to talk to the children about a range of different themes linked to keeping themselves safe. Next half term we hope to have the fire service visiting. The best way to keep children safe and well is by educating them.

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

475 (Week beginning 23.5.22) children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.9% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

I hope everyone has a safe and restful Jubilee half term!

With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,

Mr Johnston

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been an amazing few weeks in school. The children have been thoroughly engaged in some challenging learning experiences and are working incredibly hard. I have seen a number of children from different classes with some amazing examples of their learning and it is at these times when I feel very fortunate to work at Wigmore. The children are amazing!

Many thanks to the staff for creating some amazing learning opportunities for the children. My highlights coming from the classrooms include:

Foundation

I understand from speaking to the children that they have had a few animal visitors which has resulted in some very pleasing writing. A tiger attended a special tea and little Maggie popped in for an afternoon to help Mr Johnston answer some very challenging questions the children had designed.

Year 1

The children in Year 1 have been busy learning about different groups of animals and have been able to use different scientific language to classify them. They have also been sketching different animals and we definitely have a number of amazing artists in Year 1. They have clearly been inspired by some of the staff who are also very good at art. Great work everyone!

Year 2

The children in Year 2 have been learning about the seaside and have been able to articulate their understanding of what it is like now and what is was like in the past. I have also seen some amazing writing on one of England’s most famous seaside towns – Blackpool. Well done to everyone in Year 2!

Year 3

I have had the opportunity to work with different classes in Year 3 over the last couple of weeks and they impress me every time. Their learning in Science has been a real standout. The work they are completing is always of a high standard and they respond very well to the high expectations that are set. Their skills in computing using our Purple Mash scheme has been very motivating.

Year 4

The scientists in Year 4 have also been enjoying their learning about the habitats of different animals. The children can articulate the names of different habitats and are looking forward to learning more on this topic over the coming weeks. I have been particularly impressed with their understanding of how decimals work. They will be experts when managing adding up totals of decimals.

Year 5

I have been very pleased to hear the children talk to me about their learning in PSHCE. The children have been learning body image and the importance of positive phrasing when thinking about our own bodies and never making negative judgements about others. This is an important life skill and links very well to some of our values of the month. The way they are recording their learning has been impressive and the discussions they have had have been sensible and sensitive.

Year 6

Huge well done to Year 6 for showing great skills of perseverance and determination to take on the challenge of end of Key Stage assessments with a smile on their face. The whole Year 6 team have worked incredibly hard in the lead up to these assessments and have made progress throughout the year in so many different ways. They are an excellent example for future Year 6 classes.

The Back Page

It has been great to see so many children accessing high quality PE lessons and a range of amazing after school activities that are on offer.

We have also had children take part in different competitive events such as Quadkids Athletics at Stockwood Park for some of our Year 1 and 2 athletes and a Golf Festival at Queen Elizabeth School. Both events saw the children perform admirably.

Thank you to the staff who work incredibly hard to make these memories for the children at Wigmore.

Best Ever Eid Bazaar

Huge thanks to all those who attended and helped organise our Eid Bazaar that took place last Friday after school. It was one of those magical events that make you feel fortunate to be part of such a wonderful school community. There was an amazing buzz of laughter and fun coming from the school field. The school community raised an amazing £1501.66 from this event. This total makes it the best ever Eid Bazaar at Wigmore! The money raised will be used to develop more active opportunities for the children at playtime and lunchtimes.

New Playground Equipment

This week the children have been provided with all the relevant information and timetabling of a new playground equipment. The equipment will be in use from next week. It is an exciting time for the children but in order to keep all children safe while using it it is essential that rules are shared and adequate supervision is provided. The children and staff are aware of these measures. It is essential that no children use the equipment before or after school as usage at these times are not covered by school risk assessments and insurance. Children at Funtastic Club and children participating in school clubs that are run by Wigmore staff can use the equipment.

This is just the beginning! We have plans for more playground developments so watch this space over the coming months.

Active children are happy children. Keep climbing!

Phonics workshop

Huge thanks to the parents and carers in Year 1 who attended the phonics workshop last week. We hope you found the session informative and practical in order to support your child with their learning at home in phonics. Thanks to Mr White for his expertise and organisation of the session and to all others who contributed to it.

Parents Evening for Pine and Hazel Class

Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended important progress updates in school last week for these classes and many thanks for your flexibility with attending the new date. We hope you found these meetings helpful.

Sharing assemblies for Hawthorn and Poplar

Over the last two weeks the back of the small and large hall have been filled with parents and carers joining us in school for two sharing assemblies lead by Year 4 Hawthorn and Year 1 Poplar. We hope this provided you with an insight into some of the things the children have been learning in school. Thank you to the children for sharing their learning with confidence and for the staff for preparing them so well.

Writing project with Stopsley Primary School

Next week sees the beginning of an exciting two weeks in school in order to develop creative and engaging writing opportunities for the children. Children across the school will be focusing on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood. At the same time our colleagues at Stopsley Primary will be doing the same with their children. We have had a number of staff visit Stopsley for planning sessions over the last few weeks and I am very much looking forward to seeing the outcomes of children’s writing at the end of the two weeks. Thanks to the staff at both Stopsley and Wigmore for taking on this collaborative project with great enthusiasm and passion. Great planning leads to great learning!

Helen Rollason Cancer Charity Cake Sale

Thank you to all those who contributed to the cake sale that is taking place this afternoon to raise money for this great charity. As previously mentioned this is a charity that is very important to me as I commence training preparation for the London Marathon in October. I have currently raised approximately £1600 and am hoping to nudge the £2000 mark with the cake sale. Your support is most appreciated.

Mathletics awards 

Congratulations to the following individual and class for making the most of Mathletics at home to support their learning.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a wonderful two weeks in school with so many exciting things happening in and out of the classroom. It was great to have so many parents and carers in school this week for parents evening. Thank you to the teachers for preparing well for these.

Our office staff and teaching team also did an amazing job organising some Mother’s Day gifts and cards for all those who celebrated this special day on the weekend. Thanks to all who contributed to this.

Do take some time to have a look at the individual class blogs on our school website to provide that springboard into conversations about learning with your child. Thank you to the staff for their efforts this term and for keeping these up-to-date regularly.

Ramadan

A number of our families and staff will commence observing the holy month of Ramadan during the school holidays. I would like to take this opportunity to wish them a blessed month.

The Big Walk and Wheel

Thank you to all those who made a concerted effort to walk, cycle or scoot to school over the last two weeks. Wigmore is currently leading the way with this locally and it is important that this effort to travel actively is maintained over the Summer term. Huge thanks to Mr Marshall and Miss Williams for promoting and leading this initiative so well.

The Back Page

Trampolining festivals, SEN Sports Festivals, Outdoor and Adventurous Activity Festivals, Swimming Galas and the usual access to high quality PE lessons have resulted in a busy two weeks for a number of different children across the school. So much hard work and dedication behind the scenes make these things happen for the children. Thanks to Mr Marshall, Miss Williams and Mr Addison for organising these wonderful opportunities. The photos below relay demonstrate excellence and enjoyment in PE which is such an important part of the curriculum.

Year 3 and 4 Production – Jill and Fred’s Hysterical Historical Adventure 

This week children from across the school had the pleasure of seeing the above production at Wigmore. We also had two huge audiences of family in school for performances on Tuesday and Wednesday. The standard of acting, singing and narrating was very high. It was great to see the children being so confident and projecting their voices clearly with expression, intonation and pace. Their comedy timing on some of the lines was also brilliant. An impressive effort from every child in Year 3 and 4!

Thank you to the parents who supported the children so well with their encouragement and response from the audience. The costumes were fantastic and ticket sales were supported so well. It is clear that the children were also supported so well with learning their lines at home which always leads to a pleasing performance.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff that were involved in putting this together. The list of jobs to do for a production of such high quality is endless – props, stage management, setting up/packing away, lighting, music, auditions, rehearsals, tickets, programmes, creative vision, high expectations, encouragement, challenge, keeping the children motivated and many other things. Well done to all involved!

Sing-and-dance-a-thon

It was great to see the children and staff in non-uniform and dressed up for the above event in school this Thursday. Thank you to all the parents and carers who have supported the school with sponsoring the children for this event. All proceeds raised will be used to further support and develop the music curriculum at Wigmore. Thank you to the efforts of Mrs Lim, Mr White and Miss Burns for coordinating this.

Thank you

Thank you to to the family of Archie (Year 2) who have donated a bird stand/feeder to set up in school. The children will get a lot of enjoyment out of this in school, as will the local wildlife.

Wigmore Wins Easter Egg Design Competition

One of our Year 3 Willow class pupils managed to win a local art competition and the prize he was awarded was £100 worth of WH Smith vouchers to be used by our school. A super effort for some great art work which all the children at Wigmore will benefit from.

Use of play equipment before and after school

Last week I sent out a reminder message to all parents about keeping off the play equipment before and after school. Thank you to those families who have been following this important message.

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

485 (Week beginning 21.3.22) children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.8% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all our families who will be celebrating with friends and families over the holiday period.

Best wishes and farewell 

Best wishes to our staff who are departing Wigmore at the end of this term. The positive impact you have had on the children and staff at Wigmore was evidenced in our final Celebration Assembly this morning in school.

With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,

Mr Johnston

Dear Parents and Carers,

A busy few weeks in school has seen many different amazing things happening across the curriculum. Talking to children about their learning is always the highlight of my week. The children are always willing to put their hand up and share their experiences when I visit the classrooms. Their eagerness and positive attitude is a credit to the school. Thank you to the staff for creating these opportunities for the young people at Wigmore. My highlights are listed below:

Year 6

In Maths the children have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes and angles. They have also been writing some fantastic discussion texts on whether children should be spies. The teachers have a very thorough schedule in place in class for children to revise some of the key learning concepts they will need to ensure they are well-prepared for end of Key Stage assessments in May.

For World Book Day the children in Year 6 also wrote some fantastic stories which they have collated and put in an amazing folder to share with parents, carers and their peers over the next few weeks. The standard of work is reflective of the high expectations in this year group.

Year 5

The scientists have been thoroughly enjoying their learning about space in science. The children have also been writing some amazing action scenes involving a monster and a warrior. The children have relished the challenge of learning about fractions and have been able to articulate this learning well. The children in Oak Class did a great job sharing their music learning about The Fresh Prince of Belair. We are fortunate to have Mr Cadger with us at the moment completing his teacher training who is making a valuable contribution to learning, teaching and assessment in Year 5.

Year 4

The children have been enjoying reading and writing about the character of Jack from the book The Tunnel. They have been writing some fantastic diary entries. The scientists have been enjoying their learning about different states of matter. In PE the children have been learning different skills in gymnastics and can use some of the key vocabulary from this unit of work very well. Miss Sultana (Trainee Teacher), Miss Jenkins and Mrs Munkley have been doing a contributing to learning, teaching and assessment in Year 4.

Year 3

The practical element of science is engaging the children in Year 3. They have been learning about magnets and forces and enjoyed sharing their learning about their friction investigation. Grandpa’s Teeth has been an amusing story the children have enjoyed to base their writing on. They have also been captivated by their reading of The Boy at the Back of the Classroom, a moving story about a refugee.

Year 2

The scientists in Year 2 have been investigating what plants need to grow. They have set up a very interesting test in Year 2 which will hopefully answer all the questions they have. The children have also been writing a report based on The Storm Owl and have thoroughly enjoyed guided reading activities based on the The Diary of a Killer Cat.

Year 1

The mathematicians in Year 1 have been learning about greater than, less than and the importance of partitioning numbers. Their learning in science has focused on their understanding of the seasons and they can use a good range of vocabulary to describe the seasons and spot the signs of change. Handa’s Suprise was performed very well by Yew Class in their sharing assembly.

Foundation 

Growing and changing is the theme for learning in early years at the moment. The children have been growing beans, learning about Jack and the Beanstalk and have been able to talk about how their bodies are growing and changing. The children are always friendly and willing to talk about their learning. They have also recently started to use the dining hall at lunchtimes and this is going very well.

The Back Page 

It has been great to see a number of different photos on our Wigmore Primary PE twitter feed of a range of different girls enjoying the “This Girl Can” sports festivals at Inspire.

A number of children have also taken part in the Cross Country relay festivals and Wigmore did very well at this achieving a number of medals in different age groups with first place in the Year 6 boys, Year 6 mixed and Year 5 girls. Third place was also achieved in the Year 5 boys and Year 6 girls.

Some of our children in Key Stage 1 also took part in a tennis festival at Venue 360.

Combine all of the above with some regular high-quality PE sessions, access to after school clubs and the children at Wigmore are definitely reaping the benefits of regular physical activity.

Thank you to all involved who have made these events happen for the children.

Year 3 and 4 Production 

There is nothing better than the sound of music and sight of acting in school. The children in Year 3 and 4 have been working incredibly hard to prepare for their production which they will share with the rest of the school community in the final week of term. Thank you to the staff for all their hard work with the children and to the children for their willingness to take part.

Parents Evening 

The online booking system for parents evening will go live at 3 pm on Monday 21st March and will close on Friday 25th March at 3 pm. Our parents evening will take place in your child’s classroom on Tuesday 29th March (3:45 pm to 7:00 pm) and Wednesday 30th March (3:45 pm to 5:30 pm). We look forward to welcoming you into school for this opportunity to meet with the teachers and have a look through your child’s books to see what they have been learning.

The Big Walk and Wheel 

Thank you to those parents who consistently use the Asda Car Park at school drop off and pick up time. It is these families that are playing their part to keep arrival and departure times at school safe and calm for all members of our school community. Unfortunately we still have a number of parents who ignore our regular requests and this is very disappointing. Unfortunately I was unwell with Covid-19 last week and was unable to provide my regular reminders. On Monday in school we start “The Big Pedal and Big Walk” and would like to encourage all families to walk, scoot or cycle to and from school. Journeys are logged and Wigmore has been consistent winners of this event for the past 5 years so it shows that with a concerted effort amazing things can happen.

World Down Syndrome Awareness Day 

Wigmore is a wonderfully inclusive school and on Monday we are asking children to wear odd socks to school to celebrate inclusion. Mrs Willis has kindly shared information with the class teachers and the children will be doing some focused learning on the importance of inclusion in class on this day. Thank you to Mrs Willis, the staff and all the families that will be helping us mark this day. No donation is required to take part in this.

Developing responsibility at Wigmore 

Thank you to the following children from Year 5 who arrive in school every day early to assist with different jobs around the school.

Gabriela and Holly – Fruit monitors

Jacob, Adem and Callum – Milk monitors

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

Give Me Ten 

Well done to the following children and their families for working hard to ensure they are reading regularly at home. All these children have been given a special shout in Celebration Assembly and a certificate from their class teacher. Keep up the good work!

Friday 11th March

Friday 18th March

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

502 (Week beginning 7.3.22) and  (Week beginning 14.3.22) children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.8% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

Staffing update 

At the end of this term Mrs Porteous-Heath will be leaving Wigmore to commence a new role at a school a lot closer to where she lives in London. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her almost 6 years of dedication to the children, staff and governing body at Wigmore.

Since the beginning of this academic year Mrs Roula has been working at Wigmore in a range of different roles and during the Summer term she will be taking on the responsibility for leading teaching, learning and assessment in Year 1 Poplar.

On the last day of this term we will also be saying farewell and best wishes to Mrs Chavda who is moving on to a new challenge of teaching in a middle school in Central Bedfordshire. Mrs Chavda has been at Wigmore in a range of different roles since 1999: class teacher, head of year, Assistant Head and Deputy Head. She has mentored new teachers sharing her knowledge of teaching, learning and assessment. Her commitment and service to the Wigmore community has been a positive one. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for these years of dedication.

The governors and staff have been working hard behind the scenes and have appointed a new Deputy Headteacher who will be starting at Wigmore for one day a week in the first half of the Summer term and full time in the second half of the Summer term. It is an exciting opportunity and challenge I have no doubt that our new Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Willis (currently an Assistant Head and who also worked previously at Wigmore as Acting Deputy Headteacher from September 2020 to April 2021) has the ability to make a significant difference to all members of our school community.

With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,

Mr Johnston

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a busy fortnight in school and everyone has been working incredibly hard. Please take a moment to have a look at your child’s year group blog. This will give you a good flavour of what has been happening in the classroom and what is coming up. Thank you to the teachers for putting these important learning updates together.

There have been some amazing things happening in and around school and I have included some of the highlights below. I have also passed on 99 notes of thanks to members of staff across the school. Your messages of gratitude mean a lot to so many. It is very important to be grateful as it helps create a positive climate across the school.

RSPB Big School Bird Watch 

This week the whole school had the chance to to take part in lunch time activities for the Big School Bird Watch (Liaba, Aisvanya and Aswika helped Mrs Chavda). The aim was to count how many birds landed on site within a 15 minute window. The children and adults took bird seed and binoculars out and followed the bird watching code carefully. Each day different year groups went out and Mrs Chavda took an average which she will be sending off to the RSPB.  So many children wanted to take part in Year 5, so Mrs Chavda trained 12 children up and they explained to their class and then each class went out in the afternoon – so all of year 5 were involved!

In a 15 minute window the following was seen :

Children from across the school were involved in important learning on Tuesday linked to staying safe on-line. There are some amazing examples of children’s learning on our school Twitter feed @WigmorePrimary . Huge thanks to the teachers for planning these and for the expert input from our Computing Subject Leaders – Mr Pateman and Miss Peacock.

Children’s Mental Health Week

Today children and staff across the school donned bright clothing and completed some important learning in class linked to developing positive mental health.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee offers some helpful advice to us all on practical things we can do to ensure positive well-being and resilience as this can help towards having positive mental health.

Relax

• Have some “me” time everyday
• Have plenty of time away from screens and devices
• Keep a gratitude journal
• Have one meal per day around the table and away from a screen
• Practice stillness

Eat well

• De normalise sugar and re train your taste buds
• Eat 5 portions of different coloured fruit and vegetables every day
• Drink 8 glasses of water every day
• Eat less processed food
• Eat all your food in a 12 hour window

Move

• Walk as much as you can
• Exercise regularly – strength training and high intensity exercise
• Connect mind, body and breath through exercise such as yoga
• Get up and move every 30 minutes

Sleep

• Create an environment of absolute darkness
• Spend at least 20 minutes in the fresh air of a morning
• Create a bedtime routine
• Manage activity before bedtime
• Consume caffeine before midday

Chinese New Year Assembly

Earlier this week Mrs Chavda led an assembly on Chinese New Year. The children were so mature and during the reflection they came up with some amazing wishes for the future. Max in Yr 1 Rowan Class helped with assembly by explaining how his Grandad, who used to live in Singapore, always sends him a letter and some information on Chinese New Year. He was very grown up and spoke very well.

Some of the things the children came up with included:

• To reconcile with enemies
• To end hunger
• To end poverty
• Education for all

The Back Page

Well done to the Year 5 children who represented Wigmore so well at the Multi Skills Festival at Inspire last week. The photos on the the PE Twitter Feed @WigmorePe show the children enjoying a range of different sports.

Congratulations to Harley and Oliver (Year 5) who took part in the County Cross Country Finals at Ampthill Park this week. They did an amazing job competing against the best athletes in the county finishing in the top 20! Great effort!

Huge thanks to Mr Marshall, Miss Williams and Mr Addison for their contributions to organising these opportunities for the young people at Wigmore.

Thank you NHS

On a personal note I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff who have been ensuring the school continues to make progress as a learning community over the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately I had appendicitis the weekend before last and required emergency surgery early last week to have my appendix removed and had an infection stemming from this. I know some of our parents and carers work for the NHS and all the staff I have interacted with during my time in hospital and during my recovery at home have been exceptional. The NHS are amazing! Nothing was ever a problem and the service I had was outstanding. I take my hat off to all our NHS workers. I am looking forward to returning to school after half term.

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

Loyalty award winners for the month of January

Our value of the month for January was loyalty and these children displayed this value consistently in the classroom and on the playground.

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

496 (Week beginning 7.2.22)  children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.5% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

With thanks for your continued support,

Mr Johnston

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. It seems as though the month of January has flown by!

The children have been very busy in school and have been learning some amazing things in and out of the classroom. The teachers have updated their relevant class blogs which will provide some information on what has been happening in the classroom and what is coming up. We hope you find the class blogs provide you with a springboard into some conversations about what your child has been learning in school. The children’s willingness to learn and try new things is an excellent example for us all.  Thank you to the teachers for taking the time to put these together to celebrate what is happening in school.

I have been particularly impressed with the children’s bravery in school. Last Wednesday we had a team from the NHS to administer flu vaccinations in school and the children were all very calm and approached this with a positive attitude.

Last Thursday I was involved in a very productive meeting with staff from Wigmore and Stopsley School. We have some exciting things planned that will be taking place in the Summer term which we hope will help improve standards of children’s writing at both schools. It is important to collaborate with other schools in order to try new and exciting things that will have a positive impact on learning.

The children have also had their individual and sibling photos taken in school on Wednesday. Thank you to the office staff for organising this big task.

The Back Page

Well done to the children in Key Stage 1 who took part in a Multi Skills Festival at Inspire on Wednesday. The children returned to school with smiles on their faces and represented Wigmore so well. Thanks to those who organised this wonderful opportunity.

Outdoor learning for Year 5 and 6 every Thursday is organised and led by Mrs Clark. It is amazing to see and hear about the children working so well together. Huge thanks to Mrs Clark for organising this active, fun and purposeful afternoon for diifferent classes every Thursday. Well done to the winning classes!

Year 5 Oak

Year 6 Birch

Staffing update

Welcome to Miss Welcome who has joined the Wigmore team as a teaching assistant this week. She is a former pupil at Wigmore who will be huge asset to the team.

London Marathon 2022

On a personal note on 2nd October I will be taking part in the London Marathon to raise much needed funds for the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity. The governors have given me permission to hold a fundraising event or two in school during the Summer term. On Friday 29th April there will be a cake sale at the end of the school day and it would be great if you could support this with donations of cakes and bakes to sell after school. The finer details of this will be sent out nearer the time.

The Helen Rollason Cancer Charity provide complimentary therapies and counselling support for cancer patients with different types of cancer, at different stages, whether newly diagnosed or longer term. They have support centres for the patients and their primary carers across North London and Essex.

Unfortunately we will all know family members or friends who have been impacted in so many different ways by cancer. Their bravery and struggle is real and I want to do something which might help them in some way. After completing my first half marathon in 2021 I feel like a new challenge in 2022 and I will be running the distance in memory of those who have battled or are battling with determination and humility. I will be running in memory of my father in law – Andy, sadly he is no longer with us but his energy and enthusiasm for the teaching profession and life in general was inspirational. He was a great person and an exceptional teacher.

Mr Addison has kindly volunteered his services to set up a training programme that will probably be slightly tougher than the half marathon. I know that we have a number of members of our school community who are keen runners who have taken part in the London Marathon before so if they have any tips do not hesitate to stop for a chat.

Give Me Ten Milestone Magic

Well done to the following children and the adults who are supporting them so well with their regular reading at home.

Year 6 Birch

Gold award

Stefania

Ruby award

Alex, Emily, Erin, Grace, Hansitha, Jack, Jake, Maleeha, Max, Natalie, Tailen, Victor.

House Points

The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!

The Gold Book

Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.

ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!

492 (Week beginning 17.1.22) and 474 (Week beginning 24.1.22)  children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. This is the number of children who have been in school every day since the beginning of the term.

At Wigmore we have to aim to be here every day! Excellent attendance is 97% or above. There are strong links between good attendance and good progress in school, both academically and socially.

Attendance for this school year at Wigmore stands at 93.7% which is slightly above the national average. At Wigmore we do not want to be slightly better than average – we want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%.

Lateness = lost learning!

Days off school = lost learning!

With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,

Mr Johnston