Dear Parents and Carers,
Today is the last day of the academic year and with that comes my final blog for the year. There will be some families who have Summer plans to look forward to and some that may not. This month we have been promoting happiness as our value of the month – regardless of any plans or lack of plans you may have it is important that over the next 6 weeks that we find the little things that make us happy and start each day with a positive mindset, the children at Wigmore have provided us all with a range of excellent examples of doing this throughout this academic year.
This week has been very warm! In class the children have been learning about the importance of staying Sun Smart and being safe around water. I do hope they take this learning forward with them into the summer holidays in order to stay safe and well. Thank you to the teachers for preparing these important learning opportunities for the children.
The Stopsley team from Bedfordshire Fire Service also visited Year 2 and 3 to do some focused learning on fire safety. This week there have been some very dangerous fires and with summers likely to get hotter over the coming years it is so important that children understand the dangers of fire outside and inside. Thank you to the Fire Service team at Stopsley.
It has been a very busy and exciting end to the term at Wigmore. There have been so many amazing things happening in and out of the classrooms and everyone has been working incredibly hard to make the most of the opportunities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the children and staff for their hard work and to all the parents for their support.
The children return to school at 8:45 am on Monday 5th September. We look forward to welcoming them back.
Luton Library Summer Reading Challenge
In the last few weeks we have had staff from the Luton Library Service visiting assemblies to discuss the summer reading challenge. It would be great if all children made a concerted effort to keep up with regular reading over the Summer holidays. The Summer Reading Challenge can be a good way for parents and carers to help promote the importance of this.
Well done to all the children who joined me in the hall last Thursday afternoon for hot chocolate. It was great to see so many children reach some significant reading milestones. Research indicates that reading improves life chances. Well done to the parents and carers for supporting this initiative.
The Back Page
Well done to the children who recently took part in the Luton Town Athletics Finals. Thank you to the adults in school who always work incredibly hard to provide these opportunities for the children at Wigmore.
Last week we had a successful Sports Day organised by Mr Marshall and Miss Williams. We were blessed with fantastic weather and the children were kept busy and active throughout their time outside. The Young Leaders from Queen Elizabeth School and all staff did a great job leading the different stations for the children. It was great to see so many parents and carers in attendance supporting their children. The results from the 3 different parts of the school (Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2) are combined below, well done to the winning house.
1st place – Plaiters – 10483
2nd place – Mechanics – 10262
3rd place – Brewers – 9887
4th place – Aviators – 9415
Year 2 Aspen Year 3 Elm Class Assemblies
Thank you to the parents and carers who joined us in school for the class assemblies for Aspen and Elm class. These events are a good opportunity for the children to develop their speech, language and communication skills and share their learning with a captive audience. Thank you to the teachers for preparing the children well for these and to the parents and carers who provide the support at home with reading and memorising lines.
Transition Day
Most children have had the opportunity to spend time with their class teacher for next academic year over the last fortnight. The teaching staff have been busy communicating with one another in order to have a good working knowledge of the strengths and areas for development for each child so when they return in September we can hit the ground running to ensure your child continues to make progress in school and achieves their personal best.
SEN Coffee Morning
Thank you to Mrs Willis and all the parents and carers who attended our recent SEND coffee morning. We had our school Educational Psychologist share some information with the group and have coffee mornings planned for next academic year with guest speakers to share different important information. Information about these events will be on our school website and will be sent home to parents via our usual communication systems.
Enrichment
The children have been very fortunate to have been involved in a range of activities over the last half term at Wigmore. Their successes were celebrated in a special assembly last week. Thank you to Mrs Bainbridge and all the teachers who invested a considerable amount of time planning such amazing activities for the children.
Year 3 River Lea Visit and Hat Workshop
In the last few weeks children in Year 3 had a trip into the town centre to see some major works being completed to improve the local area. The children also had the opportunity to take part in a hat workshop led by The Culture Trust Luton. They have learnt so much about important local history. Thanks to Ryebridge and the Year 3 team for organising this opportunity.
Year 1 Forest School Activities
This week Year 1 have had a fun few days of completing a range of forest school activities. The children have enjoyed spending time and learning about the great outdoors. Thank you to Miss Peacock and the Year 1 team for organising this.
Year 6 Leavers
Our Year 6 children have been fantastic role models for learning throughout their time at Wigmore. Over the last few weeks they have celebrated their time with us at our school camp out, end of Year 6 assembly and disco. Thank you to the children for being fantastic at all of these events. Huge thanks must go to the adults who have organised these wonderful opportunities for our amazing Year 6 classes. Go forth with strength!
Teaching Talons visit Early Years
The children in early years were treated to an amazing visit full of interesting animals last week. The looks on their faces and excitement coming from the classrooms reinforced the children’s learning about animals. Thank you to all involved in organising this opportunity.
STRAW – Scarecrow Festival (Stopsley, Putteridge, Round Green and Wigmore)
This festival is taking place over August Bank holiday weekend. Last year the organisers had 56 people taking part and are hoping for even more this year. They had so many amazing scarecrows last time around and it would be great for the children and adults to use their imaginations to come up with even better ones this year. All proceeds from the festival are going to the Neonatal unit at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Keech Hospice. The organisers have developed a website this year https://www.strawscarecrow.
Year 3 Percussion Performance
WOW! Energy, enthusiasm, fun! This performance was exceptional. Huge thanks to the children, Billy from Luton Music Service and the teachers for entertaining a captivating audience last week.
Farewell and best wishes
On Thursday morning we said farewell to our Year 6 pupils who are moving onto secondary school – thank you for being such excellent role models for all members of our school community. To those families who have concluded their time with us at Wigmore we wish you all the very best for the future.
To those children and their families who are moving on to new schools in different parts of the UK and abroad thank you and best wishes for the future.
This morning in our final assembly of the year we also said goodbye and good luck to three members of staff.
Mr White is taking on the role of Co-Headteacher at Crawley Green Infants School. Since starting at Wigmore in 2019 he has made a number of positive contributions to improving standards in early years, key stage 1 and teaching word reading via Read Write Inc. His involvement in forming and implementing policy linked to remote learning has also been very helpful. We wish him all the very best for the next challenge in his career.
Mr Brady is relocating to the north of England. He has been at Wigmore since 2011 and has contributed positively to Year 6 and the development of maths across the school. He has been actively involved in leading Year 6 PE and his keen interest in running and active pursuits are an excellent example for the young people he works with. He is always willing to get involved in extra curricular opportunities that benefit the children. We wish him the very best for his move “back up north”.
Miss Peacock is leaving Wigmore to pursue her interests in forest schooling – the children at Wigmore have had the benefit of her sharing this expertise recently. She has been at Wigmore since 2013 teaching in Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 5 and has contributed to developing the computing curriculum. I also understand from my conversations with staff that her and her husband’s contribution to enrichment has been extremely valuable. Best wishes for the future.
House Points
The children have been working incredibly hard in school to earn points for their House!
| Week beginning | Aviators | Brewers | Mechanics | Plaiters |
| 4.7.22 | 391 | 343 | 415 – WINNERS! | 257 |
The Gold Book
Well done to the following children who were in the Gold Book last week.
| Class | WB 4.7.22 | WB 18.7.22 |
| Acorns (Reception) | Eveline | Whole Class |
| Conkers (Reception) | Anika | Whole Class |
| Pine (Reception) | Haajara | Whole Class |
| Poplar (Year 1) | LJ | Connie and the whole class |
| Rowan (Year 1) | Alex | Whole Class |
| Yew (Year 1) | Riley | Jesse and the whole class |
| Aspen (Year 2) | Jordan | Gabriel and the whole class |
| Hazel (Year 2) | Aahil | Whole Class |
| Juniper (Year 2) | Malina | Hayze and the whole class |
| Elm (Year 3) | Robert | Whole Class |
| Maple (Year 3) | Nikolasz | Whole Class |
| Willow (Year 3) | Danny | Whole Class |
| Beech (Year 4) | Sophia | Whole Class |
| Hawthorn (Year 4) | Albion | Whole Class |
| Linden (Year 4) | Joshua | Whole Class |
| Holly (Year 5) | Saleh | Whole Class |
| Lime (Year 5) | NA | Whole Class |
| Oak (Year 5) | Freddie | Whole Class |
| Alder (Year 6) | NA due to secondary school visits | Whole Class |
| Ash (Year 6) | NA due to secondary school visits | Whole Class |
| Birch (Year 6) | NA due to secondary school visits | Whole Class |
ATTEND TO ACHIEVE!
482 (Week beginning 4.7.22) children’s names were entered into our attendance “Wheel of Fortune” family prize draw. We also had a final prize draw for the 20 children who have been in school for every day of this academic year.
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. We want to be the best we can possibly be and reach our school target of 97%. We have to make a concerted effort next academic year in order to improve attendance and punctuality.
| Class | WB 4.7.22 | Comment | Whole year |
| Acorns (Reception) | 93.6% | Must improve! | 90.6% |
| Conkers (Reception) | 91.4% | Must improve! | 89.5% |
| Pine (Reception) | 97.2% | WOW! | 91.1% |
| Poplar (Year 1) | 96.6% | WOW! | 94% |
| Rowan (Year 1) | 94.5% | Must improve! | 94.1% |
| Yew (Year 1) | 94.4% | Must improve! | 90.2% |
| Aspen (Year 2) | 92.1% | Must improve! | 94.2% |
| Hazel (Year 2) | 93% | Must improve! | 93.8% |
| Juniper (Year 2) | 91.7% | Must improve! | 93.4% |
| Elm (Year 3) | 97.3% | Outstanding! | 95% |
| Maple (Year 3) | 91.3% | Must improve! | 94% |
| Willow (Year 3) | 96.3% | Almost there! | 94.6% |
| Beech (Year 4) | 97.9% | WOW! | 95% |
| Hawthorn (Year 4) | 94.3% | Must improve! | 94.6% |
| Linden (Year 4) | 93.4% | Must improve! | 94.8% |
| Holly (Year 5) | 94.3% | Must improve! | 93% |
| Lime (Year 5) | 95.9% | Almost there! | 93.5% |
| Oak (Year 5) | 90.2% | Must improve! | 95% |
| Alder (Year 6) | 93.9% | Must improve! | 93.3% |
| Ash (Year 6) | 90% | Must improve! | 94.3% |
| Birch (Year 6) | 95.4% | Must improve! | 93% |
| Whole school | 94% | Must improve! | 93.3% |
Lateness = lost learning!
| 5 minutes late every day | 3 days of learning lost |
| 10 minutes late every day | 6 and half days of learning lost |
| 15 minutes late every day | 2 weeks of learning lost |
| 20 minutes late every day | 19 days of learning lost |
Days off school = lost learning!
| 97% to 100% attendance | Excellent attendance! This is our goal! |
| 95% attendance | 10 days of learning lost per year |
| 90% attendance | 19 days of learning lost per year |
| 85% attendance | 29 days of learning lost per year |
| 80% attendance | 38 days of learning lost per year |
| 75% attendance | 47 days of learning lost per year |
With thanks for your continued support in the work we do with your children,
Mr Johnston
