Dear Parents and Carers,
The children have settled in well and are responding positively to the high expectations set by their class teachers. I continue to be impressed by their excellent conduct in school and earlier this week I had a very good look through a number of children’s books and many of them are showing a real pride in the work they are completing.
Thank you to the parents and carers who have attended our Welcome Meetings in the hall this week. I have attended most of these meetings in order to deliver some key messages to families about the importance of reading at home and ensuring everyone understands the high expectations we have to have to improve attendance and punctuality. Well done to the staff for preparing and delivering these informative sessions.
Thank you to the parents, carers and staff who also attended a short meeting about getting the Friends of Wigmore back up and running to ensure we can raise much needed funds to develop the outdoor areas that your children will benefit from at school. By working together great things can happen! Stay tuned for further information on our Fun Run that is taking place on October 21st, this information will go out next week.
The best part of the week is always talking to children about their learning. Some highlights in different year groups this week include:
Foundation
This group of children have just completed their first full week at Wigmore. They have settled in extremely well and are getting used to the routines of the Foundation stage. All children are interacting well with one another and there are plenty of smiles to be seen when you walk through the classrooms.
Year 1
Children in Year 1 have been working incredibly hard on their number formation and making sure they can work out one more and one less than a given number. They have been writing some amazing stories using their own ideas in a story soup. Their ideas are brilliant!
Year 2
I have been impressed with the high quality conversations the children have been having in maths. They have been able to prove how problems may have been solved incorrectly. The children have also devised some great questions they would like answered about the Great Fire of London. I look forward to seeing how this unit of work unfolds in light of their questioning.
Year 3
The children in Year 3 have been learning about the importance of using paragraphs in their writing. They have been working hard on developing their knowledge of place value in maths and are looking forward to starting their learning in Science on light. Year 3 are always confident when discussing their learning.
Year 4
The Romans have captivated the imagination of the children in Year 4. They have also been working hard on developing their place value knowledge in maths and are experts in rounding numbers to the nearest ten and hundred. The children have also been doing some coding in Computing and have thoroughly enjoyed developing new skills.
Year 5
The scientists in Year 5 have started their work on materials and have been posing some very interesting questions to investigate. Their class text, The Wreck of Zanzibar, has been a favourite and the children are developing different skills in order to be fluent, strong readers. They are all working hard to develop interesting vocabulary to use in their writing.
Year 6
Our Year 6 children are full of enthusiasm for learning and enjoy conversing about what they have been doing in class. As a result, I will need a list:
- Understanding the four operations in maths;
- Learning about the Ancient Greeks in History;
- Being amused by the poem “Into the Lair of Baron Jugula” by Brian Moses;
- Completing some amazing self portraits in Art;
- Reading different texts to develop their fluency, vocabulary and understanding – The Spiderwick Chronicles and There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom are two of their favourites.
Our Value of the month of September is Determination
Around school this week the children have been learning about the importance of determination. It has been great to look through a number of children’s books this week to see how determined children are to achieve their personal best in the way they present their work. They are showing a real pride in what they are doing in their books. In assembly the following clip was used as a stimulus to start discussions with the children:
What is determination | short film – YouTube
From the clip the children were able to recognise the need to work hard in order to achieve your dreams and goals. They also linked one of Wigmore’s Golden Expectations, We do our best and you need to do your best all the time in order to be determined. Learning about determination and hard work starts when children are young so they are resilient to the challenges they may face as they get older.
Thank you for your support with using the Asda Car Park before and after school
I am determined to ensure that all our children and their families have the opportunity to arrive and depart school safely by keeping the zig zag lines and yellow lines clear around the top of Twyford Drive. The number of families I am having to speak to about parking has decreased and a number of parents have commented positively on how less congested it is around school. Even when it is raining…please use the Asda Car Park or choose active travel options to and from school.
The Gold Book
Well done to the following children who have been in the Gold Book over the last two weeks.
| Class | 10.9.21 | 17.9.21 |
| Acorns (Reception) | NA | Mihir |
| Conkers (Reception) | NA | Hunter |
| Pine (Reception) | NA | Vlademir |
| Poplar (Year 1) | Ella | Jake |
| Rowan (Year 1) | Ellis | Alex |
| Yew (Year 1) | Jesse | Jessica |
| Aspen (Year 2) | Faith | Luke |
| Hazel (Year 2) | Wojciech | Ryan |
| Juniper (Year 2) | Ajay | Romaine |
| Elm (Year 3) | Daniel | Josiah |
| Maple (Year 3) | Ethan | Yakub |
| Willow (Year 3) | Temitola | Bailey |
| Beech (Year 4) | Callum | Tahira |
| Hawthorn (Year 4) | Ioan | Tashla |
| Linden (Year 4) | Toby | Amy |
| Holly (Year 5) | Dyllan | Henrique |
| Lime (Year 5) | Dylan | Hamza |
| Oak (Year 5) | Mercedes | Harry |
| Alder (Year 6) | Ayah | Adam |
| Ash (Year 6) | John | Arham |
| Birch (Year 6) | Hansitha | Tailen |
House Points
The children have been working incredibly hard in class collecting House Points for their teams.
| Week beginning | Aviators | Brewers | Mechanics | Plaiters |
| 3rd September | 176 | 205 – WINNERS! | 197 | 136 |
| 13th September | 409 | 512 | 522 – WINNERS! | 320 |
This week we have also presented our House Captain and Vice House Captains with their badges in assembly.
Aviators – Camelia (C) and Milosz (VC)
Brewers – Alex (C) and Aswika (VC)
Mechanics – Jake (C) and Lily (VC)
Plaiters – Grace (C) and Jacob (VC)
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Public Holiday 2022
As you will be aware, an additional bank holiday has been announced for 3rd June 2022 for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Department for Education (DfE) have laid regulations to reduce the minimum number of sessions schools are required to meet in the academic year 2021/22 as a result of this additional bank holiday.
Schools have been asked to identify another day of ‘holiday’ elsewhere in the year on which staff will not be required to work.
As a result, Monday 6th June will be the day when the school will be closed to children.
Attend to Achieve! Be in to win!
Children across the country have had extended periods of time off school over the last 18 months due to national lockdowns and periods of self-isolation. The Department for Education guidance is clear that school attendance is mandatory and this year, more than any other year, we have to make a concerted effort to be on time and in school daily. We have to work hard together to make this happen as we all know that school is the best place for children to learn.
Our Attendance Wheel of Fortune weekly prize giving has started so be in to win some of our great prizes.
| Class | From 3.9.21 | Comment | WB 13.9.21 | Comment |
| Acorns (Reception) | NA | 95.7% | Must improve! | |
| Conkers (Reception) | NA | 98.7% | Outstanding! | |
| Pine (Reception) | NA | 93.1% | Must improve! | |
| Poplar (Year 1) | 97.2% | Outstanding! | 96.9% | Almost there! |
| Rowan (Year 1) | 96.5% | Almost there! | 99% | Outstanding! |
| Yew (Year 1) | 97.2% | Outstanding! | 94% | Must improve! |
| Aspen (Year 2) | 97.1% | Outstanding! | 93.6% | Must improve! |
| Hazel (Year 2) | 97% | Outstanding! | 94.6% | Must improve! |
| Juniper (Year 2) | 94.3% | Must improve! | 93.2% | Must improve! |
| Elm (Year 3) | 92.3% | Must improve! | 92.7% | Must improve! |
| Maple (Year 3) | 95.3% | Must improve! | 95.3% | Must improve! |
| Willow (Year 3) | 90% | Must improve! | 96.1% | Almost there! |
| Beech (Year 4) | 97.4% | Outstanding! | 100% | WOW! |
| Hawthorn (Year 4) | 91.9% | Must improve! | 93.2% | Must improve! |
| Linden (Year 4) | 98.5% | WOW! | 100% | WOW! |
| Holly (Year 5) | 97.8% | Outstanding! | 95.1% | Must improve! |
| Lime (Year 5) | 97.6% | Outstanding! | 97.2% | Outstanding! |
| Oak (Year 5) | 97.8% | Outstanding! | 96.8% | Almost there! |
| Alder (Year 6) | 86.7% | Must improve! | 91.4% | Must improve! |
| Ash (Year 6) | 94.4% | Must improve! | 97.8% | Outstanding! |
| Birch (Year 6) | 90.6% | Must improve! | 91.1% | Must improve! |
| Whole school | 94.9% | Must improve! | 95.4% | Must improve! |
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 |
Let’s keep working hard to improve attendance and punctuality at Wigmore. Every lesson, every minute, every day counts!
With thanks for your continued support,
Mr D Johnston
Headteacher
