Rays of Hope for a Brighter Future

The last 2 weeks have all been about ‘togetherness’ in school and we have been taking part in a project called ‘Rays of Hope for a Brighter Future’.  The weeks explore our feelings about lockdown and the positives that have come from it – our creative responses will be a positive way to always remember what we all went through.  The class blogs will share what each year group has been up to.  Our learning has been supported by artists and we have really enjoyed expressing our thoughts and emotions through art and different media.

You should now have received your letter to book a parents’ evening online.  We are having a few teething problems with the system linking to our SIMS in school.  If you are struggling please email office@watercliffe.sheffield.sch.uk and one of the team will get back to you.

On Monday 28^th September 2020 we joined over 1,000,000 students and educators and watched  The Big Anti-Bullying Assembly 2020! If you would like to watch it, follow the link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0_1Z0CAZiE&t=290s or search for The Big Anti-Bullying Assembly 2020.  We all took the pledge to work together to stop bullying and what we can do to help.   We spoke about who would be in our support network if we needed help.  We will follow this work up in November as we do every year by taking part in the anti-bullying alliance anti bullying week.  The theme for Anti-Bullying Week 2020 is: United Against Bullying. Anti-Bullying Week will happen from Monday 16th – Friday 20th November and will start with Odd Socks Day to mark the first day of Anti-Bullying Week.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome everyone back to WCM for the start of a new school year.  Well, who would have thought  back in March what the last term of the 2019/20 year would have in store for us? 

We would also like to welcome any new families to the school, if there is anything you need to know, just ask, staff will always be happy to help.

It has been so lovely in school over the last few days.  Having all the children back and listening to the times and experiences they have shared with families has been a delight. 

We want to make WCM the best place possible for your children to attend but we can only do that with your help and support.  We recognise that not being able to come into school with your child is one of the most difficult things that we have to put in place.  It is hard but following the guidelines to keep everyone safe if something we know you will support us with.  

Keeping communication open between home and school will be essential if we are going to support your child’s learning.  If you can’t catch the class teacher at the start or end of the day there are several ways you can get in touch:

• Ring and leave a message
• Call to the office and leave a message
• Email office@watercliffe.sheffield.sch.uk
• Send a message on Messenger
• Catch Mr Read, Mrs Bradley or someone from the office outside in the morning.

We recognise that for many families this is a difficult time and we want to do all we can to keep everyone safe and rebuild and repair the damage done when COVID came to town!

The report from OfSTED was sent out with the Green Un and there is a link yo it above. We are very proud of the report and especially proud of your children who showed just how amazing they all are, the way they spoke about their learning warmed our hearts. If you have any questions about the report please call in to ask us. Attendance was discussed in detail and we know this is something we need to improve on. If you have any ideas to share around this please call and see Claire Bradley. We will also continue our work around Read Write Inc, this has had an enormous impact but we want to get better still and make sure every child at WCM is able to read fluently.
Thank you to all the families, there were so many comments that were very moving and extremely supportive. Together we can make the children who walk through our door reach for the stars and truly show them that “the world is theirs!”

Sports Relief
On Friday 13th March we will be supporting Sports Relief in school, children can come dressed in sports kit with a 50p donation. This is not just football kits but can be any sport they may do as a hobby such as dancing or hockey. Throughout the week all children will complete a mile running or walking as part of their PE lesson.

As you will know we are now using Read Write Inc across school to teach children to read. All children from F1 to Y2 will take part in the programme and some children in Y3 & 4 who need additional support will also access aspects of the programme. If you need more information please see your child’s teacher or call and see Claire Bradley. There are also tutorial videos that you can watch on the Ruth Miskin website:
www.ruthmiskin.com
Select ‘Find out more’ at the top, then ‘Parents’ from the drop-down list.

What a great morning we had Wednesday with children’s author Neil Griffiths in school. First, he did a session with parents then worked alongside children across school. Meeting an author as enthusiastic about reading as Neil is a great way to encourage our children to develop a love of reading and we hope the parent session gave some great tips to help with reading at home. If you have any questions about the messages from Neil please come and ask someone in school. We truly believe…
There is no such thing as a child who hates to read, there are only children who have not found the right book!

Parent View
We will be asking you to complete a paper copy of the OFSTED Parent View Questionnaire. This is to allow us to look at your thoughts and opinions about aspects of school and see where we can make improvements to the service we provide. Any completed questionnaire will earn you a voucher for Tuck Shop. They will be available in your child’s class or on the main reception.

Due to popular demand we are having a Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 20th December. If you wish to make a donation to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, there will be buckets in reception. Please note you can either come in a Christmas jumper or normal school uniform.