Woodcroft Gains Highest Arts Award

We are delighted to announce that Woodcroft has been awarded an Artsmark Platinum Award, the highest accolade accredited by Arts Council England.

In the letter received last week from the Amanda Rigler,  Artsmark Award Senior Officer, she stated:

‘Your school was commended for the rich arts and cultural offer which has been established over the long term, with strong leadership and commitment across the school. The engagement of pupils and use of an Arts Charter ensures full inclusion (and) is innovative..’

Read in full our letter from Arts Council England by clicking here.

Well done pupils, staff and governors for their hard work promoting and participating in the Arts. Thank you to our parent and carer community for their support of our arts events and activities. Special credit goes to Miss Sherring, our AIM@Arts Leader, for her vision and direction in Arts development.

About Artsmark

Artsmark is the creative quality standard for schools, accredited by Arts Council England. It provides a clear framework for teachers to plan, develop and evaluate arts, culture and creativity across the curriculum and beyond. Find out more here…

We had three fantastic days of sport and games this week with every pupil from Nursery up to Year 6 taking part in their Olympic themed events. Take a look at the photographs below . Parents can also click on the links and use their password (sent via parent text) to access the gallery pages with many more photographs of the each day. Thank you to every family that came along to support us. Special thanks to Mr Patel and Mr Raw for organising the KS1 and KS2 events at Burnt Oak Leisure Centre, and to the Nursery staff for running their own event in school.

Monday: Nursery Sports

Click here for the Nursery Gallery

Tuesday: KS1 and Reception Sports

Click here for the KS1 and Reception Gallery

1C were so inspired by their sports day that they decided to make posters…

Wednesday: KS2 Sports

Click here for the KS2 Gallery

Woodcroft Win 2nd National Competition!

Jumping for joy – Make Your Move Winners 2017

On Sunday 2nd July Woodcroft’s Dance Team performed on the Indigo stage at The London 02 in The Grand  Final of the British Red Cross sponsored dance competition Dance: Make Your Move.

Woodcroft had already won the London regional heats back in February to earn their place in the Grand Final. Then. after a breathtaking performance of their routine, ‘ What Shakes us Won’t Break Us’, inspired by the Nepal earthquake of 2015, they were crowned overall WINNERS!

As well as another trophy for our cabinet, our dancers also won a first prize workshop with the Royal Academy of Dance. On the night, Rihanna (Y6), was also selected as the star performer from all competing schools and was awarded a summer scholarship with Pineapple Dance Studios!

What an amazing year our dancers have had. They have now won two national trophies and performed at three festivals. They must be congratulated on their dedication and passion!

Woodcroft Musicians Perform

On Thursday 29th June our strings musicians performed a wonderful concert for family and friends. Many of our performers had only begun leaning their instrument in September, so to play with such accomplished confidence was a real achievement. Well done to our BEAT tutors, Mrs McLean (violin) and Mrs Hooker (cello) for preparing the pupils so well. Special thanks must also be given to Ms Blyth who leads our senior ensemble, and to Ms Sherring, as always, our Music Leader.

We also had a special guest solo violin performance as one our ex-pupils, now studying at Copthall, joined us for the afternoon. It was good example for our younger musicians to see how their skills can develop with passion and determination.

Nursery had a wonderful day out at Willows Farm Park. After the trip Maida wrote a report. Click on the image to read about her favourite part of the farm.

Report by Maida

Nursery did lots of exciting things. Take a look below. The teachers had a good time too!

3rd Successive School Games Mark GOLD!

We are delighted to announce that Woodcroft has achieved the GOLD School Games Mark Award for the 2016/17 academic year.
The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.

Click on the image below to see our thank you message to everyone who contributed to this success.

The Senior Choir rehearsing at The ArtsDepot

On Thursday 22nd June Woodcroft’s fantastic choir performed on the stage at the ArtsDepot Finchley. On the final night of the annual Barnet Music Festival our wonderful singers, lead by Miss Sherring and Miss Blyth, performed an outstanding version of ‘Rise’, composed for the Rio Olympics. Photographs cannot be taken of the actual evening performance, but take a look at their rehearsal below…

Woodcroft Dance Team Win ‘The Great Big Dance Off’ National Finals

Woodcroft Dance Team celebrate winning the national finals

On Monday 19th June, one of the hottest days of the year, Woodcroft Dance Team travelled to Oxford to take part in the Great Big Dance Off National Finals. Competing against thirty two other schools, all regional finalists, from across the country we came away with the coveted trophy and title – Great Big Dance Off National Champions 2017!

Woodcroft won the London Regional Dance Off back in February to earn their place in the national finals staged at The New Theatre, Oxford. The schools taking part had travelled from as far afield as Yorkshire and Lancashire to the north and the Kent coast in the south!

The Woodcroft dancers from years 4 to 6 performed a piece titled ‘What Shakes Us Won’t Break Us’ that was inspired by the Nepal earthquake of 2015. Feelings of sadness, anger and confusion were represented in a composition of contemporary movement; highlighting a tragedy that was close to the heart of our school community.

Throughout the year, the dance team have also been involved in charity fundraising. They have collected over £1300 in sponsorships donated to the British Red Cross, a charity that that has supported the recovery work following the tragic disaster.

Serena Williams, Woodcroft Choreographer, said,

“These talented children have worked so hard and I am extremely proud of their dedication, commitment and work ethic both in rehearsals and on stage.”

The professional judges at the finals agreed, awarding Woodcroft with a perfect score in each category; performance delivery, dance skill and originality!

Year 6 Wildchild Camp

Outward bound

Year 6 headed off this week on their annual Wildchild Adventure Camp to spend their nights under canvas and experience the great outdoors!

Day 1

We had booked perfect weather so the sun was shining and the skies were clear blue. The first day was action packed with woodland scavenger hunts, survival skills lessons, shelter building, fire lighting, abseiling, archery, field games, tobogganing, camp fires, and much, much more. Take a look …

Day 2

After an early start – Year 6 were all wide awake by sunrise at 5.00am – we had another amazing day filled with nature trails, forest tracking, team building, camp making, marshmallow toasting, field sports, and the biggest game of hide and seek we had ever played called ‘Sardines’. Take a look …

Day 3 

The final day of our Wildchild Adventure – so many memories…

Then the journey home, exhausted…

Thank you to Wildchild and our teachers; Miss Maynard, Mrs Hatch, Miss Stubbings and Mr Rees.