The Woodcroft Samba Band

Woodcroft is on the road to Rio 2016!  We welcomed back renowned musician Ollie Tunmer from ‘Beat Goes On’ who worked with pupils from Yrs 3, 4 and 5G over the last 4 weeks on a special Brazilian Samba project.  On Wednesday 27th Jan, the pupils performed their Brazilian Samba to an enthusiastic audience in which they presented their newly composed and arranged works.

The pupils had learnt traditional Brazilian Samba drumming techniques on authentic instruments as well as having an introduction to the cultural and historical origins of this music.

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KS2 pupils lead a session for the Swedish teacher group – click on the image to go to the Digital Technology Day gallery

On Wednesday 20th January Woodcroft was host to 20 visiting teachers who had come all the way from Sweden. The group were on a trip to England to learn about new technology for education, see how schools use it to support learning and visit the BETT Show at The Excel Centre. The Schools International Network (NLSIN) in North London had heard about the fantastic work we do do at Woodcroft so recommended the Swedish group visit us for the day.

The group went into classes, enjoyed presentations from our teachers and talked with pupils. They saw some of the outstanding digital experiences available at Woodcroft ranging from interactive storytelling in our immersive suite, shared writing using Google Docs, Lego robotics, filmmaking, data handling with chromebooks, video based peer assessment in PE and even collaborative social media about our samba class on our VLE, the Treehouse! The day finished with a session lead by our Treehouse Keepers (our pupil digital leaders) who gave the Swedish teachers a virtual tour of our online services from a pupil’s perspective! The group were also joined on the day by members Woodcroft’s Governing Body.Take a look at a photo gallery from our Digital Technology Day by clicking here

Woodcroft string ensemble perform to course delegates.

This year, Woodcroft were the proud recipients of the Music Teacher Excellence Award for Best School Music Department. Our award category was sponsored by the MMA who are the National Association of Music Teaching Professionals – the largest and longest established association of music teachers in the UK. On Monday 11th January Woodcroft hosted a successful MMA training day for music teachers. Part of the day involved a presentation from Ms Sherring, our own Music Coordinator, and a performance to the course delegates by our string ensemble lead by Miss Blyth and Mrs McLean (violin tutor).

Welcome Back

2015 was an amazingly successful year for Woodcroft Primary School. The list of awards on our website achievements page is exceptional. It includes:

The afPE Quality Mark for Physical Education & Sport
Winners of the Best School Music Department at the 2015 Music Teacher Excellence Awards
Collaborate Partner Award for The Unicorn Theatre
Short Film Category Award Winner – 2015 ‘Be Your Best’ Rock Challenge’
Sainsbury’s School Games GOLD Award
Healthy Schools London Silver Award
GOLD Level TfL STARS Accreditation
Rose Connolly Cup at the Barnet 2015 Young Gardeners Awards

We also had successful seasons for our sports teams, outstanding concerts with our musicians and choirs, fantastic festivals for our dancers, and not forgetting a successful Ofsted report!

Exciting Times Ahead…
2016 is going to be just as exciting! Here are a few things to look forward to this term alone…

• Olympian Ian Rose is visiting to launch our ‘Get Set’  themes for PSHE
• Renowned Percussionist Ollie Tumner will be working again with KS2 classes
• J Rock Club will be performing at three prestigious dance events
• Every year group will visit the Unicorn Theatre as part of our Collaborate programme
• Literacy Week to coincide with World Book Day will include a visiting theatre production of a true classic,‘ The Railway Children’.
• During Art Week a special project is planned with artist Nic Abery from ‘Look to Learn’
• Our musicians will perform their termly concerts
• And the climax will be our annual WOW Factor talent show!

I am sure you will agree that the pupils at Woodcroft have exceptional opportunities for learning. Keep up to date on the website, follow us on Twitter, read our weekly  Newsletters and view the online calendar.

Christmas is a special time in school. We recognise that all of us have different beliefs, so our ethos at Woodcroft is about respecting and celebrating each other’s cultures and traditions. That has certainly happened throughout December; with outstanding shows, carol concerts, festive discos, Christmas fairs, historical experience days, dance celebrations and pantos. Just take a look at the the gallery below showing only some of our festive activities, also read the final week’s Newsletter (click here). This all makes Woodcroft such a vibrant and exciting place for your children – with outstanding opportunities for learning. This happens because we all work Together Towards Success! 

I would like to thank our pupils, families and staff, who all represent very diverse religions, countries and cultures, for supporting our festive school events. These bring us closer together, and make us one school community. So, on behalf of the staff and governors, I would like wish you a happy holiday and prosperous New Year!  And remember, you can leave your own festive message on the special Treehouse page. (logged in users only)

Craig Tallon (Headteacher)

Click on the photo to view the Dance Celebration gallery

On the final day of term we were treated to a special assembly lead by our various school dance groups. There were spectacular performances from a Y1 Bollywood Duet, Mega Movers Club, Line Dance Club and our Cheerleaders. To finish off we had a surprise performance from the teachers! The show demonstrated the outstanding standard of dance at Woodcroft, and the exceptional talents of our pupils and staff. What a fabulous way to end the term! Click here to view the gallery.

Report by Miss Blyth

Year 4 are visited by the dentist

On Wednesday 9^th December Year 4 were lucky enough to be visited by a dentist and dental nurse from Colindale Dental Care Centre, to introduce the topic of teeth to them ready for the Spring term.

Year 4 learnt about the different types of teeth, how to take care of their teeth, (BCD, Brush, Cut down on sweets, Dentist) and what happens when we don’t look after our teeth. The children learnt about the different parts of the tooth by looking at a model, and they were even able to handle real teeth! The children looked at the difference between a healthy tooth, a decayed tooth and a tooth with a filling. This enabled them to see the importance of looking after their own teeth.

At the end of the session they were given goody bags full of advice on how to look after teeth and toothpaste. Year 4 really enjoyed the experience and would like to thank Samir Majithia and Nina Popa for taking their time to come in and teach us about dental care. The visit really brought the topic to life!

Click on the image above to visit the WWII Experience Gallery

On Friday 11th December Year 6 created an authentic World War Two Christmas experience and invited parents, and other classes from across the school, to take part. They used the Oak Suite and our TARDIS immersive hall to recreate the sights and sounds of 1940s Britain. Every child took on a role and stayed in character throughout the morning. On arrival, visitors were greeted by Air Raid Wardens as sirens sounded. When the all clear was heard the room came alive with war time singers, Winston Churchill making his speech, market sellers, German spies and code breakers to name but a few. Well done to the pupils and staff of Year 6; this was a fantastic example of the creative curriculum in action! View the gallery by clicking here.

It’s showtime at Woodcroft – click on the photo above to view our gallery page.

Well done to all of our KS1 and Foundation Stage classes, from Nursery up to Year 2, for performing an amazing 3 three different shows for friends and family! On Tuesday 8th December Year 2 performed their ‘Christmas with the Aliens’ Show. On Thursday it was the turn of Year 1 with ‘The Boy Who Cried Baby’, and on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th Reception and Nursery will take to the stage! Click on the photo above to view the Christmas Showtime Gallery.