We are very proud of all of the Owl class children who entered the short story competition, they all did a great job.

We are very pleased to announce that Alfie S has been shortlisted and has become one of the 3 finalists for his age group. Alfie will attend the final this evening at the Hullabalo theatre in Darlington where he will read his entry in front of an audience and the panel of judges.

We are incredibly proud of Alfie and wish him the best of luck for this evening!

This is Alfie’s story, happy reading!

Alfie’s Story Entry

On Wednesday afternoon years 5 and 6 took part in a netball tournament organised by Staindrop Academy. Following a group of netball PE sessions in school, the children travelled to Shildon to compete against other schools in the area. They played 6 back- to- back games, improving pace and skill with each game. Woodland finished fourth place over all, with our B team coming 3^rd.

The children worked extremely hard to improve each game they played and their attitude and sportsmanship throughout the afternoon was fantastic. A special mention has to go to Rose for being a fierce defender and Charlotte for overall performance. Well done girls!

Safer Internet Day
On Tuesday we celebrated Safer Internet Day. The theme for this year was “Together for a Better Internet”. Each class was involved in work relating to giving permission and consent. The Squirrel class looked at the importance of asking a grown up before you accept, consent or download something. The same theme was discussed with the Owl class but we also talked about the importance of asking and giving permission whilst online. We discussed peer pressure and friendships and being able to say no without upsetting people. We then had a parent information session which centred around the importance of talking to your children about their online life followed by a parent and child workshop.  This gave ideas of online activities to do with children and examples of conversation starters. If you were unable to attend a list of useful websites has been attached to this weeks newsletter.

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The Scratch Project
On the 31 January Barclays Bank came into school to teach the Year 5-6 pupils about coding. First we learnt about how the internet works and where your search goes to. Then we were introduced to Scratch and completed lots of different exciting coding activities. We really enjoyed the workshop.  Thank you to Barclays for bringing their workshop to Woodland.

By Jamie

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What fun the children have had this week in the snow at Woodland.  Thank you to Tammy from FOWS (Friends of Woodland School) for going and getting us 4 new sledges for the children to enjoy!

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Owl Class children are entering a writing competition organised by the Darlington Building Society.

Darlington Building Society has launched a competition to spark the imagination of the next generation of writers, the buliding society which released its first children’s book earlier this year, is asking children and young people from across the region to submit short stories to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes.

This is a fantastic opportunity for young authors to really showcase their creative flair and we can’t wait to read the entries.

“The Society is ‘Big on Education’ and proud to support literacy across the areas that they serve. Darly’s Magical History Ride – their children’s book charting the adventures of mascot Darly the Train was just the start of that and they hope that this competition will encourage those who have a passion for writing to put their creativity to work.”

The competition, entitled ‘Little did I know…’, will feature entries from primary and secondary school aged children judged by a well-known panel including award-winning Paddington Bear and Rudyard Kipling animator Sheila Graber, and Jessica Shepherd, whose celebrated Grandma books have been praised for helping children understand dementia.

Three finalists will be chosen for each of the two age categories and their stories will be read to the judges, families, and VIP guests at Darlington’s Theatre Hullabaloo on Friday, February 15th, in the weeks leading up to World Book Day.

There is guaranteed to be a happy ending to the tale with the two winners each receiving £500 worth of books for their school library, their own height in books, and a magical mystery ride for their family.

The winning entries will be featured on the Darlington Building Society website, along with being in The Northern Echo and on tfm radio.co.uk.

Happy New Year!

We hope that everyone had a happy and enjoyable Christmas and New Year, we all certainly did.  The children have settled back into school well  this week and are looking forward to starting their new topics.  Keep a check on the School Blog during 2019, it lets you see what fun and exciting activities and events happen everyday at Woodland Primary School!

What a busy couple of week it’s been at Woodland!

Last Monday we all had a delicious Christmas Lunch made by our school fantastic cook Karen Yum, Yum! It was a lovely meal and we all had great fun eating and sing Christmas songs together.

Last Wednesday we performed our Christmas play –  Strictly the Nativity – Lights, Camel, Action! The children were amazing and the dancing and singing was wonderful! They all really enjoyed performing and appreciated all the kind comments from parents and families.

The Christmas Fair was a great success and FOWS have raised a grand total of £424.80 which will be used to benefit all the children.

Over the last few weeks Karen our school cook has been making Christmas cakes with the children and they finished by decorating them on Monday, they look and smell amazing.  We would like to say a ‘Huge Thank you’ to Karen for volunteering to  do this in her own time with the children.

On Monday Squirrel Class enjoyed a ‘Stay & Play’ afternoon and Owl Class went along to Woodland Village Hall to perform some songs and dances from our Christmas Play for the luncheon club.

On Tuesday we all went to The Georgian Theatre in Richmond to see the pantomime Sleeping Beauty. It was great fun and our children really got involved and quite a few played starring roles! It was a great afternoon with lots of laughs and excitement.

Wednesday was party day and we had lots of exciting games. The children played in teams and it was lovely to see how well they all help each other to share the fun. Santa made a surprise visit with presents for all the children and then we enjoyed a party feast!

Thursday was ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ and we all enjoyed our last day in school before Christmas and finished the afternoon off watching a Christmas film!

We have had a fabulous term and wish you all a happy and relaxing Christmas break.

See you all next year!

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It was lovely to see everyone at our Christingle Service on Wednesday.  The children really enjoyed making the Christingles and learning about the meaning and the work of The Children’s Society.  A special thank you to Rev Brian Whitley and Lloyd for conducting the service.  We will send the money donated in the Christingle Candles and from the refreshment donations to The Children’s Society.  Thank you.

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On Wednesday all the children were invited to our FOWS Film Night.  We all enjoyed watching Sherlock Gnomes and had hotdogs, sweets and juice during the interval and sang Christmas songs at the end of the night.  Everyone had a great time!

Thank you to the people that helped on the night.