Congratulations to our wonderful Woodland sports teams who have proudly represented our school this week.

Firstly the Year 5 and 6’s got on their marks and raced off to cross country glory at Staindrop on Tuesday. Ewan led the Woodland runners round a long course in the warm weather with big smiles all the way.

Then on Wednesday afternoon the Year 3 and 4’s played a ‘kwik-cricket’ tournament in the amazing setting of Raby Castle. We split into 2 teams and both played with skill and determination. We are now the proud owners of a lovely silver cup.

Well done everyone!

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Well done to our Year 6 children for a fantastic, positive attitude to their SATs, you have all worked so hard.

Dr Peter Edwards Director of Science Outreach and Science and Society officer and cosmologist from Durham University came to visit Woodland Primary. Using a rich resource of amazing images he held a question and answer session  with both classes. The children had thought of some interesting questions to ask and Dr Edwards gave great answers and clear explanations in terms that the children could understand easily. It set the scene for the space night that followed.

In the evening representatives from the Bishop Auckland Astronomical Society visited school as part of our Space night. Key stage 2 children and parents were invited back to school at 8.30pm and the turnout was great. The society gave a talk on the Solar System, showed relative distances between the planets using toilet roll and created moon craters using flour and cocoa. The children also drew constellations, made star wheels and an orrery. Unfortunately by the time it was dark enough to go outside and use the telescopes to see the stars the sky clouded over and it began to rain, so we could not see anything. We hope to try again in the Autumn term.

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On Tuesday Reverend Brian and Reverend Lloyd led a lovely Easter assembly, which parents and family members attended.  They talked to us about the story of Easter and what happened to Jesus. Various year groups recited some lovely poems, the year 6 children read prayers and we all enjoyed singing some songs together.

Before the assembly Rev Brian judged the Spring picture competition, the winners were (Y6 Poppy, Y5 Leon, Y4 Amelia, Y3 Josie Y2 Charlotte, Y1 Luke H, Reception Luke R) well done to everyone that entered there were some fantastic creative ideas.

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Last week the children took part in the ‘Big Spring Clean Litter Pick’ in Woodland.  They were all equipped with bag, litter picker, reflective coat and gloves,  they really enjoyed being in the outdoors and cleaning up our village.  In just a short period of time they filled 5 bin bags.  The children have asked to do this again in the Summer term.

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On Tuesday we welcomed some very special people into school for dinner!  Mams and Grandmas were invited to join the children for a special lunch to celebrate Mother’s Day.   The choice for main course included Roast Pork & Yorkshire Pudding, Macaroni Cheese & Jacket Potatoes and for dessert there was Chocolate Sponge & Custard, Yogurts & Fruit

Everyone really enjoyed their delicious lunch and we would like to say a Huge Thank you to our cook Karen  for making this such a fantastic event.

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This week Squirrel Class visited Brough Castle. We have been learning about castles this half term and it was a great end to our topic. We had a big checklist of features to find around the castle. Running down the moat was one of the best parts, luckily it was empty. We sang Happy Birthday to Mrs Ord on the steps of the keep, then continued the celebrations in the ice cream parlour. There were so many flavours to choose from, and all freshly made at Brough Castle farm. Visiting the play area was also great fun. Thank you to the Friends of School for subsidising the trip.

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On Thursday last week Rob from Kingsway Adventure Centre came to Woodland School to deliver a morning of outdoor fun.
It was very windy and wet, but we were dressed for it. Our first job was to find the most sheltered place to make camp, then we collected firewood. We worked together to collect lots of wood. Next we made bread dough using flour, water and oil. During a quick break inside we prepared a delicious banana treat, then it was back outside to start the fire. Rob used some dry wood to get the fire going and stripped the bark off some live twigs for cooking sticks. We wrapped the dough around the sticks then cooked them over the fire. Finally Rob put our banana parcels in the fire to cook. We ate those back in the classroom and everyone thought they were yummy.
Despite the weather we had a great morning, thanks Rob.

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Thank you to the Play Leaders, School Council and Mrs O’Brien for organising our Red Nose Day morning in school.

The children and staff enjoyed activities that included a red nose snufflekins cake raffle, red nose treasure hunt, red dabber bingo, pin the nose on the red nose and guess the favourite cupcake competition.

We raised a fantastic £150 for Comic Relief 2019.  Thank you for supporting this worthwhile fund raiser.

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As part of our topic this term, Owl class children went on an outstanding trip to Vindolanda. We were able to see lots of different Roman artefacts such as a target practise cow’s skull, shoes, letters and so much more. We found out about what the buildings inside and outside of the fort were used for.  Not only did we go to Vinderlanda we went to the Roman museum. We watched a 3D film about the building of Hadrian’s wall. We had a lesson led by a holographic Roman teacher and learned how to count in Latin and say hello. We found out about the Rome army their weapons, tactics and armour.
We had so much fun and learned a lot about the Romans. Owl class had a great time attending this very interesting trip.

By Amelia and Meadow

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