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Woodfield Newsletter

Friday 4th March 2022

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Ukraine Appeal
Our school is an international team and we don't need to tell anyone what is happening in Ukraine at present. Many women and children from Ukraine are trying to find a safe place to stay in Poland. Some members of our staff, through their work as part of the Polish community in the UK are collecting stuff and sending these goods to Poland and Ukraine for people in need. 

A list of items needed was supplied by the Ukrainian Embassy in the UK. It includes...

Basic necessities:

  • Thermal blankets, sleeping bags, bedding, blankets, pillows, raincoats
  • Personal hygiene items, Toothpaste, toothbrush, Wet wipes, Pampers and pads, Paper towels
  • Antibacterial lotions, medical spirits, Disposable and reusable masks
  • Dressings, wound disinfectant and disinfectant fluid
  • Bandages, Celox( i.e. bloodstop pellets and gauze), Tourniquets, Microfibre towels
  • Reusable crockery sets, 
  • Batteries of various sizes, candles, torches. 

Food:

  • All kinds of instant food( i.e. instant soups for pouring boiling water and so on)
  • Breakfast cereals, Energy bars, Dried fruit, Nuts
  • Canned meat and fish, Pasta, Instant cereals

If you send any of these items to the school, the Polish community group in Watford will ensure they are sent to those in need.

There is also a collection at St. Andrew's Church in Sudbury organised by Teo Benea 

For everyone that wants to drop off donations the dates and times for this are:

  • Saturday, 5th March 10-12.30pm and 4-6pm
  • Sunday 5-7pm
  • Monday 5-7pm

We will be collecting duvets, blankets, bed sheets, toiletries, non-perishable food, water bottles, paper cups, medicines, warm clothes including for children

The location is St Andrew C of E Church, 956 Harrow Rd, Wembley HA0 2QA
For further information please contact: Teo Benea at 07752137338

Thanks you for your support.

Careers Help
This week has been a busy week for all the pupils in Key Stages 4 & 5. As part of their career’s curriculum guest speakers were booked in to come and speak to the pupils about the world of work.
Pupils had a virtual online session with our school nurse Katie Gallagher-Moran. She is a paediatric nurse and works with many of our pupils at this school.
Pupils also had the opportunity to take part in a workshop delivered by Maria Varela. She spoke about all the different jobs she has had which includes being a hairdresser, a Montessori teacher, a recruitment officer, and her current role as an enterprise coordinator. Nilesh Patel also joined Ms Sonia and Mr Akmal’s class to speak about his current job – working for Openreach. Ms Amy’s class was also treated to a visit from Ionne’s mum – Juliet Lovell -who is also a nurse.
These were wonderful and inspiring sessions for our pupils as they got to find out about what these jobs consists off, guest speakers’ backgrounds, routines, and an opportunity to ask lots of questions. We would like to host many more of these types of sessions in the future and I look forward to making further links and inviting parents to speak to our pupils about their jobs. 

Thanks to Juliet, Nilesh, Maria and Katie for donating their time to speak to us. Mrs Patel, our Careers Lead, would be more than happy to discuss any future visits with anyone interested. You are welcome to a live session with the pupils at school or we are happy to accommodate a virtual meeting. 

Spring Bulbs!
We were visited by the LCFS judge Alison to look at our Daffodil Spring Bulb display by the polytunnels. Class MWD helped set out the display and Class CPA represented Woodfield KS3 Horticulture Classes on this occasion to show the display and chat to the judge about their horticulture and outdoor learning experience at Woodfield. We were awarded 'GOLD'!!! 🥇 ... Well done Woodfield KS3 Gardeners and a big thank you to Class CPA for representing Woodfield. It was lovely to hear Isaac say how he finds it calming and from others on how they also enjoy working outdoors. Certificates will be given out to KS3 classes who worked on the Spring Bulb display for learners to take home after teachers have written their names on them. 🙂




Parents Virtual Session: Accreditations
On Tuesday 1st March, the session featured staff presenting information regarding the qualifications on offer at Woodfield (and beyond) as well as undertaking a Q & A session with parents in the second half of the session. You can review the meeting if you missed it on the parents section of our website.

Learn Makaton Basics
We are running 3 basic Makaton sessions for parents after half term. We need a minimum of 5 parents who can commit to 3 weekly sessions who want to learn Makaton sign language to support their child with communication. Sessions will start on 8th March, will be via on line video and are expected to be around 45mins in duration. If you are interested, please contact Patsy. We will provide more details in the newsletter in the coming weeks.

School Uniform
Just a reminder about school uniforms, could parents and carers take a couple of minutes to review our uniform policy.

The school uniform consists of the following items:

  • Black school trousers or skirt (skirt a minimum of knee length)
  • White Polo shirt
  • Black Vee Neck school jumper
  • Black shoes with flat soles
  • Black or white socks
  • Plain White vest or T-Shirt to be worn under the polo shirt if needed

The following items of clothing/accessories are not allowed to be worn at school as they are not part of school uniform

  • Jewellery, make-up or nail polish. Small stud earrings can be worn if girls have pierced ears.
  • Footwear: no boots or open- toe sandals and no heels
  • Hooded tops (hoodies) are not allowed to be worn in school
  • All uniform, including shoes should be plain black (or white if polo shirt, vest or socks) with no logos.
  • If you are in any doubt, please contact the school for a clarification.

Full details available of our website

Mobile Phones
Due to the increase misuse of mobile phones by students both in and outside of school, we are implementing a Trust wide Mobile Phone Policy from Monday 21st  February 2022. Parents and carers can view the policy on our website here. We ask that you familiarise yourself with the policy if you have not already done so. Senior leaders have discussed the policy with pupils during assembly.

School Money
Reminder to all parents/carers that we are a cashless school and take card payments via the School Money website or phone. Everyone should have received log in information via text by now, if you haven't then please contact Laila or Shilpa via the school office. We advise all parents to keep up with payments. You are able to pay in advance per week or per term, which ever method suits you best. If you have any questions regarding this then please feel free to contact Laila or Shilpa.

Brent Resident Support Fund
The Brent Resident Support fund (RSF) is a discretionary support fund available to Brent residents who are having difficulty due unforeseen financial circumstances this winter. It also includes short term need for support due to an emergency. The fund provides support in the form of an interest free loan, grant or both. See the Brent website for full details and find out how to apply. 

Local Election Day - Thursday 5th May 2022
We've been notified that the school will be used as a Polling Station on that day, so no pupils will be in attendance on that day. Details of alternative provision will follow in due course.

Sufra Food Bank
Woodfield is also a referrer to Sufra Foodbank. A charity that provides support to vulnerable families in need of additional help. They provide essential food and toiletries to families experiencing an acute crisis. The size of their food parcels depends on the size of the family that needs support but typically last between 5 to 7 days.  They also offer other support such as:

  • Community kitchen - hot meals being delivered to those without cooking facilities as well as the elderly and isolated.
  • Advice services & refugee support
  • NHS Emergency Food Aid Service - food packs for patients
  • Community garden
Last year Sufra delivered 600 meals across NW London to families and individuals in need. Their volunteers were incredible ambassadors, dressed in Christmas jumpers and hats and very often stopping to chat with guests, ensuring that those experiencing isolation were not alone on Christmas Day. This year Sufra will again be offering a full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, crackers and presents for children will be delivered to referred guests experiencing financial difficulties or social isolation.

For those who are more vulnerable and unable to cook using the contents of a food parcel, Sufra also has a ready meal service available. This service is particularly for guests who have mobility issues/lack cooking facilities and are unable to purchase their own food.

If you know of anyone who may benefit from the assistance Sufra provides, please contact Patsy to discuss. This is a confidential service, no records regarding any conversations are held by the school, and any referral will be treated with absolute privacy within the school. 

Emergency Contact
In addition to parent/carer details, we must have at least two other persons as emergency contacts for all our pupils. These people could be grand parents, a sibling aged over 18, aunts, uncles etc.
 
It is vital that we are able to get hold of a contact person in the case of a pupil emergency or illness.  In the past we have had issues in contacting parents or guardians, which not only creates concern for the school but also makes pupils anxious.

Clothing - Label your child's clothing and equipment
Please ensure that your child's clothing and equipment (lunch box, drink bottle etc)is clearly labelled with their full name. This makes it so much easier to return items of clothing and equipment that have a name clearly marked on them. We have already collected some unlabelled clothing left in the playground, and with the return of cooler weather, coats, scarves and hats will be needed. 

Sew on and iron on labels can be purchased form the internet, or marking the label already on the clothing with an indelible marker makes it much easier to return items to their owners. A clearly written first name on equipment is of enormous assistance in getting clothing and equipment returned to their owners expeditiously.

 

Annual Reviews of EHC Plans
Annual reviews, in the current circumstances, need to take a different form. A review meeting, even if by necessity briefer than usual, can be carried out as advised by the Coronavirus Act 2020 for the Secretary of State for Education. due to the need to assign some staff from working on annual reviews to delivering the rapid testing program, the timeframe for delivering annual reviews may be adjusted. You will be well informed of any changes.

In order to complete the Annual Reviews of EHC Plans this academic year, Woodfield School will conduct reviews, virtually or over the telephone rather than face-to-face where this can be done following the guidance on reducing transmissions of coronavirus (COVI-19). Therefore parents or carers will not be invited into school for a review meeting. 

An invitation e-letter will be sent out with more details as your child's' review approaches. (Please note that the Local Authorities have stated there is a backlog with amending ECHP’s). We will be happy to chase it up for you but just so you know ultimately it is the Local Authority who updates the EHCP. You will be entitled to a draft copy of all reports. 

Please note; we have a change in our GDPR policy as to how we send review paperwork of your child to you. We will no longer send reports to parents’ personal email accounts. As of September 2020, we will only use your child’s email set for all correspondences for Annual Reviews. This encourages access to knowledge and sharing of information in a safe and controlled way from us to you.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please email on wf-senreviews@compasslp.co.uk or contact the school and speak with the SEN Administrator who will be more than happy to support you. 

Proposed dates for reviews:
Autumn Term 2021 - Oct -Dec  (Year 14, 13 and 9)
Spring Term 2022 - Jan - April (Year 9, 13, 12, 11 and 10 )
Summer Term 20212 - May- July (Year 10, 8 and 7)

Assistance from local councils
Local councils have set up guides for residents with regard to how to access a range of assistance over this time, be it medical, financial, business or even how to volunteer to assist others.

You can view these offerings from local councils by clicking the links below.

Brent
Barnet
Harrow
Ealing
Camden
Westminster


Makaton is a language programme that is used in conjunction with speech to aid the pupils’ understanding of language and help them communicate with each other more effectively. Makaton is used across the school in lessons and break times. We would love for you to learn some signs so that you can sign with your child. See the We Talk Makaton website for more.

 

Have a good weekend


Nick Cooper

Important dates

Term dates are subject to change, parents and carers will be informed of any changes.
 

If you would like hard copies (paper) of any document on our website, please contact the school office and they will arrange this
.

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