1 Woodland Academy Trust Members’ Newsletter Summer 2016 Knockhall Academy to join our Trust Family The Trust is pleased to announce that the Department for Education has approved the Trust’s application to sponsor Knockhall Academy in Greenhithe. This agreement is testament to the hard work and dedication of every member of staff, along with the continued support of our parents and carers in our schools, that we have been given the opportunity to welcome Knockhall Academy into our Trust family. We are delighted that every one of our staff has been given the opportunity to share their expertise and excellent practices for the benefit of the children and their families joining us. Knockhall Academy will join our Trust on 1st January 2017 and we will be working closely with the school during the Autumn term to ensure a smooth transition for the children’s learning. Lime Wood Free School’s Journey continues The Department for Education approved the Trust’s application to open Lime Wood Free School, a new primary school for Bexley, earlier this year. Lime Wood, which is due to open in September 2018, will cater initially for a Reception cohort of children with increasing capacity for children aged 5-11 years. It is intended that the Lime Wood Free School curriculum will be very much based upon the ecological and conservation principles on which the entire site is due to be developed. It will be designed to promote children’s independence as learners and to provide them with the motivation and skills to succeed, whatever their circumstances. Given the wonderful setting, and ecological environment, a major part of our curriculum will be based on an outdoor and adventure theme. The proposed site sits within an area dominated by housing, road links and industry, and is essentially an oasis within the community. Lime Wood will inspire all children through the use of the outdoors and strive for everyone to achieve qualifications in a wide range of adventure pursuits; opportunities they would be unlikely to have access to otherwise. The Trust is passionate about serving the children and their families in Bexley by ensuring outstanding provision and outstanding outcomes for every child within this community. National Leader of Education The Trust is delighted that Mrs Angela Barry was chosen as an inspirational leader to be a part of the celebration for the alumni exhibition at the University of Greenwich. Professor David Maguire, Vice-Chancellor of the university said: “The alumni featured in this exhibition come from many walks of life and disciplines: all are successful and inspirational. They have agreed to share their stories so that current students can understand how to achieve their dreams, strive for excellence and keep going in the face of whatever challenges they may confront.” Interim CEO, Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust Mrs Barry, in her capacity as a National Leader of Education, was chosen by the Regional Schools’ Commissioner to support Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust as their Interim CEO. Mrs Barry has been instrumental in the rebrokering of the schools to new sponsors in the best interests of the children and their outcomes.
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1
Woodland Academy Trust
Members’ Newsletter
Summer 2016
Knockhall Academy to join our Trust Family The Trust is pleased to announce that the Department for Education has approved the Trust’s application to sponsor Knockhall
Academy in Greenhithe. This agreement is testament to the hard work and dedication of every member of staff, along with the
continued support of our parents and carers in our schools, that we have been given the opportunity to welcome Knockhall Academy
into our Trust family.
We are delighted that every one of our staff has been given the opportunity to share their expertise and excellent practices for the
benefit of the children and their families joining us.
Knockhall Academy will join our Trust on 1st January 2017 and we will be working closely with the school during the Autumn term
to ensure a smooth transition for the children’s learning.
Lime Wood Free School’s Journey continues The Department for Education approved the Trust’s application to open Lime Wood Free School, a new
primary school for Bexley, earlier this year.
Lime Wood, which is due to open in September 2018, will cater initially for a Reception cohort of children
with increasing capacity for children aged 5-11 years.
It is intended that the Lime Wood Free School curriculum will be very much based upon the
ecological and conservation principles on which the entire site is due to be developed. It will be
designed to promote children’s independence as learners and to provide them with the motivation
and skills to succeed, whatever their circumstances. Given the wonderful setting, and ecological
environment, a major part of our curriculum will be based on an outdoor and adventure theme. The
proposed site sits within an area dominated by housing, road links and industry, and is essentially an
oasis within the community.
Lime Wood will inspire all children through the use of the outdoors and strive for everyone to achieve qualifications in a wide range
of adventure pursuits; opportunities they would be unlikely to have access to otherwise. The Trust is passionate about serving the
children and their families in Bexley by ensuring outstanding provision and outstanding outcomes for every child within this community.
National Leader of Education The Trust is delighted that Mrs Angela Barry was chosen as an
inspirational leader to be a part of the celebration for the alumni
exhibition at the University of Greenwich.
Professor David Maguire, Vice-Chancellor of the university said:
“The alumni featured in this exhibition come from many walks of life
and disciplines: all are successful and inspirational. They have agreed to
share their stories so that current students can understand how to
achieve their dreams, strive for excellence and keep going in the face of
whatever challenges they may confront.”
Interim CEO, Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust Mrs Barry, in her capacity as a National Leader of Education, was
chosen by the Regional Schools’ Commissioner to support Lilac Sky
Schools Academy Trust as their Interim CEO. Mrs Barry has been
instrumental in the rebrokering of the schools to new sponsors in the
best interests of the children and their outcomes.
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Pupil Premium Award Winners 2016 The staff and children were delighted to receive a letter from Minister Sam Gyimah
congratulating the school on winning a Pupil Premium Award 2016 for raising
aspirations and ensuring disadvantaged pupils have fulfilled their potential. The school
was selected for the award as being one of the most improved schools in the country
in terms of attainment and progress for its disadvantaged pupils since 2011.
This award is testament to the hard work and dedication of every single member of
staff, every parent and of course, every child. The school is passionate in ensuring that
every child, regardless of their background, is given the best possible opportunity to
achieve their optimum academically, socially and emotionally.
Twist and Pulse As part of the school's creative arts curriculum, BRIT school
graduates and Britain’s Got Talent runners up Twist and Pulse came
to Northumberland Heath to give a tailor-made dance experience
to our Year 5 children.
Born and bred South Londoners, they are role models for young
people in the area providing purpose and motivation.
“We love seeing children getting into dancing. We just want to
teach them everything we know and pass on our passion! We want
to show them that you can come from nothing and make it with
hard work and a dream.”
Year 6 Summer Production This year’s production “So You Think You’re a Superstar?” was produced by the Orchard Theatre. It is the story of
how Teen TV goes undercover in the most prestigious Sports Academy in the UK, where there are rumours of a
new Sporting Superhero who is unlike any other in history. With the 2016 Olympics around the corner the public
want to know more about this Sports Superhero with no name. Only Teen TV is allowed access and what they find
could damage the Academy’s chances of winning the Olympics. The children were challenged to discover the
Superhero inside themselves in this inter-galactic sports adventure comedy.
The children worked extremely hard and gave a fantastic performance. Well done Northumberland Heath!
Primary Science Quality Mark
The school is thrilled to have been awarded the Primary School Quality Mark which
is a scheme enabling schools to work together to share good practice and is
supported by professional development led by local experts. It encourages teacher
autonomy and innovation while at the same time offering a clear framework for
development in science subject leadership, teaching and learning.
The Interim Head Teacher, Ms Joanna Walkden said “Science is an important part
of our curriculum and this can even be seen in our Reception classes where they
have investigative areas. We are extremely proud to receive this award and we
thank Miss Kang for leading on this initiative in our school.”
Northumberland Heath Primary School
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Winter 2015
Peareswood Primary School Tree House Hall is officially open !
The staff and children were delighted that the Mayor of
Bexley, Mrs Eileen Pallen, officially opened the school's rock
climbing wall in June 2016. The Mayor presented certificates
to award the Year 4 pupils who had completed the NICAS
syllabus. There was also a display of our children’s newly
acquired climbing skills.
Peareswood is fortunate to be the only school in the
London Borough of Bexley to have such a spectacular
resource on the school grounds. Rock climbing is linked to
boosting brain function, whilst building muscle and
endurance.
Learning Outside of the Classroom
Peareswood has shown itself to have a strong commitment to providing excellent
learning outside the classroom (LOtC) to its pupils by achieving a national Learning
Outside the Classroom Mark (Bronze).
Awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the LOtC Mark
(Bronze) accredits those schools that have a strong awareness of the benefits of
providing frequent, continuous and progressive LOtC experiences to all pupils and
have begun to integrate LOtC into the life of the school.
Mrs Kerry Smith, Head Teacher said “Being awarded the LOtC Mark (Bronze) is a
real coup for all the staff and governors here as it shows that we are really making
strides in providing our pupils with potentially life-changing opportunities. We are
thrilled to get official recognition for our efforts and we look forward to building on
this award to integrate LOtC into the everyday life of the school.”
Lots of fairies have taken up residence in
our Forest School. Tread carefully and
you may see them fluttering by...
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Willow Bank Primary School Our newest arrivals !
Our children were absolutely thrilled to be able to watch the Willow Bank
ducklings hatch. All the children in the school could watch as there was a “duck
cam" installed. The children also watched the ducklings very first swim ! How
exciting !
Fantastic Science Week
The children enjoyed a fantastic week of forensic science and visits from dogs from Battersea, snakes, lizards and
many more furry and scaly creatures ..... here is what our children had to say ...
“I enjoyed the fingerprint person coming in to show us DNA.”
“The reptiles were thrilling and exciting. There were snakes like Anacondas and Corn snakes. I thought it was a
new experience in my life and the snakes were a
bit scary!”
Unexpected Visitors to the school …….
The children of Willow Bank Primary School had an extremely exciting day when a
swarm of bees arrived at the window of one of the classrooms!
The members of staff and a dedicated volunteer who are all qualified apiarists
moved the bees to a new home within the school's empty hive. We will let you
know how they settle in ......
Eggs—cell—ent !
Our chickens are absolutely thriving and producing dozens of
eggs which are used by our catering teams in our children’s
school meals and are also donated to our parents.
We would like to thank Ms Tania Stupples, our Teaching and Farm Assistant for her dedication to the welfare of our animals
Our Very Own Model Village
Willow Bank held a competition for the children to design a "model" house
for their model village. The winners had their drawings turned into real model
houses and heartfelt thanks goes to "Age Concern Men in Sheds" for creating
these for our children. Once painted and varnished they will be placed in a
newly created planted flower bed which will be seen by all who come into the
school.
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Spring 2016
TRUST NEWS
Working in Partnership Awards The Trust is delighted of the achievements at the “Working in
Partnership Awards” at the University of Greenwich. We are proud
to work alongside the University of Greenwich to deliver school based
initial teacher training and offer exciting and innovative professional
development days for their students. Our in-house training is provided
through our team of experienced staff, including but not exclusively by
our five Specialist Leaders of Education. Congratulations to the
following:
Willow Bank Primary School
Mrs Meena Malhi, Assistant Head Teacher, accepted the ‘Top 50
Schools in Partnership 2015/2016’ Award.
Mrs Ellen Copsey, Assistant Head Teacher, accepted the ‘Professional
Development Excellence’ Award.
Peareswood Primary School
Mrs Lauren Longhurst, Acting Assistant Head Teacher accepted
the ‘Professional Development Excellence’ Award.
This is another proud moment for our schools and our Trust in
delivering the best education to our children to ensure positive
outcomes.
A Royal Celebration “What a super afternoon tea party to
celebrate the Queen’s birthday party. We
ate cucumber and cheese sandwiches
followed by a yummy piece of cake. We
sang along to the National Anthem and
waved our flags Happy Birthday Your
Majesty.”
- Pupils of the Woodland Academy Trust
Our three schools are all top of the
class Gold Award Winners ! Following our schools' participation in the Walk to
School Awards, representatives from our Junior Road
Safety Officer pupil groups were delighted to collect the
Gold Travel Plan Award on behalf of their school at a
celebration event at the Civic Offices.
Well done to all our children, staff and parents'
commitment to the environment and helping to reduce
school-run journeys, pollution and road congestion and
for encouraging healthy lifestyles for our pupils.
Another proud moment for our schools.
School Direct The Trust’s Teacher Training has gone from strength to strength with our partnership with the University of
Greenwich truly blossoming into a strategic, systems leadership. The Trust and University have been sharing
resources that bring improvement to each organisation, influencing best practice to make a real difference to
the lives and education of our children and their future teachers. Congratulations to all of our School Direct
students who have completed their courses this year and will be teaching within the Trust from September
2016. We have successfully recruited for our student places for 2016-2017 and our applications for places for
2017–2018 placements are currently being processed. By offering Initial Teacher Training, the Trust is able to
grow skilled, experienced and successful teachers to join our Trust family from the very beginning of their
teaching career.
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Spring 2016
TRUST NEWS
Recruitment to the Trust Senior Leadership Teams
Lime Wood Free School
Miss Claire Ingrams (currently Deputy Head Teacher as Peareswood) has been appointed as the Principal
Designate and will leave Peareswood in January 2017.
Northumberland Heath Primary School
Mrs Sarah Gordon has been appointed as the Head Teacher with effect from January 2017. She has been
working closely with Ms Walkden since January 2016 and will continue to do so to ensure a smooth transition.
Peareswood Primary School
Ms Carla Ferla has been appointed as a Deputy Head Teacher with effect from September 2016. She will be
working closely with Mrs Smith and Miss Ingrams prior to her departure.
Mrs Lauren Longhurst has been appointed as Acting Assistant Head Teacher with effect from September 2016.
Willow Bank Primary School
Mr Brian Simber (the Interim Deputy Head Teacher at Northumberland Heath) will be leading Willow Bank as
temporary Head Teacher while Mrs Hayward is unwell. Ms Clare Beresford has been appointed as Assistant
Head Teacher with effect from September 2016.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Trust staff for the commitment and loyalty
they give as we strive to make our schools the outstanding learning environments that our children
deserve. For those staff who are moving to pastures new, we wish you good fortune as you embark upon
the next phase of your career.
The Trust has appointed The Contract Dining Company
to provide healthy school meals in all of our schools from
September 2016. Two pupils from Northumberland
Heath joined the interview panel and tasting session.
Well done boys !
Thank you to all the parents/carers who have joined the
taster sessions over the past few weeks.
Join our Team, become a Champion
Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give
up on them, who will fight their corner, an individual who
understands the power of education and strives to ensure that
every child will become the best that they can possibly be.
Every single member of staff within the Woodland Academy