Atwood’s weekly news for week ending Friday 26th May

Mr Veale’s welcome

Tennis News

On Wednesday 24^th May Atwood took part in the Croydon Schools Tennis Finals. Representing the school were Alicia, Iona, Oliver and Nikolai.

The team played extremely well, especially as for many it was their first ever competitive experience. Out of six schools they came in a respectable 4^th place, and all won matches on the way.  The most important thing is that they had lots of fun and it was nice to represent the school.

Walk to School Week

My thanks to Mrs Mitchell for organising a super Walk to School (or sustainable transport like scooters and bicycles) last week.  Here are the winners:

Winning class for walk to school week- Red Class- £30 prize

Winning poster- Imogen Green Class- £10 prize

Runners up- Jency- Orange Class and Alicia- Amber Class- £5 Prize

My thanks to the FOAP for their generous support of Walk to School Week.

May time on the field

We have enjoyed a few more warmer days recently, and therefore we have moved our tents to the field for the children to enjoy.  We have also purchased some guttering pipe and we are using the milk crates to make very long ‘marble runs’ for tennis balls. Why not take a look at this news story?  https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/tents-and-tubes-at-lunchtime-at-atwood 

Photographer visits Atwood- Tuesday 23rd May

Tricia, the photographer was blown away by Atwood!  She said that she was so impressed with the children, staff and facilities we have at Atwood.  Indeed, she said that she would like to come back for a second day as there was so much learning to capture.  I am looking forward to updating our photos in the light of her visit.

KS2 Football Competition led by SAS Coaches

Well done to FIRE who won the KS2 Football Competition this morning.  My thanks to the wonderful coaches from SAS for organising such a great competition.

Café Atwood in the offing

Café Atwood is progressing well.  Electrical work is taking place and the new fridge has been installed.  The painters are giving the exterior a much needed freshen up and so we should be up and ready to be serving teas, coffees and light refreshments soon after half term.

What is Café Atwood all about?  Café Atwood should be up and running ready for after the May half term holiday.  It will be run by parents with a little help from the Atwood staff and will be open occasionally before and or after school, selling teas and coffees, light snacks and seasonal products and items for the children, such as stationery, cards and other items.

You should soon notice some café tables, signage and planters in and around the red phone box area.  Mr. Chitty has organised WIFI for Café Atwood and so all we need now is the sunshine.

All profits from the Café will be benefit the children of Atwood and so it will be a ‘win-win’ situation.

Why not take a look at the Atwood news stories from this week?

Tents and Tubes: https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/tents-and-tubes-at-lunchtime-at-atwoodI

It’s been a Mammoth Day:  https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/year-3/its-been-a-mammoth-day-in-year-3-at-atwood 

Thought of the Week 

‘There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all’. – Peter F. Drucker

Points (Pupil Reward Points)

Remember that everyone at Atwood believe in the Terrific Trio:  Kind Words, Kind Thoughts, Kind Actions and for that, the children are rewarded.  The first key milestone for a pupil is to reach 50 Pupil Reward Points because they will be awarded a £5 Book Token in Celebration Assembly, as we also wish to promote the love of reading at Atwood.  I will be taking a look at the leaderboard after half term.

Each pupil has been assigned to a Team or House.  These are Air, Earth, Fire and Water.  All Pupil Reward Points also contribute to the Team Points each week.

Here are the all important totals for the term so far:

Congratulations to AIR who have won the Team Points Competition for this half term.  

Why not head over to the Pupil Reward Points website?  https://www.pupilrewardpoints.co.uk

Attendance

The DfE continue to be concerned about attendance in the post covid world.  Indeed, governments across the world have noticed a worrying trend of children attending school less than before covid.  Atwood works on the 95% expectation and each year, we endeavour to hit our whole school community target of attending at least 95% of the time.  Most years, Atwood nearly reaches 97% which is higher than the national average.  Looking at the Year to Date percentage we have crept to the 95% mark and this is excellent news- let’s keep it up, Atwood.

Attendance is important.  After all, children only have one opportunity to go to school, don’t they?  As a rule of thumb, we expect children to attend school at least 95% of the time.  This allows for a child to be absent for a couple of days per year due to coughs, colds and medical appointments that cannot be made in holiday times.  Remember that we never authorise holidays in term time.  Often I am asked to authorise a family wedding abroad, or to visit a poorly relative abroad.  None of these are valid reasons for absence in term time.  Please bear this in mind.

Here are the attendance figures for this week:

From us all at Team Atwood, enjoy the May Half term holiday.  Stay safe and see you all on Monday 5th June for what will be our last half term of the academic year.

Mr. Veale