Headteacher Newsletter 454

Staff News

I am very pleased to share that Mrs Maitland and Miss Chennells are joining our staff team as Teaching Assistants. They join our fantastic group of teaching assistants who work incredibly hard to support the children across school in their learning and personal development. 

This week we say goodbye and good luck to Miss Maddock, our SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator).  This news was shared at the start of the school year as she secured a job with Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust (NMPAT) over the summer. This is a dream job for Miss Maddock and, after 20 years of incredible service at Woodland View as a teacher across many year groups, and more recently as our SENCO, we wish her the best of luck in her new career.

When we return in January, we will be welcoming Mrs Atherton to our team as the new SENCO. She has many years of experience working in schools and as a SENCO, and we are very pleased she has joined the school. Mrs Atherton will be making some appearances at the school gates, so hopefully you will meet her soon.

Family Resilience Course

Early next term, we will be beginning a Family Resilience Course for parents. These 4 sessions will be run by North Northamptonshire Council and they explore practical ways to help your family “bounce back” from challenges and build resilience together. Topics include:

• What is resilience?
• The brain under stress
• The link between self-esteem and resilience
• How physical health affects resilience
• Practical advice, tips and ideas to boost resilience

Dates: 4 sessions on Thursday afternoons from January 15th - February 5th 2026
Time: 1:10–3:10pm
Location: Woodland View Primary School
If you’d like to take part, please see the Ping sent on 4th December or contact the school office.

 

100 Ladles

This winter we are working with a small group of Woodland View family members and the amazing Northampton homeless charity ‘100 Ladles’ (Action for Homelessness and Hunger) to help people in our local community who are experiencing homelessness. As a school, we want to show that we can make a big difference by collecting everyday items that many of us take for granted. We are launching our "Basics Collection" drive to gather essential items that provide warmth and comfort to those in need. If you would like to help, you can donate the following items:

• Warm clothing (socks, hats, scarves, and gloves)
• Toiletries (lip salves, roll-on deodorant (no sprays please), small tubes moisturiser, hand sanitiser wipes, small packs of wet wipes
• Comfort items (small blankets)

The collection table was on the top playground this morning and will be again at pick-up today. If you would like to donate, please drop off your items at the end of the day.
 

RAIN Project

You may have noticed we have some new additions to our outdoor space. Towards the end of summer we were very lucky to work with the charity RAIN to install some new planters. These linked to our ongoing work with them to improve our outdoor areas specifically linked to flood resilience along with promoting sustainability.

Earlier this term, the RAIN team were back helping plant trees and fruit bushes on the banks of the side playground. Year 1 children were involved and loved learning all about the different tree varieties and how to look after them. 

A few weeks ago we attended the Flood and Toast Awards hosted by RAIN and won a silver award in the Climate Resilience Schools category. This award honours schools leading the way in eco-education, hands on nature-based learning and empowering the next generation of climate champions. A big thank you to Mrs Wood, one of our Phase Leaders and Year 1 teacher, for her superb work leading on this project! 

Watch this space for an update on a really exciting project coming in the New Year! We will be working to rejuvenate an area of the school to include lots more planting and growing spaces... possibly creating a school allotment. 
 

Parental Warning - Wicked:The Book

We would like to make parents aware that while the Wicked film and musical are often promoted as family-friendly, the original novel by Gregory Maguire is written for an adult audience. It explores much darker and more complex themes than the film, including challenging ideas, mature relationships, and scenes that are not appropriate for primary-aged children. For this reason, we recommend that the book is not used with or read by primary-age children, even though the story may be familiar to them through the film or musical.

Unhelpfully, the original novel has been rebranded with a new movie poster of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo on its cover, leading people to believe it shares the same themes as the film, which is rated PG whereas the book is recommended for an audience of 18 plus. 

 

Winter Wonderland

Thank you to all those who attended our Winter Wonderland event last week. It felt magical with so many people in good spirits, enjoying the festivities and taking part in games and activities that were there. I hope you had the chance to see the amazing performance by the Y5&6 Choir, and see the fantastic art and DT work by the children which was displayed too.

Library Books and School Book Fair

As term is coming to an end, we are collecting library books to make sure we are fully stocked and ready to go for January. If your child is in a Key Stage 2 class (Y3-Y6) and still has a library book at home (or in their school bag!) please can you remind them to return it to the library this week. Thank you.

Also, thank you for supporting our recent School Book Fair. We all know how important it is to engage children in reading and it was great to see so many families selecting brilliant books to read at home! The total sold was an incredible £1214.28. A percentage of this money is returned to us in book vouchers so that we can purchase more books for our library and classrooms - which our staff are very excited about!  

 

Festive Events

We have had so many festive school events in recent weeks. Our choirs have performed at Winter Wonderland, Richmond Village, Wig and Walnut; our Foundation Stage children have performed their Christmas show, we have hosted 2 Breakfast with Santa mornings, a Wreath Making evening, today is our Kingswood Christmas Lunch, and, of course, we had our spectacular Winter Wonderland community event. Plus, you may see some ‘special guests’ on the school gates this week! 

Tomorrow we have Christmas Party Day. Children can wear non-uniform including party clothes. They will be playing fun games and having a special buffet lunch with their year group. Also, our younger year groups (FS, Y1 and Y2) will have a visit from Father Christmas. Thank you in advance for supporting us with a lunch contribution. 

Finally, on Friday it is Christmas Jumper Day. This is another non-uniform day which invites children to wear Christmas jumpers (and accessories) if they wish. We hope the children enjoy the final days of term! 

 

Winter Camps

It’s not too late to sign your child up for a winter camp day at Woodland View over the Christmas holidays. It may give you the chance to get the final bits of Christmas shopping done! 
The 2 camp days we are offering are:

• Craft Barn – Monday 22nd December. Sign-up is available via the school office (deadline tomorrow).
• Freestyle – Tuesday 23rd December. Sign-up is through this link https://freestylegroup.co.uk/event-list/holiday-camps/.

These camps are a fantastic way for the children to have fun, get creative, and make some festive memories while giving you a little extra time for Christmas shopping or wrapping!

 

Smart Devices in Schools – Consultation

West Northamptonshire Council is inviting parents and carers to share views on the use of smart devices in schools. Your feedback will help shape guidance that supports children to enjoy learning, achieve well and use technology respectfully.

Use this link if you would like to access the survey:
https://westnorthants.citizenspace.com/education/smartphone-and-smart-device-consultation/ 
(closes Sunday 4 January 2026)

 

School Blogs

Please see the school blog pages to see what your child has been up to recently via the link https://www.wvps.northants.sch.uk/page/?title=Year+Group+Blogs&pid=75 

Key Dates

Thursday 18th December - Christmas Party Day
Friday 19th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Term ends
Tuesday 6th January - Spring term begins
Thursday 15th January - Family Resilience Course begins - details above
Monday 19th January - Year 6 Residential Meeting for Parents - 6pm - in school
Monday 2nd February - Online Safety Meeting for all parents - 3-4pm - in school
Thursday 12th February - Valentines Cake Sale - after school
Friday 13th February - term ends

We are almost at the end of another busy but very successful term. Thank you for all the ongoing support you give us to help us provide the best education and school experience we can for your child.
Have a fantastic Christmas,    
Mark Horsley