Spring 2 Newsletter
Head teacher's Messages
Dear Families,
Welcome back! This half-term is filled with celebrations and events. We’ve included as many as possible in this newsletter to help you prepare.
This week, we introduced our term’s value: Heart of the Community. We’ll explore teamwork—within classes, year groups, and the whole Pinner Wood community—celebrating what unites us and makes us unique. Assemblies will focus on this theme, culminating in Heart of the Community Day on Thursday 3rd April. More details to come.
For those observing Ramadan, please inform us if your child is fasting. Our agreement is here. If your child is planning to fast please let us know by filling in the form. We’re also hosting a Community Iftar Dinner on Thursday 13th March, open to all. Details are in the newsletter.
Next week is Book Week! Mrs. Hickman (Year 4) and Mrs. Sharping (Year 1) have planned exciting activities and we will be celebrating World book Day on Thursday 6th March. Children can wear pyjamas, onesies, oodies or cosy clothes on this day—just ensure they’re warm enough. They can bring their favourite book to share with the class.
Later this term, teachers will meet with you to discuss your child’s progress so far this year. Booking opens on Monday, 10th March, at 6pm.If your child has SEN needs and a support plan with set targets, our staff will contact you to arrange a separate appointment—no need to sign up. For the first time this term, target sheets will be sent out ahead of the meetings, giving you a chance to review the information in advance and come prepared for the discussion.
The term ends with Easter. Join us for our Big Easter Eggtravaganza on Thursday 3rd April after school, with fun activities to raise funds for our garden. Look out for tickets!
Wishing everyone a happy term ahead,
Miss Marriott
Value of the Half Term - Betty Bee - Heart of our Community
This half term we will be focusing on the value Heart of the Community. Last year we really unpicked what it means to BEE You, celebrating our differences as the things that make us unique. This year we are focusing on Community (specifically our Pinner Wood community) and understanding what it means to be part of a thriving community. We will run a sequence of assemblies highlighting individuals who embody the heart of our Pinner Wood community.
Shedding a light on some of the things they do to make everyone feel welcome, valued and like they belong.
World Book Day
On the 6th March we will be celebrating World Book Day!
The book this year is:
‘I Talk Like a River’ by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith.
The children can dress up in their pyjamas and bring in their favourite story book to share with the class.
We will are inviting parents and carers to a drop and read session from 2:30-3:00 where you will be invited to your child’s classroom and listen to your child read their favourite story book.
We will also be hosting a book swap afterschool (3:05 – 3:30) in the KS2 playground of preloved books which have been donated that can be enjoyed at a new home. If you have any children’s book that you would like to donate please hand these to the school office.
This year the World Book Day gift tokens are physical. Your child will be given their gift token on World Book Day. Many retailers are selling books online as well as instore, and are accepting the £1 book token and/or selling children’s books for under £5. Please visit https://www.booksellers.org.uk/wbd to find a list of participating retailers.
Happy reading!
Miss Sharpling and Mrs Hickman
English Leaders
On World Book Day, we will also have an author visiting the school. Dev Kothari is a local author who you can find out more about here.
Dev will be exploring the themes in her book and running a writing workshop with the Year 6 classes.
Bringing Back Kay-Kay
Steeped in mystery and adventure, this brisk and beautifully crafted middle-grade debut is set in a vividly evoked modern-day India. A character-driven middle-grade mystery, it tackles rich themes – from the sibling bond to self-worth – in a taut and suspenseful adventure.
If you would like to purchase her book you can do so here.
New club alert!
We introduced Be Active before the half term break and Charlie who is joining us to support and team teach within our PE lessons. They will also be running an OAA club for Year 1 and 2 on a Monday after school. Sessions will be charged at £5 a week.
Sign up here - https://www.beactivesportsandclubs.co.uk/book-online?category=94e30201-5759-48ef-be05-23ed7a73b078
Our Outdoor Adventure Activities (OAA) club offers children the chance to engage in a variety of fun, exciting, and educational outdoor activities. These activities aim to build teamwork, confidence, problem-solving skills, and resilience while allowing children to connect with nature.
Through supervised adventures like orienteering, team-building games, and outdoor challenges, children will have the opportunity to explore new skills and enjoy the great outdoors in a safe and supportive environment. OAA promotes physical activity, creativity, and leadership in a positive, outdoor setting.
We are also excited to be opening a Chess Club for children in Year 1 - 6. Please email info.strategysquare@gmail.com to book a place for Summer term.
School Notices - A few reminders
Changes to clubs | Wednesday 5th March and 12th March | Please note there will be NO running club on Wednesday 5th March or Wednesday 12th March. |
Music lessons | If your child is currently having a music lesson and would like to continue next year, please complete the link sent out before half term. |
Enjoy Learning - PW News
Oracy at Pinner Wood | In Spring term, we continued to open our doors to local schools in order to showcase our Oracy provision. Following this, we have launched our very own Oracy Project, connecting and bringing schools together to develop an area of Oracy within their own school. The project will be led by our own Oracy team and will involve face to face training sessions. Alongside this, we are excited to have been chosen to host Voice 21 in March and showcase our lessons, assemblies and enrichment within the school, as an example for the best Oracy practice in the country. We are delighted to also be able to deliver a bespoke training from Alice Scott, Director of Programmes at Voice 21, to our staff. Later in the half term, we also have our Speech Week; a showcase of speeches from Year 4 (rainforest) and Year 6 (sustainability focus). |
Sporting News | Another busy but brilliant half term has been completed at Pinner Wood. All the children have been busy learning a range of new skills in their PE lessons and were introduced to our new Inter-House Competition and if you asked the children, they thoroughly enjoyed. The idea is to create some friendly rivalry at Pinner Wood School. The children will be working in their houses as teams, trying to earn as many points as possible by showcasing the skills they have learnt in their PE lessons during the term. It was lovely to see the enjoyment the children were having during this and they are already excited about the next Inter-House Competition this half term. Congratulations to Ruby for being our first official winner of the Inter-House Trophy. Our Ruby house captains were able to collect and display the new shiny trophy in assembly. Let's hope Ruby doesn't become too attached to this trophy, as I'm sure the other three houses are ready to be declared winners next time. Regarding sporting events outside of school, well done to our Year 5/6 girls' football team who played all of their league matches. They performed extremely well and were congratulated by other schools for their determination and teamwork. At Pinner Wood, we hosted the Year 6 netball league matches between us and five other schools. The afternoon was a success and the children performed with great spirit. I look forward to sharing all the future successes we will have at Pinner Wood in the coming terms |
Music News | The first part of the Spring Term has seen classical music being enjoyed in class as our listening focus and pupils enjoying performing in Assembly. I especially enjoyed practicing and performing a piano duet with Zaakiyah, she showed real skill in the way she performed in time with the other part. The Year 3’s have been engaging with the Percussion Project, an annual project run with specialist tutors from Harrow Music Service. During this time, our specialist Music Teacher Mrs Kraft has been working with the pupils in Squirrels and Hedgehogs as part of their Marvellous Music topic. The choir looking forward to a highlight of the year next week – the Choir Showcase at Elliot Hall. Please do contact the Box Office at Harrow Arts Centre if you would like to see them perform. We are grateful to have a few new members of Orchestra this term and have recently begun practicing some exciting music from the Harry Potter film score. Mrs Bretayne and Miss Thomas have taught a wide repertoire of songs to the Year 1 and 2 pupils in a weekly Song Assembly. This is really popular with the pupils and is an enjoyable way to help build singing skills and confidence. Coming up – String Fest at Elliot Hall on Wednesday 26th March (invitees only) and The Lost Thing Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican for Year 5. We are also delighted to have just been awarded the Music Mark as a recognition of our wonderful music provision! Please do contact the office if you are an accomplished musician and are able to come in to perform in Assembly – the pupils enjoy hearing a wide range of live instruments and singers. |
Sustainability News | Another busy half term for all things green at Pinner Wood! Our Picker Pals litter pickers are making there way around Year 3 and 4 at the moment and it is brilliant to see children litter picking in their own roads and local communities. Our Bikeability was also a huge success for some of our Year 5 children alongside our Eco Refill shop that will continue to run each month. A big thank you for all the support during Sustainability Week! It was an amazing week from measuring food waste, writing persuasive letters, wildlife spotting, taking the walking bus, exploring perspectives outside, going to the drinks refill station, pedestrian training, litter picking, discussing clean air, exploring transport issues and the parking patrol! It is very clear that the pupils and families at Pinner Wood are all making a difference. We are keen to buy an Eco Code sign with the money raised from our refill station that week. We have also successfully achieved the RHS Level 5 Gardening Award, winning a number of resources and gardening vouchers to use at the school, alongside the Platinum Woodland Trust award! This half term, we want to look back at our findings on food waste and work with our kitchen to find a way to reduce this going forwards. There is also the Big Green School clean at the end of the month to look forward to. See you at the Eco Refill on Friday 7th March from 3.30 pm |
Google Classroom News | It has now been two terms since we introduced the Chromebooks and Google Classroom to Year 6 and it has been a huge success. The children are more confident than ever and we have seen its uses expand across all subjects. The children have developed their use of office-based apps such as word; creative apps, such as adobe express to create videos; and develop their oracy and presentation skills through slides. Now it is well-established in Year 6, our next step is to roll it out into Year 5 to deliver on our promise at Pinner Wood of making our children confident creators with technology. We are hoping to raise money to buy new Chromebooks and any contributions would be greatly appreciated. Our Fund-Raisin challenge will go towards this purchase of chrome books and we hope to raise £70,000! |
Continue to look at @Pinnerwoodsch for all our updates and lots of pictures. |
Pinner Wood Events
With so many events coming up this term – We thought we would give you a rundown of what to expect.
Friday Refill your cup | Every Friday | After our success of Refill your Cup Friday during Sustainability week, we will be continuing this every Friday morning in the cabin in the Year 5 and 6 playground. Parents, carers and families - bring a refillable cup/travel mug and a small donation for a morning cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate. |
Fund Raisin Challenge | Monday 3rd March | Thank you to everyone for your support so far! Remember—eat the raisins and fill the box with any money you can afford. Bring the filled box back into school on Monday, 3rd March. Please mark the box with your house colour. The house that raises the most money will win a prize! All money raised will go towards purchasing more Chrome Books. |
Parent/ Career Evening Sign up | Monday 10th March 6pm | Please log onto Arbor and book your slot. If your child has an SEN need and has a PW support plan the class teacher will be in touch to make a separate appointment. |
Year 5 Happiness Assembly and Tolmers Meeting | Tuesday 11th March 9am- 10.30am | Year 5 families – join us for our year 5 assembly on happiness. After the assembly we will hold the year 5 residential meeting. |
PW Community Iftar Dinner | Thursday 13th March 5.30pm | Come and break the fast with us. Bring a food dish to share with the community. This always proves to be a very special PW event. Everyone is welcome. Please let us know if you can help – before families have offered to share readings/ prayers. |
Parent/ Carer Evening | Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th March 3.30-6pm | Join us to discuss your child’s progress so far. Target sheets will be sent prior to the meeting, this will help guide any discussions. |
Spring Birthday Bunch | Friday 28th March | Children with birthdays from 1st January – 21st April can come to school in their own clothes. |
Year 4 Speech Evening | Monday 31st March 3.30-4.30pm | Families with children in year 4 are welcome to come along and hear their speeches. |
Year 6 Speech Evenings | Tuesday 1st, Wednesday 2nd, Thursday 3rd April | Families with children in year 6 are welcome to come along and hear their speeches. (Slots will be allocated in advance.) |
We are Community Day | Thursday 4th April | Value day – Heart of the Community. Children are welcome to come to school dress in clothes important to them – cultural dress, colours of their flag, favourite clothes etc. Activities will be planned to celebrate our community. |
Easter Eggtravaganza | Thursday 4th April 3.30-5.30pm | Join us for an afternoon of Easter Fun and our biggest ever Easter Egg hunt. Tickets will go on sale on Friday 7th March 2025 the link will be in our newsletter. Money raised from this event will be supporting the ongoing development and upkeep of the garden. More details will be shared soon! |
Step up - Recruitment
Pabulum Catering is looking to appoint a Head Chef— please let us know if you would like details of the role.
Today, we say a heartfelt thank you to Chef Linda as she retires from Pinner Wood. We are grateful for everything she has done for us.
Until a suitable replacement is found, Pabulum will be employing agency chefs to ensure the lunch service continues smoothly.
Betty Bee Community News - Upcoming Events
School Information Sessions
Year 4 Times table meeting | We will he hosting a meeting for Year 4 families on Friday 21st March at 9 am to share information about the Multiplication Check including what it is, the logistics around it and how you can support at home. We will share slides and information if you are not able to attend. |
Maths Workshops | Following our successful RWI and KS1 Maths workshops, we will be running a Year 3 and 4 Maths Workshop beginning Friday 14th March. Each session will run from 9 - 10 am. Please use this link to sign up if you would like to attend any of the sessions. |
Community Events
Friends of Pinner Wood | More details will be shared soon on our upcoming events. |
External Events
Parent Workshops | We continue to share workshops and events for parents on our school website here. Please see the upcoming below event. Gaining Family Co-operation Getting to grips with the needs of the whole family can be tricky, especially as children grow into capable, independent individuals. Venue: On-line Cost: £14.00/ £ 5.00 concessions (with proof) Per person To book a place please call us on 020 8863 7319 or 07498881496 or email info@hopeharrow.org.uk |
Dates for your Diary
Value: Heart of the Community | ||
Week | ||
Friday 28th Feb | Ramadan Begins | |
2 | Monday 3rd March | Fund Raisin Challenge in |
Tuesday 4th March | Pancake Day | |
Wednesday 5th March | Lent Begins Year 6 Trip to Wicked in West End | |
Thursday 6th March | World Book Day and Book Swap Come in pyjamas with your favourite book. Bring any books you would like to swap for the book swap at the end of the day | |
Friday 7th March | Eco Refill Shop open | |
Saturday 8th March | International Women’s Day | |
3 | W.B. Monday 10th March – Friday 21st March | Swimming Block – Woodstock and Amazon |
Monday 10th March 6pm | Sign up open Parent/ carer evening on Arbor | |
Tuesday 11th March | 9am – Year 5 Assembly followed by Residential Trip update. | |
Wednesday 12th March | Poetry by Heart Club trip | |
Thursday 13th March | Purim | |
Thursday 13th March | PW Iftar Dinner –All welcome -5.30-7pm | |
Friday 14th March | Holi | |
4 | Monday 17th March | St Patrick’s Day |
Monday 17th March | Parent/ Carer meetings start for children with SEN (two week window) | |
Tuesday 18th March | Year 5 First Aid Training | |
Tuesday 18th March | Fred Day in EYFS and Key Stage 1 | |
Tuesday 18th March | Global Recycling Day | |
Wednesday 19th March | London Docklands Museum Trip - Year 6 | |
Thursday 20th March | NLCS Author visit - invite only | |
Thursday 20th March | International Day of Happiness | |
Friday 21st March | World Down Syndrome Day | |
Friday 21st March | Year 4 - parent/ carers Time Tables check meeting 9am | |
Friday 21st March | Poetry By Heart Celebration | |
Friday 21st March | Year 3/4 Gymnastics Competition | |
Friday 21st March | Big School Clean - 2 weeks | |
5 | W.B. 24th March | Walk and Wheel week |
Tuesday 25th March | Year 5 trip to Gurdwara | |
Wednesday 26th March | String Fest | |
Wednesday 26th March | Parent/ Carer Evening – 3.30-6.30 | |
Thursday 27th March | Parent/ Carer Evening – 3.30-6.00 | |
Thursday 27th March | Year 3 Percussion Project showcase to families at 11 - 11.30 am | |
Friday 28th March | Birthday Bunch – Birthdays 1st Jan – 21st April | |
Friday 28th March | House Assembly | |
Saturday 29th March | Earth Hour | |
Sunday 30th March | Mothers’ Day | |
Sunday 30th March | Possible date for EID | |
6 | W.B Mon 31st March | PW Speech Week – Year 4 and 6 |
Monday 31st March | Year 5 trip to the Barbican to see London Symphony Orchestra | |
Monday 31st March | Year 4 Speech Evening 3.30-4.15pm- Families Welcome | |
Monday 31st March | Barbican Trip – Year 5 | |
Tuesday 1st April | RE Day | |
Tuesday 1st April | Year 2 trip to Roald Dahl Museum | |
Monday 31st March - Wednesday 2nd April | Year 6 Speech Evening – Year 6 will be given time slots and families welcome to attend | |
Thursday 3rd April | ‘We are community’ Day | |
Thursday 3rd April | Easter Eggtravaganza 3.30-5.30pm Tickets required | |
Friday 4th April | End of Term 1.30pm | |
Looking Ahead to the Summer Term | ||
Tuesday 22nd April | Term starts for children and staff | |
Wednesday 23rd April | St George's Day Squirrels/ Beavers/ Cubs/ Scouts can ew Wear club uniform | |
Friday 25th April | New Prefects Announced | |
Friday 25th April | Friends of PW Colour Run (After school) | |
Monday 5th May | Bank Holiday – School Closed | |
Monday 12th – Thursday 15th May | Year 6 SATS – ALL YEAR 6 IN SCHOOL | |
Monday 26th – Friday 30th May | Half Term | |
Monday 2nd June | INSET DAY – SCHOOL CLOSED | |
W.B. 3rd June (2 week window) | Year 4 Multiplication Check | |
W.B 9th June (2 week window) | Year 1 Phonic Check | |
W.B 9th June | Year 6 Business Challenge Week | |
W.B. 9th June | Oracy Week | |
W.B. 16th June | STEAM Week | |
Monday 23rd June – Wednesday 25th June | Year 5 Tolmers Residential Trip | |
Thursday 26th June | Class Photos | |
Tuesday 1st July | Sports day and family picnic | |
Wednesday 2nd July | ‘Move up’ morning | |
Wednesday 2nd July (Evening) and Thursday 3rd July (Afternoon) | Year 6 Show | |
Friday 4th July | Birthday Bunch 22nd April – 31st August | |
Saturday 5th July | PW Summer Carnival in school | |
Monday 7th July – Friday 11th July | Year 6 Isle of Wight Trip | |
Monday 14th July | Dream Big Open Evening | |
Tuesday 15th July | Music Concert for performers | |
Friday 18th July | 8-10am Year 6 Leavers breakfast and assembly (Year 6 families invited) | |
Friday 18th July | Term Ends for All 1.30pm | |
Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd July | INSET DAYs – SCHOOL CLOSED TO PUPILS | |
Updates from Head Squad
This term, an abundance of exciting activities will be raining down on the school for many of our year groups! Starting with the youngest year, Reception will enjoy a thrilling Travel and Transport Airport experience and an exciting bus trip.
Year 1 will build houses in DT and celebrate a fun-filled “Fred Day” with Fred the Frog.
Year 2 has lots to look forward to as well! They will visit the Roald Dahl Museum, learn about habitats, discover the wonders of Zambia, and enjoy reading The Twits. In addition, they will visit a synagogue to learn all about Judaism.
Year 3 will dive into drama and read The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson. In French, they will explore fruits and lightbulbs (what a mix!). They will also have the chance to make delicious fruit kebabs as part of their French lessons. Yum!
Year 4 will be swimming at Highgrove Pool, working hard on their Maths Passports, and visiting Nower Hill thanks to the Oracy Club.
Year 5 will take the stage with their extraordinarily happy “Happy Harrow” assembly and visit the Gurdwara to enrich their cultural knowledge.
Year 6 will have their Wicked theatre performance and go on a fantastic trip to the London Docklands Museum.
All these fascinating activities are coming up in Spring 1.
Finally, to all families celebrating Ramadan: Ramadan Mubarak!
Spring 1 in Photos
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