Celebration Autumn Term

Introduction
Dear Families,
We are now at the end of the
first term following a new vision
and many changes at Westfield.
I would like to take this opportunity
to reflect on the positive outcomes and recognise the
strides that we have made. I am very proud of our
wonderful pupils and their engagement in their lessons.
Our newly implemented SFA (Success For All) lessons have
resulted in 97% of pupils making great progress and
moving up in the programme.
Our Westfield Museum was absolutely fantastic,
showcasing the depth of knowledge that children have
acquired in the wider curriculum. We are also delighted
about the enrichment that children have engaged in via
our trips, experiences, a newly formed choir and a range of
clubs. In January, we are offering 16 extra curricular
opportunities.
Earlier in the term, many of you attended parents’ evenings
and were kind enough to complete our survey. With 130
responses, we were able to analyse data and have begun
responding to your feedback. The results are available at
the back of this newsletter. Thank you to the parents who
have attended forums this term. We are very keen to work
in partnership and are genuinely pleased to hear your
views.
Continued school improvement plans for 2020 include a
play-pod for children to use at lunchtimes and a smart
speaker system which will play music in corridors when
children are transitioning to lessons, assemblies and break
times.
Please see the separate letter listing dates for your diary in
early 2020.
May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your
ongoing support and wish you all a peaceful time with your
families in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Headteacher
Dates for your Diary:
Spring Term starts: Wednesday 8th January
Half Term: 17th - 21st February
Spring Term Ends: Friday 3rd April
Summer Term starts: Monday 20th April
Our Vision
Our job at Westfield
Primary Academy is to encourage
curious minds, unlock potential and
teach
skills that foster a love of lifelong
learning. We ensure that our children
are
self aware, responsible citizens
equipped for life in the 21st
Century where they are able to be the
very best they can be. Together we learn
from our mistakes, accept our
differences and work together to
achieve all that
we are capable of.
"If you believe,
you can
achieve!"

Success for All - SFA
This year we have introduced Success for All
(SFA) - an evidence based literacy programme
that uses cooperative learning principles to
provide a reading and vocabulary rich
curriculum. Children work with learning
partners and in teams to develop their
phonics, fluency, comprehension and
vocabulary and then apply these skills in their
writing. The first cycle of SFA was implemented
successfully with 97% of children making good
progress in reading.
In SFA, children are
grouped by ability and
will transition across the
school to access their
sessions each day. We
also have targeted
groups in phonics,
offering a fast track
programme and run a
Thrive SFA group for KS2
pupils.

Discovery - Wider Curriculum
During the autumn term, our curriculum focus
was History, Art and Design & Technology.
Across the school pupils investigated
historical facts and events and created
artwork, models and artefacts as part of our
integrated wider curriculum. We introduced
knowledge organisers and takeaway
homework menus to support pupils to deepen
their knowledge and understanding.

Discovery - Wider Curriculum
In Early Years, children learnt about old and new toys
and traditional tales and songs that have been shared
across generations. Year 1 discovered facts about the
history of the space race and the invention of airplanes.
Year 2 investigated the Great Fire of London and the
royal sucession since Elixabeth 1st. Year 3 studied the
Stone Age and the Romans, Year 4 found out about the
Vikings and Ancient Egypt. In Year 5, children learnt
about the reign of the Tudors, the War of the Roses and
World War 1 whilst in Year 6 they investigated the
significance and influence of Ancient Greece.

Discovery - Westfield Musuem
To showcase and celebrate our Discovery
wider curriculum learning, we hosted our very
own Westfield Museum. All classes rotated
around the school to visit each zone of the
mueum to share their learning and then
during the afternoon, parents were invited in
to visit the musuem, view the artefacts and
talk to our museum curators about their
exhibits. This was a wonderful opportunity to
enable our children to develop their
presentation skills and share their knowledge.
We will be running a Discovery Laboratory in
April where will once again share our learning
and knowlegdge.

Discovery - Out and About
Several year groups have been out on trips or taken part in activities during the autumn to
support our wider curriculum learning in our Discovery curriculum. This term all classes
have focused on History, Art and Design & Technology and have visited museums and sites
of significant historical interest to further their learning.
Year Three travelled back in time
to immerse themselves in the
world of the Romans as they
explored Colchester Castle in full
costume.
Year Two
visited
Haverhill Fire
Station to learn
how fire safety
has improved
since the Great
Fire of London.
Year One visited Duxford Museum to find out
more about aviation and the flight. They were
lucky enough to see planes and helicopters take
off and land and walk inside concorde.
Year Five spent time at Haverhill
Cemetery with volunteers from
Suffolk Remembers to find out
about the lives of WW1 veterans
from Haverhill. They also
recreated a trench experience
complete with medical aid
stations.

Nuture and Support
We are delighted to be able to offer provision in school
that supports pupils to succeed in all aspects of their
learning from boosters in phonics and mathematics,
PiXL learning therapies to supporting children's
emotional learning and success through Thrive (The
Aviary) and our new Grow provision (Swan class),
starting in January. We are pleased to now have 2 fully
trained Thrive practitioners with a further 3 colleagues
now training. The Thrive Approach combines
neuroscience and child development to provide a
powerful way of working with children and young people
that supports optimal social and emotional
development. In addition, the Thrive approach works a
targeted way with children and young people who may
have struggled with difficult life events to help them reengage
with life and learning.
We are also part of the Sandwell project
which supports staff and pupil mental wellbeing
and over the next few years we will be
working towards achieving their charter mark
for excellence.
We are pleased to welcome Louise Orton, a family
support practitioner who is based in school on
Tuesdays and Thursdays. Louise is available to
speak to families on a 1:1 basis and offers
courses in parenting and well being for pupils. If
you would like to know more please speak to
Louise via the school office or talk to your child's
class teacher.
Pupils in Year 2 are offered sessions of Forest School run by Mrs
Clasper. These sessions promote independence, resilience and seek to
build children's confidence and connection with their natural
environment. This is done through activities such as wood craft, art,
play, team building and challenges. We are always looking for parent
helpers even if you don't have a child in Year 2. Please speak to Mrs
Clasper if you would like to get involved.

Learning Together
We have enjoyed inviting families in every year group to spend time learning together with
us this term. Parents have participated in a wide range of learning from phonics to 'trench
in a box making', Maths to sampling an authentic Ancient Greek menu. Look out next
term for further opportunities to get involved and learn together.
Pictured above: Starling Class (Year 6) preparing their
authentic Ancient Greek menu of flatbread and salad,
followed by a learning together session to design and
create Greek shields. Skylark Class (Year 5) created
model replica trenches from World War 1 during their
learning together session whilst Sparrow Class (Year 3)
shared their SFA reading and phonics learning with
families, playing games and practising spellings and
sounds.

Learning Together
Pictured below: Puffins and Wren class (Reception) welcomed families to their phonics lesson
and enjoyed showing their parents how to segment and blend words. Year 2 (Herons and
Mockingbirds) shared an SFA (Success for All) reading and phonics lesson with families. It was
wonderful to see so many parents there.
In the spring
term we will
have more
learning
together
sessions. Also
look out for our
parent
workshops in
Maths, phonics
and reading
and more.

Celebrating Success
We have introduced lots of ways to encourage children to make positive
choices and succeed in their learning this year. All children at Westfield
Primary Academy know our School Promise and can earn component coins for
upholding it, for example: showing kindness to others, being determined in
their learning. Each component coin represents the four teams of Water,
Earth, Fire and Air.
Once a child has earned enough component
coins to reach various milestones they recieve
a certificate or a pin badge of bronze, silver or
gold. All component coins awarded are added
together across the school for each team.
Currently the points for Autumn term are:
Water - 2919 Earth - 3275 Fire - 3189 Air - 2987
Over 50 Golden Leaf
postcards have
been sent to
children this term.
Each week, a pupil is chosen by their teacher as Pupil of the Week
and their achievement is recognised at our Celebration Assembly,
to which their parents are invited.
Meet Webster our Westfield Wolf!
Each week, the class with the best attendance gets to keep Webster
in their class for the next week. We are working together as a school
to achieve a target of 96% attendance across the school.
This term we achieved
95%. All 112 children
who had 100% in
autumn were awarded
a certificate. The class
with the best
attendance this term
was Skylark Class - Well
done Skylark!
All pupils begin each
week as a Positive Pip.
As children challenge
themselves, connect
their learning or show
excellent learning
attitudes they move
through the learning
ladder towards the
Golden Leaf. Those who
reach the Golden Leaf
get a special postcard
home from the
headteacher.
A tidy space = a tidy
mind!
To encourage our school
to stay smart and clean
we award the Golden
Dustpan Award to the
class who is sparkling
the most!

Festive Fun
Westfield pupils have been enjoying some Christmas spirit from fantastic nativity
performances by Early Years and Key Stage 1 pupils to a whole school Christmas
lunch and various opportunities for our choir 'The Westfield Warblers' to sing out
in the community including the Haverhill Family Christmas Night and the Pentlow
Hawke residents' Christmas party. We finished off the term with an chance to
celebrate Christmas as school with our families and reflect upon being thankful
at our carol service supported by the Salvation Army and Haverhill Foodbank.
We enjoyed a
delicious
Christmas
lunch together
- decorated
with table
decoration
entries by
pupils.
ext

Festive Fun
Pictured above: Early Years and Key Stage One in their nativity - a modern twist based in
Haverhill and below, The Westfield Warblers out and about entertaining local residents
with a selection of carols and Christmas songs.

Chair of Governors
Since the start of the new
academic year, week on
week I have been
positively encouraged by
the pupils at Westfield.
They have adapted brilliantly
to new approaches, (SFA, behaviour systems)
that have been introduced to them, and
demonstrate and live the school values with
pride. It’s wonderful to hear them recite and
articulate the Westfield promise.
It’s fantastic that children have had the
opportunity to attend a diverse selection of
extra curriculum activities, from speed
stacking to choir to football, at lunch time
and afterschool. This is also complimented
by the new wrap around care that is
available in the mornings and evenings.
On top of the day to day school life, it’s really
important that children have the knowledge
and awareness to help them in society, and
the support I have seen in the school to raise
awareness has been brilliant- for instance
events for Mental Health Awareness, anti
bullying and Children in Need.
School Council &
Head Pupils
Our School council representatives were voted
for by their class mates and meet regularly to
discuss school issues, improvements and
promote the values of Westfield. We have also
appointed 4 head pupils to represent Westfield
and provide role models for others. Our school
council recently went to pack food parcels at the
Haverhill Food Bank.
I am really excited for the future of Westfield,
and delighted with the progress we have
seen this term.
On behalf of the Governors I’d like to take
this opportunity to wish you all a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Kind Regards,
Charley Abbott
Chair of Governors
OUR PURPLE PLEDGE
During Anti-bullying week we
launched our purple pledge. All
staff wearing a purple ribbon have
pledged to support children who
feel worried about bullying to stop
and prevent it in our school.
Friends of Westfield
The Friends of Westfield continue to give their time
and talents to support our school at events and to
fundraise for school equipment and activities. This
term they have run weekly healthy snack tuck shops
every Tuesday for Year 2-6, run 3 very successful
halloween discos and Christmas Fayre, hosted cake
sales and supported whole school events such as
serving refreshments at our Macmillan coffee
morning and our carol
service. The Friends of
Westfield always welcome
new volunteers - please
see Laura Robinson if you
would like to get involved.

Parental Feedback
Over the term we have faciltated a range of
events for parents to attend to find out more
about the vision and journey of the school,
and to work in partnership to ensure the
best outcomes for pupils.
We began with a vision evening which set up
our new approaches and policies. We have
also hosted four parent forums for families
in Early Years, Years 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and 5
and 6. These were an opportunity for
families to share with us what is working well,
what isn't and what things parents would like
to see happen in the future. We have
published the minutes of each of those
forums and sought to quickly address issues
raised.
We also held our parents' evenings where
parents could discuss with their child's class
teacher their child's targets and progress.
We launched our new pupil profile which
aimed to give clear and simple information
about how children are doing in key areas
from reading, writing and Maths to
attendance, home learning and attitude.
At our parent's evening we asked families to
answer a questionnaire based on the Ofsted
guidance. The results of this questionnaire
have been discussed as a team as we look to
improve and we have included them in the
newsletter on the following page to enable
families to see what was said.
Updates
Car Park
Please may you refrain from using our car
park unless you have authorisation to do
so. This term we have begun work to
consider alternative parking arrangements.
We will keep you posted.
Litter
We have written to the local council to raise
our concerns about littering in the subways
and around our school site. We will be
facilitating some litter picks around our
school site in the spring term. If you would
like to help volunteer to keep our school
grounds clean please let Mrs Thompson
know.
Staffing
This term we have welcomed Mrs Howlett
who will be working to support the learning
In Robins class. With Mrs Takakuda
now on maternity leave, we will be
welcoming Mrs Dale in January who will be
teaching Puffins class and leading Early
Years. Many Puffins' parents have
already met Mrs Dale.

Parental Feedback

Courage - Determination - Inspiration - Excellence - Respect