Merry Christmas Everyone

As we wish you a Merry Christmas 2022 and a happy 2023, here are some reflections on the lead up to Christmas in school, where children had lots of fun as they rediscovered some of our important seasonal traditions and built their personal confidence as they developed their speaking, acting, playing and general performing skills.

From our first actual Christmas Jumper Day, raising £395 for Save the Children, playing in the snow, making snowmen, rolling massive snow balls and class snowball fights to walking through the snow to our Carol Services at the beautiful Norman church of St Mary Chadwell; the Christmas season was very special at Woodside this year, more so, to welcome back our parental audience into school and into the church for those memorable moments. Not only could parents come and see them again, but every junior child played an instrument in the church as well as singing our favourite carols and in school, every class from nursery to year 2  performed their own version of the nativity story, with every child on stage and in costume with a meaningful part in the play; all with some excellent  singing, playing, acting and reading. Well done children for these amazing performances and well done to all the staff for the unseen preparations that made it so successful. We decided to repeat the end-of-the-day outdoor carol singing we introduced during Covid regulations but this year it was made all the more Christmassy by a backdrop of real snow! Our last day was a real celebration with this year's pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, from the excellent M and M Theatrical Productions, our now traditional teachers' comic version of 12 Days of Christmas, proper Christmas parties and what must have been the best school Christmas lunch in Thurrock, lovingly prepared by our amazing kitchen team.