Dear Parents, Carers, and friends of The Woodroffe School,
Thank you for taking the time to read through our latest edition of ‘Rough Notes’ and the first for 2022.
It has been a positive start to the year and students are attending well. Our current attendance for the year to date is the highest it has been since mid-October; I would like to thank you for your ongoing support and ensuring that students are in school as much as possible.
A word of thanks to our community:
In 2020, we started the 'Christmas Hamper' project with the support of The Lyme Regis Food Bank to help our students and families over the festive period. The project provides a Christmas meal and additional provisions, including small gifts this year, to support vulnerable students at a time of year, which can be incredibly challenging for families.
The Lyme Regis Food Bank have been fantastic in taking this idea and sourcing both the funding and provisions. We are extremely grateful for the support they have given our students and local families. This is a great example of effective community partnership working to support those in need.
We look forward to continuing our partnership in both this project and new ventures in the future.
I would also like to thank Neville Causley of Causley Cabs, the organiser of the Lyme Regis Charity Santa Sleigh, for choosing to support our wellbeing project as this year’s nominated charity. The money raised (£1400) will make a real difference and will enable us to add to our incredibly valuable service.
We welcome support and collaborative partnerships with our community and are happy to pursue other projects if you have anything in mind.
On the 8th of January I was invited to take part in ‘Bay Lives’ on Lyme Bay Radio. I would like to thank Neil for the invite; it was a really interesting experience. The hardest part was picking just a small number of tracks, I could have changed my choices many times. Here is my list, what would you have chosen?
- First band I saw live: The Stone Roses - Waterfall
- Out with friends: James - Sit Down
- Working in the USA: Blink-182 - All the Small Things
- Sung by a friend at our wedding (not the first dance): Barenaked Ladies - What a Good Boy
- Best band I have seen live (with my best friend): Foo Fighters - Walk
- Classic #1: Eagles - Hotel California
- Classic #2: Queen - Somebody to Love
- For my dad (covered by a very good friend following his passing): ELO - Mr Blue Sky
- To end, there is no better way: Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
In May, I have agreed to do a tandem parachute jump from 15,00ft to help raise money for Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support. Entitled ‘It’s a long way down’, I have so far made it to 80% of my fund-raising target. Follow the link below if you would like to help me reach my target and support the excellent work done by the charity to support local people.
https://localgiving.org/fundraising/DanJumps/
Despite only being back a short time, our students continue to do amazing things. Amelia recently took part in her first National Taekwondo competition, after reaching black belt standard, and won a silver medal in the team competition. Our year 7 girls were area cross-country champions in the team event, Oscar was junior boys’ area champion and Will, Ella and Izzy all won gold in their respective races. In addition, Will was also crowned Southwest Cross-Country champion after beating a field of 70 club runners. Amazing!
Over the Christmas break 15 students and staff were involved in the Sidmouth Panto, delighting audiences with the classic tale of Dick Whittington. Staff were involved in stage-management, directing and set design whilst students held prominent acting roles and helped with set design. What a talented bunch!
Four scouts / explorers from Woodroffe have been selected to go to South Korea in Summer 2023 to take part in the World Scout Jamboree. This is a great opportunity for them and is particularly welcome after such a difficult couple of years. To achieve this goal a great deal of dedicated fundraising will be required. Please look out for their upcoming fundraising events and help send them on their way. Congratulations to all at Lym Valley Scouts.
I would like to thank our wonderful students for their continued hard work and optimism. Last year was a challenging year for them all and I hope that this year proves to be much more straightforward.
I hope you enjoy our latest edition of ‘Rough Notes’. Should you wish to find out more about our school, news or events, please visit the school website, which I am sure you will find useful. In addition, for regular updates, why not look at our social media outlets:
The Woodroffe School Headteacher can be found on Twitter - @HeadteacherTws
The Woodroffe School can be found on Twitter - @WoodroffeSchool
The Woodroffe School on Instagram – woodroffeschooldorset
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all, a happy New Year.
Best wishes,
Dan Watts
Headteacher