Newsletters

23/24 - Autumn 1 - Week 1

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Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back!  It is so wonderful to see the pupils return this week - looking very smart in their school uniforms.  And a special welcome to our new Year Three pupils who have settled into William Ford life so quickly.

I do hope you have all had a fantastic summer and are ready for the new academic year with all the opportunities and inevitable challenges this will bring.  As I shared with the pupils on Wednesday, there is much to look forward to from school events, trips and a residential to wonderful new opportunities such as our brand new radio station!  We are also expecting our OFSTED school inspection this year which is long overdue.  OFSTED do not provide notice of inspections, although the government has shared that it should be before July 2024.

So, what has been happening in school over the summer.....

The Learning Zone

This is the development which is taking place in the sports hall complex to install additional learning spaces for those pupils who require additional support.  This will include two large classrooms, one with access into an outdoor learning area, a sensory room along with soft play.  As with all building works, this has over run but should be completed this month. 

School kitchen

Those of you who were with us last year may be aware that we experienced a significant amount of equipment malfunctions just before the summer, resulting in us having to use disposable crockery and cutlery and only being able to offer packed lunch style food.  I am pleased to say we have been able to find the necessary finance and been able to install a range of new equipment meaning we can return to our delicious hot food next week.

William Ford Radio

This is now up and running with our first cohort of pupils trained on Wednesday and now broadcasting their own radio shows!  Our first live broadcast was on Wednesday and the pupils did fantastically well in presenting to the whole school.  As we grow in confidence with this equipment we will share how parents can tune in at home and also how this is being used across the curriculum.  

New landscapers

In order to keep the outside of the school looking as nice as the inside, we have employed a new landscaping company who will be on site twice a week.

Learning areas

Year Six cloakrooms have been relocated into classrooms, removing some of the nice little hideaways that previous Year Six cohorts used to enjoy (sorry Year Six)!  This has created more learning spaces.  Our Year Five space area has new flooring and we continue to install our volcanoes and Ancient Greek areas outside Year Three.

 

So, as you can see it has been an incredibly busy holiday here at William Ford.  My thanks to Mr. Young and Mrs. Gladden for overseeing all of these works.

Absence and punctuality

We are tightening up on this.  All pupils are to be in their classrooms by 8:45am.  Gates open at 8:35am to facilitate this.  If your child arrives at 8:46am they will be recorded as late.  We are also tightening our systems around absence and will be arranging meetings with parents where attendance is of concern.  Please also be aware that the majority of requests for leave and extended absence during term time are refused as it is the law for pupils to be in school.  Where events such as funerals or weddings are taking place abroad, the time authorised outside of school holidays will be the bare minimum. Thank you for your support in this matter.

School Vision Day and Stand By Me charity

We kick-started the school year with revisiting our school vision with all year groups looking at a different aspect of this within their classes.  We also had a representative of our chosen charity, Stand By Me, in school on Thursday teaching us more about our four sponsor children who live in Guacamayal, Colombia and what life is like for them.  Each year group has a sponsor child who stays with them throughout their William Ford journey.  We have spent time writing to them along with learning more about them - including reading their school reports!

Once again, if you're new to William Ford, welcome, and if you are returning after the summer, welcome back.  I am sure it is going to be a fantastic year!

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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Joshua 1:9

Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. So don’t be afraid. The Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.”

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Welcome back everyone!

It has been so lovely to see you all after the summer holiday and I cannot wait to see you all grow and flourish this year. Also, a big welcome to our new parents!

If you require any support with your child's special educational needs/ disabilities or if you are concerned about their progress, please speak to your child's class teacher or contact me via the office. 

Tonight we will be sending out the information for our after school clubs and our new menu for Autumn 2023.

If you need to update any information (mobile numbers / medical conditions /food allergies please log onto our Pupil Update Form https://forms.office.com/e/nrkDDdKSvE scan down to view the QR code.

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PE Timetable at William Ford 

Not sure when your child has a PE lesson?

Each class will have 2 sessions each week. Please ensure your child has a T-shirt (in their house colour) shorts or jogging bottoms and a pair of trainers in their bag on the relevant day.

 

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We will start with our week two menu on Monday 11th September 2023. The full menu will be emailed to all parents and available to view and download on the website and facebook.

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After School Club 

This will be emailed out to all parents later today with the link and qr code for each club.

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Applications for secondary school - Year 6 parents

This week the paper quick guide to applying for secondary places was sent home

We are lucky to have Dagenham Park transition staff joining us after school on Monday to speak to pupils and year 6 parents about what Dagenham Park can offer. All parents and Year 6 pupils are welcome to attend.

TREWERN RESIDENTIAL 

30th October -3rd November

Only 10 spaces left 

£190 / £150 PP

Contact Mrs Noakes at office@Williamfordschool.co.uk

 

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This week classes have started to read their class texts during shared reading. 

Year 3 - Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx

Year 4 - Nell and the Cave Bear

Year 5 - Hidden Figures

Year 6 - Street Child

Watch this space for future updates about the books and other exciting books to choose and read from the library. 

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Y6 pupils/Parents meeting with Dagenham Park
3:00pm – 3:45pm
11
September
Pupil Voice assembly - International day of democracy
8:30am – 9:30am
15
September
Visual Impairement Awareness Week
8:00am – 8:30am
From 18 Sep until 22 Sep
18
September
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class One
9:30am – 10:45am
18
September
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class Two
10:45am – 12:00pm
18
September
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class Three
1:30pm – 2:45pm
18
September
Parents Meet the School Leadership- Coffee Morning (observe collective worship and meet)
9:00am – 10:00am
25
September
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08 Sep 2023
William Ford FM
This week Maddie (6B) and Jasmine (5A) write about our new radio station.
Read more
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Year Three

What a wonderful few days we've had, Year Three - Welcome to William Ford!

The children settled in on Wednesday by thinking about the school vision, particularly the aspect of working diligently. We thought about the creation story from the Bible and how God worked diligently and did not rest until it was finished. The children drew some fantastic images for each day of creation. This work will be continued this half-term in the children's RE lessons.

The children have also started their history unit on Ancient Civilisations. They thought carefully about what history is and tried to explain this in their own words. They have then been introduced to some Ancient Civilisations from around the world.

We hope that you all have a fabulous weekend and look forward to seeing you all next week.

 

Year 4 

We want to say a massive welcome back and welcome to Year 4, to all of our wonderful pupils! We are so excited for the new year and specifically for this new term. We have an action-packed term ahead of us, as we introduce the children to our English theme: Nell and the Cave Bear, which is linked to our History theme: The Stone Age. In maths we are going to be focusing on place value and we have a very informative unit on sound in science! Although this week has been short, we are really proud of how the year 4 pupils have adjusted and settled back into school life! We look forward to seeing you next week!

Year Five

We have had a fantastic start to the new academic year here in Year 5 - the children have settled wonderfully into their new classrooms. 

On Wednesday, the children focussed on part of our school vision - living at peace. The children worked diligently and produced fantastic pieces of art work. Some of these can be seen on 5A's windows. As part of their written task, the children were extremely thoughtful and wrote some fantastic poems about peace which will be displayed on our Vision Day display board.

The children were introduced to our class book this week - Hidden Figures. It was lovely to see the excitement on their faces when they predicted correctly what we were going to be focussing on this half term - space! Our maths lessons began with Roman Numerals! The children had retained lots of information from Year 4 and many were able to recall the letters the Romans used and the value of these. We will begin to look at numbers up to 100,000 next week.

The Year 5 team hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend.

Year Six

The Year 6 children have made an excellent start to the new academic year.  

Our first day back was our whole school Vision Day during which the Year 6 children explored the fruits of the spirit and what we can learn from Jesus.  Their written task involved writing a leaflet explaining how Jesus demonstrated the fruits of the spirit during his lifetime.  The children also completed a piece of art using watercolours to depict the fruits of the spirit. Their work was carefully completed and highly creative.  Later in the week, we also had the wonderful opportunity to write letters to our sponsor child, Sharia, in Columbia.

Our maths lessons have started by working on place value up to 10,000,000! The children have made a great start and worked very well in lessons.  In English, we have started our first unit of work based upon the children’s novel Street Child by Berlie Doherty.  It is a very engaging text and the children have enjoyed reading it.

The Year 6 team would like to thank you for your continued support and wish you a restful weekend.

 

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Each week, staff select three children from each class who have shown effort and commitment to upholding an aspect of our school vision, shown at the bottom of the page. Congratulations to this week’s ‘stars of the week’ for their tremendous endeavours!

 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Three

3M

Name: Natalia

For: working hard and producing beautiful work.

 

Name: Kaiden

For: being helpful towards his classmates.

 

Name: Demi

For: being calm and settled ready for year three.

3N

Name: Abigail

For: approaching all lessons diligently.

Name: Diarra

For: using her own time to tidy up the classroom. 

Name: Zakariya

For: being calm and ready to start all lessons.

3F

Name: Carter

For: working hard to improve his handwriting and having a positive approach to his learning

Name:  Purity

For: acting generously towards adults and her classmates 

Name: Omar

For: settling into class and living at peace
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4IW

Name: Freddie

For: working well in all lessons, especially Vision day. 

 

Name: Jada

For:Being sensible, kind and helpful in the classroom. 

 

Name: Shalom

For: Having a calm and positive impact in the classroom and on school radio.

4D

Name: Frankie -Lee

For: Working diligently and trying to complete all his tasks

Name: Sanjel

For: Being kind and helpful to others

Name: Collins

For: Being polite and focussed and having a peaceful nature

4W

Name: Gabija

For: making an excellent start and working diligently. 

Name: Lyra

For: making an excellent start and being generous by helping Mr Wakeford.

Name: Divine

For: making an excellent start and showing a peaceful and kind nature.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Milana

For: her beautifully designed stained glass window.

 

Name:  Avani

For: always being ready to learn.

 

Name: Samuel

For: displaying a peaceful attitude this week.

5H

Name: Micha

For: super writing this week.

Name: Amina

For: giving her time generously to help others who are new to the school.

Name: Ajwa

For: always taking the initiative to help keep our classroom and the school peaceful.

5P

Name: Bobby

For: working hard in maths, showing a great understanding of Roman numerals.

Name: Claude

For: helping others to improve their writing in English.

Name: Emmanuel

For: being ready to learn and being a peaceful member of the class.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6B

Name: Samuel

For:  excellent effort completing our vision Day art work.

 

Name: Favor

For: quietly helping another child with their Vision Day art work.

 

Name: Jasmine

For: a calm and focussed start to Year 6.

6F

Name: Kyle

For: great contribution during class discussions. 

Name: Awesome

For: always being willing to help and being generous with his time.

Name: Diya

For: great focus and engagement during maths this week. 

6I

Name: Lexi

For: trying her best in all lessons, working to the best of her ability.

Name: Sufian

For: being generous with his patience in class. 

Name: Yamen

For: his lovely politeness and making and fantastic impression this week. Keep it up!
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