Newsletters

23/24 - Autumn 1 - Week 6

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Dear parents and carers,

Inclusion Quality Mark

I am absolutely delighted and proud to share that, following a rigorous assessment process, the school has been awarded the Inclusive School's Award at the highest level.  This is a nationally recognised award that celebrates all the inclusive practice that takes place across the school, from supporting pupils with special needs to raising aspirations for the future. In time, I will publish the full report (it is quite long!) but for now, I will share a few quotes:

  • William Ford C of E Junior School create ‘Purposeful learning, engaging activities.’ A curriculum where children have a real or fictional purpose to the learning or are working towards a purpose at the end of the unit. This gives the pupils the knowledge that they are working for a purpose, they can bring about change, and feel inspired. This in turn embeds the learning. In every lesson, and for every child, there are opportunities for collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication.
  • Pupils were asked to tell the IQM Assessor how they felt about their school. One pupil said, “I feel really safe.” Another commented that, “Without this school, for me, my life is nothing.” Another pupil said, “I like this school as they always make you feel part of it, and you never feel left out.” Comments that confirm the true inclusive nature of William Ford C of E Junior School.
  • When leaders, learning support staff, parents/guardians and governors were asked to describe the inclusive ethos of William Ford C of E Junior School in one word, they responded following some reflection, with these words: ‘Ambitious, deliberate, team, important, kind and happy.’ Carefully chosen words, which really reflect the school inclusion.
  • William Ford C of E Junior school works with a cluster of local schools to moderate and share and develop their teaching, learning and inclusive practise. Continuing professional development within the school is regular, bespoke, and impactful. It is purposely supported by the staffing structure plan, enabling curriculum leads to develop learning and pedagogy to ensure the best outcomes for the pupils.

What with us passing our SIAMS inspection back in April at the highest level, there is a lot for us to celebrate.  My thanks to the parents, pupils and staff who met with the inspector.  This has been a journey for William Ford.  We embarked on this about 18 months ago, not because we believed the school was fully inclusive, but because we recognised there was work to do, and we wanted a clear framework to drive our improvements. A huge well done to the staff who implemented the needed changes and to all for embracing change.  Also to Mr. Buckingham and Mrs Beech for their confident and capable leadership of inclusion and SEND.

Shared use of the lane connecting Village Infants and William Ford

We do understand that some parents have concerns about the lane leading up to the school.  Sadly, I have also been informed by a few individuals that there are people from outside the school claiming that William Ford is ignoring this situation.  This is rather frustrating, hence I would like to outline our approach and rationale:

  • The school has stated in the past that we do have staff members who can get stuck in traffic and others who are not due to start until 8:30am.  If we block these adults from entering school, this leaves groups of children unsupported as we run support groups beginning at 8:30am sharp.  We also have children arriving on-site from around 8:15am each day, hence asking staff to arrive earlier would mean we would have to pay staff more, which the school cannot afford.
  • We have encouraged pedestrians to walk on the pavement and not in the road. Going forward, we would ask as many families as possible to enter the school premises through the gate in Old Dagenham Park where there is no traffic and plenty of places for children to play as they wait to enter school.  Right from when I began at William Ford in 2020, I recognised the challenges and congestion on the lane and successfully compelled the local authority to fund and install this gate to relieve congestion and improve safety. This was the first time the LA had ever received such a request. We fought hard for this gate, so please do use it!
  • We have reached agreement with Ford Road Nursery that any member of staff arriving at 8:30am should park in their car park and move their car later during their break.
  • William Ford has continued to be very proactive in working with the local authority and has pushed hard for 'School Streets' which would stop all vehicles except residents and school staff from entering Ford Road.  Cameras would issue fines for anybody who breaches this with the enforcement time covering about three hours a day. We are still awaiting confirmation that the funding for this has been approved, which is with the council. 

If you still have concerns, I urge you to please speak to us directly and not individuals who are not connected with the school. Safety is of paramount importance, but we also want our staff working with pupils and continuing to further develop our provisions, rather than acting as traffic wardens, which is a role they are not trained to undertake. 

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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Ecclesiastes 7:9

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

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Nits / Headlice in school

Head lice and nits are very common in young children and their families. They do not have anything to do with dirty hair and are picked up by head-to-head contact. Sadly, a number of parents have reported to us that they have noticed headlice and, despite frequent checks and treatment, they are returning.

Visit Head lice and nits - NHS (www.nhs.uk) for more information on how to treat headlice.

Next Friday staff and pupils at William Ford will be raising money for breast cancer by wearing PINK. You can wear pink socks or a pink shirt or a pink dress. You can wear as little or as much PINK as you would like.

We urge as many pupils as possible to donate £1 to wear something PINK to school on Friday 20th October.

PE Days changes

Please ensure your child has their PE kit in their school bag on the allocated days.

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Welcome to William Ford Radio. Below you can see who we have presenting during the day. Each week the schedule will alter, but if you are lucky enough to live nearby and would like to hear your child LIVE, these are the times to listen out. More information on podcasts will be shared soon.

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Year Three

 

 

Year Four

Year Five

 

 

Year Six

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This week's book recommendation is Dork Diaries. These books are similar to The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I find Dork Diaries really funny and interesting to read. There are lots of them in the collection. I am enjoying reading through them all. 

 

Amelia 5P

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Dyslexia Awareness Week
8:00am – 8:30am
From 09 Oct until 13 Oct
09
October
Diversity Month
8:00am – 8:30am
From 02 Oct until 31 Oct
02
October
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class One
9:30am – 10:45am
16
October
Parent Meeting - Supporting your child's mental health and behaviour at home
9:30am – 10:30am
16
October
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class Two
10:45am – 12:00pm
16
October
Primary steps / Royal Ballet Company lesson Year 3 Class Three
1:30pm – 2:45pm
16
October
Parent Meeting - Supporting your child's mental health and behaviour at home
5:00pm – 6:00pm
16
October
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13 Oct 2023
Skeletons in Year 3 Science
This week Year Three have learnt about vertebrates and invertebrates.
Read more
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Year Three

This week in maths, the children have continued to work on addition and subtraction, focusing on hundreds as well as looking for patterns within numbers.

During our English lessons, we discussed the elements of an effective adventure story. The children considered different settings, heroes and villains and what a dilemma within a story could be. They then planned their own adventure story which will be written as their first writing assessment next week.

We have studied Egyptian artwork and copied and repeated some of the patterns in preparation for designing our own Egyptian scrolls. 

We have concluded our first R.E. unit of work with an assessment task this week. The children were asked to consider the importance of God's creation and how we can ensure we look after it for future generations. We will be moving onto our new unit, 'Incarnation', next week. 

The children have been thoroughly enjoying their ballet lessons and are really sad that next week will be our last one. This week the pupils completed some really beautiful partnered work and thought carefully about their movement and balances. 

The Year Three team wish you a happy and restful weekend.

Year Four 

In maths this week, we continued our work on addition and subtraction. We started working on addition with one or more exchanges and subtraction with only one exchange. We used manipulatives for those who needed them to have a more practical experience of maths.

In English, we looked at how to use commas to indicate speech, which we will include in our own adventure story in a few weeks' time. We worked collaboratively to brainstorm ideas to write an alternative ending to one of the scenarios of our class text, Nell and the Cave Bear.  

In Geography, we explored the influence of Indian culture on the rest of the world, especially their food, clothing and ancient architecture.

In history, we examined non-written sources of evidence about the Stone Age. The children were fascinated by seeing and touching an original stone-age arrowhead.

In RE, we explored the Hindu beliefs of life, death and rebirth. We found it interesting how some Hindu beliefs are the same as ours.

We are looking forward to learning even more exciting things next week.

Have a good and restful weekend.

Year Five

This week in Year 5 we have worked extremely hard in all areas. In English, continuing our Hidden Figures unit, the children have planned and written a biography with lots of guidance and support. This will help them as they go on to write a different biography next week as a writing assessment.

In maths this week, the children came to the end of their addition and subtraction unit by completing lessons on comparing calculations and finding missing numbers in calculations. We have now moved on to multiplication and division, taking a closer look at factors and prime numbers. Next week we will be learning about square numbers, cube numbers and multiplying and dividing numbers to 1000.

Continuing our ‘People of God’ unit in RE, the children wrote their own speech in the style of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. We had a great time reading some of them out to the class.

French lessons have been focussing on the solar system, choosing the correct French word to complete a sentence. It has been great to hear them become more confident in speaking another language.

The children have become architects in our Art lessons, designing a building in the futuristic style of a well-known architect, Zaha Hadid.

Please note that 5P’s PE days have changed to Monday and Tuesday.

Year Six

This week in maths, the children have used their multiplication facts knowledge to help them tackle division.  They started with short division but have quickly moved on to long division, which they have worked really hard on despite many of them finding it rather daunting at first.

Our English lessons have focussed on the development of the main character, Jim, in our focus text ‘Street Child’.  By analysing the text, as well as working in groups to complete a ‘hot seating’ task, the children have been able to explore how an author develops a character through narrative and dialogue.  In this week’s grammar lesson, the children learned about identifying and using fronted adverbials in their own writing.

This week’s computing lesson examined the importance of using strong passwords and other security measures in the children’s online activity.  The children also discussed what steps to take should one of their passwords be compromised.  In our French lesson this week, the children learned about the French game of pentanque.  This is a very popular game in France that is similar to boules.  The children learned the vocabulary associated with the game as well as playing it for themselves.

Next week is the final week of the first half term, and the time seems to have flown by in Year 6!  We once again 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

3F

Name: Oliver

For: working hard in all lessons across the curriculum.

 

Name: Favour

For: Always being kind to others to make them have a better day.

 

Name: Ameila

For: promoting peace within the classroom.

3M

Name: Ariah

For: listening very well in lessons 

Name: Giorgiana

For: always being kind and generous to the children and adults in her class

Name: Abigail

For: being well behaved and calm in lessons

3N

Name: Jamal

For: working diligently in all lessons.

Name: Ariane-Louise

For: being kind and helpful in the classroom.

Name: Riemen

For: being quiet, calm and ready to work.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4D

Name: Mia

For: working diligently in all her subjects

 

Name: Parker

For: always being helpful and supportive to others

 

Name: Iuistin

For: always having a calm and peaceful attitude

4IW

Name: Ayaan

For: Working diligently in all his subjects and making a huge effort in class discussions

Name: Joesph

For: always giving up his time to help others in and around the class 

Name: Mia

For: being a calm and positive energy in the classroom 

4W

Name: Shengkai

For: working diligently and improving his speed and pace, when writing. 

Name: Liyanah

For: helping others and putting lots of effort into her writing in history and geography. 

Name: Azraq

For: living at peace and working hard to improve his behaviour for learning. 
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Teslim

For: working diligently on his Maths.

 

Name: Daniella I

For: sharing her equipment with her peers

 

Name: Stephanie

For: promoting peace within her friends and peer group. 

5H

Name: Adam

For: making such a super contribution to Thursday's maths lesson.

Name: Dylan

For: for acting generously to give his time to help someone else in maths.

Name: Poppy

For: her continued positive attitude, politeness and kindness towards others.

5P

Name: Juelz

For: working hard in geography, using great geographical vocabulary.

Name: Eliza

For: always sharing her knowledge with the class.

Name: Tilly

For: being a calm and polite member of the class, showing greater focus on her learning.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6B

Name: Natasha

For: working diligently with long division in maths.

 

Name: Maddie

For: generously sharing her ideas in lessons this week.

 

Name: Believe

For: her calm and kind approach to her peers

6F

Name: Chaimaka

For: showing great perseverance in maths learning long division. 

Name: Soma

For: great team work during PE.

Name: Daniyal

For: living at peace and being focused during independent work. 

6I

Name: Aaban

For: working hard at all times and always doing his best.

Name: Yogi

For: helping others and beginning to do the right thing in different situations.

Name: Corey

For: being more focussed and calm in lessons. 
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