Newsletters

23/24 - Spring 1 - Week 4

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Dear parents and carers,

Lighthouse - our new provision is open!

I am delighted to share that our new provision, based in the sports hall complex is now open, and already we have pupils engaging in a range of sessions.  Primarily, this is for pupils who need some extra support in aspects of learning, behaviour or managing emotions, but it provides a space for other activities such as small group work, iRockSchool and, coming soon, African drumming!  Here are some pictures to showcase this new provision for William Ford.  We also have some exciting plans for the future for this space!

Young voice 2024

I could not be more proud of our wonderful choir who joined with 9,000 others to sing at the O2 Arena this week.  Please do click on the news article below to read more about this and to view some excellent video of our pupils performing.

Scarlet fever and measles

As you may have picked up from my letter earlier, this has been a challenging week for us in managing scarlet fever across the school.  In response to some of the queries from parents, I do need to stress a couple of points.

  • Scarlet fever is usually (but not always) mild.  It does have to be treated with antibiotics.
  • Due to the number of confirmed cases we have, the UK Health Security Agency have advised us that ANY child presenting with a rash needs to see their GP for this to be diagnosed.  If you do take your child to the GP, please do tell them there has been an outbreak, declared by the UKHSA, at the school.
  • No child can return to school until AT LEAST 24 hours after starting antibiotics.  They also need to be well enough to attend.
  • We are taking appropriate measures, where necessary, to limit the spread.

We have also had a case of measles within the school - fortunately mild.  

Measles is a very serious disease that can cause problems for children, such as encephalitis (swelling of the brain), blindness, deafness, and intellectual disability. It is also dangerous to pregnant women and can cause miscarriage and stillbirth.

Measles is very contagious - if one person has it, it can spread to around 90% of unvaccinated people. This means that in a room of 10 people who have not had an MMR vaccination, 9 of them would catch it.  

The good news is that you can protect your children against measles by getting the MMR vaccine. Getting vaccinated is very important - 2 doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

The MMR vaccine is a safe and effective combined vaccine. It protects against three serious illnesses:

  • measles
  • mumps
  • rubella (German measles)

These highly infectious conditions can easily spread between unvaccinated people.

If your child is unvaccinated, please visit this link for more information: Protect your children against measles with the MMR vaccine | London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (lbbd.gov.uk)

Egypt Day - Year Three

Finally, a huge well done to the staff, parents and children in Year Three for supporting this day.  Everyone looked fantastic in their costumes and there was some very strong learning taking place.  Please see the news article below for more information.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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Next week is Children's Mental Health Week! 

To celebrate, children will be having a special assembly led by Viv, our Place2Be counsellor. Children will also be invited to wear bright colours to school on Friday 9th February. 

We will be sending information out for next half-terms clubs shortly. Those on the waiting list will receive the first offers of places. We will have the same groups running, but we are excited to add Drama club to our schedule. Drama club was a request by one of our year 3 pupils, so please encourage your children to share their ideas with us.

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This week 'The Song Walker' by Zillah Bethell. This is an amazing book which focuses on friendship, discovery and courage. There are 2 main characters who trek across the vast and ever-changing Australian Outback in search of answers. This book is amazing!

Ifekitan 6F

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Pupil Voice Meetings
All Day
From 29 Jan until 02 Feb
29
January
Egypt Day - Year 3
All Day
02
February
Children's Mental Health Week
All Day
From 05 Feb until 09 Feb
05
February
ADHD Awareness Week
All Day
From 05 Feb until 09 Feb
05
February
Safer Internet Day
All Day
06
February
Parent Meeting - Online safety and mobile phone safety
9:30am – 10:30am
06
February
Parent Meeting - Online safety and mobile phone safety
5:00pm – 6:00pm
06
February
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02 Feb 2024
Ancient Egyptian Day
This week Gloria, Natalia and Abigail from 3M tell us about Ancient Egyptian day in year 3.
Read more
30 Jan 2024
Young Voices '24 @ O2 Arena
William Ford's choir joins with 9,000 other primary school children to perform at one of Britain's most famous concert venues
Read more
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Year Three

We have had another fantastic week in Year Three, culminating in our exciting Egypt Day. The children experienced cooking, mummifying tomatoes and making an Egyptian game out of clay. It was lovely to see the amazing effort that had gone into the children's costumes today. Thank you so much for your support with this. 

What we have learnt about this week

This week, in our English lessons, we practised using alphabetical order and learnt about the features of formal and informal letter writing. 

In maths, we have continued our work on multiplication and division, focussing on using dot arrays and bar models.

In science, the children found out about palaeontologist, Mary Anning and thought about what they would like to ask her about her work.

In R.E. we learnt about the dos and don'ts of Shabbat.

What we will learn about next week

In English we will be continuing with our work on letter writing and the children will be planning and writing their own informal letter. We will also continue to develop our dictionary skills as the children are currently finding this a bit of a challenge.

In maths, we will be continuing with multiplication and division. Can we please urge you to encourage your child to complete a TT Rockstars activity at least 2–3 times per week as this will really help their understanding of new concepts during lessons.

In science we will be looking at what makes soil.

Year Four 

Year Four has had a very interesting and exciting week of learning this week. In English, we created our own magic potions based on George's Marvellous medicine.

What we have learnt about this week 

This week in English, we continued our work on George's Marvellous medicine. Pupils worked collaboratively to share ideas for their own magic potion recipe. Pupils decided on the most extraordinary ingredients ever to be included in a recipe. We explored with alliteration and rhyming couplets to create these fascinating recipes.

In Maths, we continued our new unit on fractions. This week we looked at improper fractions and mixed numbers. We also ordered these on a number line.

In Geography, we started a new unit: Our European Neighbours. Firstly, we identified the continents of the world and then located Europe on a world map.

In Science, we identified how sounds are made by associating them with something vibrating. 

What we will learn about next week

In English, we will be writing a diary entry from George's grandma's perspective.

In maths, we will continue our work on fractions, focussing on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.

In history, we will be exploring why the Roman army was so successful.

Year Five

It has been another busy week, with a lot of great learning going on. 

What we have learnt about this week

This week in English, we have begun a new reading and writing unit based around the Beowulf poem. We have been reading the Michael Morpurgo version during our reading sessions, getting to grips with the complicated language used in such an epic tale. The children spent time this week learning about kennings, a form of poetry dating back to the time Beowulf originated. They had great fun writing and performing their own kenning.

In maths, children have been exploring decimals (tenths, hundredths and thousandths).  They have been challenging themselves, using their knowledge of decimals to solve more complicated maths problems.

In DT, the children are busy creating their own story books. They have been learning about levers and sliders and how they can be used in pop-up books. We can't wait to see their finished books.

What we will learn about next week

Next week, in English, the children will be exploring the Beowulf poem in greater detail, retrieving and recording information and exploring and summarising characters' emotions.

In maths next week, we will continue to work on decimals, exploring thousandths further as well as ordering and comparing decimals.

Year Six

This week, the Year Six SATs after-school booster groups started.  The children enjoyed a quick drink and snack before working on developing their arithmetic and reading skills.  The children also completed their third swimming session. 

What we have learnt about this week

This week in maths, the children have been developing their understanding of multiplying and dividing whole and decimal numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.  They have also examined rounding whole and decimal numbers.  The children have been especially busy in English this week, they completed their diary entry before moving on to planning and writing a descriptive setting of an Indian market.  In geography, the children looked at time zones around the world whilst in science they have begun to look at resistance in electrical circuits.

What we will learn about next week

Next week in maths, the children will be working on finding the area and perimeter of a range of shapes before moving on to finding the volume of cuboids.  In our English grammar lesson, the children will be developing their understanding of modal verbs. Children's writing will be based around descriptive language, identifying examples in the focus text and applying them to their own description of the hotel in India. Next week’s science gives the children the opportunity to begin to incorporate all their recent learning into their design of a festive electrical product.  

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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: Anderson

For: Working diligently in all lessons and having a change in behaviour for learning 

 

Name: Hollie

For: helping everyone in the class when they need it 

 

Name: Angeline

For: always being a calm and respectful member of the class

3M

Name: June

For: asking really thoughtful questions in science this week

Name: Adesewa

For: being helpful around the classroom and for keeping her group focused and on task

Name: Ellianah

For: being calm and having increased focus during lessons

3N

Name: Sofia

For: working really hard at her times tables.

Name: Helena 

For: being kind and helpful in the classroom.

Name: Quinn

For: being calm and ready to work.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4D

Name: David

For: good collaborative work in English this week.

 

Name: Cherie

For: being kind and helpful to others.

 

Name: Julia

For: always having a calm and peaceful demeanour.

4IW

Name: 

For: 

Name: 

For: 

Name: 

For: 

4W

Name: Adesewa

For: working diligently in all lessons and showing great progress in maths. 

Name: Divine 

For: acting generously and showing kindness to others at the Young Voices concert. 

Name: Gabija

For: always living at peace and showing bravery when presenting work.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Aisela

For: her calm approach to all lessons

 

Name: Royal Praise

For: his creative ideas when writing his Kenning poem

 

Name: Daniella O

For: being helpful towards Mrs Collins-Greenwood

5H

Name:  Sami

For:  great effort in lessons this week, especially in Maths.

Name: Daniel

For: taking great care of his partner when walking on our trip.

Name:  Anita

For: working quietly and industriously at the computer on our trip.

5P

Name: Daria

For: working hard to create a great kenning poem.

Name: Chizaram

For: always being willing to help around the class.

Name: Ewura

For: being a calm member of the class
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6B

Name: Tishe

For: working hard across the curriculum.

 

Name: Zaiya

For: generously giving her best effort in lessons, particularly maths.

 

Name: Mikail

For: demonstrating good collaboration with his peers in lessons.

6F

Name: Mwene

For: developing independence in maths, using appropriate methods and resources. 

Name: Soma

For: always being generous to others. 

Name: Diya

For: great focus and engagement in English. 

6I

Name: Zara

For: Her fantastic efforts in all lessons this week. Giving 100 per cent at all times.

Name: Arth

For: His fantastic reflections when discussing why Christians believe in resurrection.

Name: Sufian

For: Always being at peace and trying his best.
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