Newsletters

Spring 2 - Week 3

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Dear parents and carers,

This week I have had the pleasure of visiting classes to observe lessons.  As part of our curriculum intent, parents may well be aware that we aim to provide exposure to a range of careers through immersing children into the learning. This means they become the 'expert,' working for an external agency to provide information. And what an experience it has been!  As this approach to lesson delivery (or curriculum implementation as we call it in the education business) is very new, I have been very keen to get into class and to observe what is happening.  Already I have seen pupils working as geologists, volcanologists, authors, parachute designers and travel agents.  The level of engagement has been extremely high, and the vocabulary used by the pupils, along with their ever-increasing knowledge has been a joy to see.  I have more lessons to view over the coming week which I cannot wait to see.  What lucky pupils we have at William Ford to experience such an engaging, and rather unique approach to lesson delivery.

I have had a couple of parents ask about the school residential for Year Five pupils when they are in Year Six.  We have been using a fantastic provider for the past two years but sadly, they have increased their prices and I no longer think this will be affordable to the majority of families.  However, I am currently writing this from a visit to a new provider, located within the beautiful Welsh mountains, close to the border with the English county of Herefordshire.  Apart from the stunning natural beauty, I have been thoroughly impressed with the standard of accommodation, the delicious food but most importantly, the range of activities including gorge walking, mountain hiking, canoeing and caving that we just cannot offer here in Dagenham.   We are currently just confirming dates and prices before we write to all Year Five parents in order that we can offer the opportunity to pay in instalments.  We will also look into subsidising the cost using government grants for those in receipt of free school meals.

Some of you may have heard through the media that the Children's Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, has been raising concerns regarding pupil attendance.  This is a concern we share.  We have far too many pupils whose attendance has fallen below 90%. Pupils should only be absent from school if they are ill or there is another emergency that has been discussed with the school.  Some reasons that have been provided recently for absence are not acceptable - pupils are legally required to be in school. 

Finally, and it is with sadness that I write this, I need to remind parents of appropriate conduct on the school premises.  Sadly we have experienced situations where parents have tried to record conversations with staff members, have become verbally aggressive and made outlandish allegations against staff and have acted in an intimidating manner.  Such behaviour is not tolerated and will result in parents being banned from the school site.  Where parents do have concerns, do utilise the channels we have available to make contact with the school.  Unfortunately, some of our local neighbours have also made similar comments regarding parents and parking.  Please do consider where you are leaving your car and the effect this has on our neighbours.  The situation regarding road safety and parking is something I am actively addressing with the local authority.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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Autism Acceptance Week is almost here! It is about promoting acceptance of Autism and raising awareness. It’s about acknowledging, embracing and celebrating those difficulties and differences.  

Our plans to celebrate and raise money for the Sycamore Trust will be released in next week's newsletter. 

World Autism Acceptance Week is from Monday 27th March through to Sunday 2nd April.  

Calling all year 6 parents 

We will be holding a drop in session all about SATS.

Miss Ibukun will be greeting parent on Tuesday 14th March at 3.30 p.m and the session will be repeated at 5.30 p.m. (You only need to attend one session).

 

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Year Three

Parker - 3N

 

Year Four

Jayden - 4W

Year Five

Aaban - 5H

 

Year Six

Neema 6I

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This week Clara in 5A recommends the book 'Clara and the Chocolate Fairy' by Daisy Meadows. The book is about Clara, a fairy, who turns Rachel and Kristy into fairies. Together they all work on stopping the evil ice creatures from making the chocolate taste disgusting. 

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John 14:27

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

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STEM WEEK
8:00am – 8:30am
From 13 Mar until 17 Mar
13
March
STEM WEEK
8:00am – 8:30am
From 13 Mar until 17 Mar
13
March
Introduction to cells and how they live (Interactive Classroom Workshop) Yr 6 - STEM Week
9:30am – 12:00pm
13
March
International Mathematics Day
All Day
14
March
A Career in Engineering Workshop for Yr 5 (STEM week)
All Day
15
March
School Strike Day - School to advise
8:00am – 8:30am
15
March
Cooking in the curriculum Y5
2:00pm – 3:00pm
15
March
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10 Mar 2023
Pizza and Film Night!
We hear from our House Point Heroes from the first Spring half-term.
Read more
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Year Three

In Year Three this week, the children have been introduced to a fantastic new book, Wild Cities. The children have spent the week carefully studying the chapter on London and have been fascinated to find out the wildlife that flourishes there. Maths has seen the children being introduced to the concept of perimeter. They will be continuing to practise this skill next week.

History has seen the children looking at the differences and similarities between Ancient Greek city states. They were interested to discover how different they were. In geography, the children have been geologists investigating the layers of the Earth. They have completed independent research and presented in their own way. Some children made models of the Earth's structure using playdough. In our RE lesson this week we have looked at the festival of Pesach (Passover). The pupils have created their own seder plate.

 

Year Four 

In Year Four this week, the children have continued working on perimeter within their maths lessons. Within English, the children have used their prior learning about the conventions of diary writing to plan and write a diary entry based on the lead character of our class reader, 'Journey to Jo-burg'.  In geography, the children have continued working on their challenge to work in pairs to create an advertisement for a city break to a European country.  During the week they have researched their chosen city using school IPads or the computers in our I.C.T. suite.   The children all enjoyed this week's science which was an investigation about evaporation.  They planned, set up and made predictions for their investigation and are now waiting until next week to see the results. 

 

 

Year Five

In Year 5 this week, we have been extremely busy. Following last week's talk with Colin from the StandbyMe charity, the children have begun to design and write their leaflets to provide readers with key information about the charity. The children have reflected on the importance of charities, the difference donations can make and the different ways to get involved. We are looking forward to seeing the final result! In maths, we have continued our learning on decimals (looking at tenths, hundredths and thousandths). It’s been great to see the children realising the importance of their fraction knowledge. Year 5 became paratroopers this week! Our science topic on forces has sadly come to an end – the children, using their prior knowledge of air resistance, designed and created their own parachutes and tested how safe they were to land. The Year Five team hope that the rest of the year five children enjoyed their first swimming session!

Year Six

Year 6 have been introduced to ratio this week in maths. Exploring ratio as fractions, solving ratio problems and even looking at scale drawings. Next week children will be investigating numbers using algebra. In English, children began working on newspaper reports, exploring their features and layout structures. Children used their understanding of the Highwayman poem to identify the main events, next week children will begin to write their own newspaper report based on the events in the poem. In Geography, children identified the time zones of different countries in South America, working out what time it would be in different countries if it were 9am in England. Next week, children will explore the food and culture of South American countries, making comparisons with England. Children began to plan their own website in computing, exploring the layout and features of different websites. In their next lesson, children will become familiar with the terms 'fair use' and 'copyright', understanding why copyright-free images should be used. 

 

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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: Ophelia

For: demonstrating excellent listening skills and participating in all lessons.

 

Name: Kaima

For: being generous with her time within the classroom.

 

Name: Florence

For: being calm in the classroom.

3N

Name: Frankie

For: working really hard in all lessons this week, especially maths lessons.

Name: Cairon

For: giving up his time to work with his friends.

Name: Kacie

For: always being calm and ready to work.

3P

Name: Sumaiya

For: showing consistent diligence throughout all of her lessons this week.

Name: Amaiya

For: showing generosity and kindness towards her peers.

Name: Slav

For: encouraging a kind and caring atmosphere in class.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4B

Name: Mataa

For: rising to the challenge of tackling difficult maths tasks.

 

Name: Ryan

For: working well with others in the class in a range of lessons.

 

Name: Alexandre

For: asking thoughtful questions during a class discussion.

4D

Name: Mia

For: Working diligently by catching up with her research after being off sick

Name: Uwa

For: Giving up his time to be kind to others

Name: Samuel

For: always having a calm and peaceful influence on  others

4W

Name: Daria

For: working diligently, whilst writing a lovely diary entry. 

Name: Jordan

For: trying his best to work well with others, as well as making progress in his concentration. 

Name: Ranell

For: excellent progress in maths, as well as promoting peace within his friendship groups. 
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Izabella

For: pushing herself across the curriculum.

 

Name: Okigbo

For: being a supportive class member.

 

Name: Kyle

For: spreading kindness.

5H

Name: Cristina

For: excellent effort this week, especially in science and English.

Name: Siyam

For: being a helpful, supportive partner and team member in activities this week.

Name:  Arth

For: excellent behaviour and great listening skills in every lesson.

5N

Name: Isaiah

For: his diligent approach to all areas of school.

Name: Robyn

For: her excellent participation and sharing of knowledge in all lessons.

Name: Layla

For: always demonstrating self-discipline and a positive attitude.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6I

Name: Skyla

For: working hard in all lessons this week.

 

Name: Chidera

For: being generous with his time.

 

Name: Mercy A

For: always working at peace and focusing in lessons.

6P

Name: Dhiyan

For: an improved attitude to his learning this week. 

Name: Bridget

For: being very kind and supportive to her teacher when she was upset.

Name: Demi

For: always being a calm and peaceful member of the class.

6T

Name: Tyler

For: working diligently in all areas of the curriculum, working hard on his handwriting and presentation. 

Name: Daniel

For: being a kind and supportive friend. 

Name: Sali

For: having great focus and engagement in his learning this week. 
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