Newsletters

25/26 - Autumn 1, Week 4

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Dear parents and carers,

Inclusion Quality Mark - Centre of Excellence

We are delighted to share that William Ford C of E Junior School has once again been recognised as a Centre of Excellence under the Inclusion Quality Mark. This is a significant honour for our school community and reflects the warmth, energy and dedication that run through every aspect of life at William Ford. The assessor described the school as “a place where pupils are not only supported but celebrated and where they truly thrive,” and praised the way our ethos is “lived and felt throughout the community.” We are particularly grateful to Mr Buckingham, our Deputy Headteacher and Inclusion Lead, and to Mrs Beech, our SENDCo, who led much of the work for this review, as well as to every pupil, member of staff, parent and governor who contributed to the process.

The report highlights many strengths of which we can all be proud. It notes that inclusion is at the heart of everything we do, with one Year 6 pupil explaining, “I like coming to school. If you are sad you can go to adults and talk to them.” Another pupil added simply, “we are all equal.” A child from the Lighthouse Provision said, “I am dyslexic; I can use a computer in English but don’t need it in maths,” while a younger pupil shared, “I use an overlay and widgets. I get more help.” These voices capture the confidence and pride our children feel in being supported to succeed. Parents also spoke warmly of the school’s care and impact. One commented, “This school listens. There’s good communication with teachers. My child grows step by step and flourishes. The teacher is energetic, so my child is too.” Another said, “After school and weekends are family time. No homework stops my child having meltdowns.”

The assessor recognised that our curriculum is rooted in real-life experiences and designed to help children, in the words of the report, to “thrive in life, not just survive.” Examples such as pupils planning fitness regimes for personal trainers or preparing for catering-related careers through cookery lessons show how learning connects directly to future aspirations. The report also highlighted the positive impact of our 11 life experiences, our residential visits that build independence and resilience, and our popular school radio, which supports speech, language and communication skills and opens doors to careers in media. Importantly, it praised the dedication of our staff, our strong partnership with parents, and the way pupils’ wellbeing is prioritised through access to mentors, Place2Be and a robust mental health support system.

We are thrilled by this recognition and proud that the assessor concluded, “William Ford’s Centre of Excellence status reflects its deep commitment to fairness, inclusion and community involvement.” We will now be aiming for the even higher Flagship level next year as we continue to build on this success.

Morning pupil drop off

A reminder for our Year 3 families that in the mornings, children should be dropped off at either the main gate or the park gate and then make their own way into school. This helps to develop their independence and allows their teacher to welcome the whole class and get learning underway promptly.

Collective Worship

Our Collective Worship this week has continued our journey through Genesis, focusing on the creation and treatment of animals and reflecting on how we should care for one another. Mr Wakeford also led a special Harvest-themed worship as we launched our appeal for donations to our school foodbank. We are collecting non-perishable items such as tinned and packet foods to support families in our community and thank you in advance for your generosity.

Thank you

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school. We are proud of what we have achieved together and excited for the year ahead as we continue to support every child to be successful, healthy, fulfilled and empowered to make a difference.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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 Next week is Dyslexia Awareness Week where we’ll be celebrating with a special assembly on Monday children will be sharing their experiences of having this neurodiversity and there will also be a special visitor Later in the week where children will have a special assembly and take part in workshops. 

We are planning our Christmas event and would appreciate any donations of items for children or adults tombola stalls or raffle prizes. More details will be shared soon.

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Year Three

Isaiah O

Year Four

Zachariah

Year Five

Christabel

Year Six

Viola

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The World’s Worst Children

by

David Walliams.  

 

I am really enjoying reading this book. I find it really funny when reading and am excited to read more. The book is full of mini-stories about children who are the ‘worst’. 

 

Georgie 3BL 

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Dyslexia Awareness Week
8:00am – 8:30am
06
October
Ben Kinsella Workshop Y6 Class 6B
10:00am – 10:30am
06
October
Year 6 swimming (Group 1)
9:30am – 10:30am
07
October
Year 6 Swimming (Group2)
10:30am – 11:30am
07
October
Pupil and Staff Individual Photographs
8:00am – 12:00pm
13
October
Black History Month Assembly
8:00am – 8:30am
13
October
Cycle to School week
8:00am – 8:30am
13
October
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03 Oct 2025
TT Rockstars Day
Ade and James from 5I tell us about TT Rockstars day.
Read more
01 Oct 2025
Inclusion Quality Mark - Centre of Excellence
Please enter an introduction for your news story here.
Read more
26 Sep 2025
Radio Revamp
This week, Shiven, Mercy and Viola, three of our radio show team tell us about how the shows have been improved.
Read more
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Year Three

It has been a very busy week in Year Three, but it has been good fun finishing with TT Rockstar Day. It was great to see all the children in their amazing outfits. Thank you for supporting these events. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week the children have been completing their termly tests in maths, reading, spelling and grammar. The results of these will assist us in ensuring we put in place the correct interventions and provide the correct level of challenge for the pupils.  

We have considered the question ‘What is a country’ in geography and in science the children have learnt about the different food groups and what a balanced diet looks like. In grammar the children learnt about the past progressive tense.  

We have also begun out new maths unit ‘Addition and subtraction’ in which we used our number bond knowledge to solve more challenging calculations. 

What we will learn about next week 

We will be continuing our addition and subtraction work by adding tens, hundreds and spotting patterns within calculations. 

 The children will learn how to recognise and write direct speech using inverted commas in our grammar lesson. We will also identify the features of an adventure story and begin planning our own adventure story for this half term’s writing assessment. 

In history we will answer the enquiry question ‘Who were the Ancient Egyptians?’ and in science we will be continuing to consider healthy eating. 

Year Four 

We have had another successful week in Year 4. The children have now finished their assessments. 

What we have learnt about this week 

In English, the children have been practising using the correct verb forms in sentences. They have also been continuing with their studies of the text Nell and the Cave Bear. 

Maths has seen the children using number lines up to 10,000. They have used their understanding of this to estimate where certain numbers would appear.  

In geography, the children have been looking at the physical and human features of India. They have consolidated their understanding of this important geographical concept and have found out about some specific examples. 

In RE the children looked at the Hindu place of worship - the Mandir. They have looked at both the building and how Hindus worship when they are there. 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week the children will be working on their note-taking and summarising skills in English. 

In maths they will be continuing their work on place value. As they come to the end of this unit, they will be consolidating what they have learnt. 

In RE next week, the children will be learning about puja – the act of worship in Hinduism. They will be making comparisons with what they know about worship in other religions.  

Next week in history, the children will be considering what it would have been like to be a hunter-gatherer. They will be considering the dangers as well as the assets that Stone Age people had.

Year Five

We've had another busy and exciting week of learning across all subjects. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week in English, the children wrote fantastic motivational speeches encouraging Dorothy Vaughan to keep going with her hard work, inspired by the story Hidden Figures. They planned, edited and performed their speeches with confidence and enthusiasm. In Maths, the children explored rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000, and developed their mental maths strategies through a range of problem-solving activities. In Science, they explained the motion of the Earth and the planets, showing a great understanding of how the Earth's orbit affects day, night and the seasons. In RE, the children considered what we can learn today from ancient stories, focusing on the story of Jonah and the Whale and discussing its messages and relevance to our lives. 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week, the children will be learning about formal and informal writing in English and will write their own letters using key features. In Maths, we’ll begin exploring addition and subtraction strategies. During PE, the children will start using their hockey skills in mini games. In Geography, they will continue working as relocation consultants, researching the human and physical features of major UK cities. In Science, we’ll be learning about the different phases of the moon. 

Year Six

The children have continued to work hard and put good effort into lessons throughout the week. Just a reminder that class 6B will be going to the Ben Kinsella workshop in Barking on Monday morning. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week in English, the children have further developed their use of inverted commas when including direct speech in their writing.  They have also explored the different roles that dialogue plays within text.  In maths, the children have begun their new unit of work by focussing on addition and subtraction, in particular calculations involving exchanging.  In R.E. the children have looked at how Christians believe that humans are made in God’s image.  The children have also enjoyed exploring the work of the Victorian artist William Morris; during this week’s lesson they have made observational sketches of some of his designs. 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week, class 6B will be visiting the Ben Kinsella workshop in Barking.  This is an anti-knife crime educational program run by the Ben Kinsella Trust.  In science, the children will be researching an animal that is currently struggling to adapt to a changing habitat.  In history, the children will investigate what life was like for poor people in the Victorian era by analysing a Victorian painting. In design and technology, the children will also begin the tricky task of drawing the outlines of their waistcoats onto their chosen fabric and then carefully cutting their outlines out. 

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Each week, staff select two 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!

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