Newsletters

25/26 - Autumn 1, Week 6

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Dear parents and carers,

It is a pleasure to write this week’s newsletter as I cover the absence of Mr Huntingford. He is currently in Almaty, Kazakhstan - nearly 5,000 miles away - representing William Ford Church of England Junior School at the inaugural World Inclusion Congress. Located in the mountains between the borders of Kyrgyzstan and China, the event brings together educators and leaders from around the globe to share innovative approaches to inclusion and curriculum design.

Mr Huntingford has been invited to speak about our curriculum, how it inspires careers for the future and engages children in their learning. He has also been invited to share how we support children to demonstrate their understanding of the curriculum when they find writing challenging, and will be taking part in a panel discussion about creating an inclusive ethos and culture within schools. It is an enormous honour for our school to be represented on such a world stage, and I am sure he will have plenty to share when he returns on Sunday.

Meanwhile, here at William Ford, it has been another exciting week. I wanted to take a moment to share some wonderful feedback following a recent visit to our school from our School Improvement Partner who works with the local authority.  He was incredibly impressed with what he saw, from the high quality of teaching and the calm, purposeful atmosphere to the enthusiasm of our learners and the meaningful experiences being offered through our curriculum. He also praised the positive behaviour across the school and the way our team works together with such dedication and care. None of this happens by chance. It is a refelction of the hard work of our staff, the fantastic attitude of our children and the ongoing support from you; our parents and carers. You are a vital part of our school community and we are truly greatful for everything you do. We are so very proud of our children and the environment we are building together. Thank you for being a part of it.

In Collective Worship this week, we have continued exploring the story of creation from the book of Genesis, reflecting on how God made the world and everything in it. We were also introduced by Ms Nash to Black History Month, which we will be celebrating across the school. At William Ford, we ensure that our curriculum represents and values all cultures and ethnicities throughout the year, but this month provides a special opportunity to focus on the achievements and contributions of Black individuals in areas such as science, technology, music, sport, and the arts.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 Mr. Lee Buckingham

Deputy Headteacher

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Year 3 parents, you will have received the results of the dyslexia screening completed in school. If you have any questions or concerns, please do get in tough via the school office to make an appointment. 

Parent Evening 

Please remember to call the school office between 10am -2.30pm to book your place 

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Year Three

Kaleb

Year Four

Kris

Year Five

Jamie

Year Six

Daimon

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Anisha Accidental Detective by Serena Patel 

 

This is a fun and interesting book to read. The main character Anisha becomes a detective by accident and uses her scientific logic and deduction skills to solve a mystery.  

 

Isabella 5I 

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Cycle to school week
8:00am – 8:30am
17
October
Ben Kinsella Workshop Y6 Class 6L
10:00am – 10:30am
20
October
Y4 trip to Beam Parklands
1:00pm – 3:00pm
20
October
Year 6 swimming (Group 1)
9:30am – 10:30am
21
October
Year 6 Swimming (Group2)
10:30am – 11:30am
21
October
Y4 trip to Beam Parklands
1:00pm – 3:00pm
21
October
Whole School Flu Vacinations
All Day
22
October
Half Term
All Day
from 27 Oct until 31 Oct
27
October
Lighthouse Swimming Lesson
10:30am – 11:30am
04
November
Lighthouse Swimming Lesson
10:30am – 11:30am
11
November
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16 Oct 2025
Cooking with Cook.
Fran from 4O tells us about what they have made this week with Cook.
Read more
09 Oct 2025
Visit from Bald Chef Nick Jaye
National Dyslexia Week and a visit from Bald Chef Nick Jaye
Read more
03 Oct 2025
TT Rockstars Day
Ade and James from 5I tell us about TT Rockstars day.
Read more
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Year Three

We have had another busy week and can’t believe we are heading towards the end of the pupil’s first half term at William Ford already. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week our grammar lesson continued to focus on using direct speech. We also had a lesson to help develop cohesion within writing so the children could apply this when writing and editing their first assessment piece of narrative writing.  

In maths the children are continuing with addition and subtraction.  

Our science lesson focussed on carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and the children sorted animals into each group.  

We have started our new unit of work in R.E. called ‘Incarnation’ and this week we learnt more about the baptism of Jesus and symbolism for the Holy Trinity. 

All classes have now had their second cookery lesson and have designed and made their own cookies. 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week the children will be setting up their iPads, and we will begin to navigate using them more as part of our various lessons. 

In English we will focus on grammar skills and we will continue addition in maths focussing on adding two-digit numbers.  

In science the pupils will use the iPads to research more about animals which are carnivores, omnivores and herbivores.  

Our history lesson will focus on the importance of the River Nile during the Ancient Egyptian period. 

In R.E we will learn about the Christian practice of baptism.

Year Four 

Year 4 have been very busy this week and have continued to work hard. 

What we have learnt about this week 

In English this week, the children have been planning and writing an adventure story. They have continued writing what happened to Nell after she came face to face with a mammoth. The children have been very imaginative in their solutions to this dilemma. 

In maths, the children have been rounding numbers to 10, 100 and to 1000. They have been practicing this and are growing in confidence in this useful mathematical skill. 

RE this week looked at the Hindu belief in Moksha. They have thought carefully about this and what that would mean to how a Hindu person would behave in life. 

Geography saw the children comparing the United Kingdom and India. They used their iPads to research much of the information required. 

 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week the children will be coming to the end of their unit on Nell and the Cave Bear, and they will be finding out what happens to them. They will also be thinking about tenses in their grammar lesson. 

In maths, the children will be starting their unit on addition and subtraction. This will also continue after half term. 

On either Monday afternoon or Tuesday afternoon, the children will be visiting Beam Parklands to look at the various habitats there. Please ensure that they are wearing appropriate footwear for this trip. Also ensure that they have an appropriate jacket for the weather. Thank you. 

Year Five

This week Year 5 have been learning new skills in multiple lessons, as well as having great discussions in both RE and History. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week in maths, pupils have been working on understanding how to solve multi-step word problems, involving addition and subtraction. 

In English, pupils have been learning about biographies, looking at the features of biographies, as well as choosing and researching one of the fantastic characters from our book: Hidden Figures. 

In History, pupils learnt about crime and punishment in the Anglo-Saxon times, comparing how crime and punishment is carried out now to the past. 

In RE, pupils looked at acceptance and tolerance, whilst learning from the Buddhist belief in Buddha, peace and acceptance. We had some great discussions about peace, acceptance and understanding of other religions and cultures.  

What we will learn about next week 

Next week, pupils will be making banana bread in Food Technology.  

Pupils will also be writing their biographies of either Katherine, Dorothy or Mary, from our book: Hidden Figures. In Maths, pupils will be learning about multiples, factors, prime and square numbers.  

We look forward to an exciting, last week of term! Have a great weekend! 

Year Six

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

What we have learnt about this week 

During our English SPAG lesson this week, the children have explored relative clauses whilst in their other English lessons they have interrogated historical sources to explore what Victorian workhouses were like.  In maths, the children have been practising multiplying 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers.  Many of the children need to use TTRS at home on a more regular basis so that their accuracy and speed of recall of multiplication facts improves in preparation for their end of year SATs tests.  In this week’s science lesson, the children used the school radio equipment to create a podcast about their findings from last week’s lesson.  The children particularly enjoyed this task and many may have a future ahead within the radio broadcasting industry! 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week, class 6L 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 explore how fossil evidence supports the theory of evolution.  The children will compare and contrast a range of different maps, including digital maps, in their next geography lesson whilst in R.E. the children will explore the concept of stewardship. The children will use their research of Victorian workhouses from this week to write a first-person account of life in a workhouse in next week’s English lessons.  We will also move on to division, including long division, in next week’s maths lessons. 

 

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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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