Newsletters

25/26 - Spring 2, Week 2

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Dear parents and carers,

It has been another busy and exciting week at William Ford, with plenty to celebrate across the school.

One of the highlights this week has been World Book Day, which brought a fantastic atmosphere to the school. Pupils enjoyed a carousel of activities linked to their favourite book characters and stories. It was wonderful to see learning brought to life in such creative ways. Minions were busy taking part in PE lessons, Harry Potter worked hard on his maths, and Where’s Wally used maps and navigation skills to explore geography around the school. Thank you to Mrs. Freeland for organising this and to all of the members of staff who dressed up!

On Thursday, pupils also took part in an exciting science workshop in the sports hall, where they were able to see practical science in action. Experiences like these help children understand how science works in the real world and inspire curiosity about the world around them.

We were also delighted to welcome actor Paul Macklin into school. Paul spoke to pupils about careers in the creative arts and shared his own journey into acting. Hearing directly from people working in different professions is a powerful way to help pupils see the many possibilities open to them in the future.

In Collective Worship, we have continued exploring the theme of temptation, alongside reflecting on our school values. Pupils have been thinking about the choices they make and how they can stay true to their values, even when faced with difficult decisions. These are important conversations that we hope pupils will also reflect on at home.

A message for parents about arriving at school

Staff have become increasingly concerned about a small number of pupils who are being dropped off near the school but are not always arriving on site straight away. In some cases, particularly with older pupils, children have chosen to wander into the local area before school begins without their parents being aware.

Please could we ask parents to speak with their children about the importance of coming directly into school when they arrive in the area. It is very important that both parents and the school know where children are at all times. If a pupil has not arrived on site and has not been registered, school staff are not aware of their whereabouts.

We have also recently had a small number of pupils who arrived for Breakfast Club but then attempted to leave the school site. For safety reasons, this is extremely concerning.  This seems to be a particular issue amongst Year Five girls.

If your child walks to school from a drop-off point and/or attends Breakfast Club, please remind them that once they arrive at school they must remain on the school premises and follow staff instructions.

Your support in reinforcing this message at home is greatly appreciated, as it helps us ensure that all pupils remain safe.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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We have received a lovely donation of woolly knitted and crochet hats and scarfs from the amazing Dagenham United charity.

We will also be expecting a Felix Project foodbank Delivery over Easter.

Year Three

Philip

Year Four

Emily

Year Five

Rosetta

Year Six

Sangeen

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On Thursday, your child will have received a £1 book token as part of celebrating World Book Day. This can be used to purchase certain £1 on offer for World Book Day or can be used to reduce the value of the book by £1.  

 

The following website provides extra information on participating retailers of the book tokens. 

 

https://www.worldbookday.com/books-and-tokens/participating-retailers-events/ 

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Parent Evening
3:30pm – 6:00pm
09
March
Swimming Y5 Group 1
9:00am – 10:30am
10
March
Swimming Y5 Group 2
9:45am – 11:45am
10
March
Parent Evening
3:30pm – 6:00pm
12
March
WF vs Manor Jnr Football Match @ Goals
2:30pm – 3:30pm
13
March
Swimming Y5 Group 1
9:00am – 10:30am
17
March
Swimming Y5 Group 2
9:45am – 11:45am
17
March
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05 Mar 2026
World Book Day
Year 4 pupils enjoying dressing up for World Book Day.
Read more
05 Mar 2026
Y6 Sats parents event
Thank you to all parents and carers who attended.
Read more
05 Mar 2026
Career visitor - Paul Macklin - actor and musician
Actor Paul Macklin inspires pupils to explore careers in the performing arts
Read more
05 Mar 2026
Year 6 - Kayaking on the River Roding
Kayaking on the Rivier Roding
Read more
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Year Three

Year 3 have continued to work hard this week, showing great effort and focus.  

What we have learnt about this week 

In English this week, children learnt about expanded noun phrases and applied these to their setting description. They also planned ideas of what Tim, the main character of the book, should do next. In maths, children learned about measuring lengths using cm, mm and m. In history, children learnt about the Ancient Greek city-states Sparta and Athens and made comparisons between the two. In computing, children started the new unit on creating a trailer for a book, this week they planned a storyboard for the book Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx.  

What we will learn about next week 

Next week in Maths, children will begin to compare measures of lengths and add lengths in cm and mm. In English, children will explore smiles and metaphors before creating their own to describe a character. In RE, children will be learning about the Jewish celebration of Bar/Bat Mitzva. In music, children will learn about traditional jazz music and practise improvising a call and response to ‘Oh when the saints’.  

Year Four 

It has been a fantastic week, and the children have shown great determination in their work. 

What we have learnt about this week 

In English this week, children have been understanding what poetry is, identifying rhyming patterns and using similes to create their own poem. In maths, children used their perimeter knowledge to find the perimeter of polygons. In Geography children have been understanding the role of trade and created their own advert persuading people to trade with Scandinavia. In computing, children started their new weather unit exploring what the weather is like in other countries. In RE, children have continued to rehearse the Easter Story for their production.  

Please remind children to bring in empty plastic bottles for our science unit.    

What we will learn about next week 

Next week in Maths, children will begin their new fraction unit by understanding what a whole is and counting beyond one. In Re children will continue to rehearse for our production. In Science, children will be identifying whether a light will light in a simple circuit. In Geography children will be identifying and describing the physical and human features of Scandinavia. Children will be using the features to brainstorm which jobs and businesses are connected.  

Year Five

Year 5 have had a fun-filled week of learning. 

What we have learnt about this week 

This week, we have been constructing poems, with the use of rhyme, repetition and rhythm – in order to make a ‘poem with a pulse’ inspired by one of our guest visitors: Christian Foley. The children made fantastic stanzas and put their pieces together to make a rap poem.  

In maths, pupils have been working on decimals and percentages, extending their knowledge and practice in this area.  

In RE, pupils have begun a new unit: Salvation. Pupils studied what salvation means and what it means to make a sacrifice. Pupils looked at a variety of Christians who have had to make sacrifices in their lives.   

We also had a fantastic time, during World Book Day! 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week, we will be looking at another poem/rap in English, based on Christian Foleys poems about emotions/feelings.  

In maths, we will be continuing with our unit on decimals.  

In science we will be looking at properties of materials in science, as well as how the Vikings would like to be remembered in History.  

Year Six

The children have had a brilliant week and are working ever so hard — we’re very proud of them. 

What we have learnt about this week 

In English, we have been focusing on grammar and exploring the effectiveness of figurative language, including metaphors, similes, personification, repetition and rhyme. 

In Maths, we are learning about statistics, looking at pie charts, bar charts, and how to find the mean of a set of numbers. 

In Science, we have started our new topic, ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’, where the children are learning about different plants and animals. 

Alongside this, the children are continuing to practise their arithmetic skills, reading comprehension, and reasoning, as they steadily prepare for their SATs. 

 

What we will learn about next week 

Next week will be our assessment week. The children will complete a set of mock SATs papers, including Reading, Mental Arithmetic, Reasoning Paper 1 and 2, and SPAG (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation). These assessments help the children become familiar with the format of the tests and allow us to see how best to support them as we move closer to SATs. 

In Maths, we will begin learning about angles, including identifying different types of angles and learning how to measure them using a protractor. 

In English, we will continue our narrative poetry study. The children will explore the emotions of a character through drama, learn about relative clauses, and understand how a poem can also tell a narrative story. 

Year 6 continue to shine and work incredibly hard, and we are very proud of the effort they are putting into their learning 

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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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