Newsletters

Summer 2 - Week 1

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Dear parents and carers,

Apologies, due to a system error, our weekly newsletter was deleted just before publication.  We have tried to recall as much as possible, but there will be some gaps this week.

Community month

Welcome back to the final half-term of this academic year.  I trust you all had an enjoyable and relaxing half-term break and are ready for the many exciting events and opportunities we have planned for this half-term!  Already community month has made a fantastic start with Year Four pupils visiting a local care home where they played games with the residents and Year Five undertaking litter picking at Beam Country Park.  Beam Park rangers actually sent us a lovely message:

Just wanted to say thank you to your staff and pupils today, who were all a great help. Thank you very much for volunteering in your community and helping to keep our parks and open spaces clean and beautiful, where wildlife can thrive.

Ford Road safety

Similar to myself, I know a lot of parents have concerns about the behaviour of a minority of motorists on Ford Road.  In the past we have attempted to use bollards to restrict access to the school site during arrival and departure times but this has resulted in some very dangerous manoeuvres being attempted and local residents being blocked from accessing their homes.  In addition, such a measure places strain on staff who have to raise and lower the bollards plus we have had incidences where the emergency services and staff have needed to access or leave the site but been prevented.  The leadership of William Ford Junior and Village Infants have agreed to try something new.  Instead of using the bollards in the afternoons, we are going to have the main vehicle gate closed 2/3rds of the way.  This will ensure pedestrians can still enter, but vehicles will be blocked.  In an emergency, the gates will be able to open which also allows staff to be able to carefully access the site if they have been delayed (e.g. traffic) on their way to work.  It may take a couple of days for this to be arranged but it should be fully functional by the middle of next week.

Please do not use this as an opportunity to drive further up the drive as you will find turning to be almost impossible and very dangerous.  Both schools are working to have 'School Streets' installed across Ford Road which would prevent ALL vehicle access on Ford Road between 8-9:30am and between 3-4pm except for local residents and staff.  Those who breach this rule would automatically get a £60 fine from TfL/ Barking and Dagenham, so please get used to parking further away from the school now. 

Until such a system is installed, we hope this new measure will improve safety for everyone.  Both schools will be monitoring this carefully.

Safe device/mobile phone use

We continue to be distressed at our pupils' use of smartphones. Only this week we have had further incidences where parents have been left shocked and surprised at what their children have been accessing and sending. But did you know both Apple and Android (Samsung) phones have a feature where you can control and limit your child's phone/ipad from your own device?  Both allow you to manage the following:

  • How much time they spend on their device each day
  • The hours to and from they can access their device (e.g. you can block them from using it after 7pm)
  • Limit how much game time they have e.g. one hour a day then gaming apps will be blocked
  • Limit how many minutes a day they can access Youtube (and block explicit content including swearing)
  • Limit which apps they are allowed to use including blocking social media such as Snapchat and TikTok
  • Control what they can access online
  • Limit which apps they instal
  • Limit who they can contact
  • Access their physical location (also useful if a phone goes missing)
  • Prevent them from purchasing online.

For Apple phones, this is a built-in feature called 'Screen Time.'  There is a guide available here.

For Android/Samsung, a piece of software needs to be installed called  Google Family Link.  More information can be found here.

Please do not assume that everything is fine with your child's access.  Several parents have been left very upset this year over their child's phone use.  We understand why several families provide their children with phones and we hope the use of such apps will support you in keeping them safe - especially those who are about to go to secondary school. 

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.

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School Uniform

While we appreciate that the weather is getting warmer it has been reported that children are wearing cycling shorts to school.

While Skirts, trousers or tailored shorts are part of the summer uniform, cycling shorts are not appropriate unless worn underneath skirts. 

Trainers can be worn all day for school, we would recommend that if your child is intending on using school sport equipment at break time they ensure they have adequate footwear.

Please ensure your child has a PE kit in school, Unfortunately we do not have spare kit in school.

Thank you to all parents who attended yesterday's community coffee morning. We were joined by Urban Symbiotics and Be First.

Parents shared their views on Village Ward. It was good to hear parents all agreeing on services they feel are in need support. 

Later the team spoke with some year five pupils, they again highlighted the same issues. The main concerns were the condition of local streets and parks, crime levels, community safety, housing and the high number of fast food shops locally.

If you would like to share your thoughts you can email Urban Symbiotics at hello@urbansymbiotics.com

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Year Three

 

 

Year Four

Year Five

 

 

Year Six

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This week's book suggestion is 'One, Two, Three Oops! By Michael Coleman. This is a funny picture book about a Father Rabbit who can't count all of his children. When he tries to count them all they all begin to run away. Mrs Rabbit helps Mr rabbit in finding a way to count the rabbits. 

Mr Abdullah 3P

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Inspire festival at Dagenham Park time TBC
All Day
14
June
SEND Coffee Morning
9:00am – 10:00am
15
June
Primary Music Festival
9:30am – 1:00pm
15
June
Mayor of London Young People & Communities Conference
2:00pm – 4:00pm
16
June
British Values Day
All Day
19
June
Year 5 Fairlop Waters Trip 5H
9:30am – 3:00pm
20
June
Year 5 Fairlop Waters Trip 5A
9:30am – 3:00pm
21
June
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09 Jun 2023
Caring for others in community month
This week Harley from 4W tells us about their trip to the care home as part of our community month.
Read more
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Year Three

It has been good to welcome the children back after half-term. The busy summer term is always full of exciting activities. Maths this week has seen the children finish their work on time. This is something that can be practised continually at home using both analogue and digital clocks. Children can also work out how long activities last and how long it is until something starts – all useful life skills. In English, we have been introduced to our fantastic new text ‘The Boy Who Grew Dragons’. We have described the setting and summarised the first chapter. 

Geography this week has seen the children finding out about the seas and oceans around the United Kingdom. They have also researched an island of their choice, found in one of these bodies of water. In design and technology, the children have designed a castle ‘fit for a king’. We looked at a range of castles and their different features. They then used these ideas in their own designs. In music, the children wrote story mountains for a short, animated video, called Soar! - Lyrics to follow. 

 

Year 4 

In maths this week, we continued our work on decimals. This week we looked at hundredths as a decimal fraction. Pupils compared and partitioned fractions using place-value charts. 

 In reading we started our new text called The Explorer which ties in with our Geography topic Rainforests. We looked at descriptive language and wrote a setting description of the Amazon Rainforest.

In History, we continued our topic on the Romans. This week we looked at Roman beliefs and found out how and when the Romans converted to Christianity, which was very fascinating. 

We are looking forward to doing more research on the Amazon to find out who lives there and how they survive. 

Have a great weekend. 

Year Five

We 

Year Six

This week in English, the children have been continuing to focus on improving their writing. They edited either a balanced argument or a biography. They also became authors of their own short stories, using dialogue to move the action on. In maths, children researched the salaries for their dream jobs, working out the annual salary and the tax paid. In science this week, we have started a new unit about living things and their habitats. The children learned about the classification system invented by Carl Linneaus that is used by scientists to classify all living things. In art this week, the children have recreated some classic art using photography. They created their own background and used costumes and props to immerse themselves into the artwork. During RE lessons, the children learned about the importance of the Guru Granth Sahib to Sikhs and how they treat it with the upmost respect.

 

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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: Lyra

For: an excellent piece of diary writing.

 

Name: Kayla 

For: always helping others around the classroom.

 

Name: Lily Jean 

For: her excellent behaviour and always being peaceful in class.

3N

Name: Malachi

For: completing his written work in the set time.

Name: Julie

For: being generous sharing her equipment and for being helpful 

Name: Collins

For: always being calm and ready to learn

3P

Name: Samuel

For: working diligently in all areas of the curriculum.

Name: Sumaiya

For: acting generously towards her peers and always willing to help around the class.

Name: Slav

For: living at peace and demonstrating a calm attitude towards learning.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4B

Name: Kendra

For: extra neat presentation in her English work.

 

Name: Annabel

For: her generosity in helping around the classroom.

 

Name: 

For: having a calm approach to all classroom activities.

4D

Name: Jerry

For: working independently on decimals in maths

Name: Nyima

For: always being kind and helpful to others.

 

Name: Michael A

For: always having a peaceful and calm attitude towards his learning 

4W

Name: 

For: 

Name: 

For: 

Name: 

For: 
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Chase

For: listening attentively in lessons 

 

Name: Jayden

For: helping in the community by trimming back bushes.

 

Name: Anne 

For: consistently displaying a peaceful attitude.

5H

Name: Sophie

For: her care and diligence with writing this week. 

Name: Zara

For: giving her time to tidy the classroom without even being asked.

Name: Ryan

For: his kindness towards other, helping to make our classroom calm and peaceful.

5N

Name: Favor

For: being a conscientious and responsible learner.

Name: Muhammad

For: his kindness towards others.

Name: Believe

For: her consistent positive attitude to every area of school.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6I

Name: Kevin

For: working hard in all aspect of the curriculum this week. 

 

Name: Temi

For: always being generous with her time, keep it up.

 

Name: Ronnie

For: creating well written stories in English.

6P

Name: Malvina 

For: consistently working hard to improve her writing skills.

Name: Jullian

For: always sharing his resources with others in class.

Name: Khadija

For: showing a calmer side this week, focussing on the task at hand.

6T

Name: Farrel

For: working diligently and contributing to class discussion.

Name: Sali

For: always being helpful and generous with his time.

Name: Jessica M

For: working peacefully to produce excellent pieces of writing this week.
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