Newsletters

23/24 - Autumn 2 - Week 4

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Dear parents and carers,

France - it's happening!

It has not been easy, and it has taken some planning, but I am delighted to share that we have now managed to secure two different day trip bookings to France!

Year Three and Four will be travelling on Friday 19th April and Year Five and Six on Friday 17th May, immediately after the Year Six sats examination period.

During both of these trips, pupils will travel by ferry and enjoy a full English breakfast in the ship's restaurant.  They will also visit a snail farm, enjoy a two course meal in a French restaurant in beautiful Boulogne-sur-Mer before visiting a French bakery to make croissants. They will then travel back to school by coach and ferry, with dinner being served again onboard as we travel across the Channel.

To try and keep costs down, we are using a different provider, hence some of the places visited will be different to previous years.  However, we aim to ensure that all children have the opportunity to visit France at least once during their time at William Ford hence preference will be given to any pupil who has not been before.  I must also stress that this trip, from experience (!) is unfortunately not really suitable for anyone who suffers with travel/sea sickness.

All parents should have received a letter providing further details.  If you have not, please do contact the office.  Please do also speak to us if you would like your child to attend but have any concerns or issues preventing this.       

Victorian Day

A fantastic experience for Year Six.  Do please scroll down to our news section where you can read more about this and access photos from today (also accessible here: William Ford Junior School - Year Six Victorian Day (williamfordschool.co.uk))

Cooking in the curriculum

As part of their DT curriculum, Year three experienced life as a chef and made some delicious fruit kebabs with yogurt dip.  They worked with our own in-house catering team to not only make a delicious creation but to also learn more about healthy eating.

 

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mr. David Huntingford

Headteacher

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2 Corinthians 5:21

Christ had no sin. But God made him become sin. God did this for us so that in Christ we could become right with God.

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All donations for Christmas Fayre are due before Tuesday 28th November. 

If you want to hire a stall, please speak to the office team, who will happily assist you. 

 

Don't forget day two of Flu immunisations is on Tuesday 28th November.

If you haven't completed the consent form 

CONSENT FORMS | Vukschools (schoolvaccination.uk)

Debt Free Advice, Citizen’s Advice and Homes and Money Hub will have caseworkers available for drop in sessions on December 14th, between 11am - 3pm at Dagenham Library.

The aim is to help with issues including (but not limited to):

  • Priority Arrears (Council Tax, Rent, Utilities)
  • Non-Priority Debts (Credit Cards, Loans etc)
  • Consumer rights
  • Support with Benefits/Grants

 

Please complete this form to help them to manage the numbers : https://forms.office.com/e/68UfwEq4QL

 

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Year Three

 

 

Year Four

Year Five

 

 

Year Six

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This week 'The Creakers' by Tom Fletcher has been recommended. 

This book takes you on a magical, mischievous adventure into an incredible new world.

I recommend this book because it is funny and entertaining throughout.

By Alexandra 3F 

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National Road Safety Week
All Day
From 20 Nov until 24 Nov
20
November
Victorian Day - Year 6
All Day
24
November
Y6 Height and Weight
All Day
27
November
Parents Evening
3:30pm – 6:30pm
27
November
Flu Immunisations Day Two
All Day
28
November
Parents Evening
3:30pm – 6:30pm
28
November
Y6 Height and Weight
All Day
29
November
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24 Nov 2023
Y6 Victorian Day
Year Six experience life as a Victorian child
Read more
24 Nov 2023
House Point Heroes!
This week we hear from some of the William Ford House Point Heroes
Read more
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Year Three

In maths this week, Year Three has continued to focus on the formal method of subtraction. We have introduced regrouping and have learnt a subtraction poem to help guide us through these calculations. Ask your son or daughter if they can recite this poem to you, as a means of reinforcement. 

In English, we have continued to read James and the Giant Peach. The children have further developed their descriptive skills by writing about the appearance and personalities of James' aunts. They have also practised their editing skills. In grammar, the pupils were introduced to a range of time conjunctions and have practised using these in sentences. We hope to see time conjunctions making an appearance in their independent writing in the upcoming weeks.

In science, the children have been continuing their work on light and have discussed which colours are easiest to see and why.

Our history lesson this week was interesting, thought-provoking and challenging. The children had to look at a range of evidence and decide whether the popular assumption that slaves built the pyramids was in fact true.

In R.E. the children have studied various words to describe the three parts of God and have sorted them into whether they believe that the word describes The Father, The Son or The Holy Spirit.

The Year Three Team wish you a happy and peaceful weekend and look forward to having the opportunity to discuss your child's learning and progress with you at next week's parents' evening.

Year Four 

This week in Year 4, we have continued our maths focus on multiplication and division, looking at reasoning within this area, as well as factor pairs. 

In English, we have been building up to writing an information text, all about Apartheid. The pupils really enjoyed researching this area and critically thinking about it, before writing an effective information text in a formal tone. 

 

In RE, pupils began their new unit on Incarnation, comparing the story of Christmas, from the different perspectives of the disciples of Jesus. In computing, pupils have been looking at the weather and the impact of severe weather and the role of a weather forecaster. In French, pupils have continued their unit on clothing. In PSHE, pupils looked at 'what is bullying?' and how and when this might take place, as well as ways in which they can prevent and stand up to this. 

We are excited to look ahead to our India day, where we will celebrate all the knowledge and information the pupils have learnt about India (Geography unit) and the culture and religions (RE unit - Hinduism) of India. This will take place on Thursday 7th December and we ask that your pupil comes in an Indian-themed costume! A letter/email will be sent out shortly regarding this. Have a great weekend!

Year Five

This week, we reached the half-way point of this half-term - time is really flying!

Our writing in English this week has involved describing feelings and emotions, and we have used drama as well as the continuing story of 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' to assist our vocabulary and synonym choices. We have also been trying hard to include all the grammar and punctuation we have learnt over the term into our writing to ensure it is as intere3sting as possible for the reader.

In maths, we have been using our fraction knowledge and understanding to start adding and subtracting fractions. All the children have been working really hard, especially when it comes to problem-solving questions.

In Science, we found the definitions of words relating to our topic 'Forces'. We then used annotated diagrams to explain gravity and air-resistance in preparation for our parachute investigations.

This week in history we have been visiting Sutton Hoo - well, in virtual reality! We looked at what archaeologists found there and how it helped them to learn about the lives of the Anglo-Saxons. We used information about the artefacts to formulate our own theories about who was buried there.

During our computing session we have been looking at search engines, how to use them safely and raising awareness that not everything online is true!

Following on from last week's 'Anti-bullying week, in PSHE we have been thinking about how we treat people who may seem different and how we can celebrate our differences.

 

We wish you all a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you on Parents' Evening next week.

Year Six

The final Year Six class visited the Ben Kinsella workshop on Wednesday to learn about the dangers of getting involved with knife crime.  Once again, the children found the workshop a moving and educational experience.  We urge you to continue to talk around this subject at home with your child.

In English this week, the children have been researching about famous Victorians.  They examined how introductions in biographies are structured, and then used their notes to write different introductions in preparation for writing their complete biographies next week.

In maths, the children have continued working on fractions.  They have learnt different strategies to compare and order fractions and have also started to add and subject fractions with different denominators.  

This week's science has focussed on investigating the reflectiveness of different materials.  As part of this process, the children made periscopes which they particularly enjoyed.

R.E. this week has involved the children making links between Biblical texts and the design of church buildings. In history, the children have continued to examine historical sources.  They studied parts of Charles Dicken's novel, 'Oliver Twist' to see if it reflected his opinions about Victorian workhouses.  

We have ended the week by holding our Victorian Day.  So many of the children looked amazing in their costumes and they all had a great time completing some Victorian activities ranging from making peppermint creams, making a peg doll, through to experiencing what education in a Victorian classroom was like.  

We wish you all a relaxing weekend and look forward to seeing you next week for parents evening.

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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

3F

Name: Yunus

For: working diligently in maths

 

Name: Angelina

For: acting generously with her time and helping others

 

Name: Evelina

For: being a calm and hard-working advocate for the whole class.

3M

Name: Natalia

For: an improved effort with spelling and handwriting.

Name: Rosy

For: being kind, thoughtful and helpful to others both in the classroom and in the playground. 

Name: Elsie

For: always being an excellent role model for good behaviour and displaying a calm attitude.

3N

Name:  Teddy

For:  being more involved in class discussion.

Name:  Jamie

For:  being kind and caring to adults and his classmates.

Name: Christabel

For:  being calm and ready to work in all lessons.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Four

4D

Name: Cherie

For: working diligently and being sensible during our science investigation lesson

 

Name: Kacie

For: Acting generously by being helpful around the classroom

 

Name: Sama

For: living at peace and having a positive impact around the classroom

4IW

Name: Maysan

For: working diligently this week and remaining focussed in all lessons

Name: Kamso

For: acting generously and being helpful around the classroom

Name: Parker

For: always working hard and having a peaceful attitude

4W

Name: Demilade

For: acting generously and helping coach Melody in PE and with resources.

Name: Ezinne

For: living at peace and trying her best in all subjects, making progress in Maths.

Name: Gregory

For: working diligently in English, when writing an information text.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Five

5A

Name: Jasmine

For: increased confidence and excellent participation in maths this week. 

 

Name: Belita

For: always being willing to help and support others. 

 

Name: Samuel 

For: always having a calm and peaceful attitude towards his work. 

5H

Name:  Tausif

For: his excellent work ethic and high standards at all times.

Name:  Zain

For: his super participation in taking on an important part during role-play.

Name: Shekinah

For: always speaking with a quiet voice to others in lessons, helping to make our classroom a more peaceful place.

5P

Name: Ava

For: working really hard on her English recount from a different perspective.

Name: Bobby

For: showing kindness to his classmate in maths, helping them with their learning.

Name: Lillie

For: always being a calm member of the class, always ready to learn.
 

Working diligently

 

Acting generously

 

Promoting peace

Year Six

6B

Name: A.J.

For: working hard in a range of lessons.

 

Name: Jasmine

For: always sharing her ideas with a range of partners in lessons. 

 

Name: Jackson

For: kindly helping someone feel better when they were upset.

6F

Name: Aiden

For: great contribution to class discussions.

Name: Ifekitan

For: acting generously and supporting others.

Name: David

For: being focused and living at peace.

6I

Name: Zara

For: working hard this week in all her lessons.

Name: Deborah

For: Being kind to others. 

Name: Frankie

For: making great improvements within his English lessons.
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