Dear Parents and Carers,

It has certainly been an extraordinary week at Forest Academy, with temperatures soaring above 35°C. Throughout the week, the wellbeing of our children and staff has remained our highest priority, and we adapted our routines to help everyone stay as safe and comfortable as possible.

On Tuesday evening, Miss Perret and I had the privilege of attending an awards ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre in London, where we proudly accepted a national award from Tender in recognition of Forest Academy's work in fostering healthy relationships. We were honoured to win the Primary School category, celebrating the commitment of our staff, pupils and families to creating a safe, respectful and inclusive school community. It was also a privilege to meet Tender's patron, the internationally acclaimed actress Olivia Colman. This achievement reflects the values we strive to instil in our children every day, and it is one that our whole school community should be incredibly proud of.

As the temperatures continued to rise on Wednesday, we made a number of changes to help children stay cool and comfortable. We encouraged regular hydration throughout the day, ensured every child enjoyed an ice pole, brought lunchtime forward to avoid the hottest parts of the day, thank you to our wonderful kitchen team for their flexibility, and kept children indoors wherever possible. We also purchased additional fans for classrooms. Despite these measures, the extreme heat persisted, and we made the difficult decision to close the school early from Wednesday to Friday. Thank you for your understanding, patience and support during this exceptional period. We appreciate that the early closures may have required changes to your own plans, and we are grateful for the way our school community worked together.

On Thursday, our Year 4 children performed their class assembly. Despite the heat and disruption to the school day, they confidently shared their learning and showcased their excellent oracy skills. Well done to all the children, you represented Forest Academy brilliantly.

The forecast suggests a return to more typical British summer temperatures next week, which we are all looking forward to. We hope you enjoy a restful weekend and the welcome cooler weather.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Mrs Lloyd & the Forest Academy Team

During a recent period of exceptionally warm weather, the reception pupils demonstrated excellent resourcefulness in managing their own comfort at school. Happily, they maintained regular hydration and engaged in structured water-play activities. The children successfully remained cool and focused throughout the day. 

The hot weather provided an excellent contextual learning opportunity, prompting the children to recall and discuss key facts regarding the four seasons. The children effectively used comparative language to compare four seasons of the year. They identified that summer is significantly warmer than winter, which they identified as the coldest season of the year. Furthermore, they successfully contrasted the shorter, cooler days of autumn with the longer, brighter days currently being experienced, showcasing a strong understanding of seasonal change.

It has been a hot week in Year 2! We have worked hard at keeping cool. In English, we completed our written account about Paddington's arrival. We wrote in the first person and became one of the Brown family who found Paddington at the station and decided to take him home with us. We used expanded noun phrases and similes such as 'He wore a coat as blue at the daytime sky'.

In maths this week, we focused on 1 hour earlier and 1 hour later. We used clocks to act out our class timetable, such as 'at 9:30 we have English and then 1 hour later it is play time, what time is playtime?'

Human features of London were our focus in geography this week. We looked at the London Eye, Tower Bridge and the Shard as all features made by humans. We categorised the features and researched facts about them.

Last week, year 4 participated fully and enjoyed every activity designed for the sports day this year. In their various teams, they collaborated and competed against the other teams in the spirit of sportsmanship. Though it was blazing hot, they comported themselves well and demonstrated how resilient they were when faced with a challenge they needed to overcome to be successful. 

Year 4 has been learning about the artist, Valentine Brostean and her collage techniques. They learned that Valentine uses techniques such as layering, overlapping, tearing and surrealism to create beautiful collages to express her feelings, thoughts, actions and the world around her. They children the surreal images of Valentine Brostean and used key vocabulary to describe her art. They used different pictures to explore surrealism and used key vocabulary to describe the surreal pictures.

To keep cool during this past week's heatwave, Rowan class has been making excellent use of our outdoor spaces. We are incredibly fortunate to have these areas, allowing the children to stay comfortable, focused, and productive despite the high temperatures.

In English, we have continued our narratives based on our core text, Trash. To evoke the deep emotions of a young boy struggling on a trash site, the children have been sharpening their writing skills by expertly incorporating expanded noun phrases, metaphors, and similes.

Our maths sessions shifted focus to real-life financial education. The children have been mastering crucial life skills using correct terminology, exploring how salaries and taxes work, the benefits of savings accounts and interest rates, and the responsibilities attached to bank loans.

We wrapped up last week with a fantastic Sports Day. The children thoroughly enjoyed the various activities, and it was wonderful to share the day with so many parents and carers, with the lunch time picnic on the field being a particular highlight. 

If you have concerns about a child (or their families) welfare, contact Croydon Council’s Single Point of Contact (SPOC) 

Telephone: 020 8726 6400 

Out of hours: 020 8726 6400 (ask for out of hours team) 

Email: childreferrals@croydon.gov.uk 

Office Hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 – 16:00 

If you think a child is at risk of immediate harm telephone 999