Dear Parents and Carers,

As we reach the end of another school year, I would like to begin by saying how incredibly proud we are of our Year 6 pupils. They have approached their final year at Forest Academy with determination, maturity and ambition. It has been a privilege to watch them grow into confident young people, and we know they are ready for the next stage of their journey. We wish every one of them happiness and success as they move on to secondary school. Remember, you will always be part of the Forest family.

Last week, we celebrated Bastille Day. The children proudly showcased artwork inspired by iconic French artists, with the exhibition displaying a wonderful range of artistic skills and techniques. From vibrant brushstrokes to bold use of colour, their creativity brought French culture to life and provided a delightful opportunity to celebrate the pupils' growing artistic talents.

This is also my final newsletter as Headteacher of Forest Academy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and partnership during my time at the school. Leading Forest Academy has been an enormous privilege. I am incredibly proud of all that we have achieved together and, most importantly, of the strong, inclusive and ambitious community that our children, families and staff have built together.

Our success has always been a community effort. Thank you for supporting our high expectations, trusting us with the education and care of your children, and working alongside us every step of the way. Your partnership has been instrumental in the success of our school. I leave with many wonderful memories, immense pride in all that we have accomplished together, and every confidence that Forest Academy will continue to go from strength to strength.

As you will be aware, Ofsted visited the school last week. I am delighted to share that the inspection went well, and we are incredibly proud of how our whole school community represented itself throughout the process. Thank you to everyone who completed the parent survey and to those who took the time to speak with the inspectors. Due to the summer holiday period, the published report is not expected until approximately the end of the Autumn 1 half term. As soon as it has been finalised, the school will be delighted to share it with you. Although I will have moved on by then, Forest Academy will always hold a very special place in my heart, and I too will look forward to reading the report and celebrating the school's continued success.

As you prepare for September, a reminder that all pupils are expected to return in full school uniform, including appropriate school footwear. Please ensure that any new items purchased over the summer meet our uniform policy, which can be found on the school website.

Thank you once again for your kindness, encouragement and partnership over the years. It has been an honour to serve the Forest Academy community, and I will always look back on my time here with great affection and gratitude. I wish every child and family a restful, safe and happy summer.

A reminder that school will finish at 2:00pm on Tuesday 21st July and will reopen to pupils on Thursday 3rd September 2026.

With my very best wishes,

Mrs Lloyd

Year 1 has been a year filled with growth, creativity, and achievement. Throughout the year, the children have shown remarkable progress in their learning, developing confidence, independence, and resilience as they embraced new challenges and celebrated their successes.

The artwork displayed in this exhibition reflects the imagination, effort, and pride that have been evident in every aspect of their learning. Each piece showcases the creativity and determination that have flourished over the year and celebrates the unique talents within the class.Their achievements in phonics have been particularly impressive, with growing confidence in reading, blending, and segmenting enabling them to become increasingly fluent and enthusiastic readers. Alongside this, their mathematical understanding has flourished as they have developed strong number sense, improved their reasoning skills, and confidently applied their learning to solve a range of problems.

As the children move on to Year 2, they do so with a strong foundation of knowledge, curiosity, and perseverance. This exhibition is a celebration of all they have accomplished and a reminder of just how much they have grown throughout an unforgettable Year 1. Have well deserved rest and a wonderful summer holidays!

In maths the children have been learning about pictograms and how many the symbols represent in the pictograms. The children have been able to use tally charts to answer questions. Reading bar charts to make statements has been the focus of the work on bar charts. The children have been able to collect data using a tally chart and then show the results in a bar chart. Then they were able to make statements from their bar charts. 

In science the children have been learning about the benefits of a balanced healthy diet. They have been examining the five food groups and identifying how much of each group they need to have a healthy diet.

Making an animation has been the focus of the learning in computing. The children started off making a flick book to see how to make an image appear to be moving. Next, they used the iPads, along with the programme - Stop Animation to take individual images with only a slight change in each frame. Including a background was the next step to enhance the animation, along with the images of some characters to move in each frame of the animation. The children were able to make links between their animations and cartoons they have watched previously.

This week, Year 5 have been busy creating art for our Bastille Day exhibition. Using Georges Seurat as their inspiration, the children created images using pointalism - a technique where dots are used to create an image. The children thoroughly enjoyed creating their French inspired images and sharing them with you at the exhibition!

In English, the children applied the skills learnt during their discussion text learning journey to debate the question 'Should play times be longer?' or 'Should pupils wear school uniform?' The children came up with reasons for and against the question and used a range of sentence starters and conjunctive adverbs to effectively give a balanced view of the argument.

In maths, the children have continued to learn how to use calculate with decimals. They carefully used place value columns to add and subtract decimals before moving onto multiplying and dividing decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000. They ended the week by completing decimal sequences.

In history, the children learnt about the impact on Anglo Saxon communities when the Vikings invaded. They discussed images and how life changed for Anglo Saxons in villages. In RE, the children learnt about the kind of world Humanists would like to live in and why. They also discussed the wants and needs that humans share and how Humanists focus on what make us the same rather than what makes us different.

Please remember to collect any medication that you have left from the school officeand that your child has taken their school asthma pump home for the summer. They will need a pump in school in September when we return, please ensure that the medication is in date.

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