Dear Parents/Carers, 

It has been a vibrant and purposeful week at Forest Academy, filled with opportunities for pupil voice, celebration, and inspiring learning experiences.

On Wednesday, we marked Children’s Day with a whole-school celebration led by our Junior Leadership Team (JLT). Children came dressed in clothes that represented their identity—whether through culture, favourite colours, or outfits that made them feel confident. The message of the day was simple but powerful: “We all belong.”

The JLT led a fantastic assembly introducing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and explained our commitment to becoming a Rights Respecting School. It was wonderful to see the children taking the lead in promoting kindness, respect, and children’s rights. As part of the day, Key Stage 2 pupils also completed a survey to share their views on school life, linking to Article 12 of the UNCRC: the right to be listened to. Their thoughtful responses will help shape future decisions and improvements.

Also this week, our Year 5 children visited the iconic Globe Theatre in London—a special opportunity to bring their learning in English and history to life. The children were fascinated by the setting and learned more about Shakespeare’s work and life in Tudor England. It was a brilliant day full of rich discussion and curiosity, and the children represented the school brilliantly throughout.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. Forest Academy continues to be a school where children’s voices are heard, their identities are celebrated, and their learning is brought to life.

Mrs Lloyd & the Forest Academy Team

Children’s Day was a big success at Forest Academy this week!

On Wednesday, we led a special assembly all about the United Nations Rights of the Child. We shared what it means to be a Rights Respecting School and talked about how all children have the right to feel safe, be treated fairly, and be themselves.

We all came to school in something that represents us. Some children wore traditional cultural clothing, some wore their favourite colours, and others picked outfits that made them feel confident and happy. It was great to see everyone celebrating what makes them unique! Thank you to everyone who helped make Children’s Day so special. We’re proud to be part of a school that celebrates children’s rights and values every voice.

In Key Stage 2, we also took part in pupil surveys to share our thoughts about school. This links to the right to be listened to. We know that our voices matter and that adults will take our views seriously.

JLT also had a Chartwell food tasting this week! Lots of us really enjoyed the butter chicken, the shortbread, and the chocolate cake with orange drizzle. These dishes were definitely popular and will be added to our school menu soon. 

From Forest JLT

As it is now autumn, the children have enjoyed helping the birds to find food. They made some bird feeders to hang in the trees around the school. They used their threading skills to put the parts together in the bottle. Then they were thrilled to watch the birdseed pour through the funnel into the bottle. The other bird feeders were made with Cheerios, which were threaded onto the string. Now the birds will be well fed in our school grounds. 

In maths, the children have been looking at different ways to make a number. They can now explain that it does not matter how the counters are arranged, it will still make the same number. 

As part of the autumn theme, the children have been making hedgehogs out of pasta and playdough. They also created a collage of a squirrel. They used their phonics skills to have a go at labelling the parts of the squirrel.  After collecting some autumn leaves, the children were able to create leaf-printing scenes. They used their colour mixing skills to create the autumn colours.

One of the books the children have been looking at is about the story of a baby owl. They have used some puppets to retell the story.

As part of World Children's Day, the children have been looking at the rights of a child and thinking about how they feature in their lives. These rights also link up with our school values and our class charter. 

Year 2 have been busy writing setting descriptions after acting out the walk to the scary basement in our core text 'The Dark'. The children used some amazing adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions to explain the depth of the darkness within the basement. We described the shadows, the howling winds and the chest of drawers that looked like they were smiling at them. Great work all around, well done Elm class! We have also enjoyed our daily guided reading sessions, showing great progress.

In maths, we have been subtracting two 2-digit numbers using base 10 to help us, as well as number lines and number bond knowledge. In RE, we have been learning all about the similarities and differences between Hindu festivals and Jewish festivals, looking at the Diwali and Hanukkah, festivals of light.

In science this week, the children used their knowledge of materials to create a double-page spread. The children were able to recall and recount materials and their suitability, how materials are used and why.

In RHE, we discussed emotions and how we explain what we are feeling, as well as who we feel safe to speak to about how we feel

This week in Year 4, we went further with our science lesson about the states of matter and investigated which materials would cause an ice cube to melt. The materials used for the experiment were bubble wrap, tin foil, salt, a piece of fabric, ice cubes and four plastic cups. The children predicted which material would cause the ice cubes to melt fastest. They also identified that they would keep the same temperature and the number of ice cubes in the cups, but would differ the materials that they would use to cover the plastic cups. After 10 minutes, they observed that the cup with the ice cubes with salt melted fastest and the cup with ice cubes covered with bubble wrap melted slowly. 

They discussed in their Kagan groups and explained that the chemicals in the salt caused the ice cubes to melt quickly compared to the other ones covered with different materials. We concluded that ice melts faster in higher temperatures compared to lower, but in this case, the salt acted as a catalyst to speed up the melting process.

In computing, the children learnt how to programme commands using coded language. They used their knowledge and understanding of degrees of right angles and direction to navigate their way on Purple Mash to create 2-D shapes. They were able to identify where they went wrong and how to correct their mistakes to get the required results.

Let's start with a Canterbury Tale - what an amazing residential trip the children had to the historic city of Canterbury. The students were simply brilliant ambassadors for our school, and we are so proud of how they embraced every moment. Their journey began with a beautiful, relaxing walk through the charming Canterbury town centre. The sights were stunning, and the students were so engaged! The walk culminated in a lovely park where the children had a chance to connect with nature. The next day was all about history and discovery! The class embarked on a fascinating historical walk which led them to a local museum. The fun didn't stop when the sun went down! The evenings were packed with activities that helped them bond and make lasting memories from quiz nights to movie nights. A great time was truly had by all. The students demonstrated independence, responsibility, and such kindness towards one another.

Upon returning to school, the children showed remarkable focus and perseverance by diving straight back into their challenging academic work. The class demonstrated fantastic resilience in maths as they tackled complex calculations involving fractions. They have been diligently practising the steps needed for adding and subtracting mixed numbers and improper fractions. This is a challenging topic that requires careful steps (like finding a common denominator), and they are becoming real experts!

In English, we continued to explore our core text, 'Stella by Starlight'. The children showed great analytical skills by identifying and generating sophisticated vocabulary to convey Jojo and Stella's reactions and emotions. Expanding their language choices by generating an alternate language for the word "said" to show character emotion through 'telling' rather than merely stating. Analysing and successfully conveying character personality and feeling using effective dialogue.

In science, the students continued their work in science on classification. They focused specifically on the classification of plants, exploring the different groups and criteria used by botanists to organise the diverse plant kingdom. They learned to identify plants based on key features, which builds important skills for understanding biology.

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