Dear Parents and Carers,

As we move firmly into the festive season, the excitement continues to build here at Forest Academy, with plenty of learning, celebration and community spirit.

This week, we had a special visit from the FA Cup and the Community Shield, thanks to our fantastic partners at Palace for Life. Every child had the opportunity to see these iconic trophies up close, it was a real treat and brought a buzz of excitement across the school. Thank you to Palace for Life for making this memorable experience possible.

Year 2 took to the stage for their class assembly, showcasing their fantastic learning on the Great Fire of London. The children impressed us all with their knowledge, storytelling and confidence. I had the pleasure of joining the class for a practical demonstration earlier in the week, where we lit the model houses they had built to show how and why the fire spread so quickly in 1666. It was a memorable and powerful way to bring history to life—well done, Year 2!

On Wednesday, the school was filled with festive cheer for National Christmas Jumper Day. Thank you to everyone who took part, your bright and joyful jumpers certainly added some extra sparkle to the day!

Looking ahead to next week:

• Wednesday 17th December: Children are once again invited to wear their festive jumpers in place of a school jumper/cardigan. We’ll be enjoying our Christmas Dinner, followed by some festive fun at the Christmas Fair from 3:15pm, kindly supported by PlayPlace.

• Friday 19th December at 1:30pm: You are warmly invited to join us for our annual Carol Sing-Along. It’s always a special moment to come together as a school community—so please do bring your singing voices!

• A reminder that school finishes at 2:00pm on Friday 19th December.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. We look forward to celebrating the final week of term with joy and togetherness.

Warm regards,

Mrs Lloyd & the Forest Academy Team 

The children have been making animal shapes out of playdough and also painting animals' faces. They have been mixing colours to paint the animals. Also they have been looking at the shapes and patterns on the animals. Out of playdough, the children have been making play food. Pizza was a popular food to make. They have also been using their knives and forks with the play food. A range of natural materials have been used to create a bug hotel. They were designing how the insects we be able to have shelter in the hotel.

The children have been using their phonics knowledge to write some sentences. Captions have been another area where the children have been applying their phonics knowledge to write the words.

In maths, the children have been find which numbers go together to make a target number. They were able to show the calculations using blocks. There were more than one combination for each number. The children were also able to include the concept of zero into their combinations.

As well as looking at animals, this week the children have been creating a bug hotel. There have been many different designs that have been created which have considered what the bugs might need to make them comfortable.

Over the weeks the children have been preparing for a presentation to their parents and families. They have enjoyed learning some Christmas songs. Singing them and playing instruments to accompany their singing has been very inspiring for the children as you may have seen when they performed for the parents.

A huge well done to Elm class for working so hard on their class assembly, all their hard work paid off and they were fabulous little performers.

We have been busy looking at rhyming couplets this week in English, thinking all about words that link to the Great fire of London such as burn and turn, fume and doom. The children played a matching game to help them to find initial rhyming words.

In history, we set fire to paper houses this week, to replicate our own version of the great Fire of London. It was a windy day, just like it was in 1666 too! The class really enjoyed the visual lesson, aiding them to understand the impact of the fire and that, although it had negative affects such as people being left homeless and needing to migrate away from London, there was a positive impact too, as it eased the Plague and London was rebuilt stronger too!

Making fire engines has been our focus in design technology this week, the children have magically turned juice cartons, shoe boxes and cardboard boxes into fully moving vehicles.

In science, we investigated whether sand, cobbles, mud or concrete would be the best material for a road or runway. We made our predictions and then tested a toy car on all the surfaces to see how far the car travelled. 

To understand the topic of states of matter better, year 4 went on a trip to the science museum to learn and explore more about the three states of matter. The children were in high spirits to put their minds to the test about one particular matter of liquids, water, which can exist as all three different states of matter. They were taught to understand that water can exist as a solid when frozen, water when the frozen ice melts and as gas when heat is applied and becomes steam and therefore gas. In the wonderlab, they explored different stations and wondered about the science behind all the experiments they engaged in. The children had a wonderful time because they engaged in different activities that would last a life and add to their scientific understanding and knowledge.

In design and technology, The children followed 5 systematic design procedures to make a drawstring bag. This week, they transferred their design onto a piece of fabric and added detail and colour to it ready to sew using different sewing techniques. 

In English, the children identify different skills needed to write a good piece of dialogue to show the thoughts and feelings of the characters in a familiar text. They identified the main and subordinate clauses, subordinate conjunctions, fronted adverbials and reported clauses in a dialogue and how these skills are used to write a speech. They used talk for writing to generate ideas to write sentences and paragraphs of dialogues among the characters. They did very well by applying the knowledge and skills they gained from the lessons to create dialogues among the characters.

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy in Year 6, and it has been a pleasure to see the children approach their learning with such enthusiasm, focus and maturity. We are extremely proud of the effort they have shown, and the positive learning atmosphere in the classroom has been a joy to witness.

In mathematics, the children have demonstrated great resilience while tackling fractions. They have learned how to multiply fractions by whole numbers and by other fractions, before moving on to dividing fractions by integers. The unit concluded with mixed problem-solving tasks that required them to apply all of these new skills together. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they mastered these challenging concepts.

In English, the class has been innovating their own pieces of writing, applying a range of techniques they have practised over recent lessons. They focused on developing character through dialogue, using “show, don’t tell” descriptions, and ensuring dialogue is used accurately to move the story forward. In reading, we explored the text, 'The Girl Who Speaks Bear'. The children are thoroughly enjoying the story, which has provided excellent opportunities to develop fluency and key reading skills.

Our wider curriculum has been equally engaging. In history, we explored the Bristol Bus Boycott, learning about its significance and the impact of key individuals during this important period in British history. In science, the children became taxonomists, classifying living things and learning how plants can be organised into groups. Finally, in design technology, the class worked hands-on to investigate pneumatic mechanisms, discovering how air pressure can be used to create and power movement.

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