Dear Parents/Carers, 

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful break and are ready for an exciting year ahead. We would like to extend our warm wishes to you and your family as we kick off the spring term. We're thrilled to start the new year with some exciting learning opportunities planned for the coming months.

It has been wonderful to welcome the children back to school this week. All the children have settled back into school remarkably well following the Christmas break. Their enthusiasm in the classroom and engagement with their learning has been commendable. We are confident that this positive start will set the tone for a successful term ahead.

Curriculum Newsletters
As we begin the new term, we are pleased to share our curriculum newsletters for this half term. These newsletters outline the key topics and areas of learning that your child will be covering in class. Please take a moment to read through them and discuss upcoming topics with your child to foster their curiosity and engagement. You can access the newsletters by clicking here.

National Curriculum Assessment Leaflets
We are also sharing updated information leaflets from the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) regarding national curriculum assessments, as pupils at our school will be undertaking these assessments during the 2024 to 2025 academic year. These leaflets provide useful details on what each assessment involves, key dates, and how the results will be shared. They cover assessments such as the Phonics Screening Check, Multiplication Tables Check (MTC), and Key Stage 2 (KS2) tests.

We encourage you to read through these leaflets to help you understand what to expect and how best to support your child. You can access the information online or download the PDFs using the links below.

Thank you for your continued support!

Mrs Lloyd & the Forest Academy Team

Snow has made the first week back at school very exciting. The children have enjoyed writing, drawing and making patterns in the snow. They have also been exploring vocabulary linked to winter and reflecting on the changes to the environment and weather during this season. 

Goldilocks and the three bears is the first focus book this term. The children have enjoyed retelling the story using the props. They have been able to sequence the main events in the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. Cakes for the bears and Goldilocks have been the focus for their fine motor skills in the playdough. The children have been mixing colours to make brown for their painting of a bear's face. 

In maths the children have been exploring the effect of adding one more or taking one away from a number of blocks. They are developing their skills of counting on and back by one. They were able to show this concept on a grid with blocks.

The children have also enjoyed spending time in the shop role play area, where they have been making links to their own experiences whilst acting being shop keepers or customers using money to purchase items.

Elm class have had a great start to the spring term. We began our week with the introduction of our new core text ' The Day the Crayons Quit', the children came across a ransom note and soon realised items had gone missing from our classroom, so we put on our detective hats to solve the mysteries. We continued our text by looking at all the letters that the crayons had sent, and thinking about the different emotions that they were expressing.

In maths, we have begun to look at multiplication, equal and unequal groups and multiplication facts such as 2 + 2 + 2 is the same as 3 x 2.

Healthy eating and hygiene are the main focus of our new science topic this half term, and the children used purple mash to put foods into the correct categories such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates. 

Year 4 Oak returned to school refreshed to continue with their learning journey. We have started reading 'Odysseus' as our new core text for our English lessons. The book is carefully linked to our curriculum topics in history and the children will be researching and learning about Ancient Greeks gods and goddesses, life as a child in Ancient Greece, culture, games, fun times and social life etc. The children will focus on a Greek god or goddesses and write fact file about him or her.

In maths, we started the term by learning how multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000, and the strategies to use to be successful in the lessons. They were introduced to using the place value chart to multiply and divide numbers. They were taught that when numbers are multiplied they increase in value but when they are divided their value reduces. 

In art, which is closely linked to our history and English lessons, the children explored Ancient Greek vessels and identified different designs on them. They learnt that the designs on the vessels tell Ancient stories about the Greeks and what the vessels are used for. They identified the vessels are used for carrying water, storing perfumes, jewels, mixing different things, bridal bath and performing rituals. They designed a Greek vessel, using only black and oranger4 as preferred by the Ancient Greeks.

We have begun the new term and the new year with a real sense of excitement in Year 6, and it has been wonderful to see the children return with such enthusiasm, a curiosity for learning and even a sprinkling of snow. 

The children were introduced to our new history topic of World War Two, which has immediately captured their interest. This links closely with our powerful core text, When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle, set during the London Blitz in 1941. The children have been deeply engaged in learning about Joseph, a young evacuee who finds himself living in a rundown zoo, and the touching bonds that develop between him, Mrs F, and Adonis, the magnificent silver back gorilla.  To bring the period to life, we began our English learning with a mock evacuation, allowing the children to step back in time and gain a real sense of what this experience may have been like for children during the war. We then explored two contrasting setting extracts from the text, analysing how atmosphere is created through language. The children used this knowledge to write their own descriptive paragraphs, vividly portraying the tense and emotional atmosphere of a tube station during an air raid.

In maths, we began our work on decimals. The children have been recognising and understanding place value within 1 (up to three decimal places), rounding decimals, and starting to add and subtract decimals. They have shown great focus and confidence as they build on their prior learning.

Our World War Two learning continued in history, where the children explored the key events that led to the outbreak of the war. They worked collaboratively to create a clear and informative timeline, developing their understanding of cause, chronology, and historical significance.

In science, we launched our new topic on electricity. The children investigated how to create a complete circuit, experimenting with components and discussing what is needed to make a circuit work successfully.

In art, the children began to explore the elements of sculpture. They discussed form, shape, and texture, laying the foundations for creating their own sculptural pieces later in the term.

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