Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a highly successful week here at Woodside as we welcomed two external leadership visits to our school. On Tuesday, our independent improvement partner met with school leaders, closely scrutinised pupil books and data, and toured the entire school. Following this, on Wednesday, our Deputy CEO joined us for a focused learning walk. We are absolutely delighted to share that on both occasions, our visitors commented on the calm learning environments, the fantastic focus shown by the children, and a deeply felt sense of belonging across the entire school community.

It has also been an incredibly focused week inside the classrooms as children demonstrate their hard work. Our Year 1 pupils have been busy showcasing their phonics skills during the national Phonics Screening Check, while our Year 4 children have been undertaking their Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). Meanwhile, the rest of the school has been working diligently on their end-of-year assessments. We are very proud of how maturely all the children have approached their tasks this week.

Looking ahead to next week, please remember next Wednesday is our Class Photo Day so please ensure children come in looking their best and in full school uniform. On Thursday 18th June, the Surplus Food School will be closed so please come along on Wednesday. Furthermore, Friday, 19th June, is an INSET day, meaning the school will be closed to all pupils while our staff undertake professional development training.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

This term, we introduced our new value: Aspiration: where you aim to achieve something in the future. This week, we focused specifically on the character skill of “drive”. This is where if you know you want to achieve something, drive is what keeps you going to turn your dreams into a reality. This means you keep pushing, having self-motivation to finish and achieve. 

Ask your child:

• What do you want to aspire to do?

• What will you do to get there?

• How will you show drive?

Every child/family in receipt of benefits-related Free School Meals will have the chance to book onto programmes running during the upcoming Summer holidays. You will have received an email or text message from HolidayActivities (hello@holidayactivities.com) stating ‘You have been issued a voucher’. The email will contain details of how to register/sign-in to the booking platform and claim your child(ren)’s voucher. Once you have claimed your voucher you will be able to link your HolidayActivities Voucher to your Holiday Activities Account, which will show the available credits you have to use. If you are unable to locate this email please do look in your junk mail.

If you have more than one child, you will have received multiple vouchers via email/text. Please ensure you access the individual link for each of your children for their credits to show in your Holiday Activities Account.

When you first log in, HolidayActivities will ask for you to share your location. By doing so, clubs will be displayed based on those closest to you. If you have any trouble with accessing the platform, please email support@holidayactivities.com.

Spaces on the HAF programme are limited and pre-booking is essential. All bookings must be confirmed using the HolidayActivities online platform. Please look out for your email or text message from HolidayActivities.com (hello@holidayactivities.com) which contains your voucher code, and book now to ensure that your child does not miss out!

All holiday clubs cater for children with low-medium levels of SEN and/or disability and children will be considered by each club

on a case-by-case basis.

Nest

We have had an absolutely fantastic week in the Nest!

The children have been deeply engaged in new learning experiences, building their confidence, and showing off their wonderful imaginations.

Here is a little peek into what we’ve been up to this week:

Our new Summer Display has been a massive hit! The children have been utterly fascinated by it, using the space to explore and share stories about their own lives. It has been beautiful listening to them connect the display to their own family experiences. We heard some lovely comments this week, including: “I go to the park with my mummy!” ,“I have a picnic in the park.” We have been deeply embedding our core text, 'The Gingerbread Man'. To bring the book to life, the children got creative and designed their very own gingerbread characters!. Using a variety of textures and materials—like buttons, pom-poms, and googly eyes—they practiced their fine motor skills while crafting. The best part? As they were decorating, the room was filled with the children happily chanting the repeated phrase: "Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!".

Finally, we have been busy exploring a variety of shapes by drawing around them and naming them, an activity that has been brilliant for building both their fine motor skills and their early maths foundations.

Saplings

This week in Saplings, we have been continuing our exploration of mini beasts with a focus on worms. As we begin to look at 'Superworm' for our core text, the children have enjoyed looking for worms in the garden, measuring cut out worms with rulers and blocks in maths, and making worms out of playdough. We have also been looking at the names and features of other mini beasts, the children are really enjoying their exploration!

We have also enjoyed getting creative with our junk modelling, the children have loved independently making all sorts of items, such as boats, rockets, planes, car parks and lots more!

The children were also lucky to have a spanish lesson from one of our year 4 students this week, they loved learning new terms, and choosing some words themselves to be translated.

In Numeracy, we have been looking at measuring, linking with the length of worms, the children have enjoyed taking rulers and measuring items around the classroom.

In Literacy, we have been looking at the phonic sound ‘Y’ through repetition and song. We also still have the pleasure of taking care of Talulah the tomato plant, which now has 18 tomatoes growing on it!

Reception

This week, children in Reception have been learning about composting after reading the core text, 'Michael Recycle' who showed the people in his village how to recycle, reuse and reduce items lying around. Children have learnt that composting is another way of recycling. Our hook was compost and children had to smell, touch and describe what it felt like. Children were able to explain what scraps of food could be used. As the children looked at the compost, they were able to pick up some minibeasts that they could see which were helpful in the composting process.

Reception children have also been focussing on their independent guided reading with a focus on fluency. They have enjoyed reading the phonics books they are familiar with and are able to use pictures to respond to the comprehension questions in the books. During the phonics sessions, Reception children have now started learning some Phase 4 tricky words. The tricky words learnt this week were; some, like and said. Reception children are also able to use these tricky words in their writing.

In Maths, children in Reception have been learning about odd and even numbers and have been using numicon to support themselves in understanding the difference between odd and even numbers. They also used number cards to identify odd and even numbers. We also looked into repeated patterns and used numicon pegs to create our patterns, commenting “Our butterflies had repeating patterns.”

Year 1

After the excitement of making a fruit salad, we’ve had another busy week!

In Maths, we’ve been looking at money. We’ve learnt to recognise the coins and notes we use, thinking about their colour, shape and value. We counted in 2s, 5s and 10s, and added coins together. We’ve also compared the value of coins and notes using the greater than > and less than < signs.

In English, we have been writing a factfile about pollution in Croydon. We thought about the pollution we see, and what we should do to stop pollution by writing sentences using imperative verbs. We’ve used our knowledge of proper nouns to use capital letters correctly, and encouraged the children to say sentences before writing to ensure they know what they are going to write. During our handwriting sessions, we continue to teach the children how to form pre-cursive letters and are encouraging the children to use this formation when writing in all their books. Please encourage your child to use this formation when writing at home.

The children have been practising for sports day which is in a couple of weeks on 22nd June. If you can, please provide your child with a t-shirt in their team colour.

Year 2

What a fantastic week it has been in Year 2!

Following the high energy and excitement of our Design and Technology week, the children have settled back into their learning routines beautifully, showing immense curiosity and enthusiasm across all of our subjects.

Reflecting on our amazing DT week, the children have been buzzing about their culinary adventures. Inspired by our geography and history learning about the Caribbean, the children rolled up their sleeves to make traditional Johnny Cakes. They did a wonderful job measuring, mixing, and shaping their dough, and it was fantastic to see them exploring new cultures through food.

We have also had a wonderful time this week making cross-curricular links between English and Geography, all inspired by our core text, 'Paddington'.

In English, we have been delving deep into Paddington's adventures in London, working hard on writing descriptive sentences. The children focused particularly on using expanded noun phrases to bring the famous bear to life.

In Geography, we looked at where Paddington originally came from and began exploring the similarities and differences between Peru and England, comparing the bustling streets of London to the mountainous landscapes of Peru.

In Maths, the children have been learning how to collect, record, and interpret data using tally charts and tables. We have been working hard on developing our ruler skills, practicing how to draw neat, accurate lines to construct our own data tables before interpreting the information.

Our young scientists have embarked on a fascinating new topic as well, exploring the life cycles of various animals and looking at how they grow and change from babies to adults. Alongside this, we have been looking at animal adaptations, discussing how different creatures are perfectly suited to survive and thrive in their unique habitats.

Year 4

In Maths this week, Year 4 have been learning about time and converting between analogue and digital clocks. Telling the time is one of the trickier topics in Maths, so please continue to support your children at home by encouraging them to use time in real-life situations, such as reading clocks, discussing timetables, and working out durations throughout the day.

In English, we have been mastering the skills of writing and acting out dialogue, which we will use in our first-person narrative based on our core text, 'The Goldfish Boy'. The children enjoyed bringing their characters to life through drama activities and developing expressive conversations.

In Geography, we investigated the structure of the Earth, researching its different layers including the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. The children showed great curiosity and enthusiasm during our discussions and research tasks.

The highlight of the week was making kebabs in our DT lessons. Excitement filled the classroom as everyone designed their own kebabs and selected a variety of ingredients. Most agreed that the kebabs were delicious — and they were eaten much faster than they were made!

This week we also completed our end-of-year assessments, including Maths and Grammar tests. Well done to all the children for their hard work, perseverance, and positive attitudes throughout the week.

We hope you all have a restful and enjoyable weekend. We are looking forward to our picnic on Friday 12th June!

Year 5

In English this week, the children have continued their exploration of Marcus Sedgwick's 'Floodland'. We have been looking closely at how to use powerful literary techniques to create different moods. By analysing how these tools can build tension and paint vivid pictures of a flooded world, the children will be able to use these amazing skills themselves as we begin planning and writing our very own prequel narratives.

This week has been our school assessment week, and the children have been working incredibly hard to showcase their skills in mathematics. They tackled three rigorous maths papers, demonstrating their calculation speed in the arithmetic test and their problem-solving abilities across two reasoning papers. We are immensely proud of the great resilience, focus, and positive attitude the children showed throughout the week—they truly gave it their absolute best!

This week in History, the children have dived into the fascinating world of the Anglo-Saxons. We began by exploring the chaotic aftermath of the Roman departure, investigating how Britain was left undefended. They have been researching the main tribes who arrived: the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Through their investigations, they discovered the four main reasons for the invasion: to escape flooded homelands, find better farming land, seek more living space, and fight as mercenaries.

In keeping with our theme of preparing for the real world and making smart independent choices, Year 6 have also been working hard on becoming financially literate during our maths lessons this week. The children have been exploring how money works in the modern world, focusing on practical life skills that will serve them well into the future. They spent time learning how to spot suspicious activity and scams online to keep their personal information safe, and discussed what debt actually means along with the long term impact it can have if it isn't managed responsibly. They also examined what influences us to spend money, from clever advertising to peer pressure, and looked at the true importance of saving for the future.

Summer Term Clubs

Bookings will be open from Friday 20th March at 6pm and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The dates exclude the half term week, 25th May 2026 - 29th May 2026 and Bank holiday, Monday 4th May 2026. Also, Inset day, Friday 19th June 2026.

Please book directly using the links provided or via Arbor where it is indicated to do so.

Kindly ensure your child commits to the duration of the club, as we cannot guarantee refunds.

Sign-up starts at the beginning of the club, not once the club has started.

Please follow this link for futher information and booking links: Summer Term Clubs 

We are using in-app messages to communicate with parents through the app - please could parents ensure they are able to log-in and Arbor is set up to accept these messages - they should be visible in the Communications section of the portal.

Parents who have the app should enable Push Notifications - this will alert you through the app that a message has arrived.

Over 90% of our parents have logged into Arbor - if you are having difficulty, please talk to the office who can help.

Check your Child's Data

Please log in to Arbor and check your child's/children's details are correct - and let us know if not. You can also request changes directly through the app which will take place once we have seen them - if we have questions, we will get in touch. Or you can let the office know directly.

It is important we have the correct data for all our families.

Please remember to check Arbor - either the Parent Portal (at https://login.arbor.sc/) or the parent app (available from the App Store or Google Play).

Parents who log in can:

* see their child's attendance

* log consent for local trips and those further afield

* pay for trips and book and pay for clubs

* receive In-App messages - and message the school

* book parent consultations

* see their child's details and request changes to ensure they are completely up to date

If you have more than one child at the school, they should be visible via a drop-down so you only need to login once.

To set up your account, you need the email you use for school communications and the date of birth of one of your children. Follow the Forgotten Password link on either the app or the website.

If you need support with logging in, please talk to the office team who will be glad to help.