Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you to everyone who attended our 'Meet the Teacher' sessions on Thursday. It was wonderful to see so many of you and share details about the exciting year ahead for your children and their learning.

This week, we were thrilled to kick off our new 'Parents in to Read' sessions with Year 1. It was lovely to see such a fantastic turnout, and the children clearly enjoyed the opportunity to read with you in their classroom. We're looking forward to continuing this next Tuesday with our Year 2 parents and children, and we encourage you all to come along.

This week, the school underwent a thorough safeguarding audit, which involved an in-depth review of our systems and processes, as well as conversations with children and staff and whole school learning walks. We are pleased to report that the audit confirmed we have strong systems and clear procedures in place to ensure all our children are safe with clear follow up and strong curriculum offering.

Looking ahead, we'd like to remind RHE Parent Consultation session. This is an opportunity for you to find out more about our Relationships and Health Education curriculum. If you wish to join, it will happen from 9am on Wednesday in the Community Room.

Finally, as the weather is becoming wetter and colder, please remember to send your children to school with appropriate clothing. A warm coat is a must to keep them comfortable during break times.

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

A reminder that we have started the year with a focus on the value of Excellence. This week, in our assembly, we focused on how producing effort can result in excellence. Excellence isn’t about being perfect or always winning. It’s about putting in consistent effort, even when things are difficult. 

If we show effort in everything we do, it means we are trying to be excellent, even if things go wrong.

So ask your child:

• How do you show effort?

• Are you trying hard enough?

• If you want to do the best you can, what can you do?

Transfer to Secondary School September 2026

If your child’s date of birth is between 1st September 2014 - 31st August 2015, they will be due to start

Secondary School in September 2026.

Reminder!!! The deadline for applications is 31st October 2025.

It is recommended that you submit your application no later than 17th October 2025 (Friday before half-term) 

Late applications will be processed after those received on time, which could severely reduce your child’s chances of being offered a place at your preferred school.

Applications are made online through eAdmissions which can be accessed through Croydon Councils website

- click on the link below; 

Apply for a secondary school place: step by step | Croydon Council. 

You will also find information on local Secondary Schools and step-by-step guidance to help you through

the application process.

If you are familiar with the application process, you can apply straight away here; www.eadmissions.org.uk 

Click here for the  Link to Croydon Secondary Schools Prospectus;

Secondary-admissions-prospectus-2026-2027 

Follow this link for the Transfer to Secondary Schools open days / evenings; Open-Days-Evenings-Timetable-for-Secondary-Schools-2025-2026   

If you missed an open day/evening for a particular school, please contact the individual school

- most will be happy to accommodate you at another time.

For any parents and carers who need help understanding the school admissions process or need support making an application, please make an appointment to see Mrs Georgiades (Family Support Officer) who will be happy to help you complete the application. You will need your council tax reference number to make an application.

Nest

It has been a wonderful second week, getting to know your little ones. They are doing a fantastic job exploring their new environment. This week has been all about building relationships, and getting comfortable in our space. They are beginning to follow Nest routines and expectations with support. Adults have been supporting children to explore different areas. They have been really enjoying exploring with water, filling and emptying containers, painting, and building using construction materials. Some of the children are finding their voices and are asking for what they want. We have introduced carpet time, children are listening to songs and rhymes and some of them are joining in singing and doing the actions.

Year 1

This week in Year 1, the children had a full week of phonics lessons and showed great effort in their learning.

In English, the children explored books by spotting capital letters, full stops, exclamation marks, and question marks. They also practised writing sentences with capital letters and finger spaces, while developing their understanding of when and how to use punctuation.

In Maths, the children practised careful counting with larger groups of objects, becoming more confident in recognising and working with different quantities.

It was also wonderful to see so many parents join us for the reading session this week and enjoy sharing stories with their children.

Year 2

Year 2 have had a fantastic week full of learning, exploring, and reading!

In English this week, we explored the exciting features of fairy tales and introduced our core text for this term, 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'. The children discovered what makes these stories magical and unique. Teachers even changed the main characters in some well-known tales, which made the children feel as though they were stepping right into the story world!

In Maths, the children practised reading and writing numbers in numerals up to 100. They also partitioned two-digit numbers into tens and ones to show their understanding of place value. The children worked very hard and showed great progress in building their number skills.

In Geography, the children enjoyed learning a song about the continents. They can now name and locate all seven continents of the world!

Well done, Year 2, for another brilliant week of learning and enthusiasm!

Year 3

This week, the children have been engaged in a variety of subjects, fostering their learning and development.

In English, they delved into the world of autobiographies, learning about the key features and structure of this literary form. They embarked on the exciting journey of starting their own autobiographies, a project that encourages self-reflection and personal expression.

In Maths, lessons focused on solidifying their understanding of partitioning numbers up to 1000. Through the use of practical resources and models like the part-whole model and number lines, the children were able to visualise and embed their knowledge of how numbers are made up.

In History, the class became young researchers, exploring the geographical features of Ancient Egypt. They investigated what geographical landmarks from that time period still exist today, connecting the past with the present and gaining a deeper appreciation for the rich history of the region.

In PSHE, the children participated in a discussion about friendship. They explored what makes a good friend and how to demonstrate positive friendship qualities, from showing empathy to acting with kindness.

Furthermore, the children have been independently logging on to Google Classroom to access and complete work on Purple Mash and TTRS, demonstrating their growing digital literacy and ability to manage their own learning resources.

In English, we continued exploring our exciting core text, The Boy and the Globe by Tony Bradman. The children worked on writing detailed character descriptions of Toby, using expanding noun phrases and fronted adverbials to describe his appearance, personality, and actions in a vivid and precise way.

In Art, we developed our sketching techniques by practising careful line work and observation. The children then began creating portraits of their peers, concentrating on proportion, detail, and facial features. They aimed to make their portraits realistic while also capturing their individual character.

This week, the children had a visit from a speaker from Transport for London (TfL). The talk focused on personal safety and road responsibility, helping the children understand how to navigate the roads safely. They also learned about the importance of looking after their Oyster cards and what to do if they need help whilst travelling. The speaker also highlighted the benefits of other forms of travel, such as walking, scooting, and cycling, encouraging the children to think about different ways to get around.

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.