Dear Parents and Carers,

It's been another focused week here at Woodside, with lots happening across the school.

On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hosting a visit from another school based in Medway. The visiting staff spent the day with us, primarily in our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provision. This was a great opportunity for us to share our practice and for the visitors to see our youngest children in action. We always value the chance to collaborate and share best practice with other schools.

Next week, we begin our termly assessments across the school. These assessments help us to monitor your child's progress and plan for their learning moving forward.

Can you believe with the end of term now in sight, we have been busy starting to plan our festive celebrations! Please keep a close eye out for a letter coming home shortly which will detail all the dates and times for our events.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

We have started the term with the value of Respect. This week, we explored Remembrance Day in our assembly. We explored the meaning behind Remembrance Day and how we can show respect, including wearing poppies and holding a 2 minute silence. 

So ask your child:

• What is Remembrance Day?

• How can we show respect?

Please see below details of two upcoming face-to-face workshops being delivered by Croydon SENDIASS for parents, carers, and young people.

These sessions are designed to help families better understand the Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment process — including when to request one, what evidence is helpful, and what to expect once an application is made.

Families can choose the date and venue that best suits them:

Venue 1: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Centre, South Norwood Library, 194 Selhurst Road, SE25 6XX
Date: Thursday 21st November, 10:00am – 12:00 noon

Venue 2: Woodlands Family Hub, Farnborough Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 8HD
Date: Tuesday 3rd December, 10:00am – 12:00 noon

Both sessions will cover:

• What an EHC needs assessment is and how to request one

• How to identify if a child may need additional support

• What evidence strengthens a request

• What to expect from the process and parents’/carers’ rights

Places are limited, so families are asked to book only if they are able to attend.

Booking link:  Workshops 2025 – Fill in form or use the QR code on the attached poster.

Household Support Fund (HSF)  

The Household Support Fund can help if you are facing hardship or an emergency, including struggling to pay bills or afford food. Wherever possible, the scheme provides support such as vouchers rather than cash grants and does not have to be paid back.

It can help your household to meet living costs through:

• top-ups for prepaid energy and water meters 

• assistance with energy and water bills debts 

• food vouchers 

• essential items relating energy or water, for example, clothing, bedding, heater, and appliances  

• essential items relating to food, for example, slow cooker, microwave, cooker, fridge 

• items related to essential transport, for example, travel ticket, bicycle and helmet  

• other essential household items, for example, furniture, minor adaptations, draft excluders 

• housing support (in exceptional circumstances, excluding mortgage payment)

You can only use the fund for one household appliance per application.

To be eligible for this fund, you must;

• be over the age of 18

• live in Croydon

You will be required to provide evidence to support your application. You can apply even if you have applied before. However, priority will be given to first-time applicants who are not eligible for other types of support.

How to apply

Residents can apply via the website Household Support Fund (HSF) | Croydon Council or they can call 0208 760 5719 and applications can be taken over the phone.

Application turnaround time is typically 2 weeks - If you are in urgent need of food, please email dhp2@croydon.gov.uk for an emergency food bank referral.

Further Support/Signposting

We understand that it can be hard to talk to someone about the difficulties that you and your family may be facing. People often try to sort things out themselves or hope that their worries will go away and do not seek help until the situation has become very difficult. Whatever your circumstances, we would encourage you to seek advice before things become more difficult. There is no shame in seeking support and we are here to help with sensitivity and confidentiality.

Please talk to us about your concerns so that we can work together to get you and your family the best possible support. 

To make an appointment with Mrs Georgiades - Family Support Worker, please email;

Familysupport at Woodside Primary School

Nest

We have had another wonderfully busy and meaningful week here at the Nest!

It has been heart warming to see the children fully engaged as we continue to embed the fantastic story, 'The Family Book' into our activities. This week, the children thoroughly enjoyed a special activity focused on "Who lives in my house?" The children used special family counters to represent the people who live with them, carefully placing them onto a house template. This was a powerful way for them to talk about their immediate family and where they belong. We seamlessly incorporated mathematical skills by having the children count the family members they had placed. As we continue to support the children's fine motor skills,the children drew beautiful family portraits. This process required focus, pencil control, and hand-eye coordination—essential skills for early writing. While drawing, the children were naturally motivated to talk about their families. We heard lovely stories about what they enjoy doing together (like going to the park or reading a book) and even what their families love to eat for dinner! This communication helps build their vocabulary and narrative skills.

Reception

We've had another wonderful and busy week in Reception!

The children have settled in beautifully and their learning journey is truly taking flight. We have been exploring fantastic stories about falling leaves, the weather, seasons and suitable dressing during the different seasons. The children have been using their senses to describe the changes they see outside: Children discussed the colours of Autumn (red, yellow, brown) and the sounds (crunchy leaves, wind). The children are learning to use new words like 'crisp,' 'golden,' 'harvest,' and 'hibernate.'

Reception children have been practicing their handwriting skills and some have already started showing improvements as they have been practicing in the provision. Their practice is beginning to show in their phonics sessions when writing cvc words (words with three letters). Examples of words have been bus, sun and hat. Reception children have also started guided reading in small groups focusing on decoding (sounding out).

In Maths, children have been focusing on the concept of comparison and developing our understanding of number and quantity. We used a variety of objects (like counters, buttons, and even autumnal leaves!) to compare groups. Children have been able to work on the quantity using numicon and pom-poms in the outdoor area. We encouraged the children to use the following key vocabulary: more, fewer, less, few.

Please remember to send your child with a waterproof coat and suitable footwear as the weather is getting colder and wetter, and we still enjoy our outdoor learning time!

Year 1

In our English learning this week, we recapped our learning about adjectives, recalling that they are words we use to describe something. We thought of appropriate adjectives to describe the appearance and personality of Little Red Riding Hood, and then put them into sentences. Saying our sentences before writing helped us ensure they made sense. We also introduced time adverbials - first, then, soon, later etc. - and told the story of Little Red Riding Hood using these.

In Maths, we continued learning about subtraction. We learnt to take away by crossing out the number that was being subtracted, or used our fingers to show first how many we started with, then how many were taken away and now how many were left. We also used a number line to show the jumps backwards as we subtracted a number. Finally, we had some problems to solve and had to work out whether we needed to add or subtract to find the answer. We looked for words such as fewer, more, left and altogether.

The children enjoyed our walk around Woodside looking for signs of autumn, seeing physical features such as roads and shops, and identifying the different buildings we saw. All this will support the children’s learning over the next few weeks.

Thank you to those adults who were able to come on the walk - we couldn’t have gone without your help and your support was much appreciated.

Year 2

It’s been an exciting week in Year 2, full of fun and learning across all our subjects!

In RE, we learned about Hanukkah, a special Jewish festival celebrated with lights, joy, and family traditions. The children loved making their own dreidels and discovering how Jewish families play this traditional game during Hanukkah celebrations.

In Maths, we’ve been consolidating our subtraction skills, practising different strategies to solve problems with confidence. We also enjoyed playing some maths games to make our learning even more fun while building our speed and accuracy!

In English, the children have been busy writing a retell of a narrative, using lots of fantastic vocabulary and sentence ideas to bring their stories to life. It’s been lovely to see their creativity and enthusiasm shine through their writing.

In PE, we explored how our bodies react to physical activity. The children took part in different exercises to test their heart rates and discuss how their bodies feel before and after being active. They showed great curiosity and energy throughout!

Well done, Year 2, for all your hard work and enthusiasm this week!

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.