Dear Parents and Carers,

It's been a busy and productive week here at Woodside, despite the change in the weather!

We have certainly noticed that the weather has turned extremely cold this week, and we have been reminding children to wear their coats to school. Please ensure that next week, your children come wrapped up warm and are prepared for potential rain and winds.

On Wednesday, our teachers collaborated with colleagues across our Croydon partnership schools. This valuable time was spent planning the curriculum for the Spring term, ensuring high-quality, engaging content for all our children.

This week, the children also began their termly assessments. This process is important as the results provide us with vital information that will directly inform our teaching and planning for the rest of the academic year, helping us to support every child effectively.

A friendly reminder, please remember that next Friday, 28th November, is an INSET day, meaning the school will be closed to all pupils.

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 how we can show respect by supporting charities. We learnt the importance of charities and the service they provide for lots of people across the world. We linked it directly to our Children in Need celebrations last week. Showing respect to people in need is called Active Respect—doing something to help. One small act can lead to a ripple effect.

So ask your child:

• What is one small act you can do that shows respect?

• What will happen if you show respect?

2. Communication Strategies

Effective communication is key to understanding and supporting your child’s needs. Here are some communication tips:

• Simplify Language: Speak in short, clear sentences to help your child understand instructions. Break tasks into smaller steps and use visual cues when possible.

• Use Visual Supports: Visual aids like pictures, charts, and symbols can help your child understand instructions or emotions. These supports can be particularly useful for children with language or communication difficulties.

• Encourage Expression: Create an environment where your child feels comfortable expressing themselves, whether through speech, gestures, pictures, or even technology such as communication apps.

 Reception Places for September 2026

If your child’s date of birth is between 1st September 2021 - 31st August 2022, they will be due to start school in

Reception in September 2026.

The deadline for applications is 15th January 2026.

Applications are made online through eAdmissions which can be accessed through Croydon Councils website; Apply for a primary school place: step by step | Croydon Council where you will also find information on local primary schools and step-by-step guidance to help you through the application process.

For any parents and carers who need help understanding the school admissions process or require support to make an application, please make an appointment to see Mrs Georgiades (Family Support Officer) by emailing Familysupport at Woodside Primary School 

You will need your council tax reference number to make an application.

For those parents/carers whose children currently attend our Nursery, you must still complete and submit an application for entry

to Reception in September 2026.

Nest

This week in the Nest, children have been enjoying listening to a story 'Elmer the Patchwork Elephant'. Through this story children have learnt about friendship and acceptance, this story has been fun and engaging for the children, the story has sparked conversations and children have learnt new vocabulary. To embed the story children have been making their own Elmer collage using different colour materials. This activity has supported childrens fine motor skills and language skills, taking and waiting for their turn. Children have been also enjoying making marks in the sand tray, using thick paint brushes and their fingers. Instead of just drawing pictures, they were encouraged to create different types of marks and then give a meaning to them.

Saplings

This week in Saplings, we are following on the theme of families, the children have enjoyed sharing their drawings of who is in their families at circle time, as well as discussing foods they enjoy at home, how they help their families with chores and what we share with our families such as toys, snacks and books. This has helped introduce the children to how we can help each other in the classroom through sharing and caring for our friends.

In Numeracy we have been exploring weighing scales, allowing the children to understand what items may be heavy or light. Through experimenting with objects around the classroom, the children are gaining a better understanding of the weight of materials through what they are made of.

In literacy we have been focusing on the phonic sound ‘T’, showing images of teeth, toast and teddies in our daily ‘whats in the box’ game.

Reception

We’ve had another lovely week in Reception and the children have been busy exploring new learning across all areas of the curriculum.

This week, our focus has been on woodland animals. The children have enjoyed learning about a variety of creatures that live in the woods such as foxes, hedgehogs, owls and squirrels. We have been describing their features and talking about their food sources.

In Maths, we have continued building strong counting skills. The children have been practising counting objects to 5, exploring different ways to make 5 and working on accurate 1:1 correspondence - making sure each object is counted only once.

We are incredibly proud of how independent the children are becoming. They are now confidently managing routines, making choices in their learning and showing great pride in doing things all by themselves. It’s a delight to see them supporting one another, engaging positively in activities and settling into Reception life so well.

Year 1

This week in English, the children have been busy creating their own characters and generating sentences to describe their characters’ personalities and appearances. They were able to use their phonics knowledge and the conjunction “because” to add detail to their sentences.

In Maths, we have been exploring 3D shapes, including listing and matching different 3D shapes.

In Geography, we are learning about our local area and the things we can see around us. The children used Google Earth, where they were able to see the location of their school on the map and spot some nearby houses.

Year 2

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for coming to our reading session this week! The children really enjoyed having you in the classroom, and it made them very happy to share their learning with you.

In English, we made plans for our story writing based on the book 'Drawn Together'. The children had the exciting opportunity to choose how their story could finish. Some chose cooking, others building with LEGO, creating a robot, or even designing a video game.

In Maths, we have been focusing on adding and subtracting 10, using practical methods to help children understand place value and work confidently with numbers.

In Reading, we finished the last chapters of our class book. This week, the children also had a chance to explore the 'Elephant Dictionary', which they found very exciting and fun.

In PSHE, we practised different breathing exercises and talked about their positive effects. The children enjoyed trying the exercises and discussed how they can help us feel calm and relaxed.

Year 3

This past week, our primary focus was on evaluation and demonstration of core skills. The children engaged in various assessments across Mathematics, Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling (GPS), and Reading. We were incredibly impressed by the outstanding perseverance and resilience displayed by every single student. A huge commendation goes out to all for their impressive efforts.

For our English lessons, we have been consolidating our understanding of basic sentence structures, the use of punctuation and learnt about prefixes and when they are used.

In Maths, the children have been multiplying and learnt that division is a method for sharing. They were then able to apply this knowledge when using the 3 times-table.

For our DT lesson, the children decided who they were going to make their picture frames for and selected up to 3 colours when completing up to three designs that they are going to choose from.

On Tuesday, Maple went for their visit to the library and learnt about all the different services they provide.

Thank you to the adults who supported us on the trip.

Year 4

This week, children have been working very hard on their English, Maths and Grammar tests, demonstrating the ability to concentrate under pressure.

In English, children have been planning their descriptive writing based on a jungle setting and have been exploring various ways of using similes and metaphors to make their sentences exciting and interesting.

In Science, children have been investigating the various states of matter and learning how temperature can affect the state of a solid, by melting different types of chocolate.

In Design and Technology, children have been learning the skills needed to stitch and sew, by practising how to sew a running stitch. This will later help them when they design and make their own bags.

Year 5

This week has been assessment week, and the children have been demonstrating their skills in Maths, GPS, and Reading. They have all shown remarkable resilience and determination, and we would like to say a big well done to everyone!

In English, we have been planning and writing our narratives based on our core text 'The Boy in the Tower'. The children explored how Ade responds to discovering that his school has closed and considered what might happen next.

In Maths, we have been developing strategies for tackling reasoning-style questions, using a range of operations and ensuring that we use accurate mathematical vocabulary.

In English, children continued to delve into the core text, 'Stella by Starlight' by Sharon M. Draper, starting with an engaging drama session where they enacted a significant scene from the book. They focused on using speech to express emotion and practising the powerful "show, not tell" technique through their actions, rather than just stating feelings. This practical work seamlessly supported their literacy learning later in the week, as they focused on writing dialogue. The children reconsolidated their knowledge of the key skills needed to correctly punctuate speech, including the accurate use of inverted commas, correct placement of punctuation within the speech, and varied use of reported clauses.

In DT, Year 6 delved into the world of Pneumatics, learning how systems use air pressure to create powerful, controlled movement. This fascinating DT lesson culminated in an impressive scientific challenge: using syringes and tubing to engineer a working model of the human heart. The children used their new knowledge of pressure and flow to demonstrate exactly how the heart pumps blood—a brilliant cross-curricular link between design and biology!

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.