Dear Parents and Carers

As we reach the end of another successful term, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on our collective achievements and express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and engagement.

I would like to extend a special thank you to POW (Parents of Woodside). They have held a few fundraising events and have been supporting our community foodbank this term. The collaboration between school and POW has been remarkable and thank you to our community for supporting.

As we look forward to the next term, we are excited about the new opportunities and experiences that await us. With the final term of the academic year coming up, we look forward to a range of activities and events. We will be sharing dates with our community next term.

I hope everyone enjoys the half term break and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 3rd June. 

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

We expect pupils to maintain a high standard of attendance here at Woodside. We want all our pupils to be able to achieve their very best and in order to do this, they need to be in school as much as possible so they don't miss out on any learning. Everyday is a new learning opportunity!

We want all children to come to school each day, but we know that there are some days children are just too ill to attend, or will spread illness to others.

The NHS website Is My Child Too Ill For School is a useful place to look for guidance.

If your child has vomiting or diarrhoea they should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).

Children can attend school with cold sores, conjunctivitis, hand, foot & mouth disease, slapped cheek (fifth) disease, sore throat, thread-worms or ear infections as long as they don't have a temperature as well.

Please encourage your children to wash their hands regularly and use and throw away tissues properly.

Household Support Fund (HSF)  

The Household Support Fund has recently reopened for new applications whilst funds last.

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 1-2 weeks. However, in urgent cases it will be done within 1-3 working days. 

If you are in urgent need of food, please email dhp2@croydon.gov.uk for an emergency food bank referral.

£3 Zoo Tickets! 

London Zoo is continuing their offer of £3 tickets for anyone currently in receipt of Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, or Jobseekers Allowance.

The £3 tickets are available for the whole family and under 3’s go free.

Tickets must be purchased  online in advance and are available for up to 6 people per household

You will be required to provide proof of your benefit letter (electronic or Paper). You may also be asked to provide photographic ID.

Offer is ongoing at this time..

For further information go to; Universal Credit tickets to London Zoo 

Support & Advice 

Help for anyone experiencing or at risk of domestic abuse - Croydon Family Justice Centre 020 8688 0100 or email FJC@croydon.gov.uk

Nest

This half term our core text has been 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. Children have really enjoyed the story, we have made a display board in our classroom with all the children’s work. During the half term break, you can ask your child to retell the story in their own words. We have been reading the story 'The very busy Spider'. As we continued to embed the story, children explored the spider story, with lots of spiders, web and tweezers. Children used the tweezers to catch the spider, put it into a cup and then count the spiders. This week they also made a web for the spider with paper plates and wool. Both of the activities have supported different areas of the learning, such as fine motor skills, mathematical skills, personal and social skills and most importantly, learning new vocabulary and continuing to develop and expand their language.

Nursery

This week in Nursery, children have been learning about the life cycle of a frog as they had been learning about life cycles this half term. Children were able to create their own zig-zag books to support their understanding of how life cycles in animals are different. Children sang songs related to frogs and acted out the life cycles.

In Maths, children were using 2D shapes to create pictures. They made houses, patterns on the carpet and were able to talk about their properties, "2D shapes are flat”. Children in Nursery have also been creative and used paint for the right purpose and choosing their colours to paint with carefully.

Year 1

In English this week, Year 1 have been learning how to write information about the plants in their leaflets. First, they looked at the features of information leaflets working in small groups. Then they used their science knowledge to write instructions about how to plant a seed using time adverbials and bossy verbs. Year 1 wrote subheadings in their leaflets and drew some lovely pictures of their plants.

In Maths, Year 1 continued learning about position: right and left, forwards and backwards, above and below. They enjoyed practical learning using their bodies to move in different directions.

In Geography, Year 1 have been learning about pollution and how pollution affects urban and rural areas. We looked at the types of pollution that exist in the world. The children then worked in their small groups and identified each type of pollution giving reasons for their answers.

Year 3

Year 3 has had a fabulous term exploring plants in Science and developing knowledge in History about the Bronze age.

In English, it has been a great experience learning about the book 'Oliver Twist' and what he went through as a child. Classes have been acting out their scenes and performing it to each other. The children have also really excelled in play script writing and every student got to publish their work. We have made a fantastic display showcasing this, please check it out next time you're in school.

Year 4

In Year 4 this week, the children started to write up their biographies ready for our new display in the hall.

For maths, we have been focusing on analogue time and identifying the duration of lengths of time in minutes.

In our DT lesson, the children enjoyed making their catapults using just rubber bands and no more than 10 lollipop sticks.

Year 5

Year 5 children finally published their biographies of David Attenborough and Jane Goodall (famous zoologists and naturalists) and their efforts were celebrated and displayed around our school.

This week’s Maths, was dedicated to translating and reflecting shapes on the coordinates. Thank you to all the parents that joined us for Maths morning and helped us to solve some mathematical investigations.

In Geography, we created a double page spread showing what we learnt about the use of natural resources. We researched the issues of: pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change and sustainability.

We are starting to use 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.

Collaboration matters   Excellence in everything   Community first   Equity for everyone   Continuous growth