Woodside Weekly - 2nd October 2026

Woodside Weekly Newsletter

Respect ⟡ Resilience ⟡ Aspiration ⟡ Excellence ⟡ Integrity ⟡ Collaboration

2nd October 2026

Headteacher's Welcome

A heartfelt thank you to all our families for your generous donations toward our Harvest collection. Everything collected is being passed on to Nightwatch Croydon to support those in need, and your kindness is deeply appreciated across our local community.

On Thursday, we marked Census Day with our individual school photos. The children looked wonderfully smart, and we hope you will enjoy seeing their finished portraits very soon. We also had fantastic attendance across the entire school on Thursday, so thank you for working with us to ensure every child arrived bright, early, and ready for their picture.

As a reminder for next week, on Friday, 9th October, we will be celebrating 'Hello Yellow' to recognise World Mental Health Day and raise awareness for mental health. Children are invited to wear a splash of yellow on top of their normal school uniform for the day.

Finally, Parents' Evening will be taking place during the last week of term for all pupils from Reception through to Year 6. Appointments are now open, so please log into Arbor to book your slot with your child's class teacher.

We hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend.

Mr Atwal

Values Focus

As part of the value of Excellence, this week we explored the idea of "Adaptability". This is being able to change and keep going when things don’t go the way you though they would.

Excellence means saying "this is different but I can do my best to try to handle it!"

So ask your child:

What do you do when things change?
How will you adapt?
What can you do to keep on going?

Local Council Committee

LCC Woodside Parent Advert.pdf

Spotlight on EYFS

Nest

The children have settled well in the Nest and are doing a fantastic job exploring their new environment.

Children are building relationships with the adults, they are following the Nest routine and expectations. They have particularly enjoyed exploring with water by filling and emptying containers, painting, making marks and giving them meaning, and using construction materials to build. Many children are finding their voices and asking for what they want, while during our new carpet time, they have loved listening to songs and rhymes, with some joining in with the singing and actions.

This term our core text is 'I Like Myself!' and children enjoyed listening to the story, engaging in discussions about who we are and making paper plate self-portraits using materials like buttons and wool while practicing new vocabulary.

Outdoors, they’ve had a fantastic time in our EYFS Garden, climbing the large climbing frame and riding around on trikes for a wonderful week of self-discovery, creativity, and active fun!

Reception

We are so proud of how our Reception children have settled in so far, creating new friendships, exploring our different learning zones, and letting their creativity and imagination run wild. The children are becoming increasingly confident and comfortable with our daily routines, from knowing how to sit focused on the carpet and moving safely around the zones to walking to and from the lunch hall like total pros.

Our Phonics learning is now officially underway, and the children have learned the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, and k; with the support of their adults, they are using these to blend CVC words such as 'sat', 'pin', 'net', and 'dog'.

In Mathematics, following the NCETM early years framework for weeks 1 to 3, our focus has been on cardinal counting forwards and backwards using rhymes, recognising sets, and exploring what makes 3 so that the children can identify the quantity instantly without needing to count one by one.

Alongside this, we have begun exploring who we are and what makes us special, linking to our core text 'I Am Enough' by Grace Byers, to reflect on both our physical appearances and our unique character traits.

Finally, we are excited to introduce two wonderful new opportunities: the start of Nature School for outdoor hands-on exploration and weekly visits to our in-school library to help foster a lifelong love of reading.

Inclusion & Family Support

Transfer to Secondary School September 2027

If your child’s date of birth is between 1st September 2015 - 31st August 2016, they will be due to start Secondary school in September 2027.

Reminder!!! The deadline for applications is 31st October 2026.

It is recommended that you submit your application no later than 16th October 2026 (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;

Croydon-Secondary-school-admissions-prospectus-2027

Follow this link for the Transfer to Secondary Schools open days / evenings;

Find out about open days and evenings

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.