CCI Newsletter 29th - 3rd October 2025

Cheam Common Infants' Academy

Weekly Newsletter

Monday 29th September to Friday 3rd October 2025

Cheam Common Infants' Academy: Balmoral Road, Worcester Park, KT4 8SS

Email: ccioffice@leoacademytrust.co.uk https://www.cheamcommoninfants.com/

Message from the Principal

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to everyone who joined us for the harvest festival celebrations at the church. It was truly heart warming to witness such a strong sense of community, something we are dedicated to cultivating at CCI.

Despite a few technical glitches, the children's performance was absolutely spectacular. Their composure in the face of the challenges we encountered on Thursday is a testament to the secure environment their teachers create for them. I was incredibly proud of both the children and the staff, who remained calm and professional throughout. For the record I thought that their singing was even better without the background music. ‘Sing a song in unison’ always tugs at the heartstrings but it felt particularly poignant this week.

Thank you to those who respected our request to be fully present and not spend the entire event filming. For the Kung Fu Panda enthusiasts among us, I'd like to share a reminder: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, which is why we call it the present." It really is so important for us to be present in these moments for our children. I speak from experience when I say that children remember eye contact and a discreet wave when they are performing, they rarely take much interest nor remember watching themselves in recorded clips that mainly feature the back of people's heads. I'm already looking forward to Christmas – please remember to add the dates to your diaries!

This upcoming week, we are excited to begin our school tours for parents whose children will be starting nursery or reception in September 2026. Please spread the word to any friends and neighbours who might be interested. For the first time ever, we'll be holding an evening tour on Tuesday at 6pm. Additionally, we are hosting two coffee mornings this week: one on Monday in the main hall for parents of nursery and reception children, and another on Friday in the CCJ hall for parents of children with SEND. These are fantastic opportunities to connect with other parents within our school community.

Finally I end with another plea to please name your children’s clothing especially outer wear. The weather is so changeable at the moment, cold in the morning so the children need coats then warmer in the afternoon so they forget them. Please help us to return your lost items by putting names in them.

Many thanks.

Mrs Hughes

Parent Workshops

Seesaw Workshop Slides

Phonics Workshop Slides

Coming Soon

Reception Curriculum Meeting: 9am Thursday 9th October

Phonics - Yellow Group and Beyond 9am October 17th

English as an Additional Language - how to support your child (date tbc)

School Updates

Religious celebrations

At Cheam Common, we are committed to celebrating the heritage and cultures of all of children.

As we have done for the previous three years, children are invited to wear traditional clothing to school on the following dates, if they are celebrating:

Diwali - Monday 20th October

Spring Term: Lunar New Year, Eid

If you feel we have missed a religious date for children to wear traditional clothing, please let us know!

Breakfast and After School Club: How to change, book or update

Please email cciwac@leoacademytrust.co.uk or phone 07739360621.

Enuresis Clinic

Harvest Celebrations

We will be collecting harvest donations from Monday 29th September to Monday 6th October.

Suggested items: UHT milk, pasta, pasta sauce, tinned meats, tinned fish, tinned vegetables, rice, instant mash, cereal, long-life juice, long-life sponge puddings, and toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and deodorant, along with biscuits and jam. Any nappies or baby formula would be greatly appreciated!

This can be brought in with your child throughout that week, who can give them to their class teacher.

Nursery and Reception parents/carers - come and meet our Family Support Worker

Important Information: School Place Applications for September 2026

Crucial information for parents regarding applications for both Reception and Year 3 Junior school places for September 2026. If you have already submitted your application or this does not relate to you, please ignore.

It is imperative that you submit an application, as current Nursery and Year 2 children do not automatically receive a place.

Key Information & Resources:

Application Deadline: The national deadline for both Reception and Year 3 is 15 January 2026.

Where to Apply:

For both Reception and Year 3 Junior School Places: You must complete the application for the Local Authority (LA) you pay your council tax to, regardless of where your preferred schools are located. If your LA is not the London Borough of Sutton, please refer to your own LA's admissions section.

London Borough of Sutton Rec Guidance Booklet: Primary School guidance booklet (for reception applications).

London Borough of Sutton Junior Guidance Booklet: Junior school guidance booklet (for Year 3 applications).

Primary Reception Key Dates Junior School Key Dates

Online Application System: https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/

Video Guide: A video with screenshots to walk you through the online application process is available on YouTube.

Upcoming School Open Days

Local schools will be holding open days throughout the autumn term.

CCI open day dates are advertised on our website: https://www.cheamcommoninfants.com/720/admissions.

Please sign up for a specific tour time using the Google Form link provided on that webpage.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Labelled belongings

It would be appreciated if all children's belongings were labelled clearly with their name, especially jumpers, coats and water bottles.

Family Support Worker - referral form

If you would like to explore ways that our Family Support Worker could support your family, please complete this Google Form.

Wellbeing Woofers

Free School Meals - Sutton.pdf

Occupational Therapy Workshop

School lunches

Here are the lunch options for next week. Please note the change to Thursday 2nd Oct which is part of our themed menu below

You can see Autumn Term options here.

Weekly School and Sporting News Stories

Early Years

Nursery

This week we have started to explore our feelings with the story ‘The Colour Monster’. We have thought about what makes us Happy, Sad and Angry.

We have been busy playing with blocks to balance, exploring and sorting colours and being creative to create our own monsters!

Reception

We have continued our learning about The Colour Monster. We practised our counting skills by rolling a die and putting that many eyes on the monster! We also learnt how to sign the colours of the rainbow and signed them while singing I can sing a rainbow!

Year 1

Year One really enjoyed performing at the church for the Harvest Festival, we were very proud of them and they sang so beautifully despite not having any music.

In English the children enjoyed drawing their idea for Beegu’s home, they were very creative. They wrote some lovely sentences describing Beegu’s new planet, e.g The sky is purple and pink and it has three moons. In Maths, the children have been comparing length, height and weight. They are beginning to use the correct vocabulary taller/shorter, heavier/lighter. They are really enjoying counting all the way to 100.

In Art, the children loved creating their spiral pictures using oil pastels. In Geography, the children enjoyed working as a group and creating a map of the local area. It has been a busy week but we are very proud of them all.

Year 2

Year 2 unleashed their creativity this week! In English, they designed their own story characters and wrote detailed descriptions, making superb use of ambitious vocabulary and expanded noun phrases.

They also honed their artistic talents through beautiful observational drawings of autumn leaves. The children meticulously examined the shapes and vein structures of the leaves before creating realistic drawings in black ink. We certainly have some impressive budding artists!

In Maths, we focused on addition strategies, exploring how to add two two-digit numbers by partitioning them into tens and ones. We also practised adding three addends using 'first, then, and now' stories with a range of representations.

In History, the children continued researching Mary Seacole using various sources on Thinglink. They produced wonderful accounts of the resilience and bravery she demonstrated in overcoming prejudice

We were so proud of the children's conduct during the Harvest Festival. They were reliable role models for the younger pupils, showing safe and sensible behaviour walking to and from the church. Their maturity and adaptability shone brightest when they performed confidently, even without the backing music!

Well done, Year 2!

Birthday celebrations

Polite reminder...

As you know, we are a healthy school and therefore ask if your child would like to celebrate their birthday, they donate a book to a library instead of bringing treats. This also ensures there are no concerns over allergies.

We will share any photos of children and their birthday books here every week!

School Achievements

🐝 Weekly 3 Bees Certificate 🐝

⭐️ Star of the Week ⭐️

This week's Explorer Value is 'Creative'.

⭐️ Nursery ⭐️

Cygnets - Reuben

Ducklings - Legend

⭐️ Reception ⭐

Badgers - Amera

Foxes - Mugil

Hedgehogs - Faith

Squirrels - Nylah

🐝 Nursery 🐝

Cygnets - Shreya

Ducklings - Enzo

🐝 Reception 🐝

Badgers - Zachy

Foxes - Eann

Hedgehogs - Dennis

Squirrels - Lily

⭐️ Year 1 ⭐️

Finches - Laya

Robins - Daisy

Sparrows - Toby

Wrens - Matilda

⭐️ Year 2 ⭐

Eagles - Lora

Falcons - Alex

Kestrels - Willow

Owls - Mohammed

🐝 Year 1 🐝

Finches - Oscar

Robins - Riya

Sparrows - Peter

Wrens - Jack

🐝 Year 2 🐝

Eagles - Joshy

Falcons - Druv

Kestrels - Isabelle

Owls - Esme

Out of school achievements

If you would like to share your child's achievements outside of school with us, we'd love to hear them! Please complete this short form to tell us all about it!

Toby (Year 1)

Toby has been working really hard at his football club, and achieved player of the match this week. He was super proud of himself!

Robin (Year 2)

Robin won a trophy and scored an amazing goal at Worcester Park Colts Football club last Saturday.

Well done, Robin!

Kayla (Year 1)

Kayla won a medal at her gymnastics competition at the weekend, and brought in her medal to show her class. Thank you for sharing!

Autumn 1 Curriculum Newsletters and Home Learning

Click on the links below to read our curriculum newsletters. On these, you can find out the topics that your children will be learning about, as well as information about home learning, PE days and general reminders for their year group.

Reception Year 1 Year 2

Important information

Communication

To help us assist you more efficiently when you email the school office, we kindly request that you include your child's class along with their name in your correspondence.

While we know all our students very well, having the class information readily available helps us to quickly identify your child and address your queries without any delay or guesswork.

For example, please consider writing: "Regarding [Child's Full Name], [Class, e.g., Year R - Squirrels]" in the subject line or at the beginning of your email.

Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated and will help us continue to provide the best possible support to you and your children.

Thank you for your understanding.

Moving address

If you have moved address, it is imperative that you inform the school office as soon as you have moved. It is a requirement that the school has up to date details particularly in case of an emergency.

Please email the school office ccioffice@leoacademytrust.co.uk if your details need updating. Alternatively you can update them using the Arbor App.

Reporting Attendance

We ask that you use one of the google forms below to report absence.

Request for Exceptional Absence form in advance for future appointments and exception absence.

Cheam Common Infants' Absence Form for sickness and same day medical appointments.

They are also available to complete on our website using the parent tab.

We do not authorise holidays during term time. If your child is going to be off school due to an exceptional circumstance, then please complete this form:

You can also log same-day absences for your children directly through the Parent Portal or Arbor App. Simply navigate to the Attendance section, click "Log Absence," and fill in the details. You can adjust the start and end times if it is not a full-day absence. Once submitted, school staff will review and either approve or reject the request. You will see approved absences in the Attendance tab.

Please note, this feature is only for same-day absences; for any extended or future absences, please continue to complete and submit the request for exceptional absence. We will also continue to use the same day absence google form. If you need to change an unapproved absence request, you will need to delete it and create a new one, as editing is not possible. Once an absence is approved, it cannot be deleted through the app, so you will need to contact the school for any further modifications

Autumn Term Dates

Please find below all the key dates and times for the Autumn Term.

PTA events are shown in this colour. Please see below for more details.

New dates

2025 - 2026 Term dates

Monday 6th October: EYFS Coffee Morning

Tuesday 7th October: School Tour 9:30am and 6.00pm (for new starters in 2026)

Thursday 9th October: Reception Curriculum Meeting 9am

Friday 10th October: SEND Coffee Morning

Wednesday 15th October: School Tour 9:30am (for new starters in 2026)

Monday 20th October: Diwali - children are invited to dress in traditional clothing to celebrate Diwali on this date

Thursday 23rd October: NSPCC Year 2 Workshops in school

Thursday 23rd October: School Tour 1pm (for new starters in 2026)

Friday 24th October: MUFTI Day

Monday 27th - Friday 31st October: Half term

Tuesday 16th December and Wednesday 17th December - 9.15am KS1 (Y1 and Y2) Christmas Performances

Friends of Cheam Common - Updates

The Friends of Cheam Common now has Facebook group, where you can follow any updates on upcoming events or how you can get involved.

Secondhand Uniform

A gentle reminder, please only donate the items listed below.

Logo jumper

Logo cardigan

Logo fleece

Logo waterproof jacket

Logo PE tshirt

Logo polo shirts

Junior PE black quarter zip top

Ties

Red PE shorts

Please do not donate, shirts, or grey uniform items; we have very limited storage space and we can’t store those items currently. We will let you know when we are able to accept these items again.

Thank you so much for supporting the second hand uniform sale on Friday. We are delighted that good quality school uniform can be reused and help families.

Going forward, we need to reduce the uniform service that we offer unfortunately. We will no longer be taking uniform email requests for the foreseeable future. The uniform service has expanded immensely with donations and requests over the past year. Whilst it has been absolutely wonderful to offer this service to the school community; sadly, we don't have the volunteers to sustain the huge amount of time this service requires.

However, we are very happy to still offer a termly uniform sale, where we'll have plenty of uniform on offer to stock up for the term ahead.

Please leave donations at either the Infants’ or Junior’s office.

We hope you understand the decision we've had to take, and we thank you, as always, for your continued support.

SEND & Inclusion Updates

Click the image above for further information!

Keeping Safe Online

DIGI Safe - Keeping Children Safe Online

LGFL have launched a wonderfully informative and practical website full of resources to help keep children safe online. With videos, informative guides and top tips, there is lots to explore to help keep your child safe whilst online. To visit, click here.

Family Support