Dear Families,
It’s been a busy term since February Half Term and we’re almost at Easter Holidays!
Let’s take a look at just some of the amazing things that have been happening in the S21 Community over recent weeks.
Year 6 parents will have received confirmation of their admission to School 21 for moving into Year 7 in September. Please complete the form within the email to confirm your acceptance of your school place at School 21.
World Book Day was a great success with our community coming together to create shared reading experiences across the school – check out the wonderful photos below.
As ever, thank you for your continued support and feedback.
Moray Dickson – Headteacher
As a part of National Careers week, a group of year 9 & 10 students were given the opportunity to attend the Financial Conduct Authority’s offices in stratford. Students heard from an employee not much older than themselves and his experience within the industry. There was a panel of key-note speakers with a wealth of experience from working in different industries and for different companies before going to work for the FCA.
The students then took part in an activity where they interviewed characters that were created to encourage people to make investments into get rich quick schemes. The students had to ask a range of questions to see if the investments and the people pitching them were legitimate business men. A special shout out to Tiarn, Cristina and Jerry for stepping up to ask questions during the activity. The session ended with hearing from some graduates about the roles that they do at the FCA and what sort of graduate positions and degree apprenticeships that are available within the organisation.
Congratulations to all School21 students that attended the event. They were truly represented our school and were the most engaged group there. I’m super proud of them all!
Don’t forget to check the local college open days coming up…
We had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 6th March. Check out the reports from the year groups below plus all the wonderful photos on the galleries. During the day, the pupil librarians picked the 'best dressed' winner from each class and our winners were awarded with a certificate and a new reading book!
Year 2 classes were excited to come and show off their passion for books by dressing up in their favourite characters for World book day. The children had the opportunity to read with the year 5 students, design their own book themed t-shirts and spend the day enjoying their favourite books.
All Year 4 students participated in a forest school session which required them to search around the forest area to find characters from famous books. In the lead up to World Book Day, one Year 7 class had been writing short stories and Amethyst Class were lucky enough to visit them on World Book Day. During the lesson, the Year 7 students read their story and the Year 4 students provided them with feedback.
Year 10 visited Reception to read books with them. The Year 10s really enjoyed it, and while some of the Reception class were at first timid and unsure, over time they grew to like the company and opened up. This built a mutual trust between the two year groups and seemed to pull the community closer together, giving them a common ground to speak over. Not only did the two year groups read to each other, they bonded to the point where the Reception class asked the Year 10’s to “come back tomorrow” so that they could read to them again! Not only did the children enjoy the company of the Year 10 students but the Year 10’s also got an opportunity to experience what their teachers do, the challenges and opportunities they face and the enjoyment that they receive from it. This shows the responsibility taken on through the year group and the embodiment of School 21’s values such as Community and Openness.
Guys and Dolls Success
February saw the School21 Musical – Guys and Dolls! The show was an incredible success, and it was wonderful to see so many students from different year groups working together to make something spectacular. Well done to all involved! Check out the amazing photos from the show.
Learning across School 21
Reception
We have had a great start to our new topic about community heroes! We turned into superheroes and underwent superhero training camp. We have been learning about the different heroes in our community like vets, firefighters and nurses.
Year 1
In English we have been focusing on Handa's Surprise, focusing on writing noun phrases using interesting adjectives we came up with using our senses. In maths, we have been looking at doubling numbers to 10, and halving numbers from 20, using a range of physical manipulatives to explore this new topic. In Project, we have been looking at cooking. So far this week, we have discussed what being hygienic means and how we can stay healthy. Today, we made our very own fruit kebabs – ask us how, and maybe we can show you how to make them at home! We did really well cutting the fruit and putting it onto the skewers. We then did even better washing up and tidying up any mess we had made. We are also making tzatziki and crudités and we cannot wait – stay tuned for more photos and the taste verdict!
Year 3
This term in science year 3 have been looking at forces; first we looked at push and pull forces as well as looking at which items are magnetic and which are non-magnetic. Students enjoyed exploring predicting and then finding out if their predictions were accurate using magnets and everyday items.
Year 4
Since the start of the spring term, the students in Year 4 have been busy learning about decimals and a new writing scheme called "The Write Stuff". They’ve shown resilience by adapting to new concepts like decimals and the writing scheme. In Project, they’ve been exploring the Anglo-Saxons, and in science, they’re studying living things and their habitats. Did you know the Mimosa Pudica plant 'plays dead' when touched? They’re also engaged in hands-on oracy learning and auditioned to perform The Wizard of Oz this summer. They particularly enjoyed the decimals ordering and comparing game. Well done Year 4!
Year 6
As part of history project unit, Year 6 have been studying WW2. East London was affected greatly during WW2 due to the docklands area, which means that there is a lot of history in our local area to uncover. Therefore, Year 6 became Blitz Detectives and explored how West Ham Park was affected during the Blitz (1940-1941), uncovering hidden messages, spotting British/German plans and measuring the diameter where a bomb exploded during the Second World War.
Improved Service Delivery for School Screening Programmes via the SchoolScreener ParentPortal
The Newham School Health Service has introduced the SchoolScreener ParentPortal, a secure platform allowing parents to access their child’s health screening results directly. This enhancement aims to provide a more convenient and user-friendly experience for families participating in school health screening programmes including:
• National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) for Years R and 6
• Vision and Hearing Screening Programme for Year R
Benefits for Parents:
• Easy Registration: Parents can quickly register and gain access to their child’s screening results.
• Secure Access: Screening results are accessible only to registered parents/carers, ensuring privacy.
• Health Resources: Additional resources tailored to Newham families around healthy lifestyles and local activities are available through the portal.
ParentPortal registration link is https://app.schoolscreener.com/Portal/#/Newham/pr/Nh332
For any queries please email: [email protected]
