NEWSLETTER
AUTUMN 2025
Welcome to our latest newsletter. Since our last update, we've been learning about festivals, celebrated with a pyjama party, seen some amazing creations sparked by reading books, and had inter-year handball competitions!
Find out more about what your child(ren) has been up to below.
Dates for your diary
Here are all the important dates for your diaries!
| Year Group | Date | Timings | Event Details |
| Reception | Tuesday 18th November | 3.30pm - 7pm | Parents Evening |
| Reception | Tuesday 25th November | 2.30pm - 3.30pm | Phonics Workshop (families choose to visit the afternoon or evening slot below) |
| Reception | Tuesday 25th November | 5pm - 6pm | Phonics Workshop (families chose to visit the evening or afternoon slot above) |
| Reception | Tuesday 2nd December | Daytime | Trip to Lyric Theatre (parent and carers who have volunteered attend) |
| All Year Groups | Thursday 4th December | Daytime | Team Reach (no families, school day event) |
| Year 8 | Wednesday 10th December | Daytime | Trip to Orange Theatre |
| Reception and Year 1 | Friday 12th December |
Performance 1: |
Reception and Year 1 Nativity (Each family receives 2 tickets which they can use on either slot (either 2 people at 1 performance or 1 at each performance) |
| All Year Groups | Friday 19th December |
Daytime |
INSET Day |
| All Year Groups | Friday 19th December |
No school |
Last day of term for Christmas holiday |
| All Year Groups | Monday 5th January |
Daytime |
INSET Day |
| All Year Groups | Tuesday 6th January |
Usual time |
Start of Spring term |
Spotlight on... Sport!
This year we are focussed on enhancing and expanding the sports we offer through lessons and beyond in enrichment and clubs. For Years 7 and 8, we have developed a rigorous curriculum which has been planned in a specific order to develop and stretch our pupils in different ways. This started in September and is led by our new PE teacher, Ella Bills, who is making a fantastic impact.
Ella began by teaching handball, helping pupils develop their hand and eye coordination and teamworking skills. As this is a new sport for everyone, all pupils feel successful in the activity. Next was netball, which progresses these skills and adds extra rules to help them follow specific instructions. Year 7 and 8 are about to move onto gymnastics, which is more of an individual sport. Pupils can be creative and grow in confidence through performing and developing the essential skills of balance and coordination. As the year continues, we will add more sports including: football, athletics and cricket to enhance your children's learning.
Meanwhile our Primary school children have been learning fundamental skills such as rolling, catching and throwing to help develop their hand eye coordination skills and strengthen their gross motor skills. As we move through the year we will be introducing target, net and wall skills and invasion games for them to enjoy!
We are very lucky to have access to a range of sports facilities and equipment at our own site as well as using Reach Academy Feltham's sports hall, playgrounds and multi-use games area. This means we can offer a wide range of clubs to your children over the year.
Other Clubs and activities
We have many after school clubs and other enrichment opportunities for our pupils, which are delivered by our fantastic team of teachers and support staff.
See below for more information about netball club, football fixtures with other schools and the Year 7 and 8 Handball competition.
Find out more about the fantastic range of extra curriculum opportunities we provide on our webpage here.
Ella Bills, our PE Teacher
Primary
Early Years - Key Stage 2
Reception
We hope you all had a wonderful break and are ready for an exciting new term ahead! Last half term, our learning focused on the topic ‘All About Me.’ This half term, our new theme is ‘Celebrations.’
Over the past two weeks, the children have been learning about Diwali and Bonfire Night. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our celebration event last Tuesday. The children were absolutely fantastic performing their poem on stage. They thoroughly enjoyed the activities, including toasting marshmallows, making crafts, and watching the fireworks display.
Literacy
In Literacy, we have been exploring the story 'Room on the Broom 'by Julia Donaldson. This story follows a kind witch and the animals who help her find the items she loses along her journey.
Together, they bravely escape a dragon and create a magical potion to make a new broom that all the friends can share.
During Busy Learning, the children have been extending their understanding of the story by making wands in the art area, illustrating story scenes in the writing area, and creating imaginative potions in our ‘Witches’ Kitchen’ home corner.
Maths
In Mathematics, we have been learning to count to six and exploring the concepts of one more and one less. The children have been applying their learning during play, for example, counting out ingredients when making their potions!
Understanding the World
In Understanding the World, we have been learning about different festivals that use fireworks and exploring the seasonal changes that occur in autumn. The children have enjoyed creating beautiful fireworks pictures using black paper and chalk, and some added glitter for an extra sparkle!
Trip to the Lyric Theatre
This is a particularly exciting term with lots of wonderful events ahead. We are delighted to share that our first Reception school trip will take place on Tuesday, 2nd December, when we will visit the Lyric Theatre to watch a theatre performance of the book, Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas.
More information about this trip will be shared soon. In the meantime, if you would like to volunteer as a parent helper, please email tiegan-madison.bryant@reachacademy.org.uk. Names will be put in a hat and selected at random.
The Reception team is very excited about the weeks ahead and looks forward to sharing more learning adventures with you!
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope you all had a lovely and restful break!
Tiger Who Came to Tea Party
Before half term, the children enjoyed their very own “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” party. We enjoyed a biscuit with a glass of juice and we even had a special tiger visitor who joined us to answer some of the children’s fantastic questions! Thank you Charlie aka the tiger.
Pyjama Party
The classes also celebrated their pyjama marble reward party. I t was such a fun and cosy afternoon, filled with laughter, treats and excitement.
Writing
This half term we have so much to look forward to! In literacy, we are excited to be exploring instructional writing.
The children will be learning how to write clear and simple instructions. We’ll be creating our own piece titled “How to Make a Jam Sandwich”, a fun and practical way to develop these skills!
We’ll be asking Reception to follow our instructions to see how clear they are to follow!
Maths
We are focusing on numbers from 10 to 20. The children have been breaking down numbers to identify how many tens and ones they contain, using place value charts to support their understanding. We are also using number lines to promote the children’s understanding of one more and one less.
Topics this term
Our topics for this half term are Geography, Music and DT. In Geography we will be learning about the seven continents: where they are in the world and some interesting facts about each one. In Music we will begin to look at our nativity songs, thinking about pitch, rhythm and the instruments used.
Finally, in DT we will be creating our own fruit salad. Children will have the chance to explore their five senses trying different fruits and learning how to handle food. They will then pick their favourite fruits to put inside their fruit salad!
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Warm regards,
The Year 1 Team
English
Congratulations to all the Year 7s who entered the creative response competition for 'Pig Heart Boy'. We had some fantastic entries as you can see below!
Drama: Elbrus and Fiji
Pupils performed the story of King Midas.
King Midas is a figure from Greek mythology who, for his kindness to Dionysus's satyr companion, was granted a wish by the god. Consumed by greed, Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. It was a power that ultimately became a curse, turning his food and even his daughter into solid gold. To reverse the curse, Dionysus told him to wash in the river Pactolus and Midas learned to value happiness over riches.
Well done to all the groups that performed the story. Photos of Aconcagua were published in the last newsletter and here are some of Fuji and Elbrus.
We are proud of all the effort and endeavour the pupils have displayed with their performances. Well done and all the best for the Drama Assessments!
Black History Month
October was Black History Month, a month dedicated to the culture and history of black people in the UK and around the world. With this in mind, here are two books we recommend for Year 7 pupils interested in learning more about this.
Science
This week we have finished our second science topic and have learnt about mixtures, solutions and separation techniques. The pupils have shown real enthusiasm and interest in separating mixtures and especially filtration, once they realised there are many real world applications for this, some of which they have already used. They all showed brilliant endeavour in their homework over the last two weeks and almost all the pupils improved their quiz scores by at least one mark!
This brings us nicely to the end of cycle assessment next week. They have been given a double sided sheet of LASACAWAC questions which includes all the key knowledge for both topics that will be included in the end of cycle assessment.
Science is the first assessment they will sit and it is scheduled for Monday morning. Help your child revise by testing them on the LASACAWAC questions. All pupils are really looking forward to showing off all the amazing knowledge they have learnt so far this year, and I am really looking forward to reading their answers.
Bertha Earth
Last week pupils took part in an outdoor team building exercise for Bertha Earth and learnt about the concept of “ubuntu” and working together collectively to achieve a result. It was wonderful to see them getting completely immersed and involved in the session, and their creativity in finding a solution to the problems presented.
It has also been amazing to see all the pumpkin stories they wrote. Coco and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them all. We are going to collect these into an anthology, with one copy kept in the school library and one copy shared with the farmer who grew the pumpkins.
After the assessment week, the next Bertha Earth session will be held off site in the local area. We will be sharing a letter with more details about this.
Finally, to take full advantage of the Bertha Earth programme, please remember to use the QR code your child has brought home to sign them up to the Bertha Earth programme. This QR code will also provide you with more information about what the programme is, and why we believe it is really important for our young people to take part.
Maths
This week Year 7 have been finishing their ‘Addition and Subtraction’ unit. They have learned how to apply their knowledge of addition and subtraction to find the perimeter of shapes and missing angles, and tackled some challenging problems involving rectilinear shapes. Next week the pupils will complete their end of cycle assessments. Please support them in their revision. They should be completing their Sparx codes from their revision list, which they were given in school. The main way they will be successful is if they practice as many of the questions on Sparx as possible.
Congratulations to these pupils who achieved 100% in their weekly quiz!
|
Ali |
|
Amanat |
|
Anaya |
|
Archie |
|
Ayaan |
|
Dylan |
|
Ethan |
|
Eyad |
|
Haniyah |
|
Hannah |
|
Ishani |
|
Isla |
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Juliana |
|
Kerri |
|
Millie |
|
Muhammad |
|
Naisha |
|
Nicole |
|
Nirvan |
|
Rio |
|
Panavdeep |
|
Prithvi |
|
Shahriar |
|
Sai Deeksha |
|
Shayaan |
|
Yasmi |
|
Owais |
Congratulations to...
Congratulations to these pupils who completed the most independent learning on Sparx this week!
Raj, Yasmi, Pav, Avin, and Jasmin
Congratulations as well to Adam who was the subject Scholar of the week for his commitment to his independent learning in Maths. Stellar work Adam, keep it up!
PE
Year 7 have moved onto netball in their PE lessons. This is enabling them to learn new skills, develop those learnt in handball and work on their teamwork and sportsmanship. We will be moving onto gymnastics from the 8th of December.
Please see this letter about grip socks for gymnastics that pupils will be allowed to wear instead of going barefoot.
Inter Year Handball Competition
During the last week before the half term both year 7 and 8 competed in a handball competition against all the other tutor groups during lunch times.
Congratulations to Kilimanjaro and Fuji, who won all their matches and were awarded this half-terms trophy!
PE Enrichment
Kilimanjaro and Elbrus are continuing to have PE enrichment on a Friday afternoon. They are having the chance to play lots of different sports. Here you can see Elbrus playing capture the flag and putting in lots of effort even in the rain!
.jpg?width=1500&height=2000&name=Elbrus%20playing%20capture%20the%20flag%20(1).jpg "Elbrus playing capture the flag (1)")
Handball Posters
As part of Year 7’s half term homework, they were asked to complete a poster promoting handball. Congratulations to Amanat, Ethan, Kanshikaa, Haniyah, Muhammad S, Naisha and Kerri who all put lots of effort into their posters and which will be displayed in school. See some of these below:
Netball Club
Everyone in netball club has been coming along so well! We are working really hard on practicing all the different positions. Well done everyone!
.jpg?width=1500&height=2000&name=Netball%20club%20(1).jpg "Netball club (1)")
English
As part of our reading programme, Year 8 are now reading 'When the Sky Falls' by Phil Earle. This is an award winning historical fiction, which is set during World War Two.
Pupils should be reading this at home every week. Please support us by checking that your child does their weekly reading.
Please note, pupils may read the book more quickly if they wish. However, we will be holding quizzes and discussions at school based on the dates in the table below.
|
Wednesday 19th November |
pg82 |
|
Wednesday 26th November |
pg120 |
|
Wednesday 3rd December |
pg159 |
|
Wednesday 10th December |
pg201 |
|
Wednesday 17th December |
pg239 |
|
End of Christmas holidays |
End |
More information about this book, alongside recommended discussion questions which you can ask your child, can be found on our website here.
Black History Month
October was Black History Month, a month dedicated to the culture and history of black people in the UK and around the world. With this in mind, here are two books we recommend for Year 7 and Year 8 pupils interested in learning more about this.
Patina Creative Response Competition
Congratulations to all the Year 8s who entered the creative response competition for 'Patina'. We had some fantastic entries!
Well to our winner, Udamsa and our runner-ups, Maja and Sanvi, for their fantastic work!
Science
Year 8 has been working hard to get through the content in preparation for the end of cycle assessment next week!
All pupils have revision in their focus folder, which tells them exactly which topics and lessons will be in the end of cycle assessment and the LASACAWAC questions they need to learn.
Please encourage your children to revise as much as possible for this exam so that they can feel happy and accomplished when they get their results.
Big shout out to the following pupils who received 100% in their quizzes all year so far:
| Aryan | Matterhorn |
| Charlotte | Matterhorn |
| Mohamed | Everest |
| Myra | Matterhorn |
| Waniya | Matterhorn |
| Ethan | Kilimanjaro |
| Neel | Kilimanjaro |
| Rayyan | Kilimanjaro |
From next week, we have a very exciting update to science homework. Year 8 are going to be lucky enough to have access to SPARX science!
We will be setting up their accounts in lesson next week, and they will use the program to do 30 minutes of revision of Year 7 topics per week.
Maths
This week Year 8 have been finishing their ‘Expressions and Equations Unit.’ They have learned how to solve two step equations, equations with brackets and equations with unknowns on both sides. We have also started to form and solve equations in the context of perimeter, area, shapes and angles and from words.
Next week the pupils will complete their end of cycle assessments. Please support them in their revision. They should be completing their Sparx codes from their revision list which they were given in school. The main way they will be successful is if they practice as many of the questions on Sparx as possible.
Congratulations to...
These pupils who achieved 100% in their weekly quiz!
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Isabela |
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Daniel |
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Aryan |
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Kushpreet |
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Dashin |
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Mahad |
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Mohamed |
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Nahom |
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Rayyan |
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Sandalu |
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Senudi |
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Simran |
|
Sohaan |
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Violeta |
|
Taha |
|
Rayaan |
Also a big congratulations to the following pupils who completed the most independent learning on Sparx this week!
Zain, Aryan, Shahzeb, Maja, Mohamed, Lucy
PE
Year 8 have moved onto netball in their PE lessons. This is enabling them to learn new skills, develop those learnt in handball and work on their teamwork and sportsmanship. We will be moving onto gymnastics from the 8th of December.
Please see this letter about grip socks for gymnastics that pupils will be allowed to wear instead of going barefoot.
Inter Year Handball Competition
During the last week before the half term both Year 7 and 8 competed in a handball competition against all the other tutor groups during lunch times.
Congratulations to Kilimanjaro and Fuji, who won all their matches and were awarded this half-terms trophy!
Year 8 Football Matches
Congratulations to the Year 8 pupils who have been representing Reach Schools in football: they came away with a 3-3 scoreline in their last match. Wishing Amir, Tanveer, Adam, Sandalu, Ethan, Harrison, Mourad, Hassan and Nahom lots of luck in their next match against Lampton school!
Attendance
Join us for a Christmas Singalong!
Free rugby taster session this Sunday
How to fight a fever?
Hounslow Health Visiting Team are hosting a virtual information session on Tuesday 18 November 10.30-11.30am to help answer this question. The online event is specifically for families with children in Nursery and under the age of 5.
Please direct any queries to wlt.dutyhvmailbox@nhs.net
Free Inclusive Activities for Hounslow Youth
Join fun, active and creative sessions every Saturday at Hanworth Leisure Centre, Feltham (TW13 5EG). Activities include the following, and lunch is provided:
- Swimming for beginners (ages 8–18)
- Junior Gym (ages 11–18)
- Football & Fitness Circuits (ages 8–18)
- Yoga (ages 8–18)
- Upcycle Fashion Art (ages 8–18)
To book Email enquiries@lbhsc.
Hounslow Repair Café - youth repair workshop
Hounslow Repair Café is running a programme of events, including the community repair café and new youth repair workshops focusing on developing electrical, bike and sewing repair skills.
The workshops offer free electrical repair courses for 12-24 year olds. These take place one Sunday a month throughout October, November, January and February at St. Leonard’s Church Hall, Heston Road, Heston, TW5 0RD. Run by Team Repair, participants earn a certificate and develop Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mechanics (STEM) skills. They also learn problem-solving, resilience, and sustainability awareness to reduce waste and promote a circular economy. Book now at https://e-voice.org.uk/hrc/
Community repair cafés also run every third Sunday of the month from 1:30pm-4:30pm at St. Leonard’s Church Hall (address above), where people can bring bikes, small appliances, clothing and digital equipment to be fixed. Book your visit here: http://bit.ly/46njvd4
For any questions, feel free to email hestonrepaircafe@gmail.
NHS Services for under 5s
Did you know GPs in Hounslow now offer more same day appointments for under 5s, including early evening slots? It’s a safer, faster alternative to waiting in A&E. You can first check your child’s symptoms on the Hounslow Healthier Together website before deciding where best to seek care.
.png "0-4 Appointments - Check First (2)")
Staines Rugby Club
Staines Rugby Club is looking for new girls, boys and women players to join them. They're offering the first two weeks free on Tuesdays as an incentive to try them out.
The Local Offer - for SEND children
Hounslow Council has a Local Offer website, offering support to professionals and families with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
You can view it here: The Local Offer
Sign up to easyfundraising and get an extra £2 for our PTA funds:
Our PTA is already signed up to easyfundraising - a very simple way to add extra money to the PTA. Money is donated as you spend it, in more than 8,000 retailers, including Tescos, Argos and John Lewis. Click here to sign up:
Reach Schools Connect the Community Fund
We know that in the current climate, there can be numerous pressures on families and that these can constantly change from month to month. We want to raise awareness of our ‘Connect the Community’ fund that can be used by families to reduce any financial pressures.