RAF Newsletter - Winter Week 4

Dates for your diary

Here are details of important events in the next few weeks.

Year Group	Date	Timings	Event details
Nursery	Monday 19th January	11.00am-11.20am	Reading Workshop
Nursery	Monday 19th January	2.50pm -3.15pm	Reading Workshop
Years 1 - 6	Tuesday 20th January	3pm - 7pm	Parents' Evening
Parents of Prospective Nursery children (starting Sept 2026)	Tuesday 20th January	9am - 10am 1.30pm - 2.30pm	Nursery Open Event
Year 1	Monday 26th January	2.30pm - 3.00pm	Parent Celebration Event
Year 6	Tuesday 27th January	Daytime	Hindu Temple Trip
Year 10	Thursday 29th January	4pm - 7pm	GCSE Results evening
Nursery	Monday 2nd February - Friday 6th February	Daytime	Trips to Costa all week
Year 6	Tuesday 3rd February	Daytime	Future Life Presentation with Police
Year 9	Tuesday 3rd February	Daytime	DTP/Meningitis ACWY immunisation
Year 2	Wednesday 4th February	2.30pm - 3.15pm	Parent Celebration Event
Reception	Thursday 5th February	2pm - 3pm	STEM Event/ Family Celebration
Year 4	Monday 9th February	2.30pm - 3.15pm	Parent Celebration Event
Year 3	Thursday 12th February	2.30pm - 3.15pm	Parent Celebration Event
All Year Groups	Friday 13th February	Usual school day	Last day of term until Monday 23rd February
Year 5	Tuesday 3rd March	2.30pm - 3.15pm	Parent Celebration Event
Year 12 and 13	8th March - 9th March	Timings tbc	Trip to Auschwitz
Year 6	Tuesday 10th March	2.30pm - 3.15pm	Parent Celebration Event

Spotlight on... Community Mosaics

Our Year 8s were treated to a lovely activity this week: learning how to make mosaics. A team from Hounslow Council are creating mosaics to go around some of the trees in Feltham and asked for our help.

The brief was to create a design with the theme of sport and activity. The pupils cut and stuck down small pieces of tiles to create their colourful designs. The designs will eventually be placed together on larger circular mosaics around our local community. We can't wait to see them finished and in place (around Easter time), and in the meantime here are some designs that you can look out for when you're around the local area. Thank you so much to the wonderful charity Timegivers for organsining our involvement in this initiative.

We were delighted to welcome the children in Reception back into school. They have settled beautifully back into their schooling routine after the winter break and we are extremely proud of them for this.

Over the past two weeks we started learning about our new topic of People Who Help Us.

Literacy

We have been exploring what fiction and non-fiction means and have been looking at the characteristics of non-fiction books. We know that a non fiction book has photographs or diagrams, it has a contents page to help us to look for key information, and it gives us facts and is not made up.

Maths

We have been working with numbers beyond six and have been identifying one more and one less beyond six, while continuing to practise their skills of counting numbers within ten reliably, by touching what they are counting.

Junk modelling request

The children in Reception love to create models with recycling materials. As this is such a popular station in the classroom, we are asking for donations of your recycling materials. Please could these be brought in every Friday, so that we can set up our creative area ready for a fresh new week on Monday?

Please can you ensure your recycling donations are:

Cleaned before being brought into school.
Brought into school in a separate carrier bag from your child’s school bag.
Yogurt pots, small cardboard boxes, egg boxes, grape tubs etc.

Key rings

We ask that your child does not put keyrings on their school bags.

Unfortunately they make it tricky for the children to close their trays: this can cause a trip hazard in the classroom when items fall out of trays onto the floor. Thank you.

The children in Year 1 have had a fantastic start to the year. They have come back to school with so much joy, energy and enthusiasm to learn. Ash Class enjoyed the attendance tea party this week as we had 100% attendance every day. Let’s see if Year 1 can win it again next week!

The children have started a new topic in History, learning about how transport has changed over time. In science we are learning all about materials. The children were excited to show us what they had learnt in the lesson in their Learning Explorers.

In writing this term, we are writing the story of 'The Dinosaur who lost his Roar'. We will be focussing on verbs, past tense and exclamations in grammar, and retelling the story to practise transcription skills. Please see the story map below to practise at home!

Maths

The children have been learning about aggregation, which is part of their early maths and computing curriculum. Aggregation means combining things together to make a group. In Year 1, we have been exploring this idea in a very practical, hands-on way using cubes.

We learnt that when we put smaller groups together, we can make a bigger group, and that this helps us organise information and understand the world around us. It is also a skill they will use later in maths, science, and computing.

Year 1 Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop

Monday 26th January 2026: 2:30pm- 3:00pm

Please join us for our Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop!

At the event, we will start with a short parent workshop to share how we can support children in Year 1 with phonics and reading. After the workshop, you will be able to join your children at the celebration, where they will show you their work for the academic year so far.

All parents and caregivers of Year 1 children are warmly invited to join us and we are very much looking forward to seeing you. Please let us know if you will not be able to attend so we can invite a member of staff to join your child instead.

Please keep an eye out for a special invite from your child coming soon!

Hello families!

It was great catching up with some of you at our first Parents' Evening and we are looking forward to seeing the rest of you next week!

Important Dates

Tuesday 20th January @3-7pm: Parent’s Evening (part 2)
Wednesday 4th February @2:30-3:15pm: Year 2 Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop - more details below!
16th-20th February: Half Term break
Wednesday 5th March: Year 2 Trip to Natural History Museum
Friday 27th March: INSET Day/last day of Spring Term

Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop

Wednesday 4th February: 2:30pm- 3:15pm

Please join us for our Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop!

At this event, we will start with a short parent workshop to share how we can support the children in Year 2 with reading and maths. After the workshop, the children will join us and we will hand out some certificates to celebrate accomplishments from this year so far. Afterward, the children will guide you through their ‘Learning Showcase’.

We warmly invite all parents and caregivers of Year 2 parents to join our workshop and celebration. Please let us know if you will not be able to attend, so we can invite a member of staff to join your child at the event.

Please keep an eye out for a special invite from your child coming soon!

In Andie’s Book Club, we have started reading 'Fantastic Mr Fox' by Roald Dahl. The children are thoroughly enjoying the humour and mischief in the story.

Our focus is on:

Reading with expression: changing our voice to match the characters, punctuation, and mood
Deepening comprehension: answering questions that help us think more carefully about characters’ actions, choices, and motives

You can support at home by encouraging your child to:

Read dialogue using different voices
Pause at punctuation (especially exclamation marks!)
Explain why a character behaved in a certain way

Grammar Focus: Finding the Subject

Our key grammar focus is identifying the subject of a sentence. The children are learning that:

The subject is who or what is doing the verb.

We practise this in two clear steps:

Find the verb (the action word)
Ask: who or what is doing it? That is the subject.

Ways to practise at home:

Say a sentence and ask your child to find the verb first, then the subject:

“Mabel blasted into space.”
Verb: blasted
Subject: Mabel

Read a sentence from a book and ask, “What is happening? Who is doing it?”

Maths

We have continued our unit on multiplication and division. This week we have looked at multiplying and dividing by 2, 5 and 10. The children have been learning how to look at a word problem and decide whether you have to divide or multiply.

For example

Emily has 50 apples. She sells them in bags of 10. How many bags can she sell?

First you have to identify the whole (50). Then identify how many in each group (10). Then you can do 50 ÷10 = 5 to get the answer.

Josh is 10 years old. His dad is 4 times his age. How old his Josh’s dad?

In this word problem, we can see the words ‘4 times’, which indicates this is a multiplication problem. 10 x 4 = 40.

Top tip for homework

When looking at division problems on the homework sheet, the children can roll their numbers to figure out the answer

E.g 20 ÷ 5 = ?

In this example, you can roll your 5s (count in 5s) and see how many fingers you are holding up when you get to 20 (5, 10, 15, 20 = 4 fingers, so the answer is 4).

Humanities

We have started our new humanities unit on Prehistoric Britain. During our first two weeks, the children have learned about the chronology of events in Prehistoric Britain in relation to other historical events they have studied, including dinosaurs.

Please see below for how you can extend and deepen the children’s understanding of the topic by working on a project at home.

Science

In Science, we have started a new unit about light. The children are learning that light helps us to see and that some objects give out light (like the sun, or a torch) and are called light sources, while others do not.

We will be exploring how light travels and what happens when it meets different objects, whether it is reflected, blocked, or passes through. The children will investigate which materials let light through and which create shadows!

Art

In art the children will be exploring how to observe flowers closely in order to draw them. They will also explore paint and how different brushes create different effects. This week they looked at some paintings by artist Georgia O’Keefe and talked about how closely O’Keefe looks at the object before drawing or painting.

Computing

This half term in computing, the children will be learning the basics of using a computer, keeping safe online and how to use a password. They will get the opportunity to use our school chromebooks and will learn how to use the trackpad and keyboard.

Have a great weekend!

Andie & Emily

Your Voice Matters Event: 12th February: 2.30pm - 3.20pm

At the event, we will start with a short parent workshop to help us share how we can support the children in Year 3 with expressing their voice through their writing. After the workshop, the children will join us to take you on their own personalised tour of their favourite piece of learning during Year 3. The children will also have the opportunity to perform the poem they have been working on this term!

We warmly invite all parents and caregivers of Year 3 to join us at this fun event.

Please let us know if you will be able to attend by scanning the QR code. We would love to see you there!

Book Club

This term we have started our exciting new text ‘The Odyssey’. 'The Odyssey' is an ancient Greek story about a hero named Odysseus who takes ten years to sail home to his wife and son after a big war (the Trojan War), facing giant monsters, witches, angry gods and magical dangers like the Lotus-Eaters and Cyclops.

We are continuing to focus on retrieval questions, which are questions where the answer can be found in the text. As well as vocabulary questions, where we look at an author's choice of vocabulary and make sure we understand their choice of words by looking at other words we can replace it with.

If you are reading a book together at home, why not try to ask your child some questions that they can find in the text or see if they can suggest another word that could replace a word already in the text.

What a brilliant start to the Spring term in Year 4. The children have returned with a real sense of focus and enthusiasm, and we have been incredibly impressed by the level of endeavour and pride they are showing across their learning.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support at home. It really does make a huge difference.

Year 4 Celebration Event: Monday 9th February

At the event, we will begin with a short parent workshop to share how we can support the children in Year 4 with their learning this term. Following the workshop, the children will join us to share and celebrate their learning, taking you on a personalised tour of some of their favourite work from the Spring term.

The children will also have the opportunity to showcase a piece of learning they have been particularly proud of, allowing them to reflect on their progress and share their achievements with you.

Your invites will come home with the children!

Maths

We are moving onto decimals, carefully linking this learning to the children’s prior understanding of fractions. The children are exploring tenths and hundredths and using place value charts and visual models to help them see how fractions and decimals connect.

There is a strong focus on reasoning and explanation, with children encouraged to talk clearly about the value of each digit and justify their thinking using accurate mathematical language.

Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS)

As we move closer to the Multiplication Tables Check, it is really important that children are regularly practising their times tables using Times Tables Rock Stars.

Short, regular practice at home makes a big difference to fluency and confidence, and we really appreciate your continued support with this.

Science

In Science, we are continuing our unit on Light, where the children are learning how light helps us to see, how it travels, and how it reflects from different surfaces. They are also exploring shadows and beginning to understand how rainbows are formed.

Alongside this, pupils are developing key scientific skills such as questioning, predicting, observing and clearly communicating their ideas.

History

We are learning all about the Anglo-Saxons and Scots, building on the children’s knowledge of Roman Britain from Year 3. The children have particularly enjoyed the story-led approach to this unit, as we explore who the Anglo-Saxons were, why they came to Britain and how they lived.

If you would like to support learning at home, you could ask your child:

Why was the period after the Romans called the ‘Dark Ages’?
Who lived in Britain after the Romans left?
How did the Anglo-Saxons come to take over more land?
Do you agree or disagree that the Britons should have asked for help from other tribes? Why?

Dear all,

It is an absolute pleasure to be entering this brand new term alongside teams Tulip and Aspen, both of whom have kickstarted this fresh calendar year with a flurry of academic fervour. Nowhere has this been more obvious than in the wonderful humanities projects we have seen submitted this past week.

Humanities

I shall let the outstanding craftsmanship of both Noersa and Marisabel speak for itself. It’s always a delight to see students endeavour in a supercurricular sense! We encourage all Year 5 pupils to try their hand at the humanities projects, as it is an excellent way of deepening subject knowledge - a special shoutout goes out to Khadija D, who completed four of them over the holidays.

This term we are studying a new topic, one that is central to gaining a foundational understanding of Britain - The Industrial Revolution. The consequences of this event changed humanity irrevocably.

Welcome back!

We have been delighted with the incredible effort our pupils have made since returning to school after the Christmas break. It has been impressive to see them return with so much energy and enthusiasm, looking forward to working hard over the next few months in preparation for the SATS in May.

Merit/value certificate winners

A massive congratulations to these pupils, our merit and value certificate winners!

Date	Merit Winners		Value Certificate Winners
Date	Y6 Esk	Y6 Medway	Y6 Esk	Y6 Medway
9.1.26	Sahasra	Reyna	Charlie	Samarth

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Trip on 27th January

Later this month, we will be visiting the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in north London. We will visit as part of our learning on Hinduism. Pupils will tour the museum during prayer time, before listening to an in-depth lecture, where they will have the opportunity to ask questions. As always, we do require several parent volunteers, so if you would like to join us on this day, please contact Juan (juan.pedroza@reachacademy.org.uk). Thank you!

Book Club

We have moved on to reading 'Northern Lights' by Philip Pullman. 'Northern Lights' is a fantasy novel and the first book in the 'His Dark Materials' series. It follows a young girl called Lyra as she embarks on a dangerous and exciting journey to the far north, where strange discoveries and powerful forces are at work.

Pupils will explore the novel’s rich language, imaginative settings, and strong characters. The story encourages children to think about bravery, friendship, and making difficult choices.

Religious Studies

This term, Year 6 pupils will be learning about Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest religions. Hinduism is so ancient that it does not have a single founder or a clear starting date. There is evidence that aspects of Hinduism date back over 6,000 years, making it one of the oldest religions still practised today. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, after Christianity and Islam, with around 900 million followers worldwide. It is the main religion in India and Nepal, although Hindus live in many different countries across the world.

Unlike many other religions, Hinduism does not have just one holy book or a single set of beliefs that everyone follows. There is also no single leader. Hindus may have different beliefs and may worship different gods and goddesses. What connects Hindus is a shared way of life and set of values. People choose to follow Hinduism, and there is no special joining ceremony. Some Hindus describe themselves as Dharmiks, meaning people who follow Sanātana Dharma, which refers to the Hindu way of life.

The word “Hindu” comes from the Indus River, which flows through north-west India and eastern Pakistan. Hinduism is believed to have developed in the region around this river. Through this topic, pupils will explore Hindu beliefs, values, and traditions, helping them to better understand one of the world’s major religions and the diverse beliefs of people around the world.

Science

In Science, pupils have learnt that living things are made up of cells, which are the smallest building blocks of life. Groups of similar cells work together to form tissues.

Different tissues then combine to make organs, such as the heart or lungs, each with a specific job.

Organs work together in organ systems (for example, the digestive or circulatory system), and all of these systems together make up a complete organism: a human, animal, or plant. This helps pupils understand how the body works as a whole, not just in parts.

PE

In PE, we have moved on from handball to netball! In this sport, two teams of seven players work together to score goals by passing a ball and shooting it through a hoop. The game focuses on teamwork, movement, and communication.

In PE lessons, pupils will be practising key skills such as passing, catching, footwork, and defending, as well as the importance of fair play and cooperation. Netball is a non-contact sport, making it a safe and enjoyable way for children to stay active and build confidence.

How is Netball Played?

Players pass the ball using their hands. Running with the ball is not allowed.
When a player catches the ball, they must stop and pass or shoot within three seconds.
Each player has a specific position and is only allowed to move in certain areas of the court.
Only the Goal Shooter and Goal Attack can score goals, and only from inside the shooting circle.
Netball is a non-contact sport. Players must stand at least 3 feet away when defending.
Games focus on teamwork, quick passing, and fair play rather than physical contact.

Homework

Please continue to support your child to complete their homework on time, in their homework book. If your child is unable to access the work or is having difficulty completing it, then please do let us know as soon as possible so that we can provide the necessary support.

Clubs

Primary clubs have now started for this term! The children have been very excited to be able to take part in a wide range of activities, from basketball to gardening. If you would like to give your child something to eat before their club, it should be fruit and nothing that goes against our healthy eating policy. As a reminder, we are a nut-free school, so please do not send your child with any items that may contain nuts.

Y6 Google Classroom
Class invite link	Class code: raxmo2xd

Permission to go home

If you would like your child to go home by themselves, please make sure you complete this form. Here is the letter containing the relevant information.

Year 7 have made a phenomenal return after the Christmas break and have blown us all away with their renewed endeavour and aspiration. Their behaviour and focus in class over the last fortnight has been impeccable and they should be so proud of their growing maturity: they are dedicated and ambitious secondary pupils. Every time we raise the bar, they take on the challenge and exceed expectations.

Shoutouts

SO to all of Mersey. Laser focus and the best STAR I've seen from them since September. A complete joy to teach.

SO to Mersey for all creating exciting and hilarious anthropomorphic fruit and veg characters in graphics! #aspire #graphicdesignersofthefuture

SO to Mason, Omar, Theo, Kavisha and Bella for being fantastic when working in a small group. They were super engaged, recalled the verb 'Querer' with accuracy after practice and they were so eager to finish the word match, they refused to do the correction until they had done it on their own!

Wensum were fantastic in history. Particular S/Os to Annabella, Pharrell, Mia, Alice, Roman who all impressed me with the quality of their extended writing and their constant endeavour. SO as well to Nevaeh who was HotR

SO to Pharrell for showing obvious kindness when looking after his peers!

SO to Team Mersey! They really are a strong team now - looking out for each other, reminding one another of expectations and volunteering to help their classmates when they are struggling to grasp specific concepts. So proud of them ALL! #Aspire#Have fun!

SO to Shivam who was so focused during our science lesson today and was working really hard to answer all of his independent practice questions 🧪

SO to Mersey for a wonderful RS lesson this morning, their STAR has got so excellent, and they were a delight to teach. Ayushri HOTR for excellent routines, special SO to David for reflect

SO to 7B in drama - they are SO great, I can't give them enough credit. They are such a joy to teach and throw themselves into every performance and work so well together in their groups. Such a highlight of my week

SO to 7A in Music! They were all fantastic on the keyboards this week. SO to Maddy for helping her peers with understanding the music and their fingering for scales. SO to PB for endeavoring to learn so quickly!

Huge SO to Wensum for such a fantastic session with the external facilitators. So proud of them and their contributions. Pharrell HOTR for relentless enthusiasm and positivity.

Art

Year 7 have been applying oil pastel skills practised before Christmas to make some stunning Monet ‘Bridge at Giverny’ transcriptions. They have practiced layering and varying their pastel mark-making to record water, sky and foliage.

Welcome Back!

Year 8 have had an incredibly strong start to Cycle 2 and have come back working so hard in their lessons, showing obvious kindness everyday and reflecting on how they can improve from Cycle 1. I have been so impressed with their attitude to learning since coming back.

Aspiring Attendance!

School attendance is crucial in secondary school because consistent presence directly boosts:

academic performance
improves exam results (GCSEs)
builds social skills
increases future opportunities by ensuring pupils grasp lesson continuity and feel part of the school community

How does poor attendance affect results?

significantly hinders learning and limits life choices
a pupil with attendance below 80% (this includes lates) effectively misses an entire year of education by the time they finish secondary school,
the link is clear: less time in class means less learning, directly translating to lower exam scores and attainment, with persistent absence linked to failing to achieve key GCSEs.
missing just 17 days of school in secondary (Y7-Y11) can drop GCSE grades by one level, highlighting how crucial regular attendance is for achieving potential.
poor attendance can signal unreliability, impacting choices for further education (colleges) and employment, limiting life chances.

At Reach, we believe that every single child will leave school with the attributes, qualifications and skills needed to go on to live a life of choice and opportunity. Please support us by ensuring your child attends school on time every single day. We understand that there may be times when your child is feeling under the weather, especially around this time of year, so please encourage your child to wash their hands thoroughly and bring in medication to leave at Front Office if you know they don’t feel great e.g. a sore throat, their stomach is hurting, a headache. We can support your child in school, check-in with them regularly, ensure they are taking their medication when needed and, if they are feeling really poorly, we will send them home. Thank you for your continued support and I really look forward to seeing Year 8 with 100% attendance this cycle!

100% attendance from Cycle 1:

Amy, Avni, Sera, Austeja, Zion, Millie, Eisa, Kelvin, Jojo, Rayen, Avya, Rafay, Chidera

Highlights from Cycle 1!

Our celebration assembly at the end of last cycle was so joyous! Well done to all of the pupils who won certificates for highest attainment and most progress in each subject.

Highest attainment:

English - Sakinah & Aarya
Maths - Kelvin & Rhea
Science - Sakinah & Zaynab
French - Sera & Avni
Spanish - Pele & Saher
Geography - Olive & Grahmaan
History - Jojo & Avni
RS - Millie & Eisa
PE - Rhea & Grahmaan
Music - Jojo & Saman
Art - Olive & Agamya
Drama - Lily & Grahmaan
Computer Science - Pele & Avni

Most progress:

English - Scarlett & Zaynab
Maths - Sahasri & Aarya
Science - Carey
French - Austeja & Rediet
Spanish - Aurelia & Zion
Geography - Aurelia & Kuldeep
History - Scarlett & Kuldeep
RS - Scarlett & Fola
PE - Iden & Jayde
Music - Lily & Eliana
Art - Dorcas & Hasan
Computer Science - Olive & Eisa

Art

As part of their cycle on Fauvism, Year 8 have been studying French artist Matisse. They studied his painting ‘Interior with Egyptian Curtain’ and produced their own view from a window painting, incorporating Matisse patterns and objects alongside their own view from window drawings. They have also been painting with arbitrary colour to reflect the freedom and fiery nature of the Fauvist art style.

New Year, Fresh Start

It has been wonderful to welcome Year 9 back into the building following the break. We have been encouraging them to reflect on the start of the new term and to think about positive goals or “new year’s resolutions” that will help them make the most of the months ahead. This is a really important stage in their school journey, and we are focusing on building strong habits around effort, organisation and resilience as they move towards the next phase of their education.

Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the recent GCSE Information Evening. We hope you found the evening useful and informative. Please do continue these conversations at home with your child, particularly around career aspirations and long-term goals, as your support plays a vital role in helping them feel confident and motivated.

As you know, attendance at school is so important in ensuring academic success. Last week we celebrated having the highest attendance in secondary. It would be great to make this a common event!

I would also like to remind you that the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition will be taking place at the end of March. You will shortly receive a letter with full details about the required equipment and final arrangements. Please keep an eye out for this and support your child in ensuring they are ready for the expedition.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Shout Outs

Eve: Huge SO to 9 Tyne, such a wonderful lesson with great thought-provoking discussion. SOs in particular to George our Head of the River, Paris and Amima for wonderful STARs, and Sloka, Amelia, and Asma for great endeavour.

Chloe: SO to Don for such a great start to this year, I was really impressed with their recall and all the endeavour in the lesson. A lot of reflect from Amelia-Rose, Tyrell, Qayam and Riley-James who showed great work throughout the lesson! Nelab, Kenzie, Waqas and Krish were also on it wanting to answer questions and it made it so hard to ask for no hands up as I absolutely loved that endeavour!!

Tom: SO to 9Tyne for a lovely history lesson. Particular shout out to Paris and Amima who are both pushing each other to be even more successful!

Megan: SO to Tyne for an incredible lesson learning a new tense in French. They can already create the imperfect tense independently! Everyone has shown such endeavour and resilience!

Sarah R: 9C artists were fantastic this morning, some glorious orange lobster painting and then some really original and exciting surrealist collaging #endeavour, Special mention to Stuti, Lilah, Ayaan. Amelia P, & Liberty for some really exciting developments and Amelia P for excellent quality of her homework.

Welcome Back!

Year 10 have had an incredibly strong start to cycle 2 and their first ever mocks for their GCSE’s! Please have a read of the shout outs over the last few weeks as there is lots of endeavour to celebrate. I have been impressed with the relentless attitude to learning and revising Year 10 are showing everyday. Pupils are staying after school on Mondays and Tuesdays for independent study with the Year 10 form tutors; they have created revision timetables which they followed during the Christmas break to ensure they had the right balance of revision and rest; and they have been incredibly supportive and kind to one another during break times, lunch times and during lessons in the week to support each other to feel prepared and be successful. Well done Year 10 for showcasing how intellectually motivated and resilient you are: I am very excited to see your results!

Aspiring Attendance!

School attendance is crucial in secondary school because consistent presence directly boosts:

academic performance
improves exam results (GCSEs)
builds social skills
increases future opportunities by ensuring pupils grasp lesson continuity and feel part of the school community,

How does poor attendance affect results?

significantly hinders learning and limits life choices
a pupil with attendance below 80% (this includes lates) effectively misses an entire year of education by the time they finish secondary school,
the link is clear: less time in class means less learning, directly translating to lower exam scores and attainment, with persistent absence linked to failing to achieve key GCSEs.
missing just 17 days of school in secondary (Y7-Y11) can drop GCSE grades by one level, highlighting how crucial regular attendance is for achieving potential.
poor attendance can signal unreliability, impacting choices for further education (colleges) and employment, limiting life chances.

At Reach, we believe that every single child will leave school with the attributes, qualifications and skills needed to go on to live a life of choice and opportunity. Please support us by ensuring your child attends school on time every single day. We understand that there may be times when your child is feeling under the weather, especially around this time of year, so encourage your child to wash their hands thoroughly, bring in medication to leave with Front Office, if you know they don’t feel great e.g. a sore throat, their stomach is hurting, a headache. We can support your child in school, check-in with them regularly, ensure they are taking their medication when needed and, if they are feeling really poorly, we will send them home.

Thank you for your continued support and I really look forward to seeing Year 10 with 100% attendance this cycle!

Highlights from Cycle 1!

Our celebration assembly at the end of last cycle was so joyous! Well done to all of our pupils who won certificates for highest attainment and most progress in each subject. Have a look at how many merits Year 10 earnt in cycle 1, our biggest contributors to this, those with 100% attendance and the pupils with the highest payslips scores!

Shout Outs!

Sarah.R: SO to Halle, Catlynn, Lena, Miley, George, Sana, and Eliza for excellent colour mixing and painting! A perfect start to what's going to be an excellent term!
Chloe.V: SO to 10Baguette who were on it, learning how to say the time in French which is not an easy thing considering French numbers aren't straight forward and the time is said in a very different way than English! I was really impressed with all of them! What a great start to this term!
Chloe.S: SO to David who was so obviously kind today and asked me all about my break before I even had a chance to ask him! 🥳
Sarah.R: SO to Eliza , Jayda, Carlos and Lena for excellent homework #aspire, Calleigh for catching up brilliantly due to 110% focus, and to Halle and Sana for endeavour in recording their shades and tints!
Megan.T: SO to Y10 who are working so hard at the start of their exam this morning. They have clearly been revising and are ready to go!
Sarah.C: SO to the Y10 historians - so impressed by their demonstration of knowledge in ILU’s lesson just now. Lots of specific factual knowledge.
Izzy: Such an excellent lesson with them this afternoon! They were so so well engaged with our new topic and then some revision at the end. Bertie, Brandon, Cadeyrn, Tyler, Lena, Alex, Alan and many others were so fantastic!
Kit: SO to the Y10 Comp Scientists (the megabytes!) They were so reflective about feedback, and were embodying so much joy! Also SO to Rabah who joined our lesson after school just because he loves computer science!
Chloe.S: Massive SO to Year 10 Spanish! They are always the highlight of my week! Today I had so much fun doing paired dictation with them today. Their knowledge of Spanish phonics is great and they always show so much courage speaking loudly and proudly in Spanish! Special SO to Gabbie who always takes care to check her Spanish vs Portuguese pronunciation, to Esther who takes so much care in her pronunciation and to David & Alan who work so well together spotting errors and correcting kindly! 🇪🇸
Anastasia: SO to Y10 for so much focus this week, particularly in their science exams. They are working so hard and it will definitely pay off!🧪
Rachael: SO to 10 MAT2 for absolutely smashing every Geometric Sequence question thrown their way this morning! They were all so focused and working super hard - lots of merits were earned!
Eve: SO to Leam - there is so much endeavour and resilience being shown in their RS assessment!!

Welcome Back and Exam Focus

Welcome back to the new term. We are incredibly pleased with how Year 11 pupils have returned to school and the level of commitment they are showing in lessons. They have been working extremely hard and remain focused as they prepare for their February mock examinations, which are now less than 30 days away. This period is crucial, and pupils are being encouraged to make the most of every learning opportunity both in school and at home.

Form Time Revision Programme

To support pupils during this key stage, morning form time is now fully dedicated to revision. Each week, they are taught a specific revision technique, such as retrieval practice, mind mapping, or exam-style questioning. They then have the opportunity to apply this technique during the session, helping them to practise effective strategies regularly and build confidence in how to revise independently.

Geography Trip to Stratford

On 13th January, our Geography pupils visited Stratford. We are extremely proud of how they conducted themselves throughout the day. Despite braving heavy rain, they demonstrated excellent behaviour, resilience, and enthusiasm. Their positive attitude and determination to learn, even in challenging weather, reflects their commitment to their GCSE studies and future success.

Holyport Revision Residential

We would strongly encourage parents to consider signing their child up for the Holyport revision residential at Holyport College in March/ April. This four-day residential takes place a few weeks before the GCSE examinations and is entirely focused on revision and exam preparation. Pupils take part in structured revision sessions, receive subject-specific support, and benefit from a calm, focused environment designed to boost confidence and consolidate learning ahead of their final exams. This is an excellent opportunity for them to fully immerse in revision at a crucial point in the academic year.

Here is the link to the google form.

Thank You for Your Continued Support

Thank you, as always, for your continued support in helping Year 11 prepare for their examinations. Please continue to encourage regular revision at home and remind your child to speak to their teachers if they need additional guidance. We look forward to working closely with you over the coming weeks as we approach this important milestone.

Shout outs!

Kit: SO to Praise, Mohaned and Serena for being absolute programming legends in our masterclass!! 👑

Savarnah: SO to AbdulHakeem for reflect! He was very thankful for support in his masterclass. Also, SO to Mohaned for excellent endeavour in English and actioning feedback so well in lesson. Such lovely work from year 11!

Manjit/Louis: LEV called me this morning to tell me that he sees a significant handful of our Yr 11 pupils at the train station coming in for masterclasses and said he has seen a real shift in how polite/kind they are to him. He said they always greet him with a good morning and ask how his day is going.

Rachael: SO to Team Further Maths! Super focused during our lesson and using "thinking time" to come up with some impressive answers! They're also now critiquing their own work and asking for very specific feedback - couldn't be prouder.

Madina: Although I only see Yr 11 Ribble at the start and the end of the day... They have come into this term so calm and collected. Their mindsets are solely focused on exams and working on those marginal gains 🙌🏻 they are becoming my favourite time of the day! ☺️

Sarah C: SO to the Y11 historians for excellent focus in today's lesson. It is one of the hardest lessons for pupils usually as it's a complicated topic to get their hands around, but they demonstrated such good understanding and factual recall. Particular SO to ST for reflect - she showed lots of endeavour today and I just read her homework which proves what an accomplished historian she is - well done!

Chloe S: Massive SO to Abdulhakeem who has written a perfect Spanish paragraph this morning in his masterclass - he used all of the CORNETTOS and was super accurate in his grammar! 👏

Jonny: The L2 sports exam crew were brilliant this morning - all so supportive of their teammates, quizzing each other and boosting each other up, it was lovely to see

Welcome Back & Happy New Year!

We would like to warmly welcome all parents and students back to Feltham College after the two-week break, and wish you a very Happy New Year. We hope you had a restful and enjoyable holiday.

Year 12

This week, Year 12 students have completed their AP1 assessments. These assessments are an important checkpoint in their academic journey, and students will receive a grade for each subject. A report detailing these outcomes will be shared with parents and carers shortly.

Looking ahead, the Year 12 Career Ready trip to BP will be taking place next week. This is an exciting opportunity for students to gain insight into the world of work and future career pathways.

Year 13

The UCAS deadline has now passed, and we are delighted to report that many phenomenal offers are already coming in. Students have received offers from a wide range of prestigious universities, including Oxford, Bristol, Durham, Leeds, Nottingham, Exeter, Manchester, and many more. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and achievements.

AP5 mock examinations will begin in three weeks’ time. The full timetable will be shared with students later this week to support their preparation.

Attendance

A huge congratulations to Year 4, who are our current year to date winners with 97.1% attendance, and to Year 8 in Secondary with 95% attendance.

January can be a tough month, with dark mornings, cold weather and the post-holiday return, which makes these achievements even more impressive. We are incredibly proud of everyone who is showing up each day, demonstrating endeavour, courage and determination. Every day in school helps build a life of choice and opportunity and your efforts do not go unnoticed.

Domestic Abuse Support App

Domestic abuse, whether towards a female or male partner, can significantly affect the children who live in that environment. Exposure to violence, coercion or ongoing emotional manipulation disrupts a child’s sense of safety and can influence their behaviour, relationships and engagement in learning.

These situations are often hard to spot. Many victims work to hide what is happening, particularly from official agencies, due to fear of consequences for the abusive partner or worries about major upheaval for the family.

Hestia is a London-based charity that supports adults and children in crisis, delivering frontline services and campaigning nationally on issues such as domestic abuse, modern slavery and mental health. They have created the Bright Sky app, a free and discreet tool that helps people recognise signs of abuse, access specialist support and record concerns safely.

The Bright Sky app provides:

A simple tool to help someone recognise signs of abuse and understand whether a relationship feels unsafe.
A secure, optional journal for recording incidents or concerns that can later be shared with a trusted person or agency.
A directory of national and local support services, making it easier to find the right help quickly.

To find out more, please follow the link: www.hestia.org/brightsky

Beezee Healthy Lifestyle Programmes

We offer FREE community-based 12 week healthy lifestyle programmes for children above the healthy weight (both face to face and online), informed by behavioral science, which aim to help children and families achieve and maintain a healthy weight and healthy habits.

Delivered as an after-school club in various schools across the borough, these programmes promote lifelong healthy habits through nutritional improvements (e.g., reducing sugary drinks, increasing fruits and wholegrains), physical activity (sports, walking, cycling) and better shopping choices. See more on the fliers below.

Overall, these programs empower families to make sustainable healthy choices and improve overall health and well-being. Here is the link to our website - Weight Management - Beezee Families - Healthy Hounslow

Turning visitors into lead

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 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, problem-solving, resilience, and sustainability awareness to reduce waste and promote a circular economy. Book now at https://e-voice.org.uk/hrc/book

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.com

Wellbeing Hub

We encourage all of our families to join the Wellbeing Hub. Our school is signed up to this fantastic resource which gives families and their children free access to great content on everything including starting school for the first time, puberty, smartphones and anxiety. There are really helpful resources for all ages.

If you haven’t joined the Hub yet, we urge you to do so through using the QR code opposite.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Kay Stone. kay.stone@reachacademy.org.uk

NEWSLETTER

WINTER 2026

Dates for your diary

Here are details of important events in the next few weeks.

Spotlight on... Community Mosaics

Find your way around

Primary

Well done to our certificate winners!

Nursery

Role-playing area

Reminders

Reception

Literacy

Maths

Junk modelling request

Key rings

Year 1

Maths

Year 1 Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop

Year 2

Important Dates

Mid Year Celebration Event and Parent Workshop

Book Club

Writing

Grammar Focus: Finding the Subject

Maths

Top tip for homework

Humanities

Science

Art

Computing

Year 3

Your Voice Matters Event: 12th February: 2.30pm - 3.20pm

Book Club

Humanities

Year 4

Year 4 Celebration Event: Monday 9th February

Maths

Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS)

Science

History

Year 5

Humanities

Maths

Writing

Attendance

Year 6

Welcome back!

Merit/value certificate winners

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Trip on 27th January

Book Club

Maths

Religious Studies

Science

PE

How is Netball Played?

Homework

Clubs

Permission to go home

Cat Club

Secondary

Festive Language Postcard Competition

Year 7

Shoutouts

Art

Year 8

Welcome Back!

Aspiring Attendance!

How does poor attendance affect results?

100% attendance from Cycle 1:

Highlights from Cycle 1!

Highest attainment:

Most progress:

Art

Year 9

New Year, Fresh Start

Shout Outs

Year 10

Welcome Back!

Aspiring Attendance!