Heads Up
CEO’s Welcome Dear Colleagues, Following on from the strong leadership of our previous Chair, Clive Douglas, a new Chair of the Trust, Nina Panayis, has been elected from September 2025. Nina is a highly experienced school leader and has been a long serving Headteacher in Newham. Nina was the Borough’s first ever Executive Headteacher to serve across two schools, Godwin Junior School and St James Junior School.
Tom Canning CBE
Nina won the national award for Primary School Teacher of the Year in 2003. The judging panel praised her emphasis on looking for people’s strengths, not their weaknesses and placing diversity, equality and inclusion at the heart of all learning. Nina’s colleagues described her classrooms as stunning and the children described her as an amazing teacher-a bit like Superwoman! One lesser known fact is that, Rubel Aloum, our very own Headteacher at Clara Grant, once worked for Nina at Godwin junior School. Nina has been out visiting our schools and I am so looking forward to working with her over the course of this year. To have such skill, experience and expertise to call upon will be invaluable for our Trust. Best wishes, Tom 2
Attendance Data Belowistheattendanceandpersistentabsencedatafromacross the Trust for the period of Monday, 13 Oct 2025 to Friday, 07 Nov 2025.
Group Name
Attendance
Attendance
Persistent Absence
Cleves Primary
95.6%
17.0%
Tollgate Primary
94.4%
10.3%
The Clara Grant Primary
94.0%
14.4%
Monega Primary
93.4%
10.0%
Shaftesbury Primary
93.4%
17.4%
Rosetta Primary
93.0%
21.8%
Ravenscroft Primary
92.3%
20.4%
New City Primary
92.0%
17.2%
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This week in the Nursery This week in the Nursery, the children have been learning about how people celebrate Diwali around the World. They enjoyed using a variety of constructions materials, to build their own fireworks, and explored different mark-making tools to create colourful fireworks artwork.
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Semi Formal Pathways In Geography, our semi-formal pupils explored the concept of day and night through exciting and interactive activities. They learned about what we can see during the day, such as birds flying in the sky, the bright sun shining, and clouds above. Then, they discovered the wonders of the night, when the sky becomes dark and we can spot twinkling stars and the glowing moon. This activity helped them understand how the Earth’s rotation creates day and night and encouraged them to observe and talk about the differences in the world around them.
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Year 2 Dive into Digits with Dienes Using dienes blocks, Year 2 pupils deepened their understanding of how digits work together. The children used dienes to represent numbers with one, two and even three digits. By physically building numbers, they could see how tens and ones combine to form larger values. Miss Patel, Year 2 teacher, said, “It’s wonderful to see the children so engaged. Dienes really help make abstract concepts feel concrete.”
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History in Year 5 Year 5 historians created an impressive brochure for their longship, applying knowledge to demonstrate its strategic advantages. They highlight how the shallow draught allows for superior speed and rapid, surprise beach landings during raids. This detailed work showcases the students’ ability to uncover historical facts and communicate why their design is the tactically best vessel of the Viking era.
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Art Club Monega Art Club have been creating pieces of art inspired by the work of renowned African American artist and storyteller Faith Ringgold.
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Monega Cinema Night Some lucky pupils at Monega enjoyed a special after-school treat — Cinema Night! The hall was transformed into a cosy movie theatre, complete with a big screen and popcorn. Everyone settled in to watch Lilo and Stitch, a Disney film about friendship, family, and adventure. The event was a huge success and a wonderful way for pupils to relax and have fun with friends.
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Diwali Feast Pupils at Monega have been celebrating Diwali. They shared a special Diwali assembly and celebrated in class with some delicious Diwali snacks. They listened to music and learnt the story of Rama and Sita.
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Year 4 Enrichment Year 4 pupils were whisked away on a magical adventure during a special enrichment day inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The day was packed full of imagination, creativity, and hands-on learning designed to bring the story to life and deepen pupils' understanding of the book. The classrooms were transformed into scenes from the chocolate factory and throughout the day, pupils took part in a range of themed activities such as inventing their own unique chocolate creations, making chocolate cakes, designing chocolate bar wrappers and acting out scenes from the book. The enrichment day not only celebrated the joy of reading but also allowed pupils to explore cross-curricular links through English, science, art, and design technology. It was a truly memorable day that sparked creativity, teamwork, and a love of storytelling.
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Black History Month At New City we celebrated Black History Month 2025 by having a poster competition and dedicated time for art work in which each year group learned about a different black British artist and created artwork in their style. Early Years and the Hub explored the abstract artist Sir Frank Bowling, Year 1 similarly looked at Hurvin Anderson. Year 2 created African patterns in the style of Yinka Shonibare CBE. Year 3 looked at the incredible cityscapes of Stephen Wiltshire MBE, drawn from his minds eye! Year 4 meanwhile learned about the local artist Sonia Boyce MBE and how she represented experiences of black women. Year 5 looked at the work of Chris Ofili CBE and his theme of celebrating black culture. Year 6 created portraits of friendships between black people as inspired by Lubaina Hamid CBE.
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Harvest Festival Show In the final week of half term we held our annual Harvest Festival show. All of the children took part in performing shows for a sell out audience of parents and carers. Alongside this we also collected donations from our school community for our Harvest Table. Alison and Wendy took the donations of food to a local charity: ‘The Bonny Downs Community Association.’
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Learning Hub The Learning Hub children have settled well back into Autumn 2, and ready to take part in some fun activities this term. This week, we have been looking at different celebrations, including birthdays and community events such as Bonfire Night. The children made their own firework painting in art, and in music, they used the big drum to make firework sounds after watching a firework display online.
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Remembrance Day On Tuesday our Head Boy and Head Girl attended a Remembrance Day memorial service held in Central Park at the Cenotaph. This was an opportunity to take part in the service, pay our respects and to lay a reef from the school. Throughout the week the children have been taking part in activities around remembrance day and on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month a minutes silence was held to remember all those who sacrificed their lives so that we may be free.
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Child of the Term Our Spring and Summer term winners of the ‘Child of the Term’ were treated to a lovely lunch at Pizza Express in Stratford. The children were so excited to go on this visit and thoroughly enjoyed their day out. They all returned back to school with very full stomachs!
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Year 5 – Mindfulness in Nature Year 5 took part in a wellbeing workshop at Cody Dock, this is the first time we have visited there and the children were excited to go! They learnt about different styles of art and the way that artists work. They then used this knowledge to create their own drawings using different techniques including drawing and making plant and brick rubbings which they found alongside the river. The children also were looking for different types of wildlife that they could find around the area.
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SEND Halloween Sessions Our SEND children took part in learning activities based on Halloween before the end of term. They used playdough to create spiderwebs, decorated pumpkins by painting them, practised making their letter shapes with themed printouts, they made pictures of Jack o Lanterns using cut outs, they even created their own spooky mixtures inside a pumpkin!
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Year 4 Electricity Experiments Year 5 have been conducting Science experiments using electricity. They had five stations in each class, each one having a different task to complete. They included rubbing their hair on a balloon and seeing what happens to the hair, testing whether they could stick the balloon to the wall and using a teaspoon to see how the charge is transferred.
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Reception Diwali Reception children have been learning all about Diwali including all the traditions and activities that happen during the Festival of Light. One of the traditions is to light a candle and place it in a Diva Lamp, the children have made their own Diva lamps and have decorated them using different colour paints and glitter. They were all very proud of their creations and couldn’t wait to take them home!
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Our Secondary trainee teachers in the CEO training room at Tollgate.
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LDE Out and About London District East Teaching School Hub (LDETSH) is one of the 87 teaching school hubs across the country - designated by the DfE to the Lead School - Tollgate Primary School. LDETSH covers Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Newham and as such we have a huge network of over 300 schools that we work with across the areas of: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE) National Professional Qualifications for Teachers and Leaders (NPQs) Appropriate Body Services to assess Early Career Teachers during their 2 year Induction (AB).
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LDE Out and About We are always out and about visiting schools, so in our ‘out and about’ section we give you a flavour of where we have been... All staff are asked to take selfies at the various schools they visit... Some are better than others!
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Primary and Secondary Trainees This week, our trainee teachers took part in their Professional Clinic: Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) Assessment: Questioning to Check for Understanding. The session sparked rich and thoughtful discussions as they explored the core principles of the module. It was a valuable opportunity for them to deepen their understanding and refine their classroom practice.
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Black History Month Celebrations At Rosetta, we celebrated Black History Month under the inspiring theme ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’. This theme honoured the resilience, strength and remarkable achievements of the Black community — past, present, and future. Throughout our celebration of Black History Month, pupils took part in planning, rehearsal and creative lessons across subjects. Children prepared performances that showcased influential Black leaders, activists and pioneers who have shaped history. The celebrations culminated in a week of performances, where each class shared their work and enjoyed class parties to mark the occasion. Our BHM celebrations were a true reflection of empowerment, pride, and unity - reminding us all to continue standing strong and celebrating diversity every day. 29
Hello Yellow for World Mental Health Day Before half term, our school community celebrated and recognised World Mental Health Day by supporting Young Minds’ initiative – Hello Yellow. Children and staff across the school wore yellow and other bright colours to stand out and stand up for children and young people’s mental health. Voluntary donations were collected and we raised £212 for the Young Minds charity. Children also took part in lessons and assemblies around mental health.
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Whole School Reading Cafes Recently we held our first reading cafe of the year, where parents and carers joined their children in class to share a story or book together. It is always a lovely opportunity to see our school community come together and promote a love and passion for reading.
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Science Show The Royal Institution came to visit on Monday and gave an excellent talk all about energy. He gave us excellent and exciting demonstrations on how we use energy and how we produce it. It was a fantastic experience for all the children from KS1 and KS2, who had an amazing time.
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Black History Month This month is Black History Month. The pupils created a fact file for Mae Jemison (First African American woman astronaut). They carried out an investigation and launched a water rocket, whereby the rocket used water as the driving agent and compressed air to provide the energy instead of heat! Children in Year 4 created fact files on significant figures.
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Owl Babies Learning Outcomes Autumn Owl Babies Soup: This activity invites children to take the lead and follow their own interests as they play freely, making a soup for the Owl Babies. Through this imaginative play, children investigate how natural objects change when mixed with water, exploring textures such as bumpy, smooth, rough, and soft. It encourages repeated actions like filling, pouring, and emptying, which help develop fine motor skills and understanding of volume and capacity. Children also practise holding and manipulating a variety of utensils, such as lemon squeezers and ladles, enhancing their hand-eye coordination and grip strength. Owl Babies Art Collage: This collage activity encourages children to use a variety of materials to create their own owl-themed artwork, fostering imagination and creativity. As they cut, stick, and arrange materials, children develop fine motor skills such as the pincer grasp and scissor control. The outcomes of this activity include the creation of a unique owl masterpiece, a deeper understanding of the story’s themes such as family and feelings and an enhanced ability to express emotions and empathy through art.
Owl Babies Writing Activity. This engaging activity support children’s development across multiple areas of learning. Through retelling the story and discussing the characters’ emotions, children build literacy skills such as story comprehension, phonics, and letter sounds, while also enhancing their communication and language abilities. Emotional understanding is promoted as children identify with the Owl Babies’ feelings of worry and relief, helping them to express empathy and relate to others. Children also practise fine motor skills by drawing their own owl, and using tweezers to carefully place pompoms and feathers onto a sticky tape nest. These actions strengthen their pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination. The activity also introduces early handwriting practice through pencil control worksheets, which support the development of pencil grip and fine motor precision. Carpet Shape Activity: This activity supports the development of children’s fundamental cognitive skills through handson exploration of shapes. By interacting with shapes in their environment, children enhance their problem-solving abilities, spatial awareness, and language development. They learn to classify and categorize objects, strengthening visual literacy and critical thinking. As they match and identify shapes, children also build vocabulary and begin to understand geometric concepts, laying the groundwork for future mathematical learning. 35
Reception Reception pupils have been exploring the ‘Dinosaurs’ topic. We’re so proud of our Writing Superstars!
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Mental Health Awareness Day Shaftesbury pupils and staff took part in Mental Health Awareness Day– pupils wore yellow to school and completed activities and discussions focussed on emotional wellbeing. Children took part in the young designer competition to create a design to brighten the day of a friend who might be struggling with their mental health. Ms Ali received an overwhelming number of entries from each phase, showcasing an incredible range of creativity, innovation, and talent. It has been truly inspiring to see the enthusiasm and imagination of the children reflected in their designs
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Book donation We’re Book-Rich and Bursting with Gratitude! Clara Grant Primary School is absolutely thrilled to have received over 1,000 wonderful books, both new and lovingly looked after, thanks to the incredible generosity of the Children’s Book Project. These books will go a long way in igniting imaginations, boosting reading adventures and opening doors to new worlds for our children. We are incredibly thankful for this gift and simply can’t wait to get these stories into the hands of our young readers. Let the reading journeys begin!
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Year 4-Padel Year 4 Pupils Discover a New Sport at The Padium, Canary Wharf This week, our Year 4 students had an exciting opportunity to visit The Padium in Canary Wharf, where they were introduced to a brandnew sport that many of them had never played before. The day was filled with energy and enthusiasm as pupils learned the rules of the game, practised essential ball skills, and developed key values such as sportsmanship and resilience. Guided by experienced coaches, the children quickly grew in confidence—supporting one another, celebrating progress, and showing determination even when the game became challenging. By the end of the session, there were smiles all around as everyone had not only learned a new sport but also gained a deeper appreciation for teamwork and perseverance. It was a fantastic day of fun, learning, and active participation—one that our Year 4’s won’t soon forget!
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Show racisim the red card Celebrating Show Racism the Red Card at Clara Grant Primary Last half term, our school came together to mark Show Racism the Red Card, a powerful initiative that encourages education, reflection and action against racism. Children across the school took part in engaging activities and meaningful discussions, exploring themes of equality, respect and how we can all be part of positive change. It was inspiring to see their voices, ideas and empathy shine through. We also proudly presented the winners of our Black History Month competition with their welldeserved prizes. A huge well done to them and to everyone who took part — your creativity and passion were truly uplifting! Together, we continue to learn, grow and stand up for a kinder, fairer world.
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Year 5 Visit All Hallows Church Year 5 Visit All Hallows Church to Learn About Advent This week, Year 5 pupils visited All Hallows Church in Bow to deepen their understanding of the Christian faith and the celebration of Advent. During their visit, the children learned about the traditions that mark this special time of preparation for Christmas. They took part in creating an Advent wreath, which holds five candles — one lit on each Sunday leading up to Christmas, with the final candle lit on Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The pupils had the opportunity to ask thoughtful questions and explore the meaning behind Christmas rituals, gaining a richer appreciation for how Christians prepare for and celebrate this important festival.
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End of Topic Art Day End of Topic Art Day – Creativity in Action To celebrate the end of their topic, pupils took part in a dedicated Art Day where they applied their learning to produce a final piece of work. Drawing on the skills, techniques, and knowledge developed throughout the unit, each child created a thoughtful and expressive artwork that reflected their understanding of the theme. The day provided a rich opportunity for pupils to work independently and collaboratively, experimenting with materials and refining their ideas. Once their final pieces were complete, pupils engaged in a reflective evaluation process—discussing what went well, what they might improve, and how their work demonstrated progress. This immersive experience not only reinforced key artistic skills but also encouraged critical thinking and self-assessment, helping pupils take pride in their achievements and understand the value of the creative process. 44
Tollgate Football Team The Tollgate Boys football team were in action this week when they competed in a Newham football tournament. They played well in the group stages, winning 3 games and drawing 2. Nile in 6G scored all our goals. The boys then progressed to the quarter finals where despite being the most likely to score, they could not find their way through a resilient defence. The match ended in a sudden death shoot out where we missed our first penalty which was followed by Dylan, 6G, letting in the first goal conceded in the tournament for an upsetting quarter final exit. Mr Cabadak said the team played exceptionally well which holds us in good stead for the league competition which commences shortly. Well played boys!
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Year 2 PizzaMaking with Caterlink As part of our ongoing partnership with Caterlink, Year 2 pupils had a fantastic handson experience making their own pizzas! The children learned about healthy ingredients, food preparation, and kitchen hygiene, all while having fun kneading dough and choosing their own toppings. It was a brilliant opportunity to link learning with real-world skills, and the excitement on their faces as they tasted their creations was priceless. A big thank you to the Caterlink team for supporting this enriching activity!
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Sharing Excellence in Early Years Practice Sharing Excellence in Early Years Practice – They demonstrated how these core principles Visit to Peterborough are embedded throughout the curriculum and how they evolve as children progress through Emma O’Connor, Sean Parsons, and Joshua the school. The presentation also explored the Freeland recently travelled to Peterborough to seamless transition from Early Years into Key share Tollgate Primary School’s outstanding Stage 1 and beyond, ensuring continuity in teaching practice in the Early Years. The visit learning and development. provided a valuable opportunity to showcase The visit was not only a chance to share best how the foundations laid in the Early Years at Tollgate directly contribute to the school’s practice but also to engage in professional consistently high standards of work and dialogue with colleagues from other settings, impressive attainment results across all key reinforcing Tollgate’s commitment to stages. collaboration and continuous improvement. During the visit, the team highlighted the strategic approaches used to foster curiosity, independence, and resilience in young learners.
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