Riverside News Issue 477 - 09.01.26 - Riverside Primary School

⭐ STAR of the Week ⭐

Leopard: Millie W

For joining in so enthusiastically with our P.E session this week. Millie showed us how she could maintain control of a tennis ball, rolling it gently around a cone, and then rolling it from a longer distance to touch the cone. Well done Millie, it was lovely to see how much you enjoyed this lesson!

Zebra: Xander C

For an excellent attitude towards learning this week, engaging in lots of activities around the classroom and impressing us with his growing phonics skills. Xander has also worked hard on the formation of letters in his name. We are so proud of you, keep it up!

Lion: Harriett P

For your super engagement in all of our lessons! You, are always putting your hand up to politely share your ideas and answer lots of questions. Well done for sitting nicely, and for being such an enthusiastic learner! A great start to the new term, well done!

Bear: Harley W

For amazing ideas and engagement when learning about reasons for rules and identifying examples of rules at home and in school. Well done superstar!

Otter: Anthony E

For being so enthusiastic with his phonics this week and for challenging himself to read longer words. Anthony has also been very creative with his writing, thinking of his own fantastic sentences. Well done Anthony.

Seal: Bronwen B

For really trying her best to join in with class discussions this week. Bronwen showed particular confidence during our Talk for Reading lesson, making thoughtful predictions about ‘The Lion Inside’ and sharing her ideas with the class. Great job Bronwen!

Dolphin: Henry H

For striving to do his best in Maths lessons and for showing lightbulb moments. It is lovely to see you striving to reach the challenges. Keep up the good work.

Giraffe: Teddy C

For excellent ideas during our suspense vocabulary lessons. Your contributions have been thoughtful, creative, and impressive.
Well done!

Turtle: Luke B

For showing growing confidence by sharing ideas during lesson discussions.

Panda: Ethan F

For overcoming barriers with multiplication and striving to achieve your goal, it was so lovely to see the pride you had in yourself and your fantastic work!

Tiger: Polly S

For making some thoughtful and meaningful contributions during our Star Assembly focused on tolerance and kindness. Polly demonstrated a clear and mature understanding of why kindness is important.

Well done Polly!

Meerkat: Grayson H

For achieving a brilliant start to the new term through your excellent contributions in curriculum lessons. You shared thoughtful ideas about our core questions and showed enthusiasm for new learning.

Rhino: Theo W-Y

For excellent work in art, confidently commenting on artwork while learning about the artist Wassily Kandinsky.

Kangaroo: Alice H

For always working conscientiously, being a kind and supportive friend and for gaining increasing confidence to ask and answer questions.

Koala: Finley K

For a brilliant return to school after the holidays! He has shown resilience and determination, trying hard in every lesson and proving what he can achieve. Well done!

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS! 📅

Dates not shown on previous issues are added in RED!

Spring 1 2026

15/01/26 — EYFS Drop in Session

15/01/26 — Census Day – Special Menu

21/01/26 — Year 3 Dance Festival

26-30/01/26 — Sumdog East of England Maths Contest (Year 2 – 6)

29/01/26 — Chinese New Year – Special Menu

09/02/26 — National Pizza Day – Special Menu

12/02/26 — EYFS Drop in Session

13/02/26 — Valentines Day – Special Menu

13/02/26 — Children break up today

Letters

Below are a list of letters, leaflets and posters uploaded to the website this week.

Leaflets/Posters for Parents

Letters sent this week

Year 5 – Road Safety Workshop – 09.01.26

Essex Area SEND Inspection – Parent and Carer Survey 08.01.26

Elite Self Defence Parent Letter – 06.01.25

Previous letters, leaflets and posters can be found on the school website Events & Letters > Letters & Parent Meetings

Parking Concerns Around School

We kindly remind parents and carers that any parking issues in the local area can be reported directly to Chelmsford City Council. This helps ensure concerns are logged correctly and sent straight to the enforcement team.

To report a parking issue:

Visit the Chelmsford City Council website.
Click ‘Parking & Travel’ on the homepage.
Select ‘Parking Restrictions’.
Click ‘Report a Parking Issue’.

Your report will go directly to the council’s Enforcement Team, who will respond to you directly.

Thank you for helping us keep the area around the school safe for all.

Reminders

Reporting Pupil Absence

This is a reminder to all parents/carers that the correct way to report absences is to leave a message on the absence line answerphone daily. If messages are sent by email to the admin email address they will not be registered in time for the morning attendance and you may then receive a call from our attendance team.

Supervision

This is a gentle reminder that parents are responsible for supervising their children and siblings on-site before and after school. We have had a couple of incidents reported to us which were considered ‘near misses’ and children could have got hurt. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

KS1 Playground
Please do not allow children to play on the equipment either before/after school. At the end of the day, parents and children should leave the site promptly . This enables us to open up the playground for our other clubs. Thank you.

KS2 Playground
Please note that the day in KS2 does not start until 8:40am when the doors open. Children should not be left unsupervised on the playground before this time. Children should not play on the equipment. Thank you

A Polite Reminder – Scooters and Bikes on the Way to School

We’ve had a few parents share their concerns about younger children riding scooters or small bikes at speed on the way to school, particularly along Ferry Road. In some cases, children are well ahead of their adults, and there’s a real worry that one could accidentally veer into the road before a parent is close enough to intervene.

Please can we kindly ask all families to ensure that children stay close and ride at a safe pace when travelling to and from school. This helps to keep everyone safe – especially near busy roads.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support in keeping our school community safe.

🎥 A Huge Thank You to Joe! 🎄

We would like to extend a very big thank you to Joe from Joe Honeyands Photography, who very kindly gave up his time to professionally film our EYFS Christmas production, Eye Spy Christmas.

Joe captured the performance beautifully, allowing our children’s hard work, confidence and festive joy to be preserved and shared with families. These recordings will be a treasured memory for years to come, especially for our youngest pupils and their families.

We are incredibly grateful for Joe’s generosity, time and expertise, and for the support he continues to show our school community. Thank you, Joe, for helping to make this such a special occasion.

www.joehoneyands.com

Emotional health and well-being

Sian Tawfik, Healthy Family Support Practitioner, will be at school from 9:15 on Thursday 15th January for any parents wishing to seek advice and support around areas such as emotional health and well-being, improving sleep, nutrition support, personal hygiene, managing health conditions. Please just sign in at the school office and you will be directed to where Sian will be based.

Emotional Based School Avoidance Support

SNAP charity has compiled a short guide explaining Emotional Based School Avoidance (ESBA). The guide includes advice and resources to help parents and carers.

To find out more and access the resources, visit SNAP’s website.

Online Safety Guides

Before children have even learnt to read, most can navigate through devices to play games and watch cartoons.

Internet Matters primary school guide helps you to:

Get up to speed on popular apps and platforms like YouTube and Roblox
Learn more about risks and challenges they might face, from inappropriate content and too much screentime.
Find tips and resources to protect them from online harms

Prospective Families

Is your child starting school in September 2026?

The primary school (Reception) admission round opens on Monday 10 November 2025 for parents of children to apply for a Reception school place for the academic year that starts in September 2026. The statutory national closing date for applications is 15 January 2026.

From 10 November 2025, applications can be made online via www.essex.gov.uk/admissions. 99% of parents in Essex applied online last year.

The website also has a copy of the Primary Education in Essex 2025-26 booklet and the Schools Admissions Policies Directories contain details of all admission policies.

OPAL

We are excited to share that we have begun the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) project to enhance the lunchtime experience even furtherfor your children. The aim is to provide more opportunities for creative and active play.

This section of the newsletter will keep you updated on our OPAL journey, including upcoming developments and ways you can get involved.

Also, if you are having a clear-out, please look out for our donation requests for resources to enhance the playground. Your contributions would be greatly appreciated!

As part of our exciting OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) journey, we are continuing to develop a rich and varied outdoor play experience for all our children—whatever the weather!

To help us make the most of our wonderful outdoor spaces even as the weather turns wetter and muddier, we are asking that every child brings a pair of wellies to school from September. These will be kept in school so that children can continue to enjoy outdoor play at lunchtimes and still return to lessons feeling clean, dry, and comfortable.

Thank you for your continued support as we build a happier, healthier, and more active playtime for all our children.

The OPAL Team

OPAL Play Project – Donations Wanted!

As you know, we are developing our playtimes through the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) project. This exciting approach helps children develop creativity, teamwork and resilience by giving them access to a wide range of play opportunities.

To keep building on this, we’re looking for donations of the following items:

Medical toys (doctor/nurse kits)
Wallpaper (for crafts)
Toy tools (plastic hammers, spanners, screwdrivers, builders’ kits etc.)
Larger sized wellies (sizes 5, 6, 7)
Pop-its

If you have any of these at home and no longer need them, please drop them off at the school office. Every little contribution helps us make playtimes even more exciting!

Dinner Menu

We are operating a two week rolling menu. The menus, ingredients and allergen lists can be viewed on our website by clicking here.

Attendance W/E: 19/12/25

	Class	%
1	Kangaroo	97.70
2	Seal	97.30
3	Meerkat	97.00
4	Giraffe	95.70
5	Turtle	93.50
6	Panda	93.10
7	Bear	92.50
8	Rhino	92.30
9	Leopard	91.70
10	Otter	91.70
11	Koala	91.40
12	Dolphin	89.70
13	Zebra	87.30
14	Lion	85.40
15	Tiger	84.70

Team Points

The Megacentre Community Space

Please see a list of activities that run throughout the week at the Megacentre at their new venue (78a Eastwood Road, SS7 7JP).

Please not you do not need a formal diagnosis to access any of our support.

Unless otherwise stated, sessions take place at our Community Space: 78a Eastwood Road, SS6 7JP.

Here’s a quick guide to what’s on:

Monday Mix
Exclusive soft play for SEND families – plus crafts, football, gaming room, inflatables, laser tag, and more.
Held at The Megacentre, Brook Road
No booking required.

Monday – Youth Group

Open youth group for secondary aged children, Games, Crafts & Snacks. Term time only. No booking required.

Tuesday – Punching for Purpose
Boxing-based sessions to build confidence and resilience.
5:00–5:45pm (ages 6–15)
5:45–6:30pm (ages 16+)
Suggested donation: £7
Booking required: families@megacentrerayleigh.co.uk

Wednesday – T21 Heroes (for families & children with Down Syndrome)
First Wednesday of the month: 1:00–2:30pm (under 5s)
Fortnightly sessions: 3:30–5:00pm (ages 5+) – contact us for dates

Wednesday – Midi Mix (SEND club for school-age children)
4:00–6:00pm
Activities include arts & crafts, sensory play, table football, table tennis, and outdoor games (weather permitting).

Thursday – Your Space – Youth Wellbeing Group

4:00–5:30pm

Secondary age. Referral only, please contact us if this sounds like something your child would benefit from

2nd Thursday of the Month – SEND Coffee Morning
10:00am–12:00pm
Meet other SEND parents, ask questions, and hear from guest speakers on a range of SEND topics.

4th Thursday of the Month – DLA Workshop
Support and guidance for completing Disability Living Allowance forms.

Friday – Mini Mix (Under 5s SEND Group)
A safe, welcoming non-judgemental group for families with younger children who have SEND needs – free play time, no structured activities and no music. Facilitated by experienced SEND professional.