Riverside News Issue 485 - 13.03.26 - Riverside Primary School

⭐ STAR of the Week ⭐

Leopard: Oliver M

For the enthusiasm and energy he has brought to our Ball Skills P.E. lessons this half term. Every week Oliver has been practising with such determination, and his hard work has paid off. Oliver showed us all how confidently he can now throw and catch a ball. Well done Oliver!

Zebra: Hudson T

For having a fantastic attitude to learning and always trying his best. Hudson has made great progress with his phonics this week and we are very proud of him. Keep up the hard work!

Lion: Bella B

For writing a descriptive story and making a great effort to present work neatly. Also for performing impressive shapes in our yoga lesson. Keep working hard in all your subjects—you are doing a great job!

Bear: Aleanna W

For planning and writing a fantastic story about The Great Fire of London.

Otter: Idris M

For being so incredibly engaged in his learning this week, especially during phonics and maths sessions on the carpet. Idris has been on the Star several times for his hard work and positive attitude to learning. Well done Idris! Keep up the fantastic work!

Seal: Adalyn T

For writing a fantastic warning story. Adalyn challenged herself by using inverted commas for speech and showed great independence when editing her work. Keep it up!

Dolphin: Oscar P

For writing a fantastic warning story.

Giraffe: Sophey A

For constantly trying her best, always putting her hand up, and being ready to learn. Her attitude to learning is amazing, and she shows great enthusiasm in everything she does. Keep up the fantastic work!

Turtle: Reggie B

For the excellent effort you put into your suspense story. You worked hard to build tension and keep the reader interested. Well done and keep up the great work!

Panda: Oliver W

For amazing effort in art, showing great sketching skills while creating a fantastic portrait of Henry VIII.

Tiger: Oakley J

For completing an amazing Tudor portrait, demonstrating excellent attention to detail in both the facial features and the historical clothing following the style of our artist Hans Holbein.

Meerkat: Jude C

For creating a detailed clay model. You used your tools with great precision and applied rolling techniques carefully to shape and refine your work.

Rhino: Lennon W

For great work during the netball tournament, showing teamwork, determination and real resilience.

Kangaroo: Lily S

For working super hard in English and Maths and showing an improved and enthusiastic attitude to her learning.

Koala: Aylina M

For her continued hard work in English. She is thoughtfully applying the writing features we have been learning and listening carefully to develop and improve her work. Well done!

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS! 📅

Dates not shown on previous issues are added in RED!

Spring 2 2026

23/03/26 — Year 4 – Overstrand Parent Meeting

25/03/26 — Year 3 trip to St Thomas’ Church

27/03/26 — 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

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

Latest Facebook Posts

🏐 What a fantastic tournament from the team! 🏐

⚽ Year 3/4 V Edward Francis ⚽

⚽ Year 5/6 Boys V Alleyn Court ⚽

🏐 Netball Match Report – Girls’ Matches 🏐

🚔 A Special Visit to EYFS! 🚨

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.

SEN

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

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:

Baby clothes not dolly clothes
Ball pit balls
Sandpit toys/Spades etc
Wooden spoons/Kitchen utensils
Wood chip, wood chip, wood chip!
Suitcases
Tyres
2x working tablets (these would be used to just for the music app as we don’t have any spare)
scooters
remote control toys
medical play kits
hair rollers
bobbles clips etc

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 three week rolling menu. The menus, ingredients and allergen lists can be viewed on our website by clicking here.

Attendance W/E: 06/03/26

	Class	%
1	Otter	99.30
2	Panda	98.80
3	Lion	97.50
4	Giraffe	97.40
5	Meerkat	97.40
6	Seal	97.30
7	Leopard	96.60
8	Turtle	96.50
9	Koala	95.50
10	Kangaroo	93.70
11	Bear	92.50
12	Dolphin	90.30
13	Zebra	90.00
14	Rhino	89.60
15	Tiger	87.80

Team Points

Makaton: Sign of the Week

We’re excited to share our ‘Sign of the Week’.

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.

Weekly Sports Round-Up

It has been another fantastic week for Riverside School sports, with our pupils showing determination, skill, and excellent teamwork across football and netball fixtures. Here’s a summary of the week’s highlights:

Year 3/4 Football – Match vs Edward Francis

The Year 3/4 football team delivered a strong performance in a tense encounter, securing a 2–1 victory.

We are only one game away from winning all our league matches!

Year 3/4 Football – Alleyn Court

In a closely contested match, the Year 3/4 boys gave a fantastic performance against Alleyn Court. An early goal from Oliver gave Riverside a 1–0 lead, with the boys showing excellent composure. Both teams battled hard, and while we created further chances, Alleyn Court converted theirs to win 4–1.

Year 5/6 Football – Alleyn Court

The Year 5/6 boys played another competitive and exciting fixture. After a nervous first half, the boys found themselves 2–0 down, and later 3–0. However, they showed fantastic resilience and composure in the second half, with Josiah scoring twice to make it 3–2 and create a tense finish.

Year 3/4 Netball Tournament

Our Year 3/4 netball team had a strong tournament performance, combining skill and teamwork across all games:

Pool Stage: Convincing wins against Thundersley Gold (5–1) and Kingston (7–1) demonstrated excellent movement and finishing. Close wins against Great Wakering (2–1) and Northwick (2–0) secured top spot in the pool.
Quarter-Final: A tense 2–2 draw against Grovewood went into extra time. Despite conceding late, the team maintained focus and showed excellent spirit throughout.

This week has been a fantastic showcase of Riverside pupils’ commitment, skill, and teamwork. Across football and netball, players demonstrated resilience, sportsmanship, and determination in both tight contests and decisive victories.