Riverside News Issue 492 - 15.05.26 - Riverside Primary School

⭐ STAR of the Week ⭐

Leopard: Marcie S

For being such a great role model in Leopard class! Marcie is a super friend to everyone and a fabulous learner, trying her best in everything she does. We love having you in our class Marcie!

Zebra: Lillie Rose P

For working exceptionally hard across all areas of the curriculum this week. Lillie approaches each day with a big heart and a bright smile, proving that there is no limit to what she can achieve. Well done superstar!

Lion: Alfie M

For your excellent engagement during our science lesson, using your fantastic detective skills to identify different leaves from the trees in our school grounds. You have also been working super hard in our phonics lessons. Well done!

Bear: Noah T

For excellent engagement and participation in maths lessons. You have shown how to recognise halves and quarters of shapes and quantities with great confidence. Well done superstar!

Otter: Poppy G

For outstanding participation in PE this week. Poppy followed instructions and showed great listening skills. Well done Poppy!

Seal: Eleanor B

For always being such a smiley and positive presence in the classroom. Eleanor is incredibly helpful, a wonderful helping hand and always engages in lessons while trying her very best in everything she does!

Dolphin: Leo M

For being an incredible member of Dolphin Class – always working so hard, giving his all, showing impeccable behaviour and attitude to his learning and playing so well with his friends. We are super proud of you – well done!

Giraffe: Harriett T

For showing excellent teamwork on your geography poster and collaborating so well to create some truly fabulous work!

Turtle: Luke B

For volunteering amazing answers across all subjects, showing a wonderful enthusiasm for learning and a real spark of curiosity.

Panda: Saketh C

For excellent work with Money in Maths, carefully and confidently working out the price of an item and its change.
Well done Saketh, keep up the excellent work!

Tiger: Madeleine C

For creating and performing a lovely composition in music using the glockenspiels. Well done!

Meerkat: Jude C

For showing incredible Resilience throughout SATs week by staying focused and positive during every paper. You tackled every challenge with a calm mind and a “can-do” attitude—be very proud of your determination!

Rhino: Mark K

For great work while mastering ten new school subjects and their articles during our introductory French lesson.

Kangaroo: Charlie P

For consistently working diligently throughout the SATs revision and for wonderful perseverance and hard work during the SATs week- fantastic Charlie!

Koala: Evie A-B

For the fantastic attitude she has shown this week – a calm and mature approach to her SATs and she has been an amazing help with the Year 1 children in the mornings. You are a kind and hard-working role model, Evie!

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS! 📅

Dates not shown on previous issues are added in RED!

Summer 1 2026

18-22/05/26 — Year 4 Times Tables Rock Stars Week

18/05/26 — Year 6 Bawdsey Manor – Parent Information Meeting

19/05/26 — Year 3 Skreens Information to Parents

20/05/26 — EYFS Open Door – Shared Classroom

21/05/26 — Year 4 TTRS Dress Up Day

21/05/26 — Children break up today

22/05/26 — INSET Day

Summer 2 2026

01/06/26 — Children return to school

03/06/26 — M&M Theatre Production

03/06/26 — Year 6 Acting Workshop with M&M Theatre Production

04/06/26 — Year 4 Colchester Zoo

08/06/26 — Class Photographs

09/06/26 — Marvellous Men’s Sale

15/06/26 — Marvellous Men’s Sale (After School)

17-19/06/26 — Year 6 Bawdsey Manor

22-26/06/26 — Year 6 Secondary Transition Week

24/06/26 — Sports Day Rehearsals – AM

26/06/26 — Moving on Day

26/06/26 — New EYFS Play & Stay Session 1

29-30/06/26 — Year 3 Skreens Park

01/07/26 — Sports Day

06/07/26 — KS2 Districts

08/07/26 — EYFS/KS1 PTA Summer Disco

08/07/26 — Year 6 Production to Parents & Younger Siblings at 1.30pm

08/07/26 — Year 6 Production to Parents ONLY at 6pm

10/07/26 — Reports to Parents

10/07/26 — PTA: KS2 Summer Disco

15/07/26 — Year 6 Leavers Party

17/07/26 — Year 6 Graduation at 9am

17/07/26 — Children break up today

Latest Facebook Posts

Year 6 SATs

FUNDRAISING

🏆 HUGE NEWS! Our PE cupboard is officially restocked! 🏆

Williams Syndrome

Anthony in Year 1 is walking 100k in May to raise money for Williams Syndrome.

Williams Syndrome is a rare congenital disorder that occurs randomly and affects around one in 18,000 people in the UK. It is non-hereditary and causes distinctive facial characteristics and a wide range of learning difficulties. Infants often have delayed development and can develop physical and mental health problems, including anxiety and depression in later life. WS people tend to be talkative and excessively friendly towards adults.

If you are able to donate to this charity, please click here to go to the JustGiving Page.

Further information about Williams Syndrome can be found here.

Letters

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

Leaflets/Posters for Parents

Letters sent this week

EYFS Grufalo trip – 13.05.26

Bikeability – Year 5 – 13.05.26

Community Safety and Out-of-School Peer Relationships 12.05.26

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.

Year 6 SATs Week

We are incredibly proud of our Year 6 children this week as they completed their SATs tests. Throughout the week, they have shown so many of our STAR values in action — resilience, positivity, determination and support for one another. They approached each day with calmness and maturity and really showed what it means to be part of Team Riverside.

The children should feel really proud of themselves — not just for the effort they put into the tests themselves, but for the way they conducted themselves all week. They have been a real credit to the school.

A huge highlight of the week was the amazing SATs breakfasts each morning! The children absolutely loved starting the day together with a delicious breakfast before the tests, and it really helped create a calm and positive atmosphere. A massive thank you to our fantastic kitchen team for all of their hard work and care throughout the week — it was very much appreciated by both children and staff.

We would also like to thank all of the staff who helped make the week run so smoothly, whether supporting in test rooms, helping with timetable changes, looking after groups around school or simply being there with encouragement and reassurance. The teamwork shown across the school this week has been brilliant.

Finally, thank you to our families for your continued support, encouragement and calm mornings this week. Working together in partnership makes such a difference for our children.

Well done, Year 6 — we are all very proud of you!

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

SEN

A SEND Inclusion Partner and a SEND Engagement Facilitator will be joining the MegaCentre SEND coffee morning on 14th May 10am-11.30am to briefly explain their roles in supporting SEND and inclusion in schools and settings.

The remainder of the session will focus on supporting parents and carers of children in Years 5 and 6, with or without SEND, as they prepare for the transition to secondary school.

Topics for discussion will include:

How parents and carers can support their child to prepare for the likely differences at secondary school
Practical tips for developing children’s independence skills, particularly around organisation, homework, and travel
Key questions parents and carers may wish to ask when visiting secondary schools, and factors to consider when choosing a school

This will be at the MegaCentre Community space, Eastwood Road, at the rear of Rayleigh Methodist Church. No need to book enquiries to: megastaff@megacentrerayleigh.co.uk or 01268 779100.

External Events

🎹 Free Piano Donation Opportunity

We recently received a very generous message from a community member who is looking to rehome his late wife’s well-loved and maintained Yamaha baby grand piano. He would love to see this cherished instrument go to a dedicated musician or someone who will truly appreciate and care for it.

Interested in learning more? If you would like more information or would like to express your interest, please reach out to us at admin@riversideprimary.co.uk .

*** Please note that we will connect interested individuals directly with the donor.

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: 08/05/26

	Class	%
1	Kangaroo	98.50
2	Tiger	97.30
3	Turtle	96.90
4	Seal	95.00
5	Giraffe	94.90
6	Panda	94.80
7	Bear	94.20
8	Koala	92.70
9	Lion	92.40
10	Meerkat	90.30
11	Leopard	89.80
12	Otter	89.20
13	Rhino	89.00
14	Zebra	79.20
15	Dolphin	79.20

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.