Old Ford Newsletter
April 24th 2026
Principal’s Message
Summer is finally on its way!
We’ve had some great weather this week and the children have really enjoyed playing in the playgrounds at break and lunch. Take a look at the beautiful flowers in our garden!
Attendance
We all know how important regular attendance is. If children aren’t in school, they will miss out on important learning. I know sometimes children are genuinely to ill to come to school, but if they only have a minor cold or cough it is find to send them in. There’s some good advice here from the NHS if you’re ever not sure.
From this week, we will be sending out weekly messages via MCAS with your child’s attendance percentage for the year to date. 90% may sound like high attendance, but over the course of a whole school year, it’s equal to FOUR WEEKS of missed school!
Pop-up Bookshop
Our ‘pop-up bookshop’ is back for the Summer term. Pupils will be able to choose TWO books to take home and keep.
Parents/carers are also invited in to browse the books with their children, download the timetable to find out when your class will be visiting the bookshop.
Measles (MMR Workshop)
You are invited to an informal session which will give parents and carers the opportunity to learn more about measles and the MMR vaccine, ask questions, and take part in an open Q&A discussion. The MMR vaccine will also be available for children who have not yet received both doses.
The session will take place at Kobi Nazrul Primary School but is open to all parents and carers from primary schools across Tower Hamlets. We would be very grateful if you could share the attached flyer with your school community.
Date: Wednesday 6th May 2026
Time: 9:00am – 10:00am
Location: Kobi Nazrul Primary School
Further information is available at: www.schoolvaccination.uk
Academy Council – Parent Workshops
We had our regular, half termly Academy Council meeting this week (see the minutes here). We had a really good discussion around how we can get parents/carers more involved in the school.
The councillors came up with the idea of having regular events at school, maybe on a morning straight after drop off, which parents could participate in. Some suggested ideas were keep fit classes, self defence, budgeting advice, cooking etc. There would probably be a small charge for this depending on the course and the instructor, and this would be split between the number of participants. The school would provide the venue free of charge to keep costs for parents down.
Councillors thought it would be a good idea to put a survey out to see what parents would be interested in but also to see if any of you have your own ideas or skills to share.
Dates for your Diary
How can I be more punctual?
Be prepared
Go to bed at a reasonable time
Give yourself more time in the morning
Be aware of the time
Fire Safety
Members of the Fire Brigade have been in our school recently, talking to pupils in Year 2 – Year 5 about fire safety, and what to do in the event of a fire. Use the links below to download the documents.
Community Resources for Families
- The government has launched their Best Start in Life supporting the Plan for Change target of 75% of children being school-ready by 2028. Visit the Best Start in Life website and sign up for personalised weekly emails.
- Have you ever considered volunteering? The Early Help service allows parents to come together, learn new skills and prepare for work.
- The new expanded funded early education entitlements are available now – discover more about the 2-year-old childcare extension.
Online safety
We are still getting reports of pupils on social media apps such as Snapchat.
As you know, an important part of our curriculum is teaching pupils about esafety. We know that a lot of our pupils spend a lot of their time online, either through online gaming or on social media apps. This can sometimes lead to contact with inappropriate people
and/or exposure to inappropriate language. We strongly recommend that you monitor your children’s usage of the internet and that you are aware of what they are doing online.
Most social media apps have an age limit of 13+. If you are allowing your children to access these apps you are putting them at risk!
Start and end of the day
Please remember that there are no staff on duty in the playgrounds before and after school so parents/carers should supervise their own children. Children should not be playing with balls or on the climbing frames.
To keep children safe please do not park on the double yellow or zig-zag lines when you are collecting or dropping off. Tower Hamlets parking enforcement officers are conducting regular patrols in the area.
When collecting your child at the end of the day please wait until all pupils are in their lines before speaking to the teacher and collecting your child. We need to make sure that all of our pupils go home with the right adult!
Bow Foodbank
Did you know Bow Foodbank now operates out of Bow Community Hall?
Tuesday 10am – 12pm
Tower Hamlets residents only
Tuesday 12.30pm – 4pm
Click and Collect, order by 1pm Sunday.
Wednesday 2pm – 7pm
Open to all
Thursday 10am – 1pm
Tower Hamlets only
Friday collection 8am – 12pm
Order by 9pm Wednesday
Bow Foodbank is open to all, there’s no need for a referral or voucher. Visit them at:
Bow Community Hall
1, William Place,
E3 5ED
