Old Ford Newsletter
January 30th 2026
Principal’s Message
It was fantastic to see so many parents and carers come to our meet the teacher evenings this week.
Your children’s education is a partnership between home and school and the work we do is so much effective with your support. If you didn’t manage to see to your child’s teacher, please speak to them to arrange a time or contact the school office.
Academy Council Nominations
There is still time to get your nominations in – we’ll be holding these open for a further week so the new closing date will be Friday 6th February.
Our Academy Council is an important part of our school. Meetings are held with myself on the 2nd Tuesday morning of each half term. Meetings are open to all parents and carers but there are five councillors who are a link between the parent/carer body and myself.
We currently have vacancies for 3 councillors. If you feel that you would like to be part of this group, please click this link and complete the nomination form. You will need to write a short statement outlining why you think you are suitable for this role.
If there are more nominations than vacancies, we will hold a small election where you will be able to vote for who you want on the council. These will be held the week after nominations close.
You have until the end of the day on Friday 6th February to complete your form. If you would like more information, I am happy to speak to you if you catch me in the playground or come into the office.
Mental Health Week
We will be celebrating Children’s mental health week, which will take place 9th – 15 February.
1. Children can wear their own clothes on Friday 13th February for a £1 donation.
2. There will be a workshop with Dockland’s Outreach to help parents support their children’s mental health – Tuesday 10th February at 2:20pm
3. A coffee morning with the school nurse to help parents support their children with minor illnesses on Thursday 12th February at 9am.
Spring Term Calendar
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
