Hello from Cypress! It has been a very busy couple of weeks full of trips, school elections and fundraising. Thank you to all our parents and carers who have supported these events. The strong community at Cypress is one of the things that makes our school such a special place to be.
MacMillan Coffee Afternoon
Thank you for supporting our MacMillan Coffee fundraising Afternoon. We raised over £200 for this very worthwhile cause. It was good to see so many children and families join us. A huge thank you to our PTFA volunteers and Year 6 House and Vice Captains for your help organising and running the event. What a lovely way to end a Friday afternoon!
School Council
We have been electing our new school council representatives across Cypress and they are all very excited for their first meeting. Well done to the following children who have been chosen to represent their class this year.
| Blue Class – Sara and Aria | Birch Class – Bella | Hazel Class – Usman |
| Green Class – Freya and Robin | Cedar Class – Robin | Sycamore Class – Elliot |
| Indigo Class – Sullivan and Tipi | Holly Class – Ruby | Willow Class – Phoebe |
| Turquoise Class – Esme and Theo | Hawthorn Class – Jason | Beech Class – Hudson |
| Violet Class – Remi and Lily | Rowan Class – Albie | Oak Class – Cillian |
| Ruby Class – Matilda and Juno | Lime Class– Robyn | Larch Class – Clem |
Parents’ Evening
Parents’ Evenings are taking place at Cypress next week. Please make sure you have booked your appointment. If you need any support with booking, please contact your child’s class teacher or the school office who will be able to send you the booking link or share remaining availability.
National Poetry Day
The 1st October was National Poetry and we have marked this with special assemblies and a focus on poetry in class. We have been exploring this year’s theme ‘Wonder’ and talked about how this helps us to use our imagination and ask questions. The children have loved hearing new poems and had some excellent ideas about the meaning behind them.
Year 6 Residential
This week our Year 6 pupils have been on a residential trip to Cobnor Activity Centre. They have been camping and taken part in a range of outdoor and adventurous activities which have included sailing, climbing, problem solving, climbing and crabbing. The children have demonstrated real resilience and excellent collaborative skills. A huge thank you to our staff who have gone above and beyond to give up their time to ensure the children had a brilliant time and made wonderful memories.
For our Year 6 who remined in school, they have had a lovely time visiting the National Gallery and taking part in art sessions in school. They are rounding off their week by cooking pizzas and cakes. Ms Binks has witnessed the cooking in progress and feels their may be a few future chefs in our midst.
Year 1 local area walk
Year 1 enjoyed a walk of our local area this week as part of their Geography and Thematic learning. They were able to spot local landmarks, notice seasonal changes and enjoy stretching their legs and having a run around in the local park. Many thanks to our parent volunteers for their support.
PTFA update
It’s a busy start to the autumn term for the PTFA, with lots coming up over the next few months!
You may have spotted our brand new PTFA Community Boards at both the Lower and Upper School sites! These are a new place for us to share PTFA news, upcoming events, ways to get involved and useful information for our school community. You’ll also find QR codes on the boards making it easy to donate to the PTFA, book tickets for events and join our PTFA WhatsApp community. A huge thank you to everyone who helped get the boards installed. Please do keep an eye on them at drop off and pick up for all the latest PTFA news!
PTFA Dates for the Diary –
💻 PTFA Committee Meeting – Wednesday 7th October, 8pm, online (UPDATED). Everyone is welcome to join us and find out more about what the PTFA is working on. A link will be sent out on the day.
🎨 Design Your Own Christmas Cards – Our popular PTFA Christmas Card project is back! Children should now have received their design templates to create their own Christmas artwork at home. Please return completed artwork to the school office by latest Friday 9th October so we can send everything off for scanning. Please remember to include your child’s name and class at the top of their artwork.
🦇 Bat Walk – Tuesday 13th October. Two sessions at South Norwood Lakes. Join us for hot drinks, storytelling and a guided walk around the lake with bat detectors. Tickets will be on sale very soon!
👥 PTFA AGM – Friday 16th October, 3.30pm, Upper School Hall. Come along to hear more about the PTFA, what we’ve achieved and our plans for the year ahead. Children are welcome and we’ll have activities available for them at the back of the hall, plus refreshments.
🎄 Winter Fair – Friday 27th November. Save the date for one of our biggest events of the year! More details to follow.
🪩 Winter Discos – Dates and ticket information will be sent out after half term.
🤪 Break the Rules Day – Friday 29th January
There’s lots going on and lots of ways to get involved. Keep an eye on Studybugs, your class WhatsApp groups and our new community boards for more information!
CSMA music taster sessions
Croydon Schools Music and Arts (CSMA) are running some free taster sessions if children are interested in learning an instrument or dance. Please click on the links to see posters for more information.
Cypress Superstars
Well done to Xian in Birch Class who came to show his wonderful sketch book and dinosaur fact files he has been creating at home. You are a very talented artist! Adem in Birch also came to share his super maths work on greater than and less than. Malcolm in Birch also shared his descriptive writing about dinosaurs which was packed with rich vocabulary and vivid descriptions. In Holly Class, Logan came to share his success in completing all his tasks to a very high standard all day. Leoh and Rita in Cedar Class also came to share their super science showing their understanding of the different food groups.
Well done to Akira in Indigo Class who completed the most incredible home learning! He made a creative poster detailing what he’d seen, heard and touched on his senses walk. He also created a labelled map of his bedroom at home – very impressive! We’ve seen some fantastic writing from Sofia, Milica, Gabriel and Remi in Violet Class as they’ve been writing their own imaginative versions of ‘The Lonely Beast’. Sophia in Turquoise Class has wowed us all by reciting a very detailed historical timeline starting from the Big Bang to the present day! We’ve all learnt something new today, thanks to Sophia. Ronnie in Indigo Class has created an amazing family tree, with photos of his family and dates of close family members on the reverse.
Huge well done to everyone in Reception for having 100% attendance this week. Keep it up!
Please remember to keep an eye on the school calendar for dates and our news page for stories from other year groups.
We wish all of our families a lovely weekend.
Ms Binks and Mrs Sorensen
Heads of School
