Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...
- News of a very busy week
- Inflatables event recap
- All the usual favourites
The weeks are skipping past so quickly! We are now at the end of our third week of Summer 2 with only four weeks remaining. This week was extra special thanks to our wonderful inflatable event on Wednesday. A huge thank you to the PTA for organising and to everyone who came along to join in with the fun. The weather was lovely and it seemed that we all had a wonderful time. Thanks also to our teachers and support staff who supervised the bouncey castles and made sure the children were both having fun and being safe. Finally, as an extra treat Year 6 were allowed on the bouncey castles during the school afternoon - we hope you enjoyed this Year 6!
On Monday, we had Nursery’s Sports Day and an educational visit. Firstly, well done to our Nursery children on your first big sports event – you did fantastically well! The educational visit on that day was for Year 3 and it saw the children travel to Colchester Castle. I was lucky enough to join them. We had a super time delving into the history of the Celts and Romans... What wasn’t so super was the coach breaking down on the way home! In over twenty years of teaching, it was a first for me. We ended up waiting on the side of the road for two hours until a mechanic came and then a replacement coach! What a day! Although not quite what we had planned, the children were great and the adults there did an excellent job of entertaining.
Year 4 also headed out of school this week as yesterday they went to Shoebury Park to support their learning in geography. Another very enjoyable educational visit.
Next week we have our KS1 and KS2 Sports Day and Picnic on Wednesday. Please do read through last week’s letter - you can find it on our website. Today your child will come home with a one-page programme about the sports events. At present, the weather forecast looks warm and sunny so we will definitely need sun cream applied. Thank you in advance for supporting this event and for your positive encouragment of all of our children. Please remember that during the picnic time, the children are your responsibility as our staff will be looking after the children without adults at the event. It should be a really great day as usual.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.
Mr. McClay, Principal
Diary Dates
June
- Tuesday 25th - Nursery Beach Visit
- Wednesday 26th - KS1 Sports Day and Picnic
- KS2 Picnic and Sports Day
- Thursday 27th - Year 2 Call of the Wild Visit
July
- Monday 1st - Veolia Visiting Year 1
- Tuesday 2nd - Nursery Beach Visit 12:30pm-3:15pm
- New classes for September shared
- Wednesday 3rd - Friday 5th - Art and D&T Festival at Friars
- Wednesday 3rd - Parents Open Evening
- Thursday 4th - Nursery Stay & Play
- KS1 Borough Sports
- Friday 5th - Year 6-7 Transition Day
- Meet the Teacher Lesson
- Monday 8th - Friday 12th - Career Week
- Monday 8th - Little City Visit EYFS & KS1
- Tuesday 9th - School Nurse presentation to parents
- Little City Visit EYFS & KS1
- Nursery Beach Visit 12:30pm-3:15pm
- Wednesday 10th - Year 3 & 4 YMCA Songwriting workshop
- Thursday 11th - Final swimming lesson for 1MV
- Friday 12th - PTA Summer Fayre 2:15pm to 4:30pm
- Monday 15th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Tuesday 16th - Year 6 Pizza & Film afternoon
- Wednesday 17th - Meet the Teacher Lesson
- Year 6 Water Fight
- Thursday 18th - Y6 Leavers Assembly 9:15am-10:00 (KS2 Hall)
- Friday 19th - Last Day of Term
- Monday 22nd - INSET DAY
REMAINING 2023/24 INSET DAYS
- Monday 22nd July 2024
Nursery
What a start to our week as we held a fantastic family fun sports day, which was really well attended. Thank you very much to those of you who came and joined in. The children really enjoyed themselves participating in different activities and having you there to cheer them on.
We also had another successful beach trip where children spent time decorating pebbles and throwing stones into the sea. Back in nursery we are making the most of the weather and have reintroduced our mud kitchen. Children have been creative with what they are making in there and some of our older children have started writing recipes and instructions to go alongside it.
REMINDER: Next Stay and Play – Thursday 4th July.
Also please don’t forget that if your child is starting Reception in September, you need to come to our new starters meeting on Thursday 27th June at 1.30-2.30. If your child is in nursery at this time they will be taken to play in their new class. If this is not their session please bring them with you so that they can visit their classroom during the meeting. Please also remember that you will need to know your National Insurance number for our forms!
Reception
With it being World Humanist Day today, Reception have been learning that the main Humanist beliefs are being kind and gentle to people, animals and the planet. We thought about kind and unkind scenarios and wrote our own and with clean air day on Thursday we combined Humanist views of being kind to the planet with how we can keep the air around us clean. We’ve been practising our number formation and writing and reading number sentences of our own in maths.
Year 1
Year 1 have been learning about money in school this week. The children have compared different amounts (identifying which is greater), used coins to make a given total and used their knowledge of 2s, 5s and tens to count amounts quickly. It might be nice to spend some time with your child looking at any coins and notes that you have at home. In English the children have answered written questions about The Storm Whale and written about a storm using great vocabulary. We are starting to learn about the history of Southend and our beach.
Year 2
This week we have explored pictograms in mathematics. The children learnt how to add information using pictures to represent each object counted.
In English we have used the story ‘The Koala Who Could’ as a stimulus for descriptive writing using expanded noun phrases. The children enjoyed discussing the moral of the story...’always try something new, you might enjoy it!’
In DT this term, the children will be designing and making healthy wraps. This week they have carried out their own taste testing. They had fun trying a variety of possible ingredients. They gave each food a star rating depending upon how much they liked it.
REMINDER: The children are looking forward to their school trip to Call of the Wild next week. Please read the information letter sent home about final arrangements.
Year 3
We kicked the week off going back in time to discover the story behind Colchester Castle, looking at a range of amazing artefacts and trying on some clothes for size! We had an amazing day, and we did not only the school, but ourselves proud by our impeccable and respectful behaviour looking around the Castle Museum. We even continued to show our maturity when the coach broke down on the way home. What a credit we were!
We have continued with our NFER testing and have concentrated hard on reading and answering questions, highlighting all the learning we have done this year. In science we have started to look at how we construct a successful investigation with writing up an in-depth method.
We have also continued to look at Italy in geography, looking at all the similarities and differences within the physical geographical aspects of each country.
Year 4
Time was the subject of the Year 4 maths lessons this week. We have been looking at all forms of time – analogue, digital, 24 hour clock – and learning to convert between them. Any support at home for reading the time off a clock is very useful for the children as learning to tell the time can be quite a challenge.
We have been completing the NfER tests in English lessons this week, a reading, grammar and spelling test. The children have worked hard with real focus to show how much they have learnt and improved from the last set of tests that they completed.
Continuing with states of matter in science, learning about festivals and how they are celebrated in French, continuing with our D&T project, and creating some sweet sounds on the glockenspiels means that Year 4 have had another very busy week.
Year 5
We have been completing the NfER tests in Maths lessons this week, an arithmetic and two reasoning paper tests. The children have worked extremely hard to show how much they have learnt. We have seen great improvements across the year group.
In English, the children have been looking at sonnets; learning about iambic pentameter and the rhythmic pattern. They ended the week, attempting to write their own sonnet about Macbeth.
They developed their skills on the recorder to compose their own 8 bar Motown sequence.
In history, they explored the artefact collection website for the Mary Rose and attempted to match them to crewmen who are known to have worked on the boat.
Year 6
In science, we made rain gauges in preparation for collecting data about the weather and changing climate in our area. In English, we have been demonstrating their writing skills using two short films as a stimulus. We have written about a meerkat chase and a mystical doll.
In maths, we have been looking at profit and loss when making a product for sale.
6B have enjoyed Outdoor Learning, the focus of which has been hygiene and health on a camp site particularly with regard to cooking. We have made fires and cooked food which was delicious.
6L, it is your turn to have Outdoor Learning next week.
REMINDER: Next week 6L will be at outdoor learning on Monday, Tuesday and Friday afternoons. Please remember to dress appropriately.
Computing
This week Year 1 have continued their learning on Scratch Jr by joining command blocks together. They are now beginning to use the Start button, which they press to make their program commence.
Year 2 have begun to use some new blocks in Scratch Jr to create an animation, including using different blocks instead of the Start button.
Year 3 have been creating a project where they can create the code to move a Sprite successfully through a maze. They had to be careful with the size of the Sprite, so it didn’t hit the maze edges.
Year 4 have been comparing infinite loops and count controlled loops in a Scratch program of dancing dinosaurs. Their loops made the dinosaurs do no-stop dancing.
Year 5 have been looking at selection in infinite loops, using conditions with an “if, then ... else” statement. They then created programs that can produce different outcomes depending on which conditions were met.
Year 6 have begun to use the BBC Microbits as their final Year 6 project this year. They looked at how the Microbit is coded by the Make Code program and created an “if .... then” code to make the Microbit show correct or incorrect on the LED display.
Online Safety
Football’s European Championship is now well underway, and this huge event could potentially get children interested in having a go on the pitch themselves – or perhaps they’re already passionate about sport. It could present a great opportunity to get young people engaged in physical activity and regular exercise, which has proven positive impacts on all facets of their health – including mental and emotional wellbeing.
With all that said, it can sometimes be difficult to get children and young people motivated to take part in sports and other exercise, but there are certainly ways to do so. This guide provides you with some top tips from our expert on how to encourage young people to stay active and remain invested in their physical welfare.
PE & Sports
This week, Nursery enjoyed their fun family sports day – well done to everyone taking part! Other classes across the school have been getting familiar with the events in preparation for their sports day next week.
Some children received their invites for SuperSports events ready for next week.
REMINDER: Remember next week we have our KS1 and KS2 sports day with family picnic on the field.
Outdoor Learning
Next week it is 6L’s turn to get outside so please make sure your child is dressed and ready for outdoor learning on Monday, Tuesday and Friday afternoon.
Singing Assemblies
KS2 with Ms. Taylor-Brown
This week despite some tech issues we still managed to have a little sing song! This week I chose a favourite I had forgotten about “Yellow” by Coldplay to come in and go out to. As the end of term gets nearer and we all think about our next steps - I decided we should sing one of my school day favourites- “One More Step Along The World I Go!”
Dinner Menu
Week 2
Monday - Pork Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Vegan Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Cheese Sandwich - Ham Salad Wrap - Sweetcorn & Baked Beans - Chocolate Rice Krispie Cake
Tuesday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta - Vegan Sweet & Sour Vegetables with Steamed Rice - Baked Jacket with Grated Cheese - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Cheese Salad Wrap - Carrots & Broccoli - Mandarin Jelly
Wednesday - Honey Roast gammon with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - Sweet chilli Stir-fry mushroom & Vegetable Noodles - Wholewheat Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Cheese & Tomato Bloomer - Ham Sandwich - Seasonal Greens & Peas - Vanilla Ice Cream
Thursday - Beef Keema with Turmeric Rice - Vegan Layered Vegetable & Sweet Potato Bake - Baked Jacket with Baked Beans or Salmon Mayonnaise - Cheese Sandwich - Chicken Mayonnaise Baguette - Carrots & Sweetcorn - Apple Flapjack
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Fajita Wrap with Chips & Ketchup - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Ham Salad Baguette - Peas & Baked Beans - Lemon Drizzle Sponge
Freshly Baked Bread - Garlic & Herb or Wholemeal Bread
PTA
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the amazing donations from our non-uniform day. This was something new we thought we would try and wow! We were absolutely blown away by your generosity!
A BIG thank you too to all who joined us at our inflatable event on the field on Wednesday. We hope you all had a wonderful time.
Next up is our Summer Fayre so please keep your eyes peeled for news on our raffle which includes amazing prizes and lots lots more fun! We really could not do anything without your support- so if you want to get involved and help out in any way at all, please just contact us at friarspa@gmail.com
Celebration Assembly
The links for our Celebration Assemblies can be found below.
Attendance
They seem to be very regular winners… but in Key Stage 1 it was another victory for 1MV with a winning percentage of 97.5%. Good going 1MV!
In Key Stage 2 our winners were slightly higher than 1MV at 97.9%... and this week it was first place for 4S!
Well done to both 1MV and 4S. With only four weeks left, it is not long until we give out the summer term’s attendance badges!
Our leaders Windsor stretched their lead a little this week. With only four weeks to go until the Friars Cup is awarded, can anyone catch them?
Overall winners this week were Windsor and they took the honours in Key Stage 2. In Key Stage 1 it was a win for Caernarfon.
Come on Caernarfon, Sterling and Stormont… you could still do it.
Community
In July we are hoping to host some career events for our children. We are looking for parents/carers/family members or friends who would like to come and talk to our children about ut their jobs. Think you can help or know someone who can? Please drop me a line etaylorbrown@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk
01702 294837 - office@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk