Porters Grange Weekly Newsletter

Nursery

We have had a very busy first week back to Nursery. We have welcomed some new friends, and the older children have been helping them settle in showing them the rules and routines of nursery and letting them join in with their play. We have also started doing some oral blending with our children who are going up to school in September. 

REMINDER: Please remember to still bring a jacket/coat to nursery due to the weather being very changeable at present. Thank you 

Reception

Reception have enjoyed sharing their holiday news and talking about the fun things they have done during the Easter holiday. In English the children have been writing their news and continuing to write fantastic stories. In Maths the children are working with numbers to 20 and beyond. 

Year 1

Year 1 have had a great start to the summer term. In English, the children have created a diary entry as Beegu. They have used personal pronouns, nouns, adjectives and verbs to explain how Beegu felt and what happened during her time on Earth. In maths, the children in Mr Sesniak’s group have been introduced to using maths books. We are working on the setting the expectations as to how we keep the work neat.

REMINDER: Don’t forget – Tuesday 21st April is our Sea Life Centre trip. Please check to ensure you have given us permission to take your child and paid for their ticket.   PE is still on Monday’s. PE kits must be in school. Ensure their kits are labelled.   Reading records and books must be in school everyday.  

Year 2

Year 2 have settled back in to school life! Mrs. Heads English group have been exploring the text ‘ On Sudden Hill’. The children have been discussing the characters and their feelings. Mrs. Britton and Van den Berg’s group have been working on forming capital and lower case letters as well as sentence structure. In maths, the children have started a new topic of fractions. Science has been fun, learning about plants, labelling parts and recognising their functions. 

Year 3

This week, Year 3 have read Voices in the park by Anthony Browne. They answered questions about the four characters and towards the end of the week, created a fifth character to the story.  In maths, they started their new unit on fractions. They learnt how to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator.  They have also been busy rehearsing for our performance about friendship. 

REMINDER: Please look out for letters about a trip to the planetarium and an invite to our performance. 

Year 4

Year four have been learning all about time in maths, we have been telling the time to the nearest hour, half hour and 5 minutes. We have also been learning about time in other ways like months and days and weeks. Understanding the 24-hour clock has been the hardest part but the children can continue revising this skill at home too. In English, we have been reading The Day the Crayons Quit and planning our own version.

REMINDER: PE kit should already be back in school; the children need trainers as we will outside a lot more in summer term. Daily reading should still be occurring at home, and the children need to remember to change their book in school whenever they need.   

Year 5

This week in English, Year 5 have been reading and exploring the book ‘The Island’ by Armin Greder. We have explored each of the characters in the book and have written some character descriptions of them using expanded noun phrases to describe them in detail. Leading on from this, we have planned a character flashback from the point of the stranger in the story to be able to write our own version of the story from the strangers perspective next week. In Maths, we have been finishing off our perimeter and area unit and have been exploring how we can work out the area of a compound shape, and how we can estimate the areas of usual shapes. In Geography, we have started a new unit on flooding and erosion and have enjoyed exploring all of the different types of flooding that can occur this week. 

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a suitable PE kit with them on a Wednesday and Thursday, our spare PE kit is very limited.     Please strive to read with your child and record this in their home school diaries.

Year 6

In writing, we have been rereading our Sherlock Holmes mystery stories from the autumn term. We have been editing and improving them, using some of the language, grammar and punctuation features we have learnt over the year. In maths, we are focussing on our arithmetic skills and using them to work out word questions.  In science, we have started a new topic on inheritance and evolution. We used long strips of paper to create a time line. In PE, we have started selecting our team for the Borough Sports and rounders – it isn’t as easy as it looks to hit the ball accurately! In PSHE, we have been using the My Happy Mind resources to set personal goals eg getting more fresh air. Everyone has chosen their own goal and spent some time thinking about how they can create and build on healthy habits.  Thank you to everyone that came to the SATs meeting on Wednesday. If you could not come, the Office have sent a link to a video. 

REMINDER: PE is every Tuesday and Friday.   Homework is due on Thursdays. Homework Club is Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes. 

Letters sent home this week

Music

Diary Dates:

• Junior Music Festival – Cliffs Pavilion - 8th June – KS2 Choir

Instrumental Lessons Tuesday Guitar - Mr Brown  Wednesday Guitar – Mr Elliott  Wednesday Keyboard – Mr Hockey Wednesday Drums – Mr Peters  

French

This week, year 6 have enjoyed a return to French by looking at changes in their school life; year 5 have been furthering their knowledge of animals through a story; year 2 have enjoyed learning some important phrases in French.

Online Safety

Image-altering filters are now embedded in everyday online interactions, from playful effects to more subtle appearance-enhancing tools. This guide examines how these features can influence perceptions of beauty and reality, particularly for children and young people navigating social media. It highlights how filtered content can quietly shape expectations and online behaviours.

Focusing on risks such as low self-esteem, social pressure and hidden advertising, the guide also addresses more serious concerns like sexualised edits and blurred boundaries between real and altered images. It provides supportive, practical advice to help parents and educators build media literacy, encourage confidence and promote healthier relationships with online content.

Community

Cost of Living

Click here to access cost of living advice from Southend City Council. It contains information on housing support, energy cost advice and benefits and support for those with children.