Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 7th november 2025

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• Odd Socks Day and Children in Need reminders
• Remembrance project
• Achievements Outside of School... karate and rugby this week

Autumn 2 is always an exciting term to come back to, and this week has proven to be a great start to proceedings. Possibly the highlight of the week for the children was our non-uniform day on Wednesday. Themed ‘Shine Bright, Wear Bright’, it was an opportunity to wear bright clothing on Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, and a chance for the PTA to collect lots of lovely donations for the Christmas Fayre raffle later in the term. Thank you for all of your contributions. Next week on Friday we have another non-uniform day, this time for Children in Need. The children can of course wear Children in Need merchandise if they so wish. Suggested donations of £1 please. Also, next week, we have Anti-Bullying Week with Monday being Odd Socks Day. Odd Socks Day reminds us that everyone is unique and that our differences should be celebrated. Don’t forget to wear your odd socks on Monday! Year 3 visited Shoebury Library this week. The library is an excellent resource on our doorstep and other year groups will be visiting later in the year. I know 3SM and 3SP enjoyed their mornings there and many of the children spoke about wanting to visit in their own time. Today, some of our keen footballers have been at Len Forge taking part in a Year 5/6 boys football tournament. Early reports were that the team was doing well. A full write-up will appear in next week’s newsletter. Please do make sure that you have read the letter about break time healthy snacks that was sent this week. There is a link in each of the year group sections for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr. McClay, Principal

Reception 2026

Our final Reception tours are next week.

• Tour 3: Thursday November 13 at 9:30am
• Tour 4: Thursday November 13 at 1:30pm

Tours will last approximately 45 minutes. Both parents and children are welcome to attend.

Remembrance

Miss Gibbons gave up two lunchtimes this week to allow children to take part in a Remembrance project led by the builder Taylor Wimpey. Miss Gibbons explained in an assembly that she would be opening up the Art Room for interested children who would like to design and paint giant poppies. Needless to say, she had lots of interest! See the photos below of some of the designs... they look great! The poppies will be on display on the Garrison this Remembrance weekend.

Achievements Outside of School

1) Recently Bay in Year 6, Tanner in Year 4 and Ozzy in Reception won karate medals! Ozzy came 3rd in his first ever competition against other orange belts, Bay came 1st for the second year running in her section. Tanner and Bay came 2nd together in their pairs category.

2) Four of our Year 4 pupils are achieving really well with their rugby outside of school. Rupert, Zac, Ozzy and Tanner (again!) enjoyed an exceptionally successful tag rugby season last year and this year have made the very exciting step up to first contact rugby. Even in the first match of the new season, they were outstanding; showing fast, intelligent attacking play, excellent defensive tackling and most importantly, playing with huge smiles on their faces throughout. Their teamwork, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm were a real credit to themselves and to the school. Rupert was even awarded the Player of the Week trophy for an exceptional performance. Well done everyone!

Nursery

Welcome back to the second half term. The children have returned and settled very well. This week we have learnt about Bonfire Night and completed lots of different artwork around it. We used colourful scarves to throw into the air and the children enjoyed pretending to be fireworks themselves jumping up and making lots of whizzing and banging noises. In group time sessions, we have introduced the first phoneme. Children are encouraged to recognise a picture and link it to a sound. This will later support when starting school as part of early reading and writing skills.

REMINDER: We are finding a lot of flavoured water and juice in bottles. Can I please remind everyone we ask for water only in bottles. Children can have a juice in their home packed lunch boxes, if they wish.

Reception

It has been a wonderful first week back! The children have settled in beautifully, full of enthusiasm and ready to learn. In maths, we have been exploring the composition of numbers, working together to find lots of different was to make 5. The children have enjoyed using practical resources and sharing their ideas with each other. During our phonics sessions, we’ve introduced some new double letter: ss, ff and ll along with the letter j. Our tricky words this week were: full, pull, put and as. Although Christmas still feels a little way off, we’ve already begun practising our songs for the Nativity performance. The show will take place on Tuesday 2nd December at 9:15am and Thursday 4th December at 9:15am.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 1

We have had another busy and exciting week in Year 1. We have started to look at using part whole models to write number sentences using the + and = signs. We have used dominos, drawn pictures and used cubes to help us find parts of a whole and then transferred that information into an addition sentence. Great maths work Year 1! In English, we have started working on the book “The Emperor’s Egg”. We have identified verbs within the text and thought about what penguins do. We have also started to look at regular verbs and have added ‘ed’ to them to use them in the past tense. Starlings have had a wonderful week of outdoor learning with Mr Brady. We have learnt about plants and vegetables, spotted things that are living in the outdoor environmental garden and finished our week by planting onions. We cannot wait for them to grow! Thank you so much for all your lovely donations on Wednesday. The Christmas Fayre is going to be fantastic! In science, Wrens went on a hunt around the classroom, looking for different objects. They then identified what material they were made from. We found objects made from metal, plastic, wood, glass and fabric.

REMINDER: Next week Wrens will have outdoor learning on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon. They may bring wellies or old shoes to change into if you wish but please remember they will need shoes for normal school activities in the morning. They may wear joggers or comfy clothes on the bottom half but must wear their uniform tops.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 2

This week in English, we have been exploring poems all about autumn. The children have enjoyed reading a range of poems and identifying the different features within them. Throughout the week, they’ve had lots of fun spotting rhyming words and even creating their own rhymes to use in class poems. In maths, the children have been working hard to add and subtract two 2-digit numbers, with a focus on crossing a ten (for example, 63 + 25, 63 - 25). We’ve been using practical equipment to help us ‘exchange’ 10 ones for 1 ten to support the children’s understanding. In DT, the children explored different types of hand puppets to inspire ideas for their own puppet designs. They illustrated their creative ideas and thought carefully about which features to include. The children showed fantastic imagination and attention to detail — we can’t wait to see their puppet designs come to life!

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 3

This week in English, we explored the features of a diary entry. We looked at how diaries are written in the first person and past tense, and how writers share their thoughts and feelings. In maths, we’ve been working on using inverse operations to check our answers and improve our problem-solving skills. We also practised estimating answers to see if our calculations made sense. The children did brilliantly using their reasoning skills to explain their thinking! We started a brand-new topic in science, 'Animals Including Humans'. This week, we learnt about the five food groups and how each one helps us stay healthy. The children enjoyed sorting foods into the correct groups and discussing their favourite healthy meals! A big highlight of our week was our trip to Shoeburyness Library! The children loved exploring the shelves, discovering new books, and learning how the library works. It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic readers finding stories to enjoy. Well done Year 3 for another brilliant week of learning and fun!

Letters sent home this week

• KS2 - Break Time Snack - 05.11.2025 ​
• Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 4

This week, Year 4 has been full of fun, focus, and fantastic learning! In maths, we began exploring multiplication and division, working on 'fact families' and using the inverse to check our answers. The children have shown great perseverance and are beginning to see how these skills link together. During English, we looked closely at the features of diary writing in preparation for creating our own diaries next week—as if we were Hiccup himself! The children enjoyed thinking about how to express thoughts and emotions through their writing. In music, we had our first lesson learning some of our new Christmas songs, and the classroom was soon filled with festive cheer! We also really enjoyed having Place2Be visit for our PSHE session this week, where we explored the theme of identity and what makes each of us unique. PE lessons saw us continue developing our basketball skills, focusing on different types of passes and working together as a team. Our history lessons saw us continuing to look at the Vikings, discovering what made Viking warriors so fierce and how they prepared for battle. In science, we began our new topic on sound, learning about the parts of the ear and how we hear different noises. The children were fascinated to see how vibrations travel and help us make sense of the sounds around us. We also loved taking part in our Shine Bright, Wear Bright Day! Thank you so much for all your kind donations and for helping us support the PTA. Have a lovely weekend, The Year 4 Team

Letters sent home this week

• KS2 - Break Time Snack - 05.11.2025
• ​ Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 5

It was lovely to see our wonderful Year 5 back after a week off. We have kicked off the new week looking at persuasive letters in English. We have looked at the past and present tense and other features that would be used in this genre. The children have then planned a letter to Mr McClay inviting him to think about a two-week break, instead of the one week we have just had...we all have our fingers crossed! Within maths, the children have been working very hard revisiting some areas of maths before some assessments we are going to start next week. The children next week have three English assessments, consisting of a reading paper, spelling, punctuation and grammar paper and a spelling paper. The following week we will focus on maths, where they will have one arithmetic paper and two reasoning papers. These assessments are nothing for the children to worry about and help us work out where they are in their learning currently. We look forward to sharing their progress with them. We have had some visitors in from Place2Be discussing race and diversity. The visitors enjoyed working in Year 5. The children showed great respect to each other, and we have started to think about what makes them special and unique. We practised a 'grounding technique' which we are sure the children will be able to talk to you about: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. We have started practising some Christmas songs this week and have prepared a song called 'Remember' for Remembrance Day next week. We are due to start our very own year group Christmas song soon for our Christmas Singalong...Keep an eye out for the words to help your child practise...Elton John will be very proud! Reminder: Please still encourage your child to practise their spellings as much as possible, as well as times tables. Many children are talking about their enjoyment on TTRockstars...we love to hear about this!

Letters sent home this week

• KS2 - Break Time Snack - 05.11.2025
• ​ Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Year 6

It was lovely to see the children after half-term break. The children have begun a series of lessons this week called “The Place2be” the focus being on understanding identity and diversity. The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and are looking forward to continuing. We have written some very emotive pieces of writing in the form of a recount from the first person perspective about a soldier who was forced to shoot an enemy during the Second World War. We have begun a new geography topic on trade and looked at the UK’s trade links with other countries.

Letters sent home this week

• KS2 - Break Time Snack - 05.11.2025 ​
• Whole School - Handwriting Letter - 05.11.2025

Computing

What a fantastic start to the new term in computing! The children in Years 1, 2 and 3 have been busy exploring new digital skills, creativity and curiosity in the computer suite and beyond. Year 2 kicked off the week learning how to use digital devices to take photographs. We talked about using technology safely and respectfully — especially the importance of asking permission before taking someone’s photo. Then it was time to get snapping! The children practised taking selfies and photos around the classroom before heading outdoors to capture action shots of P.E., buildings and things in the distance. Afterwards, they proudly shared their favourite photo with a partner and explained what made it special. On Tuesday, our Year 3 pupils were introduced to the exciting world of stop-frame animation. They watched some amazing examples and discovered how professional animators bring still images to life — and even learned about possible future careers in animation! Using just a whiteboard and pen, everyone created their very own mini animation. If they’d like to continue experimenting at home, the Stop Motion app is free to download and a great way to keep developing those creative skills. Our Year 1s couldn’t wait to get back into the Computer Suite! This week they worked on their typing skills in Microsoft Word, practising by typing simple sentences including their names and ages. Some even started exploring how to change the colour and size of their text — very impressive! Lunchtime Computing Club Don’t forget — the Computing Suite is open every Thursday lunchtime for KS2 pupils! It’s a great chance to practise what you’ve learned in lessons or explore something new. Whether it’s improving typing speed, playing online safety games, working on TT Rockstars, Nessy, or even designing in Tinkercad, there’s always something exciting to do! Keep up the great work, everyone — it’s amazing to see so many young digital learners exploring, creating and sharing!

Sports & PE

This week, the boys' football team played their first league game against Milton Hall. It was a great game with the team keeping their structure well and standing up to a strong Milton Hall. Well done to the team for a well deserved 2-1 win to start the season. Most of the same team then attended a tournament at Len Forge today. More to follow on this next week.

Online Safety

Bullying can affect children, both in and out of school – but adults play a crucial role in helping young people to speak up and support one another. This week’s guide is packed with practical strategies to foster confidence, kindness, and connection in the face of unkind behaviour. From encouraging inclusivity to spotting signs of distress, the guide highlights how small, everyday actions by young people and the adults around them can make a big difference. With tips on nurturing empathy, teaching allyship and validating children’s experiences, it’s a timely reminder that empowering young voices is key to positive change.

PTA

Thank you for everyone's support with the non-uniform day this week!