porters grange weekly newsletter week ending 19th DECEMBER 2024

Winter Coat Drive

With the nights drawing in and the Winter fast approaching could we please ask, if you have a coat that your child has grown out of could you possibly donate it to our 'Coat Drive' here at Porters Grange Primary School so another child could benefit from using it. Could coats please be of good, clean condition and if you could please bring them to the School office it will be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Nursery

We have had an amazing, fun week at Nursery. We enjoyed our decoration and singing time with our Parents/Carers on Monday. We worked so hard to learn all our Christmas songs and we made angels, tree decorations, paper chains and yummy biscuits. We have also enjoyed making our own Christmas cards and party hats. On Thursday we had so much fun at our Christmas parties.

Mrs Maltby and Miss Reynolds would like to wish all our families a very safe, healthy and happy Christmas.

Have lots of fun and we will see you in January 2025.

Reception

This week we really enjoyed performing our Christmas nativity to the children in Year One and Two and then to all the Parents and Carers. We hope you enjoyed our singing. We all went into our new phonic groups and have been continuing to learn our letters and sounds. We have worked hard to finish sticking our Christmas cards and tried hard to write our names in them. We had lots of fun at our class party and got to share some great dance moves!

All the staff in Reception would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you have a restful break. See you in the New Year.

Year 1

We have been busying ourselves with our Christmas nativity. The children have worked very hard on their singing, and we are so proud of their efforts.

In English, we have practise name writing. Our focus has been letter formation, correct use of capital letters and challenging ourselves to write our last names too. In maths we have been using number blocks to look at number bonds to 10 and to 20.

REMINDER: Please ensure PE kits are washed and returned ready for the new year. Thursday will continue to be our PE day.

Make sure you read with your child as much as you can. They are making lots of progress, so please keep it up.

Have a lovely break. Rest and have fun with family and friends. This is a year 1 expectation.

We will see you in 2025.

Year 2

Wow, what a week! Year two have enjoyed the festive activities. A particular highlight was designing then creating a festive or wintery item out of junk modelling resources. We are also very proud of year two’s achievements, the performance was amazing. The staff and children have worked so hard to make the performance what it was. Thank you to the families who came to watch the performance, the children loved seeing their adults in the audience.

Year 3

This week we have completed our work on multiplication and division. We have also completed our DT project using pneumatics to make our animal models move. As part of our geography work on volcanoes, we have imagined what it would be like to live in the Pacific ring of fire and written sentences to describe this.

We had lots of fun at our Christmas party and really enjoyed the day.

REMINDER: Please ensure PE kits are washed and returned ready for January.

Don’t forget to continue hearing your child read.

We hope you have a lovely Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Year 4

This week we have been enjoying a range of Christmas activities in the lead up to the holidays. We have written ACROSTIC poems and completed a layered reading quiz to recap our Anglo Saxon learning. We are also enjoying a range of craft activities. The children are having their photographs taken with their Anglo Saxon clay pots to complete their DT work this term.

Thank you to all the adults who are reading daily with their children. This is really helping them with their progress. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

REMINDER: Please remember P.E. kits on Mondays and Wednesdays in the New Year. Please continue to work on times tables.

Year 5

This week in English, we looked at the Japanese art of haiku poetry, using our knowledge of syllables, to create winter and festive themed poems. What better way to explain our progress than with a haiku itself:

We all did so well

The challenge was met head on

We wrote a haiku.

In maths, we finished our first unit of fractions and explored some word problems and arithmetic practise. In geography, we learnt about fossil fuels and how they impact our planet. We also enjoyed some festive fun at our class party on Thursday.

Have a very relaxing break and enjoy some festive time with your families.

REMINDER: Please remember to come back in January with a complete PE kit. The weather will still be cold so please ensure you have suitable clothing.

Have a wonderful festive break, however you celebrate, and we will see you in January!

Year 6

In English, the children have written their own non-chronological report about the history topic – Crime and Punishment. Each class enjoyed a day of DT using a crumble board (a programmable controller) to create a code to enable a trigger switch to work. In our history lessons, we learnt about modern day crime and punishment to finish our topic. We all enjoyed some festive fun at our class party on the last day of term.

We hope you have a peaceful holiday and look forward to seeing you back at school in the new year.

REMINDER: Please remember to bring a full PE kit and home school diary into school on the first day back.

French

This week lessons were interrupted by Christmas performances and events. We look forward to welcoming years two, four and five back to French after the Christmas break. As they say in French, bonnes vacances.

Music

Congratulations to all the children who have taken part in Christmas performances over the past couple of weeks. You have displayed excellent performance skills, and we look forward to exciting opportunities in the New Year.

KS2 choir will resume in January – new members are very welcome.

In January, Music Making club will be preparing for the Infant Music Festival on 12th March – more details in the new year.

Instrumental tuition will resume after the Christmas break – fee reminders have been sent out.

New Menu starting when we come back on Monday 6th January 2025

Community

Please click on the link below to read the Christmas Edition of the Early Help Community Newsletter - Thank you.

Early Help Community Newsletter - Christmas Edition

Southend Foodbank - Click here

Cost of Living Advice

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.