Porters Grange Weekly Newsletter 23RD October 2025

Competition Time!

Design a Logo for Warrior Square’s Regeneration Project!

Are you under 17 and full of creative ideas? We’re launching a logo design competition for the exciting regeneration project in Warrior Square, Southend – and we want your vision to lead the way!

This is your chance to help shape the identity of a project focused on building a safer, stronger, and more vibrant community.

🖌️ Your design should:

• Reflect themes of community, safety, and regeneration
• Be original and positive
• Not include any weapons or violent imagery

🏆 There’s a prize for the winning design!

The winning logo will be used across all project materials and showcased in the community.

📅 Deadline: Submit your entry by 3rd November 2025

📧 Email your design to: SouthendNPT@essex.police.uk

📁 Remember: Keep your original artwork – we may need it later!

Let’s see your creativity shine and help bring Warrior Square to life!

Thank you, James. James Mint Sergeant 2796 Southend Neighbourhood Policing Team, Essex Police.

Nursery

This week we have enjoyed celebrating the ‘Diwali’ the Hindu festival of lights. We have used the creative area to produce some wonderful decorations, which look wonderful in nursery. We have also enjoyed playing with some Indian cooking pots in our sensory/malleable area. We also enjoyed learning some Diwali songs.

REMINDER: Thank you for attending open evening this week, it was wonderful to talk about your child’s first half term.

Have an amazing half term, and see you back at nursery on Monday 3rd November, stay safe and have fun.

Reception

Some children became ‘Flu Fighters’ and learnt how germs can affect us. We have continued to explore Autumn, using magnifying glasses to investigate and describe conkers, acorns and leaves.

In maths we have started to look at numbers to 5, comparing two sets with more and less. To enhance our story language we have looked at traditional tales, in particular, The Three Little Pigs and Red Riding Hood.

REMINDER: Have a lovely rest over half term. We look forward to hearing the children’s new when they return on Monday 3rd November.

Letters sent home this week

Year 1

Year 1 have been continuing to work hard in maths and have fully immersed themselves into subtracting numbers. We have been learning about some fascinating men and women in history, looking at significant individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela for black history month. The children loved their music lesson this week and worked well with Mrs Baines to use xylophones for a piece of music.

REMINDER: Enjoy your week off (27th-31st). Keep reading and check Seesaw; there are lots of things for them to do.

PE kits need to be washed and returned to school on our first day back. Label all items.

Thank you for making our first half term with year 1 so amazing. Here is to the next half term.

Letters sent home this week

Year 2

This week the children have been recapping closing punctuation. The children have been writing about themselves using full stops, exclamation and question marks. In maths, the children have been adding to the next 10, across 10 and subtracting from a 10. Science has been great fun! The children had to imagine that they were stranded in a forest, on a deserted island, in snowy mountains and a hot desert. They had to make a survival guide about what they need to help them survive in one of these places.

REMINDER: Thank you for attending parents evening this week. It was great to talk about your child’s achievements so far.

Your child has brought their PE kit home so please bring the kit back, washed and ready for the next term.

Letters sent home this week

Year 3

We have enjoyed our first half term getting to know each other and learning new things. This week in history, we have learnt how Bronze became the new material of chose. In maths, we are adding and subtracting using the column method without exchanging.

REMINDER: PE kits have been sent home. Please ensure that they are brought back at the start of the next half term because our PE lesson is on the first day back. Don’t forget to provide the correct footwear for PE.

Letters sent home this week

Year 4

This week the children have been recapping key English techniques we have learnt such as expanded noun phrases, speech punctuation and fronted adverbials. They have created art celebrating Black History month using different medias. In maths we have finished our topic of subtraction and addition. After half term we will be learning about the area of shapes.

REMINDER: PE kits will go home on Thursday, they should be back in ready for PE after half term. PE days are Tuesday and Thursday.

Over the half term children can use the spellings in their reading record to practise. They should also be logging into TTR and reading regularly.

Letters sent home this week

Year 5

This week, year 5 have been writing poems based around ‘The Owl’ by Pie Corbett. We identified the figurative language used, such as similes and metaphor, before planning and writing our own poems about a wolf. In maths, we began our next unit looking at multiplication and division, learning about multiples and factors. In PSHE, we finished our final session with Place2Be, where we have completed lessons looking at diversity, racial awareness and how to embrace our culture and legacy.

REMINDER: Please remember PE kits when we return back to school, as the weather will be colder. Our PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thank you for all your hard work this first half term, have a restful break and we will return ready to work hard again soon!

Letters sent home this week

Year 6

Everyone has really enjoyed researching and writing their own biographies – we have found a lot of interesting facts about celebrities! Our focus was writing with formal language. This can be challenging so well done everyone for writing biographies that could be published.

In maths, we have finished our assessments, and multiplication and division. Some children may move maths sets based on the assessments so we can support them as much as possible.

In art, we finished our unit on using tone and shading to create realistic art with a free choice lesson. Everyone chose from paint, sketching pencils, coloured pencils or ink to create their still life. The results are very impressive!

Thank you for supporting your child by discussing their cultural identity and sending them in with something to share. We created posters with all the important family, cultural and traditional elements of our lives.

REMINDER: PE next half term is hockey (outside) and IndiRock:

• Monday – Stingray
• Tuesday (IndiRock) – Stingray and Octopus
• Friday – Octopus

Tuesday IndiRock reminder:

• warm PE kit
• comfortable shoes for walking
• warm coat with a hood
• water bottle
• snack

Letters sent home this week

Music

Music Lessons

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

We have availability - if your child is interested in learning a musical instrument, please contact Mrs Baines for more information.

These lessons take place within the school day.

French

We look forward to welcoming all students back to French teaching in Autumn term 2!

Online Safety

Fortnite continues to reign supreme in the gaming world, drawing in millions of players with its bold graphics, fast-paced action and constant stream of new content. This guide looks at the latest developments in the game – such as themed updates, crossover characters and limited-edition cosmetics – and what they mean for young players and the adults who support them.

It also unpacks some of the key online safety risks associated with Fortnite. With in-game purchases, cross-platform communication and regular seasonal updates creating an ‘always on’ experience, it’s vital that trusted adults understand how to help children and young people enjoy the game without being exposed to unnecessary risks.

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.