Portico Music Event
On Thursday 2nd May, children from across the Portico Trust were brought together in the first trust wide music workshop. The children came from years 1 to 4, spanning the ages 6 – 9 years old. With kind permission from David Stanley at The Music Man Project, they worked together, under the direction of teachers Sandra Baines and Nina Bemister, to create a version of the beautiful song Peace and Hope using tuned percussion instruments and a small but perfectly formed choir. The shared outcome was very uplifting and we hope that this will be the first of many music workshops whereby the children from across the trust can gather together to make music, explore ensemble work and perform together.
Diary Dates
May
- Monday 13th - Thursday 16th - KS2 SATS week
- Wednesday 15th - Nursery parents in for National Smiles Week
- Monday 20th - Making the Band Day Y5/6
- Thursday 23rd
- Danbury Parent Meeting - 3.30pm
- Monday 27th - BANK HOLIDAY - School Closed
- Tuesday 28th - Friday 31st - May Half Term
June
- Monday 3rd - INSET DAY
- Wednesday 5th - Drumming Workshop
- Monday 10th - Friday 14th - Healthy Eating Week
- Tuesday 11th - KS2 Borough Sports
- Tuesday 18th - Class Photos
- Thursday 20th - Southend School Gotta Dance - Palace Theatre
July
- Thursday 4th - KS2 Sports Afternoon at Southchurch Park
- Friday 5th - Year 6 Transition Day
- Wednesday 10th - Friday 12th - Danbury Residential trip
- Friday 19th - Last Day of Term
Nursery
This week we have had an amazing week. We have enjoyed lots of letters and sounds activities, getting ready for school. We have enjoyed making some masks to use in our role play, adding our own materials. In the garden we have used the mud kitchen to make up our own recipes, trying very hard to use our developmental writing to list the ingredients.
REMINDERS: Please remember to bring in your child’s favourite stories from home to share with the group.
Reception
This week we have been learning to build and order numbers 11-20. We have been representing numbers using different resources and matching them to the correct numeral. We have been sharing and writing our weekend news. We have been learning how to compose a sentence, use finger spaces and form our letters correctly. We have been interested in volcanoes, looking at pictures, making them with junk materials and writing about them in our stories. In our art lessons we have been learning how to draw a volcano using oil pastels.
REMINDER: Next week we are celebrating National Smile month 13th May-13th June. We would like to invite Parents and Carers in on the 15th May for some oral health activities in the afternoon.
Please remember to read at home and sign the school reading record book.
Year 1
Wow, our trip to the Sea Life Adventure was fantastic! The children learned so much and were extremely well behaved. They spotted classifications of animals like reptiles, mammals and amphibians. This week the children have also been learning to write a diary entry about their trip experience. In maths, the children have been recapping doubles and how to organise concrete resources in to groups.
REMINDER: Please remember to write a note in your child’s reading record so we know how your child reads at home.
Year 2
This week, we dived into the world of rainforest animals by writing a non-chronological report. We had the exciting choice of the sloth, poison dart frog, or Macaw. In Maths, we began our exploration of time, learning about O’clock, half past, quarter past, and quarter to. We compared homes in Southend to those in Brazil, discovering interesting differences and similarities. PE was all about fitness as we completed laps for the TSC Mini London Marathon in Schools.
REMINDER:Please remember to continue listening to your child read every day. Also, ensure your child’s PE kit is in school for our Tuesday PE session.
Year 3
We continue to explore play script writing this week in English, using the story ‘Voices in the park’ we are using the third voice to create our own play scripts. In maths we have moved on to money, exploring amount and adding and subtracting amounts. In geography we have been exploring human and physical features within Europe. In science we continue to explore light, this week it is refraction.
REMINDERS: Please encourage children to login to TTRockstars for at least five minutes a few times a week.
Year 4
In English, we have been continued learning about instructions. We have written our own instructions for games using words such as ‘before, until, once and after’ to add more detail. In maths, we are learning key facts about decimals eg 0.1 + 0.9 = 1 and 0.01 + 0.99 = 1. In science, we are learning about how to be safe around electricity and what materials conduct electricity. In PE, Orca have had their last athletics lesson and Porpoise have finished rounders. The classes are now swapping so Orca is learning to play rounders and Porpoise is practising their running, jumping and throwing skills.
REMINDER: The Maths Multiplication Check is getting closer and closer. Your child will be given 6 seconds to type in their answer to each of the 25 questions. Please spend 10 minutes a day practising answering questions at this pace.
There is homework set on TT Rockstars to help with this.
Year 5
This week, the children have been writing their own play scripts about The Island. They have even had a go at acting them out!
In geography, we have looked at coastal management systems and the importance of them. Next week, we will think about our local coastal management systems in Southend.
REMINDER: Please ensure that reading books and home school diaries are in school daily.
Year 6
This week, the children have been planning and writing their own play scripts based on the stories they wrote about the Tin Forest. In maths, they have been learned how to translate and reflect shapes, using their knowledge of co-ordinates. The children enjoyed an online class about aspirations and careers; this week’s was all about the World of Fashion!
REMINDER: We hope that the children are feeling calm and well-prepared for their SATs week next week. Please feel free to ask us about any outstanding questions or concerns, if they were not already answered at the SATs meeting for parents and careers this week.
French
This week year two have been learning a bit more about the beach, with a poem in French. Year three have been learning more about a description of their town, and year five have been deepening their knowledge of a trip to Paris and writing a neat version in books.
Music
Music Clubs
- Tuesday 12.00pm: Band
- Tuesday 3.30: Music Making (Yrs 1,2)
- Thursday 3.30pm: Choir (Yrs 3,4,5,6).
Instrumental Lessons
We do have a few vacancies, please contact Mrs Baines if your child would like to learn an instrument.
- Tuesday am: Guitar (Mr Brown)
- Wednesday am: Keyboard (Mr Hockey)
- Wednesday am: Guitar (Mr Elliot)
- Fri pm: a group of year 5 students are learning the violin.
Nb. We are currently looking for a tutor in order to continue offering drum lessons.
Future Events
- 13th June Junior Music Fesitval - KS2 Choir
Healthy Schools
Between 13 May and 13 June 2024, the Oral Health Foundation will be raising awareness of important oral health issues with the theme: Love Your Smile
Here at Porters Grange we will be joining in this campaign as a whole school event and teaching the children the importance of having good Oral health and promoting the value of a healthy smile.
Online Safety
Exam stress – sometimes referred to as test anxiety – is of course a long-running issue for children and young people. Many experts have suggested that the enforced break to traditional testing during the pandemic (specifically the relative lack of familiarity with exam situations) has exacerbated this problem for those who are currently in education.
The possible impact of exam stress on children’s mental, emotional and physical wellbeing is difficult to overstate – and students’ need for support is seldom greater than during these periods of their academic life. Our guide offers you ten practical tips for helping young people to manage exam stress and minimise its potentially detrimental effects.
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Our Uniform shop is located within the front reception area of the school and is open Monday-Friday 8.15am - 4.00pm. All items are 50p each. We always have a good selection of skirts, trousers, jumpers, tops, dresses and P.E items. Please ask at the office to point you in the right direction.
School Uniform Donations
We always welcome school uniform donations for us to sell at our school uniform shop. Could we please ask that the clothes are in good, clean condition. All items can be dropped off at the school office between 8.15am - 4.00pm. Thank you so much for doing this for the school as it helps our parents out tremendously.
Attendance
Well Done, Octopus for achieving the highest attendance this week for the year at 99%. Congratulations also goes to Orca and Stingray classes also achieved a certificate in their key Stage 2.
Being ready for every day and getting in on time is the challenge you set yourself to achieve greatness!
This week we had 374 children who achieved 100% attendance, this is the highest number of children yet. Well done to all of those children for keeping that up, the more children that are in every day and on time the better their learning, the more progress they will make.
Being here is half the battle won!
Attendance meetings Thursdays
Please remember, if you are invited to an attendance meeting on a Thursday morning and you unable to make it please do get in contact to rearrange for a day and time that suits you. We understand everyone leads a busy life, Mrs Morris often has availability at the start of the day just after you drop off in the morning or just before you collect your child at the end of the day to have that short catch up about attendance for your child.
Contact us
If you would like to talk to someone for support or advice on attendance or punctuality, please do not hesitate to contact the Attendance Team, Mrs S. Wyer, Attendance Administrator or Mrs D Morris Assistant Principal and Senior Leader for Attendance, you can pop in to the school office to speak face to face, alternatively you call the school or drop an email to attendance@pgps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk we here and we are always happy to help!
From the first day of term to the last, the small moments in a school day make a real difference to your child.
Dinner Menu
Week 2
Monday - Pork Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Vegan Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Sweetcorn & Baked Beans - Chocolate Rice Crispie Cake
Tuesday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta - Vegan Tomato & Mixed Bean Sauce with Fusilli - Baked Jacket with Grated Cheese - Carrots & Broccoli - Mandarin Jelly
Wednesday - Honey Roast Gammon with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - Sweet chilli Stir-fry Mushroom & Steamed Rice - Wholewheat Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Seasonal Greens & Peas - Vanilla Ice Cream
Thursday - FAVOURITES DAY - Boston BBQ Chicken Wrap - Margherita Pitta Pizza - Baked Wedges, Baked Beans and Peas - Baked Potato with Baked Beans - Chocolate Sponge with Chocolate Sauce
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Fajita Wrap with Chips & Ketchup - Peas & Baked Beans - Lemon Drizzle Sponge
Community
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.