Diary Dates
January
- Monday 20th - Visit to The Natural History Museum (5F & 5K)
- Year 3/4 Girls' Football Trial
- Tuesday 21st - Visit to The Natural History Museum (5G & 5L)
- Year 3 visit to the library (3H & 3S)
- Year 6 RSE talk for parents @ 2.30pm
- Year 3/4 Girls' Football Trial
- Family Cooking Fun
- Thursday 23rd - Young Shakespeare Company Year 6
- Family Fun Cooking
- Friday 24th - Year 3/4 Boys' Southend Football Competition
- Monday 27th - Years 3/4 Boys' Football V Downhall
- Pentathlon Swimming Gala
- Tuesday 28th - Family Fun Cooking Session
- Year 6 basketball competition
- Girls' football friendly @ Hinguar
- Thursday 30th - Girls' Essex Q/F Cup vs George Carey
- Family Fun Cooking Session
- Friday 31st - Year 5/6 Hockey Festival
February
- Monday 3rd - Young Voices at the O2
- Tuesday 4th - Family Fun Cooking Session
- Thursday 6th - Year 5/6 Boys' Football vs Chalkwell
- Family Fun Cooking Session
- Monday 10th - Year 5/6 Boys' Football V. Fairways
- Tuesday 11th - Safer Internet Day
- Year 6 Girls' Netball League
- Wednesday 12th - Year 6 Cyber Security Workshop
- Year 5/6 Essex Tag Rugby Finals
- Year 3/4 Boys' Football @ Chalkwell
- Monday 17th - Friday 21st - Half Term
- Monday 24th - INSET Day
- Wednesday 26th - Year 6 Netball Competition
- Thursday 27th - Year 6 Netball Festival
- Friday 28th - Year 3/4 Girls' Football Competition
- School Nurse drop-ins for Parents
March
- Monday 3rd - Year 3 Dogs Trust visit
- Tuesday 4th - Southend Makes Music
- Wednesday 5th - General Knowledge Quiz Club Area Heat
- Thursday 6th - Year 4 Colchester Castle
- Year 5/6 Quad Kids Trial
- Friday 7th - Year 6 Dragonball Competition
- Monday 10th - Year 3/4 Boys' Football
- Parent Council Meeting
- Tuesday 11th - Year 6 Openroad Drug Safety Workshop
- Wednesday 12th - Years 3-5 assessments until Friday 21st
- Year 4 Tag Rugby Competition
- Thursday 13th - Year 5/6 Boys' Football vs Greenways
- Tuesday 18th - Year 6 Openroad Drug Safety Workshop
- Wednesday 19th - Year 5/6 Sports Hall Finals
- Thursday 20th - Cross Country training Essex Final Squad
- Friday 21st - Comic Relief
- Monday 24th - Year 6 Mock Week
- Tuesday 25th - Year 6 Girls' Netball League
- Year 4 presentation @ 2pm (4B & 4C)
- Thursday 27th - Year 4 presentation @ 2pm (4E & 4SW)
- Friday 28th - Year 5/6 Aquathlon
April
- Tuesday 1st - Learning Conferences
- Wednesday 2nd - Cross Country Essex Finals
- Thursday 3rd - Learning Conferences
- Monday 7th - Monday 21st - Easter Holidays
- Thursday 24th - Year 5 Transition and Selection meeting
- Friday 25th - Year 3/4 Tennis Competition @ 9am
- Year 5/6 Tennis Competition @ 12.15pm
- Monday 28th - Year 5 Geography Field Trip
- Wednesday 30th - Year 3/4 Quad Kids
May
- Thursday 1st - Dance Festival @ Alleyn Court
- Wednesday 7th - Year 5/6 Quad Kids
- Monday 12th - Year 6 SATs Week
- Tuesday 20th - Year 3 Presentation @ 2pm (3M & 3S)
- Wednesday 21st - Maths Quiz Club Area Heat
- Swimming Gala @ Garon Park
- Thursday 22nd - Year 3 Presentation @ 2pm (3T & 3H)
- Friday 23rd - Year 6 Rounders Festival
- Monday 26th - Friday 30th - Half Term
June
- Monday 2nd - INSET Day
- Wednesday 4th - Year 6 Cricket Competition (boys)
- Thursday 5th - Year 6 Cricket Competition (girls)
- Friday 6th - Careers Day
- Monday 9th - Wednesday 18th - Assessments in Years 3 - 5
- Monday 9th - Thursday 19th - Year 6 Bikeability
- Wednesday 11th - Borough Sports
- Thursday 12th - Year 4 Transition
- Friday 13th - SEESMA Concert
- Monday 23rd - Friday 27th - Ilam Hall Residential and Southend Activity Week
- Tuesday 24th - Super Sports - Track
- Year 6 Induction King John
- Wednesday 25th - Super Sports - Field
- Year 6 Induction King John
July
- Friday 4th - Year 6-7 Transition Day
- Monday 7th - Sports Day
- Tuesday 15th - Open Evening 5pm - 7pm
- Friday 18th - Annual School Reports
- Monday 21st - Year 6 Swimming Gala
- Wednesday 23rd - Last day of term
Year 3
Spring term is in full swing in Year 3 and the children have been fully engaging with all of their learning opportunities.
In our English lessons, they have been immersing themselves in the world of the Ancient Greek myths, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pandora’s Box and Perseus and the Minotaur. This connects beautifully with our layered reading book for this term - Beast Keeper - by Lucy Coates, where the main character, Demon, is about to meet a number of interesting mythical creatures.
Maths has continued to build on the children’s geometrical knowledge. They have identified the properties and mathematical names of 2D shapes. This has provided them with the opportunity to apply much of their recently learnt vocabulary such as parallel, perpendicular and names of angles.
Our Connected Curriculum lessons have focused on the gods worshipped by many ancient civilisations and we have considered why many of these gods were similar. The children found this very thought provoking. We went on to look in more detail at the temples of the Ancient Greeks and created some impressive labelled diagrams of these structures.
In our science lessons, the children have explored the effects of different textured surfaces. The recent icy pavements have been quite a talking point!
REMINDER: 3S and 3H will need to wear sensible shoes and a warm coat for their trip to Leigh Library on Tuesday next week.
Letters sent home this week
Year 4
The term is well underway now and the children are working incredibly hard.
In English this week, we have studied the sequel to last week’s Brilliant Book - The Day the Crayons Came Home. The children have thoroughly enjoyed writing their own postcards in the same style as the author, from a crayon who had been left behind. They have also identified the features of diary extracts and also planned, wrote and top-copied a diary extract from a different writing implement who had visited somewhere exciting.
In maths, we began the week by consolidating our knowledge of metric measures and the children practised converting between them. The main focus of the week has been line graphs. The children have studied and interpreted a range of line graphs and some groups have produced their own line graphs using supplied data.
As scientists, the focus has been on gases. The children had fun observing gases within a variety of scenarios and recorded their findings in the form of labelled diagrams.
The children were geographers within our Connected Curriculum lessons this week. Using a range of sources, the children identified and located a range of physical and human geographical features in Italy and the UK.
Letters sent home this week
Year 4 - Mersea Residential Information - 16.01.2025
Year 5
This week seems to have flown by with lots of great learning and fun along the way. We kicked off the week with a continuation of our work on The Ridge. We have now planned our own narratives set on the Isle of Skye, with adventurous activities and imminent danger. We have looked at narrative techniques used by authors to develop characters, building on our work during the autumn term. We have engaged in drama, read examples of texts written by accomplished authors and considered how they might ‘show not tell’ how a character is thinking or feeling.
In maths, we have worked on addition and subtraction, using algebraic thinking, mental strategies and applied our learning to real life contexts in money and measurement. We have worked on mathematical proof (Can You Convince Me) and played strategic card games involving adding up scores.
In science, we have learnt about the changing views of our solar system over time and looked at the way the planets orbit the sun using giant blow up planets.
Our Connected Curriculum work has been centred around plate tectonics and volcanoes. We are learning about the different types of volcanoes and where they can be found around the globe. We had great fun learning how mountains and volcanoes are formed using paper plates and shaving foam even if it was a little messy!
Finally, we would ask that the children keep up with their moon diaries so that we can analyse the phases of the moon in class. There have been some wonderfully crisp evenings with clear night skies and, recently a new moon.
Year 6
In English, Year 6 has been immersed in the exploration and reflection on characters, delving into how luck and misfortune shape their narratives. Additionally, students have honed their persuasive writing skills, crafting compelling nominations for a Simply the Best Award within our school community. This exercise not only refined their persuasive abilities but also fostered a sense of appreciation and recognition within our school environment, despite it being a fictitious award!
Following previous learning about Karl Linnaeus's system of classification, the Year 6 pupils have been expanding their vocabulary and understanding of the intricate manner in which living things are categorised. To showcase their newfound knowledge, they researched invertebrates and creatively presented their findings.
Within Connected Curriculum, they have learned about the major biomes around the world and how they are linked to climate. They have also had the opportunity to make comparisons between two biomes, studying them in greater detail. Within this topic, they have additionally been introduced to the artwork of Henri Rousseau, as an initial inspiration for this term’s artwork.
Online Safety
Among children – and especially teenagers – TikTok boasts approximately 220 million users, providing a near-endless reel of short clips intended to entertain, educate and more. However, along with its enormous userbase comes a significant number of possible risks: Ofcom have dubbed it the most likely app on which teen users would potentially suffer harm.
With the platform reaching astronomical levels of success among the younger generation, it’s vitally important for parents and educators to understand the risks it poses. This free guide lets you know about the most prominent potential dangers associated with TikTok and offers expert advice on how to safeguard youngsters who are navigating the site.
Playground Update!
This week, we have introduced two new activities to the playground, which have both been very well received!
Craze of the Week
Every week, the children will be introduced to a new activity with Miss Gregory. This will allow the children to build their skills and all are welcome to join in. This week, the children have used ankle skips - and have really enjoyed trying to increase their 'streak' each day! Future activities include archery, parachute games and stilts.
Card Trading
Card trading also returned this week under the careful eye of Mr Russell. It was fantastic to see so many children engaging with members of other year groups as they negotiated their trades and admired each other's cards. As expected, the quiet area was a hive of activity and we are glad that we have been able to reintroduce this popular pastime.
Playground Squad
Thank you to all the children who submitted applications for Playground Squad for this term - we now have a squad of 40 children ready to begin their training next week. More opportunities to join the squad will become available in the summer term. Our playground squad will be setting up games for anyone to join and will be on the lookout for any children they think might need a little encouragement to take part.
Inspirational Person
Thank you to all of those who submitted entries for last half term's Showbie challenge - it was fantastic to see all of the quotes about integrity presented in such interesting and creative ways. Some of the entries are shown below.
This half term, we have looked at the achievements of Ryan Hreljac. Whilst at school, he learned about the scarcity of water in some countries. He decided to do something about it - raising thousands of dollars to buy wells and even inspiring others to join him. We discussed the different Golden Values that he demonstrated, and concluded that his actions actually demonstrated all three!
Ryan demonstrated commitment and responsibility – it took him a long time to save the money needed for a well. He could have given up at any point, but he kept going. He recognised that it was not fair that he had easy access to water whilst others did not and set about trying to change that, showing integrity. Finally, Ryan showed compassion and concern for others; he was upset at the thought that other people did not have the essential water that they needed. By empathising with them, he was able to help.
This half term's Showbie challenge is to look at all of the tips on Ryan’s website for different ways that we can conserve water. Choose some of these tips and make a poster to share this information with others. The link and further information can be found in the 'Inspirational People' folder on Showbie.
Royal Academy Young Artists' Summer Show
Now in its seventh year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for pupils aged 4–18. Artworks are judged by a panel of artists and art professionals, with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts. West Leigh Junior School is now registered so if anyone is feeling inspired, they are able to apply and enter this prestigious exhibition online. Submissions are open until 5th March 2025. All details are available on the Royal Academy’s website, below but if you have any further questions, please get in touch with Mrs Nash.
Sportshall Athletics
After weeks of trials and training, Sportshall Athletics 2025 finally arrived! This is a fantastic team event which combines all the children's scores across a range of track and field events. There were huge javelin throws, smooth relay baton changeovers, all sorts of hurdling, speed bouncing and excellent jumps taking place throughout the competitions! West Leigh finished in 3rd place in the Year 5/6 competition and 2nd place in the Year 3/4 competition. The Year 5/6 squad will now represent West Leigh and Southend in the Essex finals in March. A huge congratulations to all of the children who once again, were a credit to the school.
Dinner Menu
Week 3
Monday - Homemade Creamy cheese and Vegetable Wholemeal Pasta - Jacket Potato with Baked Beans, Cheese or Tuna Mayonnaise - Granary Baguette with Cheese - Sweetcorn, Coleslaw and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruit Cocktail
Tuesday - Pork Sausage - Vegan Sausage -Jacket Potato with Baked Beans, Cheese or Tuna Mayonnaise - Oven Baked Chips, Sweetcorn and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Lemon Drizzle Cake
Wednesday - Mrs Maddin’s Chicken, Ham, Leek and Mushroom Pie - Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie - Granary Baguette with Tuna Mayonnaise - Mashed Potatoes, Garden Peas and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruity Shortbread
Thursday - Homemade Beef and Spaghetti Bolognaise - Vegetable and Quorn Spaghetti Bolognaise - Jacket Potato with Baked Beans, Cheese and Tuna Mayonnaise - Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruit Sponge
Friday - 100% Fish Fingers - Vegetable Fingers - Wholemeal Wrap with Salmon and Sweetcorn - Saute Potatoes, Baked Beans and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruity Jelly
Don't forget to check out our new online bookshop here.
Swimming
Please ensure that your child has their full kit with them on swimming days as we will no longer be phoning home for forgotten kits.
Monday
- 3H
- 4B
- 4SW
Tuesday
- 3M
- 5L
- 5K
Wednesday
- 3S
- 4C
- 3T
Thursday
- 5G
- 5F
Friday
- 6D
- 6A
- 4E
- 6P
- 6W
PE Lessons
Please ensure that your child is wearing their full kit on PE days as we will no longer be phoning home for forgotten kits.
First Half Term:
3M
- Indoor PE: Wednesday
- Outdoor PE: Thursday
3S
- Indoor PE: Tuesday
- Outdoor PE: Friday
3H
- Indoor PE: Tuesday
- Outdoor PE: Thursday
3T
- Indoor PE: Monday
- Outdoor PE: Friday
4B
- Indoor PE: Wednesday
- Outdoor PE: Tuesday
4E
- Indoor PE: Monday
- Outdoor PE: Thursday
4SW
- Indoor PE: Friday
- Outdoor PE: Thursday
4C
- Indoor PE: Monday
- Outdoor PE: Tuesday
5K
- Indoor PE: Friday
- Outdoor PE: Monday
5F
- Indoor PE: Friday
- Outdoor PE: Monday
5L
- Indoor PE: Thursday
- Outdoor PE: Wednesday
5G
- Indoor PE: Tuesday
- Outdoor PE: Wednesday
6D
- Indoor PE: Wednesday
- Outdoor PE: Tuesday
6A
- Indoor PE: Thursday
- Outdoor PE: Monday
6P
- Indoor PE: Thursday
- Outdoor PE: Tuesday
6W
- Indoor PE: Thursday
- Outdoor PE: Monday
Attendance
Congratulations to 3S who achieved the highest attendance this week with 100%.
Messages from FOWLS
Please be aware that the Year 3 disco will be taking place on Friday 17th January. Information about this event has been shared via individual class WhatsApp groups but if you'd still like to buy a ticket or require further information, please contact FOWLS.
The full list of councillors, along with their email addresses if you wish to contact them, can be found on our school website. The minutes from our meetings are also published on this page, which can be found using the following link: https://www.westleighjunior.co.uk/parent-council
A reminder that answers to many of the previously discussed items at parent council can be found on the 'hot topics' section of our website: https://www.westleighjunior.co.uk/hot-topics
This includes subjects such as lost property, lunchtime arrangements, clubs and much more.
We still have vacancies in 4E, 4C and 6P - if you are able to spare an evening each term to represent your class, it would be of great benefit to the school. Our meetings are held at 4.30pm and councillors are able to use our After School Club, free of charge to assist with child care during the meeting. Please contact Mrs London if you are able to volunteer.
Community News
NHS Pharmacy First Service
Did you know that the NHS Pharmacy First Service enables children and adults to get convenient access to healthcare advice and treatment where appropriate, for seven common conditions without the potential delay of having to wait for a GP appointment? Accessing the service may help children feel better and get back to school as quickly as possible, as well as supporting parents/carers to also get better if they are unwell with one of the conditions covered under the service.
There is no need to make an appointment; parents or carers can pop into their local Boots pharmacy with their child and ask for help under the service.
Support for the following conditions can be accessed under the service, free of charge (unless NHS prescription charges apply):
Credits:
Created with images by Kseniya - "empty gallerys in museum" • epicraw - "Close up man hands holding champion golden trophy on transparent background Generative AI"