Friars Weekly Newsletter

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

Havens Fundraising

We had a really lovely non-uniform day today with lots of money being raised for Havens Hospices. Thank you for all of the donations. May Half-term Mr. McClay continues the Havens fundraising by taking part in a hiking challenge in Snowdonia over the holiday. Mr. McClay isn't a big fan of heights so this will certainly be challenging! Should anyone wish to sponsor Mr. McClay directly, the charity link is below.

JustGiving Link

Nursery

Wow, I feel this half first has flown by and cannot believe we are already at the half term. This week in nursery the children enjoyed making sand dough, similar to play dough but we added sand to the ingredients, this gave it a slightly rougher grainier texture. We placed it in the builder’s tray with small wooden bricks and the construction trucks and diggers and the children built walls, houses, and castles using the materials provided. This week the children have also enjoyed 5minute yoga bursts. Sometimes children struggle to come in from the playground and sit straight away in a group session, we have found giving them a quick movement bursts allows them to transition from one activity to another a little calmer.

REMINDER: We hope after the half term there will be a little more sunshine, with this though, please remember sun hats and to apply sun cream before coming into nursery. 

Reception

As part of our topic about plants, all children have planted their own sunflower seed. Some seeds have started to grow whilst others have not yet germinated. Your child will bring home their sunflower – give it a little water and place it somewhere sunny. Throughout the week, we have spoken about how to care for plants, named the different parts of a plant and what function they have.    In maths we have been rotating shapes to make pictures and patterns. We have been revising key digraphs and tricky words in our phonics lessons; keep reading at home, it really does help your child.    Have a restful half term, we are looking forward to seeing the children in June for their final few weeks in Reception. 

REMINDER: Reception's Sports Day is at 1:30 on Thursday 18th June.   Our trip to Hyde Hall takes place on Friday 26th June.

Year 1

We have had a busy end to our half term in Year 1. In maths we have been thinking about positional language and directions. The children have been using vocabulary such as left, right, above, below, half turn, full turn, forwards and backwards.  In English we have been learning when we should use a or an. Remembering to look at the first sound of the next word to help.  In Science, we have finished our work on plants sequencing the life of a seed.  Starlings had a wonderful 2 days of outdoor learning finding out about different animals that live in our garden. Wrens will be enjoying those sessions after half term.  Wrens had a lovely time at their final swimming lesson, enjoying a fun swim with floats and balls. They have said it was fantastic!  It was lovely to see so many of you at sports day this week – we all had a great time and hope you enjoyed it too. Have a wonderful half term break and we will see you in June for our last half term in Year 1!  

After half term PE will be as follows:   Starlings  Monday – Dance Wednesday – Swimming (full uniform from Tuesday to Friday)    Wrens  Monday – Dance Friday – Sports  (PE kit Monday and Friday)   Also, Wrens have outdoor learning on the first Tuesday and again on the first Friday after half term.

Year 2

Year 3

In English, we wrote fantastic kenning poems all about dragons. We used creative descriptions and compound words to make our poems exciting and imaginative. The children enjoyed sharing their ideas and performing their poems to the class. In Maths, we continued learning how to tell the time using both analogue and digital clocks. We practised reading o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to, and worked hard to match times shown in different ways. During the afternoons, we became pizza designers in Design and Technology! The children designed their own delicious pizzas, thinking carefully about toppings, flavours and healthy ingredients. We can’t wait to continue our pizza project after the holidays!

Year 4

Thank you for all the support leading up to and on the day of our Year 4 assembly. A huge well done to all of the children for such a fantastic performance — we were incredibly proud of them all! This week in English, lessons focused on grammar, including identifying word classes and understanding clauses. In maths, we began our new topic of time, exploring years, months, weeks and days. Science involved creating loop games using electrical circuits and considering how conductors and insulators are used in everyday objects. During PSHE, we discussed the big question of whether we learn more from winning or losing, leading to some thoughtful conversations. French lessons focused on writing about the weather. In RE, pupils continued exploring what is important to us as individuals, creating puzzles to represent the things that make us who we are. Of course, one of the highlights of the week was our fantastic Sports Day! Well done to all of the children for their enthusiasm, teamwork and determination throughout the event. We are so proud of all the hard work the children have shown this half term. Have a wonderful and restful half term break.

REMINDER: Please continue practising times tables at home over the holidays.

Year 5

What a fantastic final week to this half term! We have written some amazing non chronological report based on Ancient Greek Mythology to finish off our topic of Ancient Greece. We have really enjoyed researching and finding out loads of interesting information and collating it together. In maths we have continued with the topic of decimals, specifically adding and subtracting decimals with different decimal places.  In the afternoons we did some comparisons in history where we compared the stone age to Ancient Greece. We looked at comparing areas such as food and drink, homes and entertainment. Lastly, we finished our week with sports day and what a great afternoon that was! Well done to all that was involved, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Year 6

Sports & PE

A massive thank you to everyone for supporting our amazing sports day. It was another great success with children across the school performing and competing in a selection of events, while family members cheered them on and gave them all the positive support they needed. It was lovely to see so many families together, enjoying their lunchtime family picnics on our school field on such a great day.

Outdoor Learning

Online Safety

Minecraft remains hugely popular with young players, offering creative freedom and social interaction. This guide explores how features like public servers, in-game chat and multiplayer modes can introduce risks, including contact with strangers, exposure to inappropriate behaviour and privacy concerns linked to independent server hosting. It also highlights issues such as griefing, in-game spending and potentially addictive gameplay loops. With clear, actionable advice, the guide helps parents and educators set boundaries, choose safer settings and support children in enjoying Minecraft responsibly while staying protected online.

PTA

Thank you to everyone who came along to the pre-loved uniform sale on Thursday. Mr. Burnham made an appearance signing his book... Hopefully he remembers us all when he is famous!