Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...
- The Music Man Project
- Reception 2025 School Tours
- School photos
- Labelling and checking clothing reminder
- Key Stage 2 Cross-Country (in the PE and Sports section)
Our penultimate week of Autumn 1 has been as fun as ever. The stand-out event of the week was the Music Man Project visiting us for a special assembly to Years 2 to 6 on Tuesday!
The Music Man Project is a multi-award-winning, world record-breaking international music education charity for people with learning disabilities. It provides accessible music tuition leading to inspirational performances, gives grants for accessible arts education, promotes equal access to performance, carries out research and raises awareness of the achievements of disadvantaged people in the arts.
All the children joined in with singing and learnt sign language to accompany the songs. Some of our children even got to perform solos! The following day, a number of children asked to learn one of the songs Music is Magic which the children can listen to if they ask an Alexa or play on Spotify or Apple Music. Mrs. Bemister will continue some of these songs in the children’s weekly singing assembly.
More information can be found out about The Music Man Project at Home Page - The Music Man Project UK
Maybe some of out children will join the weekly Children’s Music School!
Mr. Chris McClay, Principal
Reception 2025 School Tours
Our school tours for parents who have children starting school in Reception in September 2025 are next week and the week after the half-term holiday. If you have a child due to start Reception in September 2025 or you have friends or family members who you know will be interested, please see the dates and times below:
- Thursday 21st October at 9:30am and 2:00pm
- Thursday 7th November at 9:30am and 2:00pm
To book a place on a tour, please call the school office on 01702 294837.
School Photos
On Monday we have our school individual photographs. Please make sure that the children are wearing their full uniform on the day – ideally with their jumper or cardigan. If the weather is pleasant the photographs will be taken outside.
- Year 6: Please can the children wear their PE kits to school and bring their uniform to change into.
- Year 5: Please can the children wear their school uniform to school and bring their PE kit to change into.
- Year 2: Please can the children wear their school uniform to school and bring their PE kit to change into.
- Nursery: Please can the children wear their school uniform to school and bring a change of bottoms/trousers for outdoor learning in the afternoon. If your child does not normally attend the nursery on a Monday and you would like them to have their photo taken, please pop along with them for 9:00am.
Labelling and Checking Clothing
Please may we ask that all clothing that comes to school is fully labelled please. We sometimes have items going missing and it makes it so much easier to reunite the clothing to the owner if a name is present. Also, please do check your children's clothes so that they have brought home their jumper, cardigan or coat - and not someone else's by mistake. Thank you in advance!
Swimming
Just a reminder that if you have a child in Years 1 to 6, you will have received a letter last week about swimming which starts after the half-term holiday. The letters are linked in the year group sections of the newsletter and they are on the school website.
Swimming Organisation
- Boys and girls will change in separate rooms. No other children will be able to enter the rooms and any windows/door window panels will be covered.
- An adult will take the children to the changing rooms, and to and from the pool. The adult will supervise from outside the changing rooms.
- The children will walk the short distance to the pool with their dressing gown/dry robe on – taking if off when pool side.
- You will have seen in the letter, that flip flops/sliders should be brought in for the swimming sessions.
- Lessons are taught by a qualified swimming instructor with groups of 12. A lifeguard is also present.
- After the lesson, children will be encouraged to have a quick towel dry by the poolside and then pop their gown/robe back on before heading back into the building.
- After changing out of their costume/shorts and back into their uniform, everyone will return to their usual timetables.
Learning Conversation Evenings
Learning Conversations take place on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st November. The booking system will open straight after the half-term holiday. More information will follow...
Parking
Thank you for everyone's efforts with parking responsibly around our school. It continues to be so important that we keep children safe and have good relations with our neighbours.
Over the past week, we have been informed about particular parking problems in Friars Mews as well as some parking on our zigzags at the front of the building.
Diary Dates
October
- Monday 21st - Individual Photos
- Thursday 24th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Reception 2025 school tours - call to book
- Monday 28th - Friday 1st November - October Half Term
November
- Monday 4th - INSET DAY
- Tuesday 5th - First day back
- Learning Conversation Evening bookings to open
- Wednesday 6th - PTA Uniform & Christmas Jumper Sale
- Friday 8th - Year 5/6 Boys Emerging Football
- Monday 11th - Friday 15th - Anti-Bullying Week
- Tuesday 12th - Odd Sock Day
- Thursday 14th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Friday 15th - Children In Need
- Wednesday 20th - Year 3/4 Dodgeball Competition
- Learning Conversation Evening
- Thursday 21st - Learning Conversation Evening
- Monday 25th - Flu Immunisations
- Wednesday 27th - Year 5/6 Dodgeball Competition
- Thursday 28th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Year 1 Winter Wonderland 1:45pm
- Friday 29th - KS1 Dodgeball Competition
- Year 2 Winter Wonderland 1:45pm
December
- Monday 2nd - Year 3 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Tuesday 3rd - Reception Nativity 9:15am
- Year 5 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Wednesday 4th - School Nurse Parent Drop in Session
- Thursday 5th - Reception Nativity
- Year 4 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Friday 6th - New Age Kurling & Boccia
- Monday 9th - Reception Winter Wonderland 9:15am
- Tuesday 10th - Year 1 Christmas Play 9:15am and 2:15pm
- Wednesday 11th - Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
- Nursery Winter Wonderland and Sing-along 10:15am
- Year 2 Christmas Play 9:15am and 2:15pm
- Friday 13th - Father Christmas visit
- Tuesday 17th - Christmas Reading and Carol Service
- Wednesday 18th - Singalong Assembly
- Thursday 19th - Last Day of Term
- Friday 20th - INSET Day
- Monday 23rd - Friday 3rd January - Christmas Break
January 2025
- Monday 6th - Children Return to School
Nursery
We have celebrated Harvest in Nursery this week. Children have learnt the meaning of Harvest and how crops are grown and gathered from the land. They enjoyed performing the Poem ‘Chop Chop Choppity Chop’ and sang this as we mixed soups using the range of vegetables on display. The children also used these to create vegetable print artwork and faces inspired by the artist Arcimboldo. We have discussed fruit and vegetables that we like and spent time drawing and painting these. From all of this work, the children have helped create a couple of wall displays. It has been a great week with lots of learning all round.
Reminder: On Monday and Tuesday next week, we have Nursery's outdoor learning sessions with Mr. Brady.
Reception
This week we have opened up our mud kitchen outside; the children have loved using it to make pancakes, cookies tea and biscuits amongst other ideas. Mr. B has been especially happy with all the tea he has drank! We spoke about the Jewish festival of Sukkot explaining the connection to Harvest and encouraged children to build their own sukkahs. Our phonics sessions have focused on ck, e, u and r as well as learning the tricky word I.
Reminder: Owls have their outdoor learning session on Thursday afternoon, Robins have theirs on Friday afternoon. Children should bring a coat with them and welly boots. The children are allowed to wear different bottoms but must wear their uniform on their top half.
Year 1
We have had another busy week in Year 1. Our work on greater, less than and equal to has continued in maths and the children have become experts at choosing the correct symbols to represent these meanings. They have also enjoyed playing the caterpillar game on the iPad to order numbers from smallest to greatest.
Poetry is our topic in English for the next two weeks. We began by looking at the poem "Cold" by Shirley Hughes. We have started collecting our vocabulary ready to create our own versions about autumn next week. By going for a walk around the school grounds, we have generated lists of nouns to do with autumn and then thought carefully about adjectives to go with them. At the end of the week, we learnt the poem by heart and performed it to each other.
There was much excitement during our science lesson this week as the children took on the sense of smell. They were presented with unidentified pots of things they had to sniff and were asked to work out what the pots contained. Some things were far easier than others.
We took on Picasso art again this week. After evaluating their Picasso style portraits, the children were given pictures of other pieces of art and they had to try to recreate them. We have some budding artists in the year group! Great job Year 1!
Reminder: Please can we remind you to check your child's name is on everything they bring to school including jumpers, jackets, hats and gloves. This saves us a lot of confusion when items go missing. Thank you.
Year 2
Year 2 have turned into storytellers this week. They have created their own stories based upon the text Jim and the Beanstalk. Some of their characters met a dragon who had lost its fire. Luckily the children suggested that the character could use Mr Brady’s fire steel to give the dragon back its fire! During our maths work, we have been identifying patterns between number bonds and number bonds to 100 using both addition and subtraction facts.
In science we have investigated which common materials are the most waterproof. We made predictions and then tested each material. The children poured 50ml onto the material and collected the water which passed through it –if any! The children read the scale on the measuring jug and recorded their findings. The children were very pleased when their predictions were correct.
Reminder: Please let us know if any of the children’s grandparents can join us for our ‘Grandparent afternoon’ on Wednesday 23rd October. We would like to send them a small invite with information about the afternoon.
Year 3
This week in English we have continued our learning on newspaper reports, working collaboratively to present our work in a 'Newsround' style report! In maths, we have continued with our addition and subtraction work, introducing both classes to the column method.
Both classes enjoyed The Music Man Project this week. It was great fun with lots of singing and dancing from performers and pupils!
While 3B were enjoying their outdoor learning sessions, 3A continued with the curriculum in the afternoons.
During our science, we looked at compasses and how they use the magnetic pull of the earth to work and help us with our directions. At first, we thought the compass was telling us where to go, but we soon learnt that it was simply telling us which way was north.
We thought carefully about the people and things we are grateful for in RE and finished off our Stone Age artwork, evaluating the process.
In outdoor learning, 3B In outdoor learning have been lucky with the weather and have learnt to tie a range of knots, which helped us to create our very own hanging decorations and friendships bracelets too.
Reminder: Please make sure that all coat, hats, gloves, scarfs and jumpers are clearly named!
Year 4
It's always busy in Year 4 and we have had a lovely week of learning together. In English, we have been budding journalists - exploring newspaper reports - and we planned and wrote our own report. In maths, we have focused on subtraction and have learnt about 'efficient' subtraction methods.
We loved the Music Man Project on Tuesday. It was fantastic to see our Year 4 children being so enthusiastic and involved.
Year 5
Year 5 started the week with a punctuation lesson in English. The children worked hard to recognise and use a variety of basic and more advanced punctuation types. They then applied these to letter writing throughout the week. We based our informal letters on Hurricane Helene and the children used some great emotive language.
Year 6
This week, we have been writing about the legacy of Thomas Edison, a famous Victorian inventor. We looked at a biography and wrote a non-chronological report based on his inventions.
In maths, we have started to look at prime, squared and cubed numbers.
In science, we created circuits to operate a series of lights to emulate traffic light. We made our own switches so they could be operated from a single point.
Our PE has continued with Hockey; looking at the skills of passing and receiving the ball.
Our PSHE lessons have explored negative behaviours, including prejudices and extremism. The children were very mature in discussing these topics.
Online Safety
Many children and young people enjoy exploring new and exciting genres and themes in the films and TV they consume – and as they grow, the maturity of this content will likely increase with them. However, without proper supervision and safeguarding, youngsters looking for a new title to enjoy – especially in the horror genre – might get a little more than they're ready for.
The emotional and psychological impacts of viewing age-inappropriate content can be severe. It's vital for parents and educators to know how to keep the children in their care as safe as possible while young people explore new, potentially grittier or darker, pieces of media. This guide breaks down the risks of viewing age-inappropriate content, with a particular focus on horror, and offers expert advice on how to limit youngsters’ exposure to material that might upset or disturb them.
PE & Sports
It has been great to see different groups of children representing the school for sports so far this year. Our picture gallery in the school entrance is beginning to fill up nicely.
Last Friday, our cross-country runners competed at Garons. They all ran extremely well and enjoyed the event. The standard of competition is always very high and we performed well individually and as a team. The boys Year 3 team deserve a particular mention as they finished 5th overall out of a field of over 20 schools! Also a special mention of Ralph in Year 3 who finished inside the top ten. With well over 100 children in every race - sometimes as many as 150 - it is a real spectacle!
Music and Singing Assembly
Following the inspiring workshop from The Music Man Project on Tuesday, we continued our theme of joining together to make music in our singing assembly. This week’s focus was a ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy/Three Little Birds’ mash up and, for the first time this year, we were able to sing a song in two part harmony with the children from Year 2 all the way to Year 6. It is so wonderful to hear them singing with confidence and with smiles on their faces.
The KS2 (Years 3 to 6) choir has been meeting for over a month on Wednesday mornings now and are making a great sound. There are a handful of places left in the choir. If your child would like to join, please ask in the office for a letter.
Dinner Menu
Week 2
Monday - Pork Sausages with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Vegan Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Cheese Sandwich - Ham Salad Wrap - Sweetcorn & Baked Beans - Chocolate Rice Krispie Cake
Tuesday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta - Vegan Sweet & Sour Vegetables with Steamed Rice - Baked Jacket Potato with Grated Cheese - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Cheese Salad Wrap - Carrot & Broccoli - Mandarin Jelly
Wednesday - Honey Roast Gammon with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - Sweet Chilli Stir-Fry Mushroom & Vegetable Noodles - Wholewheat Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Cheese & Tomato Bloomer - Ham Sandwich - Seasonal Greens & Peas - Vanilla Ice Cream
Thursday - Beef Keerma with Turmeric Rice - Vegan Layered Vegetable & Sweet Potato Bake - Baked Jacket Potato with Baked Beans or Salmon Mayonnaise - Cheese Sandwich - Chicken Mayonnaise Baguette - Carrots & Sweetcorn - Apple & Carrot Flapjack
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Fajita with Chips & Ketchup - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Ham Salad Sandwich - Peas & Baked Beans - Lemon Drizzle Sponge
Freshly Baked Bread - Garlic & Herb or Wholemeal Bread.
PTA
Please continue to help us with Asda's 'Cashpot for Schools'.
Asda will donate money to our school for everyone who signs up and if you buy shopping in Asda, cashback will be given to Friars every time... Thank you in advance.
Fire Safety
Whether it’s during a major event like bonfire night or simply while using a heater on a chilly day, fire safety is a vitally important topic on which to educate children and young people. One mistake with fireworks, electronics or open flames can have catastrophic consequences: damage to property, serious injury or even worse.
As parents and educators, it's vital that we teach the children in our care how to protect themselves around fire and flammable materials in a mature and responsible manner. This guide offers expert advice on how to educate children and young people on fire safety, detailing what precautions can be taken to keep them as safe as possible when exposed to fire-related dangers.
Celebration Assembly
The links for our Celebration Assemblies can be found below.
Attendance
Our first class managed to ‘spin the wheel’ last week. Would anyone join 3B in that feat this week? Yes they would! Well done to 4S who are now the second class to spin in 2024. At some point they will enjoy a short film together!
After spinning the wheel last week, 3B continued their success by achieving the perfect 100% this week! Amazing 3B!
Windsor continued their good run of form with another double-win in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. That means their lead has increased to 16 points.
We now have a different team in second… it is no longer Stormont but instead it is our blue team Sterling. It just shows what can happen in the space of a few weeks. Good luck to all of our teams as we head into the final week of the half-term.
Community
01702 294837 - office@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk