Porters Grange Weekly Newsletter 26th September 2025

Nursery

Nursery have had another fabulous week of building new friendships and sharing resources and toys with our friend. Our teachers have been showing us how to use the equipment correctly. We have also started making some models and collages about the book we are reading this term, ‘The whales on the bus’.

REMINDER: Please remember if your child has borrowed any nursry clothes due to being changed, please can you return them as soon as possible.

Reception

This week in reception we have been taking part in music and art activities. The children have been exploring a range of new instruments and in art have been creating drawings using our visual alphabet.

In the classrooms children have been exploring new resources and continuing to learn how to use the areas safely and correctly.

We have been singing along to some of our favourite nursery rhymes this week and putting actions to them to help us remember key parts.

The children have been doing very well with their lunches and continue to enjoy trying new foods, they have been eating very well and are growing an understanding of how to tidy up after themselves.

REMINDER: Please remember if you have not already done so to please bring in a spare change of clothes for your child to leave at school in case of any accidents.

Please keep choosing your child’s lunch at home if you are doing this, as this alleviates some anxieties over foods being eaten for some children.

Year 1

Year 1 are continuing to settle into routine and are showing a real understanding of the expectations with regards to learning and behaviour.

In maths, we have continued with our understanding of how to compare groups of objects using greater than, less than and equal to. We have been practising how to subitise as well.

In PSHE, we have discussed the importance of personal hygiene and what we do to keep ourselves clean and healthy and why it is important.

REMINDER: We have had several conversations with children about pants rules. Please ensure your child is aware of this at home, so that we are consistent with this expectation.

Well done to those adults who have read with their child. Please continue to do so. Read as many times as you can.

PE is on Thursdays. No earrings please otherwise your child cannot take part.

Year 2

In English the children have been reading the focus text of ‘Whatever Next’. The children have made a comparison between what Baby Bear takes to the moon to what they would take, using nouns to name the items. In science, children have explored growth and recognised the physical changes as people grow older. In art, the children have been learning about the artist Turner and specifically looking at seascapes. They have discussed the feelings they get when they look at the shipwreck and made an attempt to recreate the colours of the stormy sea.

REMINDER: We understand that Year 2 is a change in routine compared to Year 1. It will take a little while for some children to settle fully into Year 2 daily life. We are helping the children navigate their way through this transition, please support us and them in their journey.

Please read regularly with your child.

Year 3

In English we have started our narrative work by looking at the structure and recapping direct speech. We watched a short video called Dangle and will base our shared write on this.

In Science, we have discussed why our skeleton is important and labelled the bones.

In art, we collected leaves and made some observational drawings. The children had a go at using hatchings and cross-hatchings to shade.

REMINDER: Please ensure that children are practising their weekly spellings that are written in their homeschool diaries.

Year 4

In English we have started our new topic on Explanation Texts. We have explored the different features of explanation texts. We have secured our understanding of pronouns, fronted adverbials and the use if commas.

In maths we have continued our work on place value, concentrating on rounding and learning roman numerals.

In science we are continuing to look at digestion focussing on the journey of an apple through our digestive system.

REMINDER: Please read every night and sign your child’s reading diary.

PE is on Tuesday and Thursday, please have kit on these days. Earings must be removed for every PE lesson.

Please encourage your child to use Times Table Rockstars to support learning their times tables.

Year 5

This week in our English lessons, we have been looking at flashbacks. We looked at specific examples, picked apart the features of this writing style, then planned our own example based around ‘Pandora’s Box’. In maths, we finished our place value unit, learning how to compare and order numbers to 1,000,000. In history, we compared the successes of both the USA and the USSR with the specific milestones they accomplished during the Space Race.

REMINDER: There are still several children who do not have suitable PE kit within school.

As the weather changes, it is vital pupils have suitable clothing as some lessons will be outside.

Year 6

We have been busy using clues to solve mysteries based on Sherlock Holmes stories in English. We have had great fun speaking in Sherlock’s formal style. We are not able to watch the TV versions at school due to to their age ratings but have been showing them some clips from various mysteries.

In maths, we have continued our focus on using our times tables knowledge to work out multiplication and division questions.

In PSHE, our focus this week was understanding our personal and family heritage, fairness and kindness. Please ask your child about the session as they are very valuable.

REMINDER: Please complete the IndiRock permission form. You have to watch the video first!

• PE is on Mondays and Fridays.
• Spellings are given on Mondays and checked on Fridays
• The secondary school form is here:

Letters sent home this week

• Year 6 - IndiRock - 25.09.2025

Music

IMPORTANT: if you have a choir polo shirt at home, please return it ready for the next performance.

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

This week, we celebrated the European Day of Languages on Friday with some playground challenges, helped by our language assistants in year 6; we also have a competition to create an alien language in a few words or a sentence.

Online Safety

They might not be able to pinpoint a location on a map, and they might not fully grasp the historical and political drivers behind certain conflicts – but in this age where news, images and video can cross continents in seconds, many children are able to access distressing news at the touch of a button. This could, of course, cause youngsters extreme distress and worry.

Our #WakeUpWednesday guide contains some valuable pointers for supporting children to deal with upsetting content they’ve encountered online, whether it involves conflicts, ongoing worries over the environment, or something else entirely. Our tips will assist trusted adults in helping young people to process any negative emotions that they may be feeling.

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.