porters grange weekly newsletter week ending 2nd May 2025

Nursery

This week has been another busy week at nursery. We have welcomed lots of new friends and our older children have been building welcoming them into their friendship groups and helping them with the rules and routines. We have enjoyed playing out in the sunshine and talked about keeping safe in the sun.

REMINDER: Our weather is very changeable at the moment.

So please if it is sunny can you apply sun lotion before your child’s session also a sunhat.

Please can we remind you to put your child’s name in everything they wear to nursery.

Reception

We have continued to observe and learn about the wildlife that lives in our outside area. Next week we will be playing in our outside water area, experimenting with capacity and using mathematical language.

May is national smile month and we will be doing activities to show us how we keep ourselves and our teeth clean and healthy

REMINDER: As we are now having sunny days, please remember to apply sun lotion before coming to school.

Year 1

Year 1 have been very busy this week. In English, we have created our own stories using story maps. In maths, we have finished our unit of work on mass and volume and started a new unit of work; multiplication and division. During our art lesson this week, we have been drawing spiders! Luckily, Mr Sesniak has a real tarantula that we have been able to draw! We had lots of fun! In PSHE, the children have been talking about behaviour and how lots of our choices are either accidents or on purpose. We need to know the difference and how we deal with ‘accidents’ and what to do when something happens ‘on purpose’.

REMINDER: PE remains on a Thursday. No jewellery to be worn.

Ensure reading books are in school every day please. Write in their reading record about how they read and sign it. It helps us to keep track of their reading progress.

With the warmer weather, please ensure children have sun hats and suncream on please

Year 2

We have continued to explore the text ‘On Sudden Hill’. The children have made adaptations to the characters and parts of the narrative. Some children are also learning to write their own chapters as part of their story. In maths the children have continued to work on halves and quarters of shapes. They have then moved on to halving and quartering of numbers. IT has been fun, working on algorithms for robots and giving instructions. Oyster Class loved the visit to the beach, please see the short paragraph about the trip below.

REMINDER: When you hear your child read please make a note of how they read in their reading records.

Seahorse’s beach trip is on the 6th May. Please refer to the emailed reminder about required clothing.

Year 3

Well done to all the year 3 children who performed in the ‘Our World’ performance. You were amazing !!

In addition to this we have been looking at the features of a playscript in English. In maths we have completed our work on mass and capacity and are moving onto the second part of fractions. In geography, we found out some interesting facts about the United Kingdom.

REMINDER: Please remember to practise your times tables at home and try to read at least four times a week.

Don’t forget, PE is on Tuesday and Friday.

Year 4

This week year four have written their own set of letters based on The Day the Crayons quit. This time we have written from different items that Duncan owns. The children have used their imagination and planned really well. In maths we have continued our times table practise and our learning on fractions! This week we have added and subtracted fractions! Ask your child... What stays the same when adding fractions?

REMINDER: Remember PE kits should include trainers so the children can run outside better.

Year 5

In English, the children have been using their imagination to write from the stranger’s perspective in The Island. They have used emotive language and wrote their own flashback. It has been lovely to read their versions!

In maths, the children have used a protractor to measure angles. It was a little bit challenging at first but they didn’t give up and were very successful! We then went on to estimate angles based on what we know about them.

REMINDER: Please remember that tracksuits and football kits should not be worn for PE. Blue shorts/trousers and a white top are part of our school uniform.

Year 5 - Secondary School Admissions - 01.05.2025

Year 6

This week was our mock SATS week and everyone worked really hard. SATS are government tests and ask about the children’s learning from years 3, 4, 5 and 6. The tests are in the week beginning Monday 12th May and we’re very proud of the children for being so keen to do so well.

In maths, we have been revising our key skills of multiplication and division, plus fractions, decimals and percentages.

In PE, we have started rounders (Stingray) and tennis (Octopus). Also, we have continued athletics ready for choosing the Borough Sports team.

In art, we have explored textures using the ink pens and ink wells.

In PSHE, we have started thinking about how to feel positive about our body image.

REMINDER: We are loving the sunshine! Please remember to apply suncream before school and have some for PE on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

Homework is handed out on Thursdays and due on Wednesdays. Homework help is Friday, Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes.

Music

Choir will be restarting this term on Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes, rather than after school on Thursday. This will hopefully mean that more children from across the KS2 (Years 3 – 6) classes will be able to attend and prepare for the concert the Cliffs Pavilion on Friday 13th June. Links for the songs (both words and backing tracks) can be found on the school website:

Future Events

• Cliffs Pavilion Music festival – 13th June

Instrumental Tuition - lessons will start next week

• Tuesday am Guitar – Mr Brown
• Wednesday am Guitar – Mr Elliot
• Wednesday am Keyboard – Mr Hockey
• Wednesday am Drums – Mr Peters

WE HAVE SOME AVAILABILITY FOR NEW PUPILS TO START LEARNING AN INSTRUMENT – CONTACT MRS BAINES FOR INFORMATION

French

This week year two are embedding their knowledge of classroom objects in French; year 5 are continuing to learn about shops and to perfect their pronunciation; year four are perfecting their saying of their birthdays and interpreting when other people’s birthdays are.

Online Safety

Staying safe on our roads isn’t just a skill — it’s a lifelong habit. It is crucial to learn key strategies for helping children navigate streets safely and confidently, from practising journeys together to teaching them how to choose the safest crossing points.

We’ve collaborated with THINK! to offer real-world advice on issues like the dangers of parked vehicles, reversing cars and mobile phone distractions — it’s an invaluable tool for parents and educators who want to help young people travel independently without compromising their safety.

Healthy Schools

We are excited to announce that on the 8th May we will be hosting another Healthy Lunchbox and Fussy Eaters workshop with the Health for Life Team. Your child will join you for this session, please see attached poster for more information. You must sign up for this session using the link to the online form. Spaces are limited and will be given on a first come first serve basis.

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.