Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...
- PTA Christmas Fayre 2025
- Reception 2025 School Tours
- Further talk of swimming... have you seen our pool?
- End of half-term attendance and team points!
A whole half-term has whizzed by and it's the holidays! What a great eight weeks it has been, and the children definitely deserve their week off after working so hard. It has been lovely to settle back into school life after the summer holidays as well as meeting new children in our Nursery and Reception as well as some new starters across the school in other year groups. We hope that all of our new parents and carers have enjoyed their first weeks with us too!
Autumn 2 is always a very busy half-term as we have lots of exciting learning to fit in, our Learning Conversation Evenings, sports events as well as many Christmas activities. We will be looking to see all of our Friars Family come together over the end of November and the month of December for a great deal of fun. Please do make sure that you have our Christmas dates in your diaries. I am pleased to share that our PTA Christmas Fayre will on Wednesday 4th December from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. If you have been to our Christmas Fayre before, you will know that we have games, stalls, raffles, food and often a few other surprises like choir performances. In previous years, we have started the fayre earlier in the afternoon, however this year it is entirely after school and will be as brilliant as ever.
Thank you for all of your support at the start of this academic year and have a super break. See you all on Tuesday 5th November.
Mr. Chris McClay, Principal
Reception 2025 School Tours
We had two lovely school tours this week for parents of children who will be starting school in September 2025. It is always lovely to show off the school and we think those who attended were very impressed with what they saw... including how well behaved and engaged the children were in their lessons. We have further tours on Thursday 7th November at 9:30am and 2:00pm. If you know someone who might be interested, please do let them know.
To book a place on a tour, please call the school office on 01702 294837.
Swimming
If you have visited our Key Stage 2 playground in the past two days, you will have seen that our swimming pool is now installed. The water will be heating up ready for us using it on our return after the holidays. After hearing about its success at Hamstel Infants and Hamstel Juniors we are very much looking forward to our turn! Please do refer to the swimming letters that were sent for more information (these letters are all still linked in the year group sections of the newsletter).
We have had a few questions about contributions towards swimming. Yes, we do need to ask for contributions as we are enabling every year group to swim this autumn term. In the letters that were sent, it mentioned that there is an expectation that children swim in either Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2... but we will have every year swimming from both key stages. The school and the PTA are heavily subsidising swimming so that we are only asking for £3 per session. Thank you if you can support us.
A Reminder about 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 on Tuesday 5th November.
Diary Dates
October
- 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
- PTA Christmas Fayre 3:30pm-5:30pm
- 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
Wow we have come to the end of the first half term and what a very busy time it has been, settling into new routines and making lots of new friends. This week, Nursery experienced their first outdoor learning session. They had a really great time participating in a nature scavenger hunt, looking for things such as spiderwebs, fallen branches, birds nest and much more. They also collected leaves and made an autumn pumpkin picture using them. Following on from this, the children helped cut open some pumpkins back in the building and explored what was inside them. Some children used spoons, others went in with their hands and scooped out the centre, asking questions such as ‘Why do pumpkins have seeds?’ and ‘who eats the seeds?’ Lots of messy fun was had.
Our stay and play was also a great success and the children enjoyed icing pumpkin biscuits with their visitors.
Reminder: After half term the weather will start to feel a lot cooler. Please ensure children have appropriate clothing for the weather. As always if scarves and gloves are being worn, please, please, please name them so we can help ensure they are kept safe.
Reception
This week we shared the book “Hello, Friend!” speaking about friendships and all the nice things that we like to do with our friends. We introduced the children to the word ‘yesterday’ chatting about things that had happened on the previous day as well as other events that happened further back in time. In phonics the children have learnt ‘h’ ‘b’ ‘f’ and ‘l’ as well as the tricky word ‘the’. It has been a wonderful first half term; we are really proud of the children and how well they have settled. Have a relaxing half-term holiday.
Reminder: Please remember to write your child’s name in their clothing, we have another large pile of unnamed jumpers and cardigans.
If you think that you child has lost one, please speak to their teacher.
Year 1
Wow what a busy half-term we have had. We are so proud of the children for settling so well into their new classes and for working as hard as they have. They are definitely ready for a rest.
This week we have been using the vocabulary collected in English last week to create our own poems about autumn. These are based on the Shirley Hughes poem "Cold". The children worked hard to select appropriate adjectives to describe their nouns.
In maths, we have been learning that two parts make a whole and have begun to look at part-whole models. This is preparing us for our work on addition when we return to school after the break.
We completed our science topic this week and created senses wheels thinking about our 5 senses. The children were able to think of what they use their senses for in everyday life. Good job Year 1!
We wish you a most wonderful half-term break and look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday. (It will be a PE day so please remember to send them in wearing PE kits.)
Reminder: Year 1 swimming starts on Thursday 14th November.
Year 2
Year 2 had a fabulous experience on Wednesday afternoon. We invited some grandparents and older relatives into school to share their memories from when they were young. The children were fascinated and had an amazing time looking at artefacts such as watches, photographs, games and money from the past. Mrs. Snow was very jealous of Harper’s Nanny’s fuzzy felt collection! What a lovely way to round off a very busy half term. Thank you so much to the grandparents who visited us. I hope you have recovered from being asked so many questions.
We are looking forward to next term and wish you all a very relaxing half term.
Reminder: Year 2 children have swimming on the first day back. Please ensure the children have their swimming costumes, hats and towels ready for our sessions. The children need to have a dressing gown or other robe and a pair of flip flops/sliders/slippers to walk to and from the pool. It will really help us if everything is named. Please see the letter linked below for more information.
Year 3
This week, Year 3 have been enjoying writing kennings poems in English, thinking about all the ways they cleverly describe themselves using nouns and verbs. We had great fun guessing who each poem was about! We also enjoyed a brilliant virtual storytelling workshop on Thursday.
In maths, we have been developing and consolidating our addition and subtraction skills. We found using the column method and exchanging quite challenging to begin with but we are certainly getting the hang of it now!
Across the wider curriculum, we have had our final recorder lessons with Mrs Bemister, which will continue with class teachers after half-term. Pupils have been engaged with our history learning this week, finding out about grave goods and smelting in the Bronze Age. We have worked hard on our sketching skills in art, thinking carefully about how to show texture in our drawings.
Reminder: Please ensure children have the correct change for the tuck shop after half-term.
Reminder: Year 3 swimming starts on Monday 25th November.
Have a great week off!
Year 4
Another fabulous week for Year 4, and we’ve had some wonderful lessons to round off our last week of our first half-term!
In English, we recapped many of our reading skills. We looked at how to infer meaning in a text by reading between the lines and deducing information. We also enjoyed continuing with our layered reading book. I must say, we are very much enjoying the humour in ‘How To Train Your Dragon!’ We also revisited and practised our descriptive writing, with a focus on sentence structure and powerful vocabulary choices.
Maths saw us continuing with our ‘efficient subtraction’ methods and revisiting the column method for both addition and subtraction. We also applied this method to estimate and check our answers by rounding and using the inverse methods. We also continued to focus on our times tables, which, as always, is a huge priority in Year 4.
We have finished our Viking blood bread, evaluated our product and have also worked to advertise our product effectively.
In music, we continued to learn Mamma Mia on the glockenspiels, and even rewrote some of the lyrics to match our Vikings topic.
We looked at King Alfred in history and how he coped with Britain’s struggles with the Vikings at that time.
Reminder: Please continue to read with your children at home, using Reading Eggs. If there are any issues with log-ins, please speak to one of our team. Reading is invaluable when it comes to children’s learning.
Please also continue with practising TTRockstars. We had our first practice of the Multiplication Check assessment this half-term, and it would benefit the children to continue to practise quick recall.
Year 4 children have swimming on the first day back. Please ensure the children have their swimming costumes, hats and towels ready for our sessions. The children need to have a dressing gown or other robe and a pair of flip flops/sliders/slippers to walk to and from the pool. It will really help us if everything is named. Please see the letter linked below for more information.
Have a wonderful half-term!
Year 5
We have reached the final week of a long first half-term and the children have remained focused until the very end.
We began a new unit on fractions. The children applied their times tables knowledge well and we look forward to continuing this after the half-term.
In English, we continued with our topic of letter writing. The children wrote from a different perspective and have worked hard to include all of the grammatical features we have covered.
RE saw the culmination of their research and learning around what faith means. They worked in their small groups to present their findings. They were great audience members as well as presenters.
At the beginning of the week, we created fact pages about the landscape of Egypt. The children used information from a geography-based website. We explored the landscape via the satellite tool.
We also experienced a different type of PSHE lesson this week. We participated in a live lesson about aviation careers. The children were fascinated by the two guest speakers and two questions posed by 5SW were even answered live on air.
Reminder: We have set maths homework this week that is due on Friday 8th November. This ensures that children have plenty of time to enjoy their half term break.
Reminder: Year 5 swimming starts on Wednesday 13th November.
Year 6
In maths, we have been continuing our work on formal methods of multiplying and dividing. We have also looked at how other methods, such as factor pairs can make calculations easier. As part of our Writing and History, we have been finding out about Victorian people who hove influenced our lives today. We have selected one to present a biography on. In science, we have been wiring a series of lights and creating the circuit switch to operate them. In art, we have been printing colourful samples ready for our final design piece.
Reminder: After half term, 6B will have outdoor learning Tuesday to Friday afternoons. Please ensure suitable uniform for this. 6L will have their outdoor learning the following week. Year 6 swimming starts on Thursday 21st November.
Computing
Girls Computer Coding Club tried out the Micro:bits this week and started to work through some of the tutorials on the Make Code website. The girls learnt how to 'sync' the device to the computer, write the code and download to the Micro:bit. Many programmed a beating heart, and two girls tried out radioing each other.
Reception had their first online safety lesson today, where they discussed as a class whether they should have unlimited device time, or restrict the time they spend on devices with breaks in between. We also explored the dangers of using a device without an adult supporting.
Year 1 also covered online safety and looked at who might support us if we have any problems online, such as a child who is unkind when playing a game. They then wrote who their trusted grown-ups are who can help if there are any issues with other people online.
Year 2 explored information that is online and particularly how much personal information should be shared. They considered photos, addresses and dates of birth. They looked online to see if they could find themselves or their friends and siblings. They checked out the school website and some children thought they were famous when they found their photo.
Year 3 looked at who we communicate with online as part of their online safety and what sort of relationships we have with them – close friends or not? We discussed which relationships are appropriate and online friendships.
Year 4 checked out whether everything they find online is true? We discussed reasons for fake information, sites or videos and how quickly fake information can be seen to be true, particularly if it goes viral. They then explored a fake website about a tree octopus and discussed reasons why they knew it was fake.
Year 5 explored various websites with regards to how information is shown online about famous people and discussed which websites we can trust. The children decided that the BBC is a trusted website, but maybe not a newspaper website if we want trusted, non-biased information.
Year 6 looked at password management. They discussed how to choose a good, strong password, how to keep it safe and what to do if someone finds out your password. They created some excellent PowerPoint presentations in the lesson, including adding pictures, using bullet points with animations and using transitions from slide-to-slide.
Online Safety
Roblox is one of the most popular video games on the market. By 2020, the game’s makers were claiming that more than half of children in the USA were playing it. As a ‘sandbox’ title, Roblox offers a huge amount of creative freedom: it lets players create their own gaming experiences with the Roblox Studio to build custom levels and games, which can then be shared with other players online. Roblox fosters creative thinking and enjoys a robust online community of fans.
In the guide, you'll find tips on avoiding potential hazards such as online daters, in-app purchasing and contact with strangers.
PE & Sports
A busy week of PE but no sports competitions... It has been a busy half-term for sport, and we start back up after the holiday with a boy's football tournament on the Friday for Years 5 and 6. Congratulations if you have been selected to represent the school in this. A full report will follow in a few weeks' time.
Music and Singing Assembly
The KS2 choir were keen to showcase all their hard work this week, and took the opportunity to perform in Music Assembly on Wednesday. Their choice of song, Creepy Castle, was perfect as we look forward to half term and Halloween celebrations on the 31st October. Well done to all the children who performed – the song was well received and the children from Years 2 to 6 loved seeing and hearing their friends singing.
Dinner Menu
Week 1
Tuesday - Ham & Cheese Pizza - with Baked Wedges - Margherita Pizza with Baked Wedges - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Ham Sandwich - Cheese & Tomato Bloomer - Carrots & Sweetcorn - Apple Crumble with Custard
Wednesday - Roast Chicken with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - Squash & Lentil Lasagne - Baked Jackets with Baked Beans - Tuna Sweetcorn Baguette - Cheese Sandwich - Seasonal Greens & Cauliflower - Cherry Cornflake Cake
Thursday - Mild Chicken & Vegetable Curry with Steamed Rice - Vegan Bean Chilli with Steamed Rice - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Tuna Mayo Sandwich - Cheese Salad Wrap - Broccoli & Carrots - Chocolate & Pear Sponge
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Goujons with Chips & Ketchup - Baked Jackets with Grated Cheese - Ham Sandwich - Egg Mayo Baguette - Peas & Baked Beans - Banana Flapjack
Freshly Baked Bread: Carrot & Beetroot 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
This half-term we have seen attendance really improve compared to last year, with our school percentage almost hitting 95%. Please continue to support us with our efforts to hit our target of 96%.
Spin the Wheel has been a huge success this half-term although nobody had a spin this week. Attendance winners of the week were Starlings in Key Stage 2 and 3A in Key Stage 2. 3A were above 97% as were 3B and 4G. We now have a number of classes poised to spin on the next occasion they achieve 97% or more... Including 3B who have already had a spin this term.
This term's attendance has been much improved compared to last year. Our current whole school attendance stands at 95% just 1% off our school target.
Have a happy, healthy half-term holiday.
There has been some toing and froing over the past eight weeks between our reds, greens and blues. Who would lead us into the holiday was the big question. Well, we can announce that it is... still our red team Windsor. This week, Caernarfon won in Key Stage 1 and in Key Stage 2 it was Caernarfon and Windsor. After the first half-term the gap between fourth and first is only 35 points. With five-sixths of the year to go, there is a long time left in the race.
Community
01702 294837 - office@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk