STEM Club
In spring term this year in STEM club, we became Rocket Scientist. We tested different propulsion systems. Discussed the importance of weight to power. Found ways to make our rockets as aerodynamic as possible by creating nose cones. We also worked to stabilise them in flight by making our own fins. Finally, on a chilly Thursday in March five of us tested them in the playground and recorded the results. We hope you enjoy watching.
Year 3 and 4 Times Tables Family Event
On Thursday 18th April, Porters Grange hosted two workshops for parents and carers of children in years 3 and 4. The event, hosted by mathematics subject lead Mr. Rasor, took a deeper look into why times tables are important, how we assess and teach times tables at Porters Grange, the upcoming MTC (Multiplication Tables Check) for year 4 pupils and also providing an opportunity for the students to spend some time to exploring the various game modes of Times Tables Rock Stars with their parents.
100% of those parents and carers who came along strongly agreed that the workshop gave them a better understanding about how times tables are taught at Porters Grange. With some saying it was an ‘excellent session’, ‘very helpful’ and even ‘amazing’ with ‘fab delivery’.
A huge thank you to all who attended; we had an excellent number of parents come along - it means a lot to the children and they had a lovely time.
Year 3 & 4 Performance
Year 3 and 4 showed their production to families and carers this week. It was all about a journey around the world. They learnt songs, Year 3 performed a short play, and Year 4 performed a poem and a dance. We were very impressed and proud of all the effort and enthusiasm they put into to learning their lines. Well done everyone!
Diary Dates
May
- Monday 6th - BANK HOLIDAY - School Closed
- Thursday 9th - SATs Meeting
- Monday 13th - Thursday 16th - KS2 SATS week
- Wednesday 15th - Nursery parents in for National Smiles Week
- Monday 20th - Making the Band Day Y5/6
- Thursday 23rd
- Danbury Parent Meeting - 3.30pm
- Monday 27th - BANK HOLIDAY - School Closed
- Tuesday 28th - Friday 31st - May Half Term
June
- Monday 3rd - INSET DAY
- Wednesday 5th - Drumming Workshop
- Monday 10th - Friday 14th - Healthy Eating Week
- Tuesday 11th - KS2 Borough Sports
- Tuesday 18th - Class Photos
- Thursday 20th - Southend School Gotta Dance - Palace Theatre
July
- Thursday 4th - KS2 Sports Afternoon at Southchurch Park
- Friday 5th - Year 6 Transition Day
- Wednesday 10th - Friday 12th - Danbury Residential trip
- Friday 19th - Last Day of Term
Nursery
Another fun week at nursery has been had by all. On Tuesday we celebrated St George’s Day and made some flags and dragons. We have been trying very hard with our oral blending in our Letters and sounds time, ready for our start in reception class in September for some of the children.
We have also enjoyed joining in with some simple maths, add, subtraction and what comes next.
REMINDERS: Please complete our oral health survey. This will help us to support the children in receiving oral health support. Thank you
Reception
We have had such a busy week. We are still writing and acting our own stories and are trying to make sure they have a beginning, middle and end. We have also been using these words in our maths lessons, looking at time. We have discussed what we do, at the beginning of the day e.g. wake up, brush out teeth and continue this until we go to the bed at the end of the day. We learnt that a minute is a unit of time. We have been experimenting with how many things we can do in a minute, e.g. jumps, clapping hands. We have become very interested in giraffes and snails! We have looked at different stories, made models and created collages.
REMINDER: Please complete our oral health survey. This will help us to support the children in receiving oral health support.
Year 1
Year one have had great fun in maths, they have been measuring volume and capacity using sand. The children have practised the vocabulary of full, half full and empty then compared amounts. English has built on the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff where the children made their own story up by adapting a story map and replacing goats with their own animals. The children have also been learning about the amphibian animal group, writing fact files and drawing their favourite amphibian!
REMINDER: Please remember to fill out the form about our school trip. We need to know how many children will be attending as soon as possible to organise staff ratio and how many lunches to provide.
Year 2
This week in English, we put our creative mind to work as we reimagined the story “On Sudden Hill.” We changed up the characters, the scenery, and the games they played to create our very own version of the story. In maths, we continued our exploration of fractions. We learned all about quarters and thirds, diving deeper into understanding how fractions work. During our science lessons, we took a closer look at our food diaries that we completed at home last week. We discussed what a balanced diet looks like and sorted foods into different categories. It’s been interesting to learn more about the foods we eat and how they contribute to our health. In PE, we got moving and ran some laps as part of our TCS Mini London Marathon in Schools. It was a great way to get our bodies moving and have some fun while staying active.
REMINDER: Please remember to continue listening to your child read every day. Also, ensure your child’s PE kit is in school for our Tuesday PE session.
Year 3
This week, we are very proud of all the hard work everyone put into their production and we hope you enjoyed it too. Well done Years 3 and 4! In our lessons we have returned to fractions and are learning to add and subtract them and in English we have been adding a character to the story of ‘Voices in the Park’, writing independently. In Science we have been investigating light; exploring sources of light, artificial and natural and establishing that darkness is the absence of light.
REMINDERS: Continue practising your times tables on TTR and ensure you are reading two to three times a week and recording it in your reading record.
PE KITS: children need dark shorts and a white t shirt and appropriate footwear for sports. Please ensure they have it on Tuesdays AND Thursdays.
Year 4
This week, we are very proud of all the hard work everyone put into their production and we hope you enjoyed it too. Well done Years 3 and 4!
In English, we have been writing persuasive letters to persuade people to choose what fruit to eat. They have had great fun being very dramatic and exaggerating like in the book The Day the Crayons Quit. For example, My heart breaks every time I am left alone and friendless in the bowl. In maths, we have started looking at tenths and diving by 10. 3 ÷ 10 = 0.3. In science, we have started learning about electricity. This week, we learnt about electrical safety at home and looked at this website. Switched on Kids - from Electrical Safety First This page about extension leads was particularly interesting Socket Overload Calculator - Switched on Kids.
REMINDER:Please continue helping your child to learn their times tables so they can answer questions in less than 6 seconds.
Top Marks has lots of games. This one is fun.
Some children still need to bring in all of their PE kit, including a different T shirt to wear.
Year 5
This week in English, the children have written their own flashbacks from the stranger’s point of view. They were able to include emotive language and the past tense. Later in the week, they performed their flashbacks.
In maths, the children started their new unit on shape. They spent a lot of time using the correct vocabulary to describe angles and turns.
REMINDER: Please continue to practise the weekly spellings with your child. There is a spelling and times table test every Friday.
Year 6
This week in maths, we have been continuing their learning about angles and using our new knowledge to calculate missing angles in a range of diagrams. In English, we have been planning and writing our own stories based on ‘The Tin Forest’. We have enjoyed starting our new PE units of work: tennis and rounders!
REMINDER: Please continue discussing your children’s latest reads at home with them. Any reading at home should be recorded in home school diaries.
French
This week year two have perfected their ability to talk in French about what they will do at break; year three have done the same with explaining how different people (teacher, boy, girl etc.) are feeling; year five have been learning how to say which shops they are going to visit.
Music
Music Clubs
- Tuesday 12.00pm: Band
- Thursday 3.30pm: Choir (Yrs 3,4,5,6).
Instrumental Lessons
We do have a few vacancies, please contact Mrs Baines if your child would like to learn an instrument.
- Tuesday am: Guitar (Mr Brown)
- Wednesday am: Keyboard (Mr Hockey)
- Wednesday am: Guitar (Mr Elliot)
- Fri pm: a group of year 5 students are learning the violin.
Nb. We are currently looking for a tutor in order to continue offering drum lessons.
Future Events
- 13th June Junior Music Fesitval - KS2 Choir
Online Safety
Long gone are the days where eBay and Amazon were the only means of buying quality items online. The rise of user-friendly, accessible shopping apps has meant that getting clothes, gadgets and other goodies delivered direct to your door can be accomplished with a few touches of your phone’s screen while you’re on the go.
These apps aren’t without their issues, however, and users still run the risk of scams, data breaches and other online safety concerns. Being aware of these dangers will go a long way to keeping your money and information safe, so you can still enjoy what these shopping apps have to offer. Our guide has some top tips to help protect young people on these purchasing platforms.
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Our Uniform shop is located within the front reception area of the school and is open Monday-Friday 8.15am - 4.00pm. All items are 50p each. We always have a good selection of skirts, trousers, jumpers, tops, dresses and P.E items. Please ask at the office to point you in the right direction.
School Uniform Donations
We always welcome school uniform donations for us to sell at our school uniform shop. Could we please ask that the clothes are in good, clean condition. All items can be dropped off at the school office between 8.15am - 4.00pm. Thank you so much for doing this for the school as it helps our parents out tremendously.
Attendance
Celebration Assembly Attendance Awards
Congratulations to the four classes that achieved our attendance target this week. We also had 336 children who achieved 100% attendance in the week, which is absolutely amazing.
Aim to attend school 100% of every week.
Illness absence
Schools are an amazing place for learning but unfortunately schools are also a place where illness and germs are shared, to combat this please help us to remind your children that it is important that they wash their hands regularly during the day, especially after using the toilet and before eating.
As part of the school record keeping processes, we always expect parents to let the school know when their child is unable to attend due to illness, when we have a reason
Unauthorised illness absences
If your child has an attendance figure below 90% and they are absent due to illness, we may contact you to provide additional evidence of the absence. This evidence could look like, a image of a doctor’s appointment text, a picture of current prescribed medication, pharmacy compliment slip, the discharge paper from the hospital or a photo of the child showing their rash or spots. With this kind of evidence, we will be able to authorise the absence.
In some instances, without additional evidence, we will not be able to authorise the absence, if this is the case for your child’s absence the attendance team will always let you know. The reason you provide for the absence will be recorded, but the code that goes into the register will indicate that it has been an illness but an unauthorised absence.
If you have any questions about how long to keep your child off school due to illness, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Wyer from our attendance team on the school number 01702 468047 and then select Option 1 for the attendance line.
Being here Is half the Battle.
Contact us
If you would like to talk to someone for support or advice on attendance or punctuality, please do not hesitate to contact the Attendance Team and ask to speak to, Mrs S. Wyer, Attendance Administrator or Mrs D Morris Assistant Principal and Senior Leader for Attendance, you can also pop in to the school office to request to speak to one of us face to face, alternatively you call the school or send us an email to attendance@pgps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk we here and we are always happy to help!
Being ready for every day and getting in on time is the challenge you set yourself to achieve greatness!
Dinner Menu
Week 3
Monday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Meatballs with Tomato Sauce & Penne - Vegan Roasted Ratatouille with Penne - Baked Jacket with Grated Cheese - Carrots & Broccoli - Orange Shortbread Biscuit
Tuesday - Fajita Spiced Turkey & Vegetables with Steamed Rice - Vegan Burrito - Pasta & Tomato - Sweetcorn & Peas - Carrot Cake
Wednesday- Herby Roast Chicken with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - 3 Vegetable Mac n’ Cheese - Baked Jacket with Baked Beans - Seasonal Greens & Broccoli - Chocolate & Beetroot Brownie
Thursday - Macaroni & Cheese Bolognaise Bake - Vegan Chickpea & Spinach Korma with Steamed Rice - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Cauliflower & Carrots - Vanilla Ice Cream
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Bubble & Squeak with Chips & Ketchup - Baked Jacket with Grated Cheese - Peas & Baked Beans - Apple & Parsnip Cake
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.