Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...
- E-scooter message
- Reminder about our non-uniform day next Friday
- Southend Foodbank Design Competition
- Book Week in March... and World Book Day
A grey and blustery week it might have been… but that hasn’t stopped us! Another fun January week comes to an end and next week sees us step into the shortest month, February. Just a reminder that we do try to take the children outside when we can so please do make sure that the children have their coats with them.
On Wednesday, Year 5 were the latest year group to visit Shoeburyness Library. Another lovely morning was had and I again managed to pop along with one of the classes. We had a lovely walk and the children learnt lots about the fantastic library provision on our doorstep.
Yesterday morning saw a Year 3 and 4 hockey participate in a tournament at Warners Bridge. You can read about this in the PE and Sport section of the newsletter. Today the Year 5 and 6 team were competing. There will be more about that next week.
On Tuesday afternoon, we had our regular fire drill practice. You will be pleased to hear that the children were incredibly sensible and everything went very smoothly. This time we made the fire drill more challenging by blocking a corridor. It is important that we practise drills with added challenges so that we know that our procedures are tested and that they work.
All of the children have now cast their votes for the Waddle-on-Sea design competition. We will be announcing the results next week. To support our work with Havens Hospices we have our non-uniform day next Friday!
You might have seen that the school appeared in the Echo this week. A lovely piece was written about us.
Have a lovely weekend everyone. The sun is coming… I promise!
Mr. McClay, Principal
E-Scooters
Please can we ask that E-scooters are not brought onto the school premises and if they are that they are walked at all times.
We cannot allow E-scooters to come inside the building due to health and safety reasons so please do not ask. Should an E-scooter be brought onto the school site when a visitor attends a meeting or event, it must be left safely in or next to the scooter shed. Thank you.
Non-Uniform Day for Havens Hospices
Just a reminder that we have a non-uniform day next Friday, Friday 7th February. Please can all donations be given to class teachers (suggested donation £1). Thank you.
Have a really lovely weekend. See you all on Monday.
Mr. Chris McClay, Principal
Southend Foodbank Design Challenge
Southend Foodbank has a brand new 2025 Design Challenge. This design challenge offers students the opportunity to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to design a brand new 'Thank You' sticker for the foodbank that will be printed and given to all their wonderful supporters when they donate food and/or money throughout 2025. See below for more information.
National Online Safety for Parents and Carers
As a school we continue to have access to The National College’s National Online Safety for Parents and Carers – a multi-award-winning online training provider.
What does this mean for you?
The National College provides dedicated training and resources for parents and carers around online safety and keeping children safe online. The training and resources are excellent and easy to follow.
Online safety advice on any topic
Of course, staff continue to teach children about risks online. But with the internet so readily accessible, the most effective approach to online safety needs everyone involved, including parents and carers.
There is access to hundreds of courses, explainer videos and online safety guides to support your awareness of the online world. Topics range from understanding apps like TikTok and Instagram to recognising the signs of online harm and what you can do to help. We share these poster guides each week in our newsletters.
We ask all parents to please sign up; it only takes a few moments and it will enable us all to help keep your children safe. If you haven't signed up already, please do...
Signing up to the platform is simple. Just follow this link: National Online Safety and complete your details. Once you are set up, you will be able to choose ‘Parent/Carer’ as your user type and get instant access to all training and resources.
Book Week
For this year’s Book Week, we are hoping to run the ‘Great Friars Book Swap’ so if you’re decluttering over the next few weeks, we would love it if you could send in any good quality children’s books to Mrs. Astrella in Year 3. More details will follow about the rest of our Book Week plans, but please note that instead of fancy dress this year, we are encouraging all children to come to school in pyjamas / comfy clothes with their favourite book. This will be on World Book Day which is Thursday 6th March.
Diary Dates
February
- Monday 3rd - Friday 7th - 6L Outdoor Learning
- Monday 3rd - Children's Mental Health Week
- Thursday 6th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Friday 7th - Non-Uniform Day for Havens Hospices
- Monday 10th- Friday 14th - 6B Outdoor Learning
- Tuesday 11th - Safer Internet Day
- Wednesday 12th - Year 4 Assembly to KS1
- Thursday 13th - Year 4 Assembly to KS2
- Friday 14th 9:15am (KS2 Hall) - Year 4 Assembly to Parents
- Monday 17th - Friday 21st - Half Term
- Monday 24th - INSET Day - school closed to children
- Tuesday 25th - First day of Spring 2
- Thursday 27th - Reception Height and Weight check
- School Nurse Drop in
- Nursery Stay & Play
March
- Monday 3rd-Friday 7th - Careers Week
- Monday 3rd - Football vs Milton Hall
- Wednesday 5th - Little City visiting EY & KS1
- Southend Makes Music
- Thursday 6th - World Book Day - children and staff to wear pyjamas or comfy clothes
- Tuesday 11th - Year 4 Imperial War Museum
- Thursday 13th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Wednesday 19th - Learning Conversations
- Thursday 20th - Learning Conversations
- Friday 21st - Red Nose Day
- Wednesday 26th - PTA Mother's Day Sale
- Thursday 27th - PTA Mother's Day Sale
- Nursery Stay & Play
April
- Wednesday 2nd - Year 5 Assembly to KS1
- Thursday 3rd - Year 5 Assembly to KS2
- Friday 4th 9:15am (KS2 Hall) - Year 5 Assembly to Parents
- Monday 7th - Thursday 17th - Easter Break
- Friday 18th - Good Friday
- Monday 21st - Easter Monday
- Tuesday 22nd - Children Return to School
- Thursday 24th - Year 6 SATS & Ilam Hall meeting 3.30pm
- Tuesday 29th - Year 3 Colchester Castle visit
- Wednesday 30th - Whole School Photos
May
- Thursday 1st - Portico SEND Music Event
- Monday 5th - Bank Holiday - School Closed
- Monday 12th - Thursday 15th - KS2 SATS Week
- Friday 16th - Non Uniform Day for Havens Hospices
- Monday 19th - Friday 23rd - Year 6 Ilam Hall Residential and Y6 Southend Week
- Wednesday 21st - Year 3 Assembly to KS1
- Nursery Sports Afternoon and Picnic
- Thursday 22nd - Year 3 Assembly to KS2
- Reception Sports Afternoon and Picnic
- Friday 23rd - Year 3 Assembly to Parents
- Monday 26th - Friday 30th - May Half Term
June
- Monday 2nd - INSET Day
- Tuesday 3rd - Friday 6th - Year 4 Multiplication Times Tables Check
- Tuesday 3rd - Friday 6th - School Science Week
- Wednesday 4th - Year 1 Wat Tyler Park Visit
- Monday 9th - PTA Fathers Day Sale
- Tuesday 10th - Borough Sports
- PTA Fathers Day Sale
- Wednesday 11th - Friday 13th - Year 5 Thriftwood Residential
- Wednesday 18th - KS1 & KS2 Sports Day and Picnic
- Thursday 19th - Year 2 Call to the Wild Visit
- Wednesday 25th - Reception Hyde Hall Visit
July
- Thursday 3rd - Open Evening & Portico Art & DT display
- Friday 4th - KS1 Borough Sports
- Year 6 Transition Day
- Wednesday 16th - PTA Summer Fayre & Inflatables
- Monday 21st - School Discos
- Wednesday 23rd - Year 6 Leavers Assembly
- Last Day of Term
Nursery
Happy Chinese New Year....this week Nursery children have really enjoyed learning about the traditions of Chinese New Year and that this year is the Year of the Snake. They have had the opportunity participate in lots of craft activities including collage paper lanterns, Chinese dragon puppets, practised their cutting skills on spiral snakes and even tried some Chinese food during snack time. But most of all they enjoyed watching the Chinese lion dance which inspired us to make our own one in Nursery. The children all helped a little, creating the mask with nursery resources and then joined in either as part of the lion dance or playing music alongside it. It’s been a busy week all round but lots of fun has been had.
Reception
Throughout the week the children have learnt about Chinese New Year. They have enjoyed hearing the story of the animals racing against each other, watching a clip of a child getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year, listening to Chinese music and dancing to it. We have supported the children to write a sentence related to Chinese New Year. If your child is 5, they were born in the Year of the Pig if they are 4 then they were born in the Year of the Rat. Our maths sessions have focused on different ways of making 6, 7 and 8 as well as finding one more and one less. On Tuesday, we had a fire drill, the children were fantastic at lining up and being safe; we were very proud of them.
Year 1
This week, the children have been busy in science and English, learning about the four seasons. The children have created their own explanation texts about them. Some of the children included some rather sophisticated vocabulary, such as deciduous and evergreen to describe different tree types and their changes through the seasons. In maths, we have been looking at addition within 20, including using number lines and known number bonds to help. In Geography this week, we have been exploring the four countries of the UK and locating them on a map. In gymnastics, we continued to learn how to use our bodies to create different shapes and jumps in sequences. We have been practising different rolls too, and the children have really enjoyed being fantastic gymnasts!
Year 2
In Year 2 this week, we have travelled through a magical forest which incorporated various characters from familiar fairy stories. The story is called ‘Into the Forest’ which is another story from the author Anthony Browne. The children wrote their own recount and included some descriptive expanded noun phrases to add detail to their work.
In maths, we have been challenged the children to add totals and calculate change using money. The children applied their addition and subtraction skills well when solving some two step problems.
The children were very excited about watching the Chinese lion dancers who visited this week. They made their own red envelopes and decorated them before adding their coins. Thank you so much for your generous donations – it certainly was quite a spectacle and the children loved it!
Year 3
In English, this week we have been continuing to look at non-chronological reports, writing up our introduction and paragraphs, using our research notes from last week. Next week, we’ll be starting our reports on Lunar New Year so do bring in any information or research your child manages to do at home!
We have moved onto our maths unit on length and perimeter this week, focusing on metres, centimetres and millimetres. It has been great to put some of our measurement skills into practice around the classroom.
3A have been enjoying another badminton session this week, thinking about our footwork when returning the shuttlecock to our partners. We’ve also been playing the glockenspiels in music, sketching a cross section of a volcano in preparation for a Margaret Godfrey style piece of art and described the similarities and decorated red envelopes for Lunar New Year.
3B have had a brilliant (but slightly cold!) time in outdoor learning this week. We talked about fire safety and created some fire safety posters. The highlight of the week was when we cooked marshmallows and sang songs around the campfire!
We all LOVED the visit from the Chinese lion on Thursday morning – what an exciting treat for everybody!
REMINDER: There is currently a competition running between the Year 3 classes on how many Reading Eggs minutes they can accumulate over the week! Please do keep accessing this at home to share books and enjoy the quizzes together.
Year 4
We looked at rationing this week in English with a focus on writing instructions. We explored the language of instructions with specific imperative verbs and then took notes, whilst watching our teachers cook spam hash! We all got to try some too. After this, we wrote our own instructions using the correct layouts.
In maths, we have begun to learn the short division method (also known as the bus stop!) This took some practising but we got there!
In DT topic, we continued our project of 'Make Do and Mend' and began sewing our toys using our plans.
In science, we looked at animal classification into groups and subgroups, including vertebrates and invertebrates, and mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles. We had great fun deciding which animals to group in different ways.
We have also started to practise for our year group assembly which will take place on 14th February at 9.15am.
REMINDER: Please ensure that your children are accessing Reading Eggs at home. Both classes had less than half the children accessing their reading at home last week.
Please also continue to practise times tables using TTRockstars.
If your child is an evacuee in the assembly, and if you have some appropriate clothes at home, could they please bring in a plain(ish) 1940s style outfit to wear. Plain grey/black shorts, plain tops, a waistcoat, a plain dress etc would be ideal! We have some limited costumes here if you are unable. Thank you.
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have been getting stuck into explanation writing around the issue of climate change and discussing what it is, causes and more. During our maths lessons, we have dived back into fractions and in particular, multiplying them and simplifying. On Wednesday, the children visited Shoeburyness Library and got to explore the variety of books and made aware of all the things they have access to there such as Lego clubs and board games. Year 5 finished their week with continuing their exploration of Banksy and street art along with the beginnings of a science experiment into how rust is formed.
REMINDER: If your child is attending the Thriftwood Residential, a payment is due today. If you have not made this payment, please head to ParentPay.
Year 6
This week, Year 6 children have written letters of complaint about the treatment of a Chinese dissident who wanted democracy but lost his freedom and ultimately his life having been imprisoned.
In science, the children looked at bacteria, some good and bad and then set up experiments using slices of bread. The children came up with different conditions that may affect the rate of mould growth on their group's slice of bread. We will be monitoring these results over the next couple of weeks.
We have now finished our work on ratio and applied our knowledge to upscaling or downscaling the ingredients required in recipes.
REMINDER: 6L, you have outdoor learning next week. 6B are week commencing Monday 10th February.
REMINDER: If your child is attending the Ilam Hall Residential, a payment is due today. If you have not made this payment, please head to ParentPay.
Computing
This week in computing, children have continued to work hard on their programming units.
The week began with the Year 2 classes working hard to create an interactive quiz using Scratch Jr. They needed to choose at least two backgrounds and a number of sprites and each background choice asked the question “Who lives here?” The children were then tasked with creating a program to allow the correct sprite to say ‘yes’ and then move on to another background and the incorrect sprite saying ‘No’ and the background remaining the same. Children seemed to enjoy being creative with the sprites and, in addition, some children went on to make their quiz more interesting by enabling the sprites to disappear or move in a different way.
On Tuesday, Year 1 had a slightly different lesson by having the opportunity to explore Scratch Jr. on the iPads. They were shown some of the basics including how to add and remove a sprite, how to change the background and furthermore some even began tinkering with the various blocks to get the sprites to move around in different ways. Well done Year 1 for exploring a different way of programming.
Year 4 this week continued with their learning on FMS Logo and created lots of different shapes, using a count-controlled loop. They already knew that creating a square would require repetition of moving forwards 4 times and 4 right turn angles, so they had to calculate the turn required for different shapes such as hexagons or decagons (360/number of sides). Some children created a circle made up of lots of short lines/turns.
The crumble controllers have been a great hit with Year 5 where they have learned about ‘selection’ learning how a condition affects the running of a program. They started by creating the circuit using the sparkle, batteries, crumble controller and the switch. Students also needed to think about the statement ‘if….then…..’ They were set a challenge to use selection to control a light pattern by using a switch.
Year 6 have started on a project to create their own game on Scratch. They had to consider the variables they would make (eg timer, score or lives), whether it is user friendly and also where to use selection/loops. They will continue with this up until half-term.
Online Safety
As we grow up, we’re inevitably exposed to new and challenging feelings – whether it’s sadness, fear or rage. These emotions can be tough to handle when we’re still learning about the world – and even once we’ve passed into adulthood – which is why emotional literacy is a vital life skill.
Of course, when emotions are running high, it can be tricky to help young people process these feelings in a healthy way, but it’s incredibly important that we do so as parents and educators. This free guide provides you with expert tips on teaching children to recognise their own emotions and deal with them in a mature manner.
PE & Sports
This week we participated in two hockey competitions over at Warners Bridge Park home to Old Southendian’s Hockey Club. On Thursday, the Year 3/4 team performed well and thoroughly enjoyed their morning with Mr. Brady and Miss Parin. Today, we sent the Year 5/6 team into action with Mr. Leggett and Mr. Brady overseeing arrangements. We are waiting to hear how they got on... More to be shared next week.
Dinner Menu
Week 2
Monday - Beef Bolognaise & Penne Pasta Bake - Vegan Bolognaise with Spaghetti - Jacket Potato with Baked Beans - Cheese Sandwich - Ham Salad Wrap - Cauliflower & Green Beans - Maryland Cookie
Tuesday - Caribbean Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry with Steamed Rice - Vegan Spiced Squash & Potato Samosa - Pasta with Squash & Tomato Sauce - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Cheese Salad Wrap - Carrots & Peas - Carrot & Apple Flapjack
Wednesday - Honey Roast Gammon with Gravy - Vegan Bombay Chickpea Burrito - Pasta with Squash & Tomato Sauce - Cheese & Tomato Bloomer - Ham Sandwich - Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Greens & Carrots - Banana & Cinnamon Sponge
Thursday - Curried Beef & Vegetables with Steamed Rice - Vegan Mexican Bean & Vegetable Savoury Rice - Jacket Potato with Cheddar Cheese - Cheese Sandwich - Chicken Mayonnaise Baguette - Broccoli & Sweetcorn - Cherry Shortbread
Friday - Fish Fingers, Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Boston BBQ 3 Bean Stew with Baked Jackets - Pasta with Squash & Tomato Sauce - Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich - Ham Salad Baguette - Baked Beans & Peas - Vanilla Ice Cream
Freshly Baked Bread: Beetroot & Herb or Wholemeal Bread
PTA
The PTA Annual General Meeting took place on Monday morning. Thank you to everyone who attended. A huge thank you to the PTA for all of their hard work between AGMs and the many great things they have done for the school. The school is luck to have you.
Mr. McClay
Celebration Assembly
The links for our Celebration Assemblies can be found below.
Community
Join the Marvellous Makers as they return for the popular winter reading challenge for children: Winter Mini Challenge!
Children can sign up today to read three books (or more) and unlock a digital badge and certificate - simply create your account online, add books to your profile and leave reviews when you have read them!
Visit your local library to select your books - they have lots of perfect winter reads for all ages - and if you were lucky enough to receive a book or two at Christmas, why not include those too! The challenge runs until 20th February. Find out more here.
This week saw two teams surpass the 500-point mark. It was no surprise to find that it was Windsor and Sterling who achieved this feat as both have been out in front for a little while now. With the reds scoring the most points, their place out in front was secured for another week.
The spoils were shared by Windsor and Stirling as the reds were our winners in Key Stage 1 and the blues took Key Stage 2.
Come on Caernarfon and Stormont… you are still very much in it!
01702 294837 - office@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk