porters grange weekly newsletter week ending 19th july 2024

As another year comes to a close we have lots to celebrate. Once again Ofsted recognised the hard work of the children and staff to award us a good in the inspection.

Our sports teams and choir have represented the school with pride across the year in locations ranging from the Olympic swimming pool in Stratford to the Cliffs Pavilion in our own fair city.

Whilst we look forward to another successful year starting in September we do sadly have a few goodbyes. Leaving our staff is Mrs Rea, Mrs Hafeez, Mrs Tricker, Ms Parsons and after an incredible 20 years Mrs Douglas. We offer our heart felt thanks for their tireless work and commitment to the school.

Which leaves us with our final and most important farewell, and that is to the children of year 6. Many have been with us from Nursery and Reception and many have joined through the passing years. All however, have been a joy to teach and work with. It has been our honour and privilege to see how they have developed, and we at Porters Grange, children and staff wish them every success for the future.

Nursery

This week the children who are leaving us and going up to Reception class have visited and spent some time in their new classroom.

We have had a fun last week doing lots of activities we have enjoyed throughout the year in nursery.

We have had a wonderful year with the children and we will all miss them a lot! We wish them good luck in Reception and wish you all a very happy and safe Summer Holidays. We will see our returning nursery children back on Monday 9th September.

Reception

This week the children have been to visit their new classrooms and spent time with their new Year 1 teachers. We have enjoyed playing with our favourite toys and activities for our final week in Reception. Mrs Baines came and played the violin and Mrs Morris came in and played the guitar to us whilst we had a sing along for an end of year treat.

We have had a wonderful year with the children and we will all miss them a lot! We wish them good luck in Year One.

We have collected all the school reading books in but don’t forget the summer reading challenge is running at the local libraries.

Have a great summer holiday!

Year 1

This week the children have had a great time meeting their new teachers and spending time in their new classrooms. They have made their own peg labels and written about what they would like to achieve in Y2. A letter has been written by every child to their new teacher ready for them to find out more about each person in Y1. The children enjoyed a timetable change, organised by the ‘Principal for the Day’ where they had iPad time and longer break times!

We wish you a brilliant summer holiday. The children have taken a list of Porters Pick books which you can look for in your local library. The summer reading challenge is also running at your local library which you can take part in.

Year 2

This week in English, we reflected on our experiences throughout Year 2. We crafted self-reports using persuasive language, focusing on positive comments and avoiding negativity. In Maths, we revised our timetables and spent some time on TTRS. We also had fun watching the Year 6 performance in the Hall. In Science, we examined the sunflower seeds we planted, exploring the process of planting, germination, and plant development. Additionally, we met our new class teachers and spent time in our new classrooms. The children enjoyed a schedule change organised by the 'Principal of the Day'.

We hope everyone enjoys a well-deserved break filled with joy and relaxation. Remember to keep the love of reading alive and practice those times tables during the summer!

Year 3

It’s been a busy week in Year 3, completing our non-chronological reports on the Romans and finishing up our statistics topic in maths. The children have enjoyed the activities set for the ‘Principal for the Day lessons, including quizzes, devising short poetry / story performances in class and creating an art piece on the theme of what they enjoy about being at Porters. We will miss our current classes, but we are certain that Year 4 will be successful for them and we look forward to seeing them grow and thrive.

Keep up your reading practise over the summer – challenge yourself to read something every day: a book, a magazine, a recipe etc. Times table Rockstars is available all the time – 15 minutes a day will make a huge difference to your speed of recall over the 6 weeks.

Have a lovely summer holiday!

Year 4

It has been a fun packed week at Porters, where children have been getting to know their new year group teacher, as well as taking part in all sorts of exciting activities. In English, children have been using their history knowledge on the Vikings to create a piece of writing on why the Vikings were not just fierce warriors. They have been considering a different viewpoint from that of the Anglo-Saxons and using powerful language to convince the reader on all the positives about these Viking warriors. In maths, children continue to plot coordinates on a grid and learn all about how to record various shapes and positions. During our ‘Principal for the Day’ lessons, children took part in stand-up poetry, drama performances and enjoyed their arts and crafts lesson, where they all created their own stress balls using balloons, flour and wool.

We hope that the children continue to take pleasure in reading over the summer and keep practising their times tables over the long holidays.

Have a restful and joyful summer holiday!

Year 5

This week, we rounded out the year with some fun filled activities. In English, we completed some writing challenges, from diary entries as a dragon, to writing persuasive letters to our local MP. In maths, we covered volume before enjoying some estimation guessing games and times table fun during our ‘Principal for the Day’ lessons. There has also been meet the new teacher sessions, the talent show and many more – phew – what a busy week!

Well done Year 5, you have worked hard this year and we wish you all the best of luck for Year 6 and beyond.

Your homework over the Summer holidays is…

Relax and have fun!

From Mr Rasor, Mrs Morris, Mrs Chaaibi, Miss Brinkley and Mr Morris.

Year 6

Year 6 have been enjoying their last week at Porters Grange with many lovely activities to celebrate the end of their primary school journey. They performed their end of year show to the school, their parents and carers amidst much laughter and tears! They enjoyed their end of term bbq and leaver’s disco where the teacher’s cringy dance moves were much admired! The year 6 teachers would like to wish year 6 good luck in their new schools. It has been a pleasure teaching you all and we will miss you.

Good luck at secondary school!

Principal for the Day

Essa and his SLT of Zahra and Deniston ran the school smoothly on Wednesday. The children enjoyed a wide range of learning activities and extra play/lunchtime thanks to the Principal. Essa along with his SLT engaged in a number of learning walks and meetings with our chef and site supervisor. At the end of the day they wrote a report for Mrs Woolf letting her know what they had done.

French

This week year one have got to grips with French numbers from one to ten.

Music

Talent show

We have an amazing array of talent in our school. Well done to all who took part.

Instrumental Lessons – If you are interested in your child starting lessons in September, letters are available from the school office. Thank you.

Healthy Schools

Community

The link for the parents to book for free is here -

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.