Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 26th April 2024

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• Our visit from Essex Police
• Year 5 reminder about the Thriftwood Residential meeting
• Careers Week... can you help?

April is almost coming to an end and May is just around the corner… when are we going to get some lovely weather?! Although the weather is still very changeable it never stops us here at Friars…

This week’s special event was our visit on Wednesday afternoon from Essex Police. You can read more about the visit from the Dog Section further into this newsletter and the link to the full report is there too. A big thank you to PC Blunt and PC Turner and police dogs Bruce, Arnie and Gigi. Thank you also to Mr. Telling who arranged the visit. Mr. Telling is friends with PC Blunt.

Next week we have lots going on, including the Year 1 educational visit to Wat Tyler country park, swimming sessions for both 2G and 1B and a meeting for Year 5 parents and carers about the Thriftwood residential.

Next week, I will be sending a letter all about our summer events so please look out for this.

Have a great weekend and see you all on Monday.

Mr. McClay, Principal

Nursery

This week, Nursery have spent time welcoming and settling in our new friends. I have been extremely proud of our older children who have helped to do this and make them feel so welcome. Throughout the week, the children have explored the nursery equipment and found new things to do. Some children enjoyed finger painting and creating pictures of bugs and flowers, others have explored the tessellating shapes, making patterns and pictures with them. The children also enjoyed returning to the pond where they released the tadpoles last week. They spent a little time pond dipping and seeing if they could spot any changes.

Reception

This week in Reception, we have been continuing our work on our focus text Errol’s Garden. We have sequenced the story and written our own captions. We have also enjoyed sharing other stories such as “The Tiny Seed” and “A Sprinkle of Happiness” linked to the theme of growing. In PE, we have continued working on different ways to travel whilst balancing a beanbag. In maths, we been introduced to Numberblock 8 and we have been using the language of more and less. In provision, we challenged ourselves at the playdough table by seeing what structures we could make with playdough and lolly sticks. We had some very imaginative creations such as tents, cooking utensils and a “mansion”!

REMINDER: PE day on a Tuesday. Please come in wearing the correct kit: Black shorts or joggers and purple round neck t-shirt.

Please only send your child in with water in their bottles. We have to replace any juice that comes in with water.

Year 1

It is our trip to Wat Tyler Park on Wednesday 1st May. We are leaving school at 9:00am – please ensure that your child is in school by 8:45 and suitably dressed for being outside. Every child must bring a packed lunch, either in a named plastic bag or a named lunch box. This week, we have continued to write about the seasons for our non-fiction booklets. In maths, the children have been doubling numbers and learning about arrays. The children had lots of fun completing a scavenger hunt in class looking for items made out of certain materials.

Year 2

In our English lessons, Year 2 have researched the amazing animals which live in the Antarctic. We worked together to record key points about each animal, which informed our writing this week. In our maths work we have explored finding a ½, ¼ and 1/3 of shapes and numbers. As part of our new science topic, we explored different types of seeds and bulbs which can grow into new plants. We continued to work on our printing pieces and used different objects to print on top of the marbling we did last week. We had some super final pieces which will be added to our Year 2 Gallery.

REMINDER: Thank you for those of you who have already paid for the trip to Call of the Wild trip on 27th June.

IMPORTANT CHANGE:

• 2G will be swimming on Wednesday for their last swim on 1st May.
• As of next week Year 2 will have PE on Tuesday and Friday each week.

Year 3

In English, we have continued our persuasive letter to Mr McClay to convince him to let us grow our own dragon fruit trees, and ultimately.... dragons! In maths we have been looking at non unit fractions of amounts and using our times table knowledge to help us. During the week, we had an interesting visit from two police officers, who came to chat about how we can be good citizens in our community, alongside explaining some of the work they do as dog handlers.

3B have continued with their learning of plants in science, finding out about how the Romans lived in history and attempting to become fluent in French by learning the members of our families.

REMINDER: 3B have outdoor learning next week starting on Tuesday. Please make sure the children are prepared for all weathers, including a waterproof coat please.

Year 4

The 'Battle of the Bands' is progressing well between 4S and 4D with the children being given lots of opportunities during the school day to boost their class score as well as their individual score. Please continue to encourage your children to learn their tables at home – it will really support them ahead of the Multiplication Times Tables Check in June and will build your child’s confidence in maths.

Sticking with poetry, the children read, ‘The Jumblies’, by Edward Lear. They had great fun picturing who the Jumblies might be and composing a verse of the poem, in a similar style by themselves.

Electricity and which appliances use mains electricity or batteries was the focus in science. It is good to see a secure understanding of how to keep safe whilst using electrical appliances as well.

Also this week, telling the time in French, exploring the art of ‘Roy Lichenstein,’ and understanding the reasons behind festivals in different religions helped to keep Year 4 on their toes!

REMINDER: Year 4 have their second PE lesson on a Friday afternoon. Please ensure that children are coming into school in appropriate PE clothes and no jewellery.

Year 5

On Tuesday, Year 5 re-enacted the Battle of Bosworth. The children were allocated a variety of roles and jobs which represented the House of Lancaster and the House of York. It was a complete success and the children even wanted to continue the battle the following day.

In maths, we completed a unit on statistics. The students learnt to read and interpret line graphs and tables. They also plotted data on a line graph. Next week, we will be moving onto a unit of shape.

In English, the children used their notes from last week to write a playscript for Scene 6 from Macbeth. They worked hard to include all the necessary features such as colons and stage instructions.

On Wednesday, we had a visit from police dog handlers. We were introduced to two dogs (a German shepherd and a spaniel.) The children watched a demonstration and then had a chat with the officers.

REMINDER: We have our Thriftwood Residential meeting on Tuesday at 3:15pm in the KS2 Hall.

REMINDER: Please have the children wear regular Friars purple jumpers or fleeces on PE day.

Year 6

It has been a busy week as the children had the last of their practice SATs. The children have worked incredibly hard and we can spend time on revision and supporting them in the build-up to the final tests. Please do encourage them to revise at home too as this will make a difference.

In the afternoons, we have looked at how animals adapt to different habitats, the children have produced their own research on individual animals ranging from polar bears to sloths.

The children have improved their map reading skills by locating landmarks around the local area using six-figure grid references.

We were lucky to have a visit from local police officers this week who work as part of the dog unit. We saw a police dog in action demonstrating how to stop and apprehend a potential criminal. The children then had an opportunity to ask questions about the job and what it all entails.

As of next week Year 6 will have PE on Wednesday and Thursday each week.

Letters sent home this week

• Isle of Wight Presentation
• Year 6 - Isle of Wight Letter - 24.04.2024

Computing

This week in computing, Year 1 continued to learn about grouping and discovered that if items are muddled up, it is easier to count them if they are sorted into groups first, according to an attribute they choose (eg item, colour, size etc.)

Year 2 have started to enter data onto a computer for subjects like favourite colours or favourite fruits and have answered questions about pictograms.

Year 3 started to organise objects into a tree structure as part of their unit on branching databases. They had to choose an attribute (a question) that could only have a yes or no answer.

Year 4 continued their experience with worksheets and learning how to format cells and create line graphs using excel.

Year 5 started their unit on flat file databases and begun to create database cards that can then be sorted/ordered.

Year 6 are continuing to learn about Excel and have begun to format cells on a spreadsheet.

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.

PE and Sport

Our summer term of sport has continued with a mix of weather across the week. Most classes have been able to enjoy their learning outside.

KS2 children have been working on athletics skills alongside either tennis, rounders or cricket. KS1 and Reception children have been working on skills linked to running, jumping, throwing, catching and hitting.

Please help your child get the most out of their PE lesson by ensuring they have the correct kit and are suitably dressed on their PE days, ready for their lessons.

Outdoor Learning

3A had a fantastic time outdoors this week! Next week, from Tuesday to Friday, it is the turn of 3B. Please make sure the children are dressed for whatever the weather! Normal uniform on the top half please.

Singing Assemblies

KS2 with Ms. Taylor-Brown

No singing assembly - as we had another OPAL assembly this week!

PTA

Some exciting developments and some summer fun is being planned! Watch. This. Space!