Friars Weekly Newsletter

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• Year 1's Books for Breakfast
• MP Visit
• Pupil Achievement Outside of School - Avie Rae
• Breakfast Club
• KS1 and 2 Sports Day and Picnic Reminder

The penultimate week of Spring 2 has come to an end. Spring has definitely been here this week! Hasn’t the sun been fantastic!!! It has been lovely being outside and feeling a warm sun shining down on us. A big thank you to all of the adults who came along to the Year 1 Books for Breakfast events on Monday and Tuesday. It was great to see everyone and have a fun morning together. There was reading, lovely craft activities and lots of smiles. There will be more Books for Breakfast sessions for Year 2 in the summer term. This week has been busy for lots of reasons but also because of our Learning Conversation evenings. It was lovely having such a full school across Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Yesterday we had a special visit from Bayo Alaba, the Member of Parliament for Southend East & Rochford. Bayo visited the school to talk about the government’s ‘Pride in Place’ programme. Did you know that Shoeburyness will receive £20 million over the next 10 years for improvements? Residents of Shoebury and people who work here can apply to be on the ‘Neighbourhood Board’ who will help make decisions about the funding. If you want to apply, visit: https://bayoalaba.com/application-pride-in-place-board-member You can find more information on this page too.

Today it has been Red Nose Day. Thank you for supporting our fundraising efforts! We sold a whopping 150 noses this year raising £375.00 in red nose sales. The buckets on the gates raised a further £89.98. A total of £464.98 raised for Comic Relief. Have a lovely weekend everyone. Mr. Chris McClay, Principal

Pupil Achievement Outside of School

Last week, Avie Rae from Reception travelled to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens to take part in the UDO British Dance Festival. Avie Rae had a wonderful time and achieved third place in the under-6 solo competition and second place in the under-6 street dance duo category. Well done Ava Rae!

Breakfast Club

1) In September, we will have childcare available between 7:30am and 8:00am. This will be before the Breakfast Club provision and will be a paid-for service. More information will follow about this in the summer term. 2) Recently, some of the children who attend Breakfast Club have been playing on the grass and climbing on the wooden structures at the front of the building before the start of Breakfast Club. Some of the play has been unsafe. If children do arrive before 8:00am they must line up at the hall door ready for the hall opening. If your child walks to school without an adult, please talk to them about this. Thank you.

KS1 and KS2 Sports Day and Picnic

A reminder that our big family sporting and picnic event is at the end of next half-term… Thursday 21st May. This is the last day of term. More information will come to you after Easter, but please do save the date. A reminder too that the children in Early Years, Nursery and Reception, have their own separate events. Early Years events are in June (dates are below).

Summer Events 2026

We love seeing the Friars Family come together at our summer events so we are pleased to share a number of dates for your diaries as we move into the second part of the academic year… More information about these events will follow closer to the time.

Nursery

This week in Nursery we have shared the story of 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff‘. The children loved joining in with the repetitive phrases and used these later when role playing the story. Some children made their own goat or troll masks and others built bridges which were also used to retell the story.  We have also thought about road safety and how we cross the road. We played the stop and start game and some of us went to see the zebra crossing outside of the school. We observed others crossing and discussed if they were doing this the right way.  In group time this week we have been practicing counting out small amounts, this is something that can be supported at home by asking your child to count out a given amount of something, for example, 4 knives and forks for dinner or 3 cars when playing.  

REMINDER: Next Wednesday is our Easter Bonnet parade – please refer to the letter for time changes for collection times. 

Reception

We have been learning about Ramadan and Eid this week, making crescent moon and star decorations, writing good deeds and reading stories that tell us more about the Islamic celebration of Muhammad receiving the Qur’an.  On Tuesday we acknowledged St Patrick’s Day, listening to traditional Irish music, looking at photos of Dublin’s annual parade and learning who Patrick was and what he did that make the Irish love him so much. Maths this week has seen us investigating number bonds to 5 and beyond and in phonics we have been practising reading longer words by chunking them into the root word and suffix. 

Year 1

Thank you for coming to our 'Books for Breakfast' morning, it was so lovely to see so many of you and the children enjoyed it.  In English, the children have begun to write their own version of Jack and the Beanstalk. They have made it their own by changing the type of plant Jack grows and by changing who Jack meets at the top instead of a giant.  In maths, the children have been continuing to work on measuring length using standard units. They have explored using a ruler and measuring in centimetres. We have also been comparing weight with balance scales using mathematical language.  In history, we have thought about the changes that have occurred in London as a result of the Great Fire of London. 

REMINDER: Starlings are having their outdoor learning sessions next week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. Please can they be wearing their normal uniform on the top half and something on their bottom half that you don’t mind getting a bit muddy. We will go out whatever the weather so please ensure they have a coat with them each day.  It will be Wren’s turn after the Easter break.

Letters sent home this week

• Year 1 - Barleyland Farm Visit - 17.03.2026

Year 2

This week, children in 2W had the opportunity to read and create maps in outdoor learning. We familiarised ourselves with different map symbols, read a map of Shoeburyness and followed map directions to navigate our way around the Environmental Garden. The children used compasses to ensure that they followed the map in the correct direction and displayed excellent teamwork skills when completing tasks across the week.  In English, we continued learning about the Titanic. This week, our focus has been on diary entries. We explored the features of diaries and discussed what we would need to include in our own entries. Using our imaginations, we wrote a diary entry from the point of view of a Titanic passenger boarding the boat. Some of us imagined that we were rich passengers staying in luxurious bedrooms and others chose to spend their voyage in the cramped 3rd class cabins!  In maths, we begun to explore capacity and volume. The children used containers and water to measure amounts of liquid to create different capacities. We discussed how sometimes containers can look different but have similar volumes.  

Year 3

This week in English, the children explored recount texts. They learned how recounts tell events in the order they happened and practiced writing their own sentences about what they did at the weekend. The class worked hard to include clear details and time words to help make their writing easy to follow. It was lovely to hear about all the different activities the children enjoyed! In maths, the children worked extremely hard to complete their assessments. They showed great focus and determination throughout the week, and we are very proud of the effort they put in. Well done to everyone for trying their best! During PSHE, the class learned about taking risks. We discussed how to recognise when something might be risky, how to assess whether it is safe, and what we can do if we ever feel uncomfortable in a risky situation. The children shared thoughtful ideas about ways to stay safe and who they can talk to if they need help.

Year 4

This week we have had a big focus on water! In science, we enjoyed learning a little about water conservation and then looked at how we could clean a muddy sample. There was a range of filtering, sieving and separating happening and we ended up with some pretty clear samples. Our writing then continued this with us researching some facts about water with a view to us writing persuasively. We used facts and opinions to make things sound really important.  In maths, we finished our assessments and then continued looking at improper and mixed number fractions.  PSHE was an interesting topic this week where we discussed other drugs we had heard about including paracetamol and caffeine. We even talked about legal and illegal things. In geography, we have been looking at the counties around London and some of the famous landmarks.

Year 5

Another busy week in Year 5!   The children have been showing great resilience with their assessments. Our focus this week has been around maths where the children have worked through three maths papers. We are proud of their efforts. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to share their results and next steps.   Within English this week and next the children are focusing on the theme of palm oil and using persuasive language to bring about further change in the use of 'dirty' palm oil. We have been discussing the products this is found in and the issues it brings. This learning ties in with their geography work where we have been investigating the rainforest further finding out who is helping rainforests around the world and who is not.    Further practice has been ongoing with the ukuleles, and we now have some band members in Year 5 for the music festival. Next week brings our next RockSteady concert. We are all really looking forward to this!   Within our PE sessions we have been exploring badminton further and are about to look at table tennis. What fun!   It was lovely to see so many parents at Parents Evening.

Year 6

Year 6 have been working hard to improve their writing this week. Each task has been focusing on a specific area of grammar, which the children have endeavoured to use throughout the pieces produced. The level of description has been fantastic and they have aimed to hook the audience with the opening line. Work on decimals has been the main focus in maths. Understanding the place value of decimal numbers and using decimal notation in worded problems. We have been practicing extra arithmetic, up to 12 questions each afternoon to increase the pace of answering. In science our topic has moved onto the circulatory system and the function of the human heart. The children were shown a lamb’s heart and created models of hearts, identifying the different chambers within it.  We were lucky enough to meet the local MP, Baya Alaba, who spoke to us about his work and the fact that Shoebury has been awarded a huge sum of money over the next 10 years and we discussed different possibilities for how the money could be used to benefit the whole community.

Computing

This week, the lower end of the school has been actively engaged in the computing suite. The week commenced with the Year 2s, who focused on creating pictograms to represent various information. The children collected data regarding their favourite pets and minibeasts, constructing a tally chart before inputting this information into J2Data to generate a pictogram illustrating the results. Subsequently, they utilised this data to answer questions, acquiring valuable skills in just one hour. In Year 3, the pupils were introduced to the branching databases feature of J2Data. The lesson began with an interactive yes/no game, which facilitated the identification of the types of questions necessary for constructing a branching database to categorise different animals or minibeasts. After formulating their questions, the children tested their databases by playing the game to ensure the images were accurately sorted. The week concluded with the Year 1 children, who continued their exploration of Scratch Jr. using iPads. They learned to add backgrounds and sprites, employing programming blocks to enable the sprites to move in various ways. This week, there was also an emphasis on the ‘looks’ blocks, allowing the sprites to deliver verbal prompts when activated, as well as using the green flag to initiate the programme. The Computing Club was particularly busy this week, providing an opportunity for children to enhance their computing skills. Some focused on creating PowerPoint presentations, while others advanced their programming skills with Scratch. Notably, several Year 6 pupils participated to further develop their mathematical abilities.

Sports & PE

This week there has been lots of sports building up to small games. There has been a range of dodgeball, handball, dance, gymnastics, badminton and basketball going on. The improved weather has meant that more jumpers are being taken off during sports or break. Please help children locate lost kit by ensuring names are clear in clothing.

Online Safety

Violent clips, online ‘wars’, and shock-value challenges can spread rapidly across social media feeds – often appearing in front of young people who weren’t actively looking for them. This guide explains how algorithms, messaging groups and viral trends can expose children to real-world violence online, sometimes normalising harmful behaviour or encouraging risky offline actions. It also highlights the emotional, social and legal risks linked to engaging with violent content. From anxiety and community fear to the dangers of sharing or promoting violent posts, the guide offers practical advice for parents and educators on discussing online safety, understanding the law, and helping young people respond positively and responsibly.

PTA

This week we sold a great deal of pre-loved uniform at the Learning Conversation evenings. Thank you to the PTA who help organise all of the uniform.