Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 28th november 2025

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• We finish the week with electricity!
• New Key Stage 2 Library
• Poppy Appeal grand total
• PTA Christmas Fayre next week... check out the PTA section

Well, the talking point of the week has to be Wednesday’s power cut! Whilst it did generate a bit of excitement, thankfully we were soon back to normal. Since Wednesday, I have had more children ask if we can have days where we don’t turn the lights on! I’m not so sure… Arguably, even more exciting was the arrival of new furniture for our Key Stage 2 library on Monday. The room already looks great and it will be up and running very soon. Thank you to the PTA for agreeing to part-fund the development - and of course to everyone who has supported PTA events in the past year! All of that fundraising is making a real difference for our children. This week has certainly felt very festive! Not only have we had lots of rehearsing for the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Christmas performances, we have also had our first Winter Wonderland afternoons! Yesterday we had a lovely session for Year 1 and this afternoon it was the turn of Year 2. We have more next week to look forward to! It isn’t just lower school who have been singing… children in Key Stage 2 have also been practising songs for our Christmas singalong. It’s been enough even for this Grinch to feel Christmassy 😊 If you’re coming into school next week for the Y3, 4, 5 or 6 Winter Wonderlands, or the Reception’ nativities, we look forward to seeing you then. Have a great weekend. Chris McClay, Principal

Mr. McClay, Principal

Poppy Appeal

This year's Poppy Appeal in school raised a grand total of... £320.86. Well done everyone... a great effort!

Nursery

In Nursery this week we shared the traditional tale, The 3 Little Pigs. The children have enjoyed retelling the story using props, puppets and masks, some of which they made themselves. We started by building houses using the foam bricks, sticks and crates. Of course, everyone wanted to huff and puff and blow the house down. During group time, we acted out the story and each child took on a role, after lots of role play throughout the week, the children became very familiar with the repeating phrases and we heard a lot of ‘little pig, little pig, let me come in’ and ‘not by the hair on my chinny chin chin’. In provision, we continue to encourage fine motor skills and this week we added small funnels, tubes, spoons and scoops of different sizes to the sand tray. Children practised filling the bottles and tubs without spilling the sand. Unfortunately, we had to cancel one of our Stay and Plays this week due to the power cut but please keep the next date free as this is our Winter Wonderland morning where we will be making lots of Christmas craft and the children will sing a few Christmas songs.

REMINDER: We seem to have a few children who are consistently bringing in squash in their drinking bottles. Please can I remind everyone that this should be WATER only.

Reception

Nativity rehearsals have been in full swing this week, and the children are performing wonderfully. We are looking forward to seeing you next week: Tuesday 2nd at 9:15am and Thursday 4th at 9:15am. Throughout the week, we have introduced the children to subtraction and supported them in using this operation in a guided group focus task, as well as singing lots of subtraction songs. Our phonics sessions have focused on four new digraphs. A digraph is two letters that make one sound: sh, th, ng and nk. Our tricky words have been she, push, he, of and go. Thank you to everyone who is regularly reading at home, this really does have a positive impact on your child’s education.

Winter Wonderland (Christmas crafts stay and play)

• Monday 8th December

Year 3

This week we learned all about persuasive letter writing. We explored how to use powerful adjectives, clear reasons, and persuasive language to convince someone of our ideas. The children worked brilliantly on planning and drafting their own persuasive letters - well done, Year 3! In maths, we focused on practising our 3 and 4 times tables. We used games, skip-counting, and quick-fire challenges to help us grow in confidence. Keep practising at home - little and often makes a big difference! Our afternoons were full of creativity as we linked our learning to 'George’s Marvellous Medicine'. The class designed their very own medicine boxes, thinking carefully about colours, labels, and imaginative images. The results were fantastic - Roald Dahl would be impressed!

Year 4

This week in Year 4 has been another fantastic week of learning, enthusiasm and discovery! In English, we immersed ourselves in poetry, exploring common poetic features and using similes, superlative adjectives and comparative adjectives. The children enjoyed experimenting with language and beginning to craft their own poetic ideas. In maths, we continued our work on multiplication and division, focusing on number facts involving 1, 0 and itself. The children showed great effort in recognising patterns and applying these rules with growing confidence. Science was particularly exciting as we explored volume through hands-on experiments using marbles and drums. The children loved investigating how sound changes depending on the materials and the amount inside. In history, we looked at the four contenders for the English throne in 1066. The children were fully engaged as they cast their votes and then discovered what actually happened—lots of surprised faces! Place2Be returned for another PSHE session, this time helping us understand bias and how it can affect the way we see situations. The children contributed thoughtful ideas and listened brilliantly. In RE, we explored the deeper meanings represented within various religious festivals, discussing symbolism and why celebrations are important to different faiths. PE has been full of energy as the children continued developing their football skills, focusing on defending and attacking and taking part in exciting mini matches. Music saw more Christmas song practice—such fantastic voices and enthusiasm! We can’t wait to add some bells soon. In French, we practised asking and saying what other people do, building on our conversational skills. What a great week, Year 4!

• REMINDER: Winter Wonderland – 4th December
• PE on Monday and Wednesday
• Please sign up for our class trip to the Imperial War Museum.
• Keep practising times tables, reading regularly, and learning weekly spellings

Year 5

Another busy week in Year 5! We have begun looking at unit and non-unit fractions in maths. The children have been quick in recognising equivalent fractions and using throughout the week. Confidence in their mathematic vocabulary has really improved. In our English work children have been working hard putting together an information text on the Ancient Egyptian pyramids. They included catchy introductions, followed by formal informative subheadings including construction and the different types of pyramids. We have had more fun practising our Christmas song sung by Elton John. Keep the practising up at home. Through our history work Year 5 have been researching about the different pharaohs. They have used their features to create 'Pharaohs of 2025'. We had some very catchy and humorous ideas! We look forward to welcoming you along to our Winter Wonderland on Tuesday 2nd December.

REMINDER: A reminder that 5AW have got outdoor learning next week - w/c 1st December. Please bring in a warm coat and comfortable trousers and wellies/trainers. 5B has outdoor learning week beginning 8th December

Year 6

The children have all worked extremely hard on practice SATs tests this week. They have showed determination and resilience when approaching different types of question in grammar and punctuation, reading comprehension and mathematics. 6S have enjoyed outdoor learning this week, using a variety of hand-held tools to design and construct bird houses. 6B have made periscopes in science, continued playing netball during PE, looked at goods that the UK imports to and from different parts of the world and talked about the importance of ‘The Ummah’ for Muslims as part of our work in RE.

Sports & PE

This week in PE, we have seen a range of sports taking place including football, basketball, dodgeball and netball. Several Year 3 and 4 children have been attending sessions before school to help prepare a team for the football tournament. REMINDER: Earrings cannot be worn for PE lessons and must be able to be removed for the lesson or not worn on PE days.

Online Safety

Now the world’s go-to short video platform, TikTok captivates young audiences with its endless stream of engaging clips, but not without potential pitfalls. From unsettling or age-inappropriate content to harmful viral challenges, misinformation and even radicalisation, this ever-popular app can expose children to content that may not always be suitable for them. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide explores TikTok’s hidden hazards, including in-app spending, compulsive screen time and privacy concerns, offering clear advice for parents and educators. With expert insight and practical safety tips, it aims to help families ensure that TikTok use remains fun, positive and, most importantly, safe.

PTA

It's the Christmas Fayre on Wednesday! Please do join us between 3:30pm and 5:30pm. Don't forget that things do fall a bit quieter later in the afternoon so if you don't like it too busy, perhaps consider returning after 4:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there...