Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 14th february 2025

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• Updates at this halfway point in the school year
• A message about snacks at break time
• Team points... is there a change at the top of the leaderboard???
• Hockey tournaments write-up

Can you believe that we are now halfway through the 2024-25 academic year? I am not sure if I can! Spring 1 has come to an end and off we head into the February half-term break. It looks like we can look forward to mostly dry and warmer week too!

This week we marked Safer Internet Day on Tuesday and enjoyed Year 4’s performances of their learning assembly. They showed the assembly to Key Stage 1 children on Wednesday, Key Stage 2 children on Thursday and finally parents, carers and family members this morning. Year 4 did a super job – and that includes the adults. Thank you for attending if you were there – we had a very full hall. Before the end of the year, we will have Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6 assemblies which are all listed in the diary dates. Of course, our younger children have already performed their productions at Christmas.

There are lots of fun things planned for next half-term… we cannot wait.

We hope you have a lovely holiday. Don’t forget that we return on Tuesday 25th February! See you then.

Mr. McClay, Principal

Snacks

Friars has Healthy Schools status and we value children having healthy snacks at break time.

KS1: Children in Nursery, Reception and KS1 are offered a free snack during the morning.

KS2: During morning break time, children in KS2 can bring in a healthy snack if they wish.

Healthy tuck options are also available to purchase daily from our school tuck shop. If you are intending to send in snacks with your child, please limit them to the list below:

• fresh or dried fruit or vegetables
• plain rice cakes
• bread sticks/pitta bread/oat cakes/crackers
• plain popcorn
• cheese
• yoghurt

No chocolate, sweets, cereal bars, biscuits, cake bars/cakes, pastries or crisps. All snacks sent to school must be nut free. If a child has a snack that is not appropriate, they will be asked to put it in their lunch box or in their bag for after school. Also, please do only send children with water in their classroom water bottles. Thank you for your support.

Book Week

Reminder: 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.

Extra information: This year we are having a break from dressing-up as book characters. Instead we will be trying to create that cosy bedtime reading feel around the school. There might even be some hot chocolate and marshmallows... Exciting!

Nursery

Nursery has been full of love for our final week before the half-term break. Valentines is in the air. We have made heart pictures and talked about those we love around us and why. We even made pink rice crispy love heart lollipops, which of course were yummy.

This term we have been learning the next set of phonemes (s, a, t, p i, n, m, d, g, o) and we are becoming more confident at spotting them in written text around the nursery. We continue to practise our counting, some of our older children are now confident at counting up to 30 and back from 10.

REMINDER: Thank you to everyone for coming along to our stay and play sessions... our next one is 27th February.

Reception

We are halfway through the year already! This week our maths sessions have focused on combining two groups to make a total. The children have been able to reinforce this skill in our maths area everyday using a range of different equipment. Whilst the weather has not been brilliant, the children really enjoyed making flags outside this week and creating a course whilst playing the floor is lava! We introduced the children to Henri Rousseau’s painting of “Tiger in a Tropical Storm” encouraging the children to look closely at the colours and shapes in the painting. We listened to the sounds of a storm and imagined what it would be like to be in a stormy jungle. Our phonics sessions have introduced the children to the ‘oi’ and ‘ear’ (in coin and near) We hope that you all have a relaxing half term.

REMINDER: Please ensure that children do not bring sunglasses to school.

Year 1

We cannot believe the children are already halfway through their time in Year 1. This week we continued to rewrite our own version of Cinderella. The children have impressed us with their interesting word choices and use of punctuation. We have seen some fantastic stories this week and look forward to trying different stories after half term.

In maths, the children have been working on finding the difference between two numbers. They discovered they can use objects, pictures and even use a number line to do this. Towards the end of the week, they have used their knowledge of fact families to solve missing number problems with addition and subtraction. Great job!

In RE, we have looked at special places of worship focusing on synagogues, mosques, and churches. The children enjoyed watching video clips about each place to remind them of previous learning. They then set about the task of sorting pictures and deciding which place of worship the pictures were from.

They have worked so hard this half term. We wish them a super break and a well-earned rest.

Year 2

This week the children have continued to learn about multiplication in maths and have also been introduced to division using practical activities.

In English we have used a narrative poem as a focus for our work. We had a fun competition where the children worked in groups to record all of the nouns, adjectives and verbs within the poem. They certainly showed a good understanding of these word classes. To end the term, we wrote our own ‘Magical Train Ride’

In science, we concluded our work about life cycles by learning about the life cycle of the frog. The children recorded their understanding using detailed diagrams and written explanations.

Our Van Gogh paintings were inspired by ‘Starry Night’ – our favourite painting from this famous artist.

Year 3

What a half term we have had!

We have really enjoyed all the learning we have completed about volcanoes and have researched lots of interesting information.

In science, our rocks and soils learning went very well. We learnt about how different rocks were created and finished off with how fossils were made – we then created out own fossil imprint.

In English, we researched the Chinese New Year and discovered this is the Year of the Snake! We then created a non-chronological report on a two-page spread. The children packed it full of information and made it bright and enticing.

We finished our topic of measurement in maths and have begun our new topic of fractions, which we will continue after the half term!

So, it has been busy, but fun and we look forward to more learning after the half-term holidays!!

REMINDER: Please keep accessing the different resources at home such as TT Rockstars and Reading Eggs.

Have a fantastic week off!

Year 4

A fantastic final week of half-term for Year 4! Of course, we have to start off by celebrating our wonderful assembly that we put together to demonstrate some of our learning this half-term. The children worked so hard, learned their lines, practised projecting their voices, overcame obstacles, and gained so much confidence in themselves as speakers during our rehearsals, culminating in a fantastic three performances! It’s been great fun.

In other areas, we continued our learning on perimeter and measurements in maths, which has been a success, and we have written some excellent, entertaining stories in English.

We have also worked hard to complete our ‘Make Do and Mend’ toys for our WW2 rationing project in DT – these are looking super cute!

We are beginning to send home some additional times tables homework, which the children will have brought home on Friday. There is a cardboard timetable of due dates within the folder and all maths written homework will be contained in these booklets for now, as well as additional practice on TTRockstars and Reading Eggs at home.

For spellings, we would like the children to practise the Year 3 and 4 common exception words which will be coming home with them too.

Have a wonderful half-term! 😊

Year 5

Year 5 students have been excelling in their creative endeavours, particularly in poetry. They have been crafting poems that explore various emotions, skilfully using metaphors, rhymes, and other literary devices to enhance their work. In maths, the children have progressed to learning about decimals. They are building on their previous knowledge of fractions and place value, understanding the equivalence between decimals and fractions. The final gymnastics lesson was an exciting blend of drama and physical education. Students collaborated in groups to create routines that incorporated rolls, jumps, and balances, telling a story through their movements. In art, the children have been busy designing and creating their own stencils, which they have used to produce larger pieces of artwork.

Year 6

This week 6B have enjoyed outdoor learning. The children have learnt about health and safety outside, tied a variety of knots and made flagpoles.

In English, we have been learning to use flashbacks as a writing device to help include emotions in our work.

Our maths has continued to develop our understanding of algebra; writing equations and finding missing values.

We have finished sculpting our Mayan themed masks and begun the process of decorating them.

In science, we have researched how different types of fungi use spore dispersal in order to reproduce.

In history, we had our own version of ‘Dragons’ Den’ where we had to pitch an invention from the Mayan civilisation in order to gain an investment of cacao beans. Roads, carrying devices, corn grinders and calendars were our ideas.

Online Safety

Over the years, Fortnite has become a household name in the gaming community. It was one of the first titles in the ‘battle royale’ subgenre, where players are thrown into a chaotic free-for-all on a sprawling map and fight until only one remains. Its cartoonish presentation and satisfying gameplay loop make it a potentially attractive choice for young players.

However, it’s important to remember that online safety risks are always present – especially in multiplayer games – and Fortnite is no exception. This free guide, put together with expert input, tells you all you need to know about the safety concerns of this popular title and offers advice on how to protect children and young people as they enjoy the game

PE & Sports

Our Year 3/4 and 5/6 hockey teams took part in recent tournaments at Warners Bridge. It was an experience for both teams that was full of challenges. From the moment we stepped onto the pitch, the competition was fierce. Our opponents were skilled, determined, and well-prepared—each game was a test of our endurance and teamwork. Although we lost our games and spirits were tested, our resolve only strengthened. We rotated the squad throughout the games and every member of the squad gave their all.

Though we did not achieve the victories we had hoped for, the tournament was a reminder of what true sportsmanship is all about; the effort, the growth, and the teamwork were a credit to our school. We learned to push ourselves harder, and to stay positive in the face of adversity.

We left the pitch with our heads held high. We may not have won any games, but we gained so much more—respect for the game, stronger bonds with teammates, and an unshakeable determination to keep improving.

PTA

Remember that the PTA are always looking to accept new members. If you are ever interested - even if just to volunteer on occasions - please do make contact.