Welcome to the final newsletter of 2025. What a busy month we have had!
On behalf of all the staff and children at Pilgrim Academy, can we thank you for your ongoing support and wish you a peaceful, restful Christmas break and a happy start to the New Year!
We will see you all back on Monday 5th January 2026!
Frogs
The Early Years children invited their parents and family members to help us get ready for Christmas. They children had a fun afternoon creating decorations for the class Christmas tree.
The festive season truly came to life as the Early Years children delighted families with their wonderful Nativity performance, 'The First Christmas Night'. The hall was filled with excitement as the familiar Christmas story unfolded, brought to life by the youngest members of our school. What made this Nativity especially memorable was the journey woven through the story. Each group of children moved around the hall and through the audience, creating a magical, immersive experience for everyone watching.
Cygnets
Cygnets have had a busy December. We started the month by performing our nativity, 'It's a Party.' The children did such an amazing job! We also had our Christmas crafts afternoon and our Christingle service with our adults. We have finished the half term with our Christmas party. We are all feeling in the festive spirit and are very excited for Christmas!
Swans
This term Year 2 have been reading a modern version of the traditional fairy-tale ‘Rapunzel’. The children ended the unit by showcasing their story writing skills, retelling the story using story openers, amazing adjectives and even some character dialogue! Well done for all of your hard work Swans!
Turtles
In DT Turtles have been learning all about eating seasonally. The children have learnt about how food is imported to ensure that we have a variety available to us all year round. Children also enjoyed a lesson where they were able to taste a variety of foods; it is safe to say they did not like green pesto! Turtles have also learnt how to safely chop, snip and peel foods.
Turtles have been extremely lucky to have taken part in a hands on Stone Age experience! The children were fully immersed in their learning after they entered another world surrounded by skins of hunted animals, skulls, spears, baskets, tools and fire! The children learnt all about the skills and abilities it took for people to survive in the Stone Age. Children learnt where food came from as opposed to the supermarket or fast food, they explored how every part of an animal could be used for different purposes - from glue to tools and even sewing thread. Some children were brave enough to try the meat and fish after it was prepared. Turtles also had the opportunity to handle skilfully made replicas and try their hand at a variety of skills, from shaping bone and antler to fire-making!
We hope you all have a lovely Christmas and look forward to starting the new term with Turtles 😊
Kingfishers
Year 3 have been learning about the Stone Age, concentrating on tools, hunting and gathering. We have ended this term with an extraordinary experience, encapsulating all our learning into a workshop where we spent it with ‘stone age people’. They showed us authentic tools and taught us how they would have lived and survived. We even made fire from stones and a mushroom!
DT has also been really exciting. We have learned to cook seasonally. First, we had to identify the foods available to us in the United Kingdom at this time of year, before peeling and cutting them, then we taste-tested the vegetables to identify which flavours we liked, before finally creating seasonal tarts!
OPAL
(Outdoor Play and Learning)
We are busy collecting resources ready to start OPAL after the Christmas break. We are thrilled to say that we have received financial support from Phillips 66, Singleton Birch and Pilgrim PTA as well as a community grant from Wickes, which means that we will be taking delivery of two storage sheds, welly storage and several hardwearing storage containers in the new year! We are also extremely grateful for all the donations we have received from parents and the local community for loose parts.
If you are having a clear out over the holidays, and have any more items to donate, please bring them to school in January. See poster below for what we are looking for:
Seastars
Sea stars have enjoyed their final term before Christmas. We have been busy finishing our learning about statistics and we made a book review for the 'Song from Somewhere Else'. We have been researching more in depth about Ancient Greeks and space, which the children have really enjoyed throughout the Autumn term. We have been getting into the festive spirt by visiting our local church for a Christingle service and we enjoyed making our Christingles. We enjoyed playing some games and having a dance around with each other during our party, as well as a yummy snack at the end of the day.
We are looking forward to January with our new teachers Mrs Backhouse and Mrs Ireson and learning lots of new things.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Orcas
Orcas have been looking at stop motion animation this term. They took inspiration from Wallace and Gromit and made their own characters from playdough, created their props and used a space theme background to plan and film an animation.
In PSHE, Orcas have been reading 'Little People, Big Dreams' by Marcus Rashford. They acted out scenarios where someone might need to stand up for what they believe.
Orcas followed the design brief to design and make a stuffed toy for a small child. They learnt how to use running stitch, cross stitch and blanket stitch to complete their toy.
Blue Whales
Blue Whales have had a brilliant end to 2025. We really enjoyed using Oreos to represent the phases of the Moon in science. We've created a piece of Pop Art in our art lessons which was inspired by the characters and products we love. As a class we were feeling festive during our Christmas craft afternoon, the Christingle service at St Andrews Church and to top it all off - our Christmas party! We all are looking forward to what 2026 will bring both in and around school.
Christmas Fayre
Thank you so much for the prize donations and for all who supported the Christmas Fayre. The PTA have raised £450, some of which has been put towards the end of term parties for the children. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
- Christmas Fayre – 17th December 2025
- Valentine’s Disco – 10th February 2026
- Easter Bingo – 26th March 2026
- Colour Run – w/c 18th May 2026
- Summer Fayre – 15th July 2026
The PTA are always looking for new members. If you would like to get involved in any of the events above, please contact the school office for more information. All support will be gratefully received!
Credits:
Created with images by Anastassiya - "Blue christmas ball on branch of spruce outdoor, happy new year." • Southtownboy Studio - "January 2026 Monthly desk calendar for 2026 year on blue color background, Front view."