Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 18th july 2025

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...

• New uniform video
• Best class attendance of the year
• Friars Cup 2025 winner revealed!

The final newsletter of the year… what a great year it has been!

This week saw the fantastic PTA Summer Fayre on Wednesday. A massive thank you to the PTA and friends for pulling together such a super event once again – and to our staff too for running stalls and supervising inflatables. The fayre was really well-attended and everyone seemed to have an excellent time. I even managed to sneak onto one of the bouncy castles to race some children. I might need to practise for next year as I lost every time. The fayre raised an incredible amount of money for the school which will be put to very good use. Thank you so much for supporting. On Monday we have our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 discos – also organised by the PTA. They should be really fun!

Yesterday, you will have received your child’s end of year report. I do hope you enjoyed reading it. We only have three school days left next week before we break up for the summer. Please remember that our last day is Wednesday and that it is really important that the children are in school every day – otherwise they will miss out on lots of excellent end-of-term things.

The weather looks a little stormy this weekend. Fingers crossed it holds off… Have a good Saturday and Sunday, and see you on Monday.

Mr. McClay, Principal

Staff Leavers and Joiners

At the end of this term we will be saying farewell to Mr. Lynes, Mrs. Wheatley, Miss Hardman and Miss Still. We know that you will really enjoy the new roles you are moving on to. Also, a special mention to Miss Parrin who will be working across other schools next year. Thank you and best wishes for the future.

In September, we have two new people joining the Friars' Family. Mrs Stevens will be our new Child and Family Support Worker and Attendance Lead, and Mrs. Zoe Cranmer will be a new teacher. We will welcome them to the team properly on our return.

Uniform

You probably saw our lovely uniform video on Facebook... You can click on the link below if you missed it...

Uniform - Shoes and Trainers

At Friars, we expect the children to wear all-black shoes or trainers to school. If you are buying new shoes or trainers for September, please make sure that they are all-black. Below are some links to all-black shoes that you might find useful:

• Asda - George From £10
• Next - From £24.00
• Sports Direct From £25
• Shoe Zone From £9.99
• JD Sports From £28

Summer Reading Challenge

Nursery

This week in Nursery the children have enjoyed a new piece of equipment. We finally had our dark tent delivered and the children explored a range of light resources within the tent. There were a lot of 'oooo’s' and 'arh’s' with flashing, spinning and glowing lights. We have also practised fine motor skills whilst threading small beads. A range of jewellery was made and worn all day. We have taught the last phoneme this week and have been blown away with how well the children have done with these.

For the children who are moving from Nursery to Reception please share the video below with them over the summer holidays.

Reception

As we come to the end of this Reception year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey your children have been on, and what a journey it has been!

We are so proud of each and every child. From those very first days of settling in, to growing in confidence, independence, and curiosity, they have amazed us with their resilience, enthusiasm, and joy for learning. It has been a privilege to watch them form friendships, embrace new challenges, and take pride in their achievements.

Over the year, they have blossomed, not only in their reading, writing, and number skill, but also in their ability to work together, express themselves, and explore the world around them with excitement and wonder.

Thank you for your ongoing support, encouragement, and partnership. Together, we’ve helped your children take a wonderful step on their learning journey, and we are excited to see all that lies ahead for them.

Wishing you a happy and restful summer break.

Year 1

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Year 2

This week has been a very exciting, penultimate week in Year 2.

2S had their outdoor learning this week. The children loved gathering materials in the environmental garden and using them to create 3D collages. Mrs. Snow and Mr. Brady were impressed with the artwork that the children made.

2W learnt about different deserts and compared their climates. The children identified animals that live in deserts around the world and discussed what makes the animals suitable to live in their habitat.

In English, the children listened to our new story ‘The Whale’s Tale’. We created a storyboard to record the key events of the story and then we retold the story in our own words.

In maths, we practised subtraction, multiplication and division questions. The children applied the methods that they learnt across the year to solve number sentences.

This week, the children had their second transition visit to Year 3. The children had the opportunity to get to know their new classroom and teacher. They now feel confident to begin their journeys into Year 3 in September.

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Year 3

It has been such a successful year and our current Year 3s will be missed as they move onwards and upwards to Year 4!

This week has, as ever, never had a moment's rest...

We had our final Meet the Teacher on Tuesday morning and everyone seems very happy with their new teachers and classrooms.

We have been recapping our maths with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – next week we will be playing a lot of maths related games to really cement our maths learning by looking at it from other contexts.

In English, we have taken our time to research and create the most amazing persuasive leaflets. We have thoroughly enjoyed creating them and we feel they are really impactful, with a list of negatives and counteractive arguments.

During our afternoons we spent some time carrying out an investigation in science. The previous week, we made some decisions about what we would like to investigate, it was really interesting, and we worked so well together as a group. In music we listened to a variety of music – such as reggae, country, tribal and pop to name a few. We then discussed what we liked or disliked about it and how it made us feel.

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Year 4

This week in Year 4, we’ve been exploring the wonderful world of free-verse poetry! The children have enjoyed expressing their thoughts and creativity without the need for rhyme, using powerful imagery and their own unique voices. Some children were even brave enough to perform their poetry for their classmates!

In maths, we've been having great fun recapping our knowledge of symmetry and coordinates. From spotting symmetrical patterns to plotting points on a grid, the class has shown fantastic enthusiasm and problem-solving skills.

Well done, Year 4 – keep up the great work!

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Year 5

This week, Year 5 have enjoyed some fantastic learning. In English, the children finished writing their explanation texts around the sinking of the Mary Rose. During maths, the pupils have been finishing their work on converting units and negative numbers. Within PSHE, they have looked into bodily hygiene during puberty and the best products to use. This week's highlight was the children having a go at cooking with pottage on the menu. Taking it in turns to peel, chop, boil and stir up their vegetables into a soup-like dish. They ultimately got to try some of their creations with some even enjoying the classic dish.

REMINDER: Please don't forget to sign up your child to the Year 6 Residential. Please see the letter that was emailed to you on Monday.

Reminder: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Year 6

This week, we have been perfecting our leavers’ assembly - ready to perform to parents on Wednesday next week. We hope to see you. The Key Stage 2 Hall door will be open from 8:45am. Please do be seated by 9:10am. The show will start promptly at 9:15am.

For our maths challenges we have been looking at some investigations including powerlines, tetrominoes and leaping frogs. Some of these have proved challenging.

We have also been developing some of our art skills using different media.

We have been bringing our layered reading to a close by trying to finish the book – Holes and then compare the text to the popular Disney film.

REMINDER: Please ensure your child has a strong bag in school on Wednesday so that they can bring their books home.

Computing

Wow! What a year it has been in Computing. All the children across the year groups have worked hard all year, developing their computing skills in creating media, online safety, learning about data and information as well as programming. We have had a great time experimenting with different pieces of equipment, including the computers, iPads, the microbits, the 3d printer and tinkercad, the crumble controllers and more recently some programmable Lego.

We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to every one of the Digital Leaders who have been an enormous help during not only computing lessons but also supportive within the classroom setting and to their class teachers. Thank you for being so amazing this year!

Year 2 started the week using the programmable Lego to design and create their very own amusement park ride. For some individuals this proved a little tricky but it was very interesting to see all persevering to create a ride. Some children worked on a previous design but then spent time tweaking the programming to make it more interesting.

Year 1 demonstrated their understanding of adding sprites and programming them to race: this meant they needed use various movement blocks as well as the speed block to allow one of the sprites to move at different speeds and in different ways.

Year 5 worked hard to complete their chatbot style interactive quizzes on Scratch. Some children created quizzes based on what they have learned in the classroom, whereas others focused on working out the missing lyrics and some created an online safety quiz.

Whereas Year 3 worked hard last week to create a maze style game using Scratch, all children were able to add a pen extension in order to allow the sprite to draw. Therefore, this week they were given some time to explore and create their own game using Scratch.

Year 6 did some e-safety work this week, looking at gender stereotypes. They created an advert for a toy puppy and considered are they targeting their advert at boys or girls, or is it gender neutral?

Year 4 also did esafety and looked at being safe online. They discussed the potential dangers of strangers contacting children via online games and how they can keep themselves

Online Safety

Stay Safe in Water

Whether it’s sunny days at the beach or fun in the paddling pool, children are naturally drawn to water. But with excitement comes risk. This guide brings together 10 clear, practical tips to help parents and educators protect children around water – whether that’s at home, on school trips or on holiday.

Backed by the Royal Life Saving Society UK, the advice includes knowing what beach flags mean, avoiding inflatables in open water, and learning to ‘float and call’ in an emergency. With a focus on prevention and supervision, this guide is a must-read for summer safety and beyond.

Stay Safe in the Heat

PTA

Thank you for supporting the Summer Fayre this week and all of the other PTA events across the past ten months. We still have the discos to go...