Coming up in this edition of the newsletter...
- Havens Hospices, Waddle-on-Sea
- Girls' Football Competition
- Advert for a Catering Assistant for our kitchen team
September has whizzed by and we have already reached October! It has felt very autumnal at times… With the colder days and heavy showers we have been having, it is really important that the children have their coats in school. There have been a few times recently where we have been caught out with a sudden downpour ☹. Isn’t it strange that these downpours are often at the start or end of the school day?!
This week we had two visitors from the baptist church join Year 5 on Monday. This was was a very informative session and you can read more about it further on in the newsletter. We also had a team participate in a 10-pin bowling competition in Basildon on Wednesday and there was a special Harvest Assembly on that day too. We have already received lots of harvest donations… thank you! Please keep them coming…
On Monday, we will be meeting the School Council for the second time this half-term. On the agenda we have Children in Need, school attendance and Havens Hospices fundraising. We are pleased to share that we will be supporting Havens again across the school year and there will be a new sculpture trail across Southend in 2025… called Waddle on Sea! This time it is… penguins! We took part in Hares about Town in 2021 and Herd in the City in 2023 which was a brilliant experience. We will once again be asking the children to help design our own school penguin! More information to follow very soon…
Have an excellent weekend and see you on Monday.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Mr. Chris McClay, Principal
Parent Council 2024-25
We are still looking for members of our Parent Council... can you help? The Parent Council is an important forum that comes together every term to meet and discuss whole school issues. We talk about everything from school events to lunches and the curriculum. Ideally, we would like to have representation for every year group from Nursery to Year 6.
Mr. McClay, Principal
Diary Dates
October
- Tuesday 8th - Portico PE Festival
- Thursday 10th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Friday 11th - Southend Cross Country Competition - KS2 pm
- Monday 21st - Individual Photos
- Thursday 24th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Monday 28th - Friday 1st November - October Half Term
November
- Monday 4th - INSET DAY
- Wednesday 6th - PTA Uniform & Christmas Jumper Sale
- Friday 8th - Year 5/6 Boys Emerging Football
- Monday 11th - Friday 15th - Anti-Bullying Week
- Tuesday 12th - Odd Sock Day
- Thursday 14th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Friday 15th - Children In Need
- Wednesday 20th - Year 3/4 Dodgeball Competition
- Learning Conversation Evening
- Thursday 21st - Learning Conversation Evening
- Monday 25th - Flu Immunisations
- Wednesday 27th - Year 5/6 Dodgeball Competition
- Thursday 28th - Nursery Stay & Play
- Year 1 Winter Wonderland 1:45pm
- Friday 29th - KS1 Dodgeball Competition
- Year 2 Winter Wonderland 1:45pm
December
- Monday 2nd - Year 3 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Tuesday 3rd - Reception Nativity 9:15am
- Year 5 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Wednesday 4th - School Nurse Parent Drop in Session
- Thursday 5th - Reception Nativity
- Year 4 Winter Wonderland 2:00pm
- Friday 6th - New Age Kurling & Boccia
- Monday 9th - Reception Winter Wonderland 9:15am
- Tuesday 10th - Year 1 Christmas Play 9:15am and 2:15pm
- Wednesday 11th - Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
- Nursery Winter Wonderland and Sing-along 10:15am
- Year 2 Christmas Play 9:15am and 2:15pm
- Friday 13th - Father Christmas visit
- Tuesday 17th - Christmas Reading and Carol Service
- Wednesday 18th - Singalong Assembly
- Thursday 19th - Last Day of Term
- Friday 20th - INSET Day
- Monday 23rd - Friday 3rd January - Christmas Break
January 2025
- Monday 6th - Children Return to School
Nursery
This week we had our first week of slightly more challenging weather. This, however, has not stopped us having fun. Coats and wellies went on and as always Nursery were out in the garden exploring. Some children enjoyed jumping in puddles, others helped sweep the puddles away with their own brooms. Those who like looking for worms have had a great time this week because with the wet weather comes lots and lots and LOTS of wiggly worms.
In group time we have introduced the story of the Three Little Pigs. Children have enjoyed reenacting the story, using props and building their own homes. Some children made pig masks from paper plates whilst others used collage materials to make pictures of the pig’s homes.
Reminder: Please note that the play equipment in the Reception playground is NOT to be used after nursery children have been collected.
Reception
We are continuing to complete the Reception Baseline Assessment with all the children and are pleased with their responses. Routines in class are becoming embedded and the children are responding positively to these.
Thank you to all the parents who are pre-booking lunches on our system... that is really helpful. If you have booked a hot meal in advance but decide to send your child with a packed lunch, please can you update the system to reflect this.
As the weather is changing we have started speaking about autumn, looking at how leaves change colour and have a lovely autumnal observation station in class.
Reminder: We will collect reading diaries and books in each Thursday and hand them out again on Fridays.
Year 1
We have had another fantastic week in Year 1 and the children have all worked very hard.
In English we have been learning about asking questions and using question marks. The children have thought about the questions the butterfly could ask the monkey in our story “Monkey Puzzle”.
The maths focus this week has been on 1 less. They have completed a variety of tasks to hone their skills. Good job Year 1!
We have continued our work on Picasso completing the outlines for our final pieces next week. The children created a sad half and a happy half of a face, it will look fabulous when they add the colours to them next week.
We had a lot of fun tasting food in science to learn about the sense of taste. We had pomegranate, spinach, grapefruit, salted crisps and cucumber to try. Some children were very brave tasting foods they had never tried before.
Thanks for all the baby photos we have received so far, we look forward to our history lesson next week.
Year 2
It was the turn of 2S to experience their first Year 2 outdoor learning session this week. Great perseverance was on display when the children practised creating sparks for a fire using fire steels. It was quite tricky to master the right technique, but the children encouraged their friends to keep trying – often with cheers of delight when they were successful. Our week ended with a special treat when we roasted marshmallows over a real fire – Yum! Thanks to Mr. Brady, 2S have certainly developed a good understanding of fire safety this week.
In maths, Year 2 have explored counting in 2s, 5s, 10s and 3s and noticed patterns which occur in each sequence of numbers. Within our English lessons, we have completed writing activities based upon Jack and the Beanstalk using a variety of sentence starters and conjunctions to write interesting sentences using descriptive language.
Reminder: Please listen to your child read their Phonics reading book during the week and return it to school each Thursday to be changed.
Yellow spelling books should be sent in on a Friday so that new spellings can be added.
Year 3
Well, although the weather has not been very nice again this week, in Year 3 we have had yet another fun-filled week!
In English, we have continued to use our taught knowledge of speech and the use of inverted commas, we really enjoyed role playing Hogarth and the Iron Man from our layered reading book and deciding what they may have said to each other. We took our conversations and turned them into written direct speech.
In maths, we have started to look at addition and subtraction and this week we have focused on adding ones, tens, and hundreds to various numbers. We have used our knowledge of place value to help us decide which place value column we would be changing.
In science, we have continued with our Forces topic and investigated using magnets as to which one was the strongest based on how far they could attract a paper clip. We did make sure that the investigation was fair and made some good predictions and conclusions.
We finished the week by bringing together our Stone Age art and created some great renditions of what might have been found inside a cave wall back in the stone age!
Reminders: We have had great success with Reading Eggs. 3B and 3A may have some slight competition on who accesses Reading Eggs the most – currently 3B have accessed more in the last week – well done and keep going with it!
Year 4
We have had such fun this week! We have been learning all about rounding in maths, and the rules of rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. It has been tricky, but we are grasping the rules. In English, we showed off our best writing skills with more persuasive writing, and have focused on direct speech punctuation in grammar lessons. We have also enjoyed delving deeper into our layered reading book and we love the humour in it. In science, we carried out an investigation on the liquids which cause the most damage to our teeth. We used eggs, which might sound weird, but the hard shell is very similar to the material of the enamel on our teeth! Some of us might be shocked by the results! We also planned our very own Viking blood bread loaves and cannot wait to make them now. In music, we used the glockenspiels to learn hot cross buns and some of the beginning notes to Mamma Mia.
Reminder:
- Spelling test: Friday
- Times tables test: Friday
- PE kits: Tuesdays and Fridays
Please continue to access Reading Eggs at home.
Year 5
Despite the wet weather, we have kept spirits high and continued working hard.
In English, we completed our newspaper reports on the examination of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The children applied their knowledge of relative clauses to write more informative sentences which are well suited to report writing. The children then put into practice all of their learning from the last week and a bit, and independently wrote a newspaper report based on a hurricane.
In maths, we completed our addition and subtraction unit. The children continued to develop their knowledge of formal written methods and applied these to the inverse and problem solving. Next week, we will begin our unit on multiplication and division.
Reminder: This week’s homework is English based. The children have work on relative clauses to complete.
Year 6
Year 6 have experienced what SATs will look like by having a set of mock tests. The children have all coped remarkably well and have listened to advice about managing their time wisely and keeping calm.
In science they developed their own investigations based upon how outputs of circuits were affected by changing one variable at a time.
As part of our RE learning, we had class discussions regarding the meaning of the words 'good' and 'bad' within different contexts. The children were very mature in their discussions.
Computing
Reception have continued their iPad skills by working on a numbers game. They had to drag and drop some cakes onto an electronic teddy, according to the instructions they were given.
Year 1 have started to develop their typing skills for the first time by using a programme to type out their name. This was quite difficult for them, as they discovered the keyboard is in capital letters (not lowercase) and the order of letters is not alphabetical. However, this did not deter them and some even managed a short sentence. Well done Year 1.
Year 2 learnt all about technology in the supermarkets and how barcodes, scanners and tills work. Most children said they shopped in Asda and many knew the little “beep” sound that is made when an item is scanned.
Year 3 have been learning about connections and how computers are connected in the same way that we are connected to family and friends. They then worked on their mind-map skills on PowerPoint to illustrate connections.
Year 4 looked at how information is shared using the World Wide Web and internet. They considered the number of devices that can be used to find and share information on the web, including X-Boxes and Playstations.
Year 5 have continued their work on searching the internet and were surprised that a simple search for dogs can give nearly 5 billion results on Google. They then learned how to refine their searches to be more specific, though this still resulted in a few million results!
Year 6 continued to learn about collaboration and sharing work and had a fun lesson as they were able to remix an online project on Scratch. They all went to a project that was already on the web called “Mars Lander” and could re-code some of the project to change and or enhance it. However, this did not alter the original project and by the end of the lesson there were many variations of the same project.
** STOP PRESS ** next week I will be launching a girl's code club for UKS2 – more details to follow. Mrs. W.
Online Safety
Online gaming enjoys an apparently ever-increasing level of popularity, and many players are eager to connect with one another as they enjoy a friendly competition or go for the win side by side. Whether it’s to strategise and coordinate, or simply have a chat as you indulge in your hobby, the fact remains that plenty of games now offer means for their players to talk to one another, be that in a text or voice format.
Unfortunately, this functionality – which is used to connect with strangers just as often as it is with friends – poses several risks to younger players, and it’s vital for parents and educators to understand these safety concerns. This guide offers expert advice on the issues that may arise when using in-game chat, and lets you know how to safeguard the children in your care as they make use of this technology.
PE & Sports
PE lessons this week were somewhat affected by the weather but what is a little bit of rain and wind...?! It looks like we will have showers next week too so we better get used to it for now.
The write-up for the Girls' Football competition last Friday is a little further down in the newsletter. On Wednesday this week, there was a ten-pin bowling event and the write-up for that will be in next week's newsletter.
The practices for the Key Stage 2 Cross-Country competition have been going well, with one more to go on Tuesday morning. The event is next Friday so we are nearly there... Good luck to the team and stay fit and healthy this week.
Outdoor Learning
2S have had a fantastic time this week. Mrs. Snow was so impressed with how the children did and the resilience they showed in their learning. See the Year 2 section for more...
Next week outdoor learning moves to Year 3 and 3A.
Singing Assembly
Our Singing Assembly was different this week as it was taken over by Harvest! Whilst we did talk lots about Harvest, we also sang lots of related songs. There is further mention of Harvest a bit further on in the newsletter...
Baptist Church Visitors
Year 5 were really lucky to share the afternoon on Monday with Mark and Matty from Friars Baptist church.
We discussed together what we have explored so far with ‘faith’ The children were enthusiastic sharing their thoughts and questions with our visitors. Mark and Matty explored the importance of the church and what some Christians do. The Bible was discussed – its importance and how many books it comprises. The children were interested in prayer and where it can take place and why it takes place. Both Communion and Baptism were spoken about, and the children asked if our visitors were happy in their religion. Some of our children recognised Mark and Matty from the church, Arc and particularly the Girls’ and Boys’ Brigades. It was lovely to share such an informative afternoon together.
Harvest Festival
Wednesday October 2nd was our Harvest Festival. In between belting out some classic harvest songs with enthusiasm and delight, we talked about how Harvest time is celebrated across the globe and in different religions as a time to be grateful and give thanks for food. This year our donations are going to Southend Food Bank where many local families will be especially grateful as more than ever access the much-needed services. Many thanks to Mrs James and Mrs Witt for organising and to everyone that contributed to the Southend Food Bank.
Girls' Football Tournament
A super time was had at the Len Forge Centre last Friday, as ten of our girls in Years 5 and 6 competed against other schools from across Southend. Although the team had not played together very much, they gelled well and played some great matches. As the day went on, the quality of their football improved and they had notable results against more established teams.
Well done to everyone who took part! Go Team Friars!
Dinner Menu
Week 3
Monday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Meatballs with Tomato Sauce & Penne - Vegan Roasted Ratatouille with Penne - Ham Salad Wrap - Cheese & Tomato Bloomer - Baked Jacket Potato with Grated Cheese - Carrots & Broccoli - Orange Shortbread Biscuit
Tuesday - Bacon & Mushroom Carbonara with Pasta - Vegan Lentil & Vegetable Curry with Steamed Rice - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Tuna Sweetcorn Baguette - Cheese Sandwich - Sweetcorn & Coleslaw - Carrot Cake
Wednesday - Herby Roast Chicken with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - 3 Vegetable Mac n' Cheese - Baked Jacket Potatoes with Baked Beans - Tuna Mayonnaise Sandwich - Cheese Salad Wrap - Seasonal Greens & Broccoli - Chocolate & Beetroot Brownie
Thursday - Cottage Pie Topped with Sweet Potato Mash - Vegan Chickpea & Spinach Korma with Steamed Rice - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Chicken Mayonniase Baguette - Ham Sandwich - Cauliflower & Carrots - Vanilla Ice Cream
Friday - Breaded Fish Fingers with Chips & Ketchup - Vegan Bubble & Squeak with Chips & Ketchup - Baked Jacket Potato with Grated Cheese - Ham Salad Bloomer - Cheese Sandwich - Peas & Baked Beans - Apple & Parsnip Cake
Freshly Baked Bread - Courgette & Tomato or Wholemeal Bread.
Celebration Assembly
The links for our Celebration Assemblies can be found below.
Attendance
Excitement is building for Spin the Wheel, with classes edging towards the first spins of the year. After an attendance meeting today, Mr. McClay and Mrs. Halls have changed the target from 98% to 97% to allow for more prizes to be won!
This week’s attendance winners were 6B in Key Stage 2 and Wrens in Key Stage 1. Unfortunately, Wrens 95.3% meant they were unable to add a sticker to the Spin the Wheel chart. 6B (97.9%) did though… as did 5SW with 97.7% and 3B with 97.3%.
A double-win for Windsor this week saw the red team surpass Stormont our green team – meaning we have a second different leader this autumn. As you can see below, it is all incredibly close in these opening weeks. It is a marathon… not a sprint!
Community
01702 294837 - office@fps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk