Friars Weekly Newsletter friday 19th dECEMBER 2025

Coming up in this edition of the newsletter..

• A festive round-up
• Outside Achievement - Jonathan
• Rocksteady Concert
• The race for the Friars Cup... who is leading going into 2026??!

Well here we are… the end of the first term of the 2025-26. What a term it has been! Over the past fifteen weeks we have packed so much in that it’s hard to believe looking back that it was all possible! This week Christmas really continued… On Tuesday we had a Christmas carol concert, Wednesday was really busy with our Christmas ‘singalong’, Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day, and across Thursday and Friday afternoons we had the staff Christmas pantomime. I do hope the children have told you all about our production of ‘Jack and the Beans Talk!’. It is true… Mr. Leggett really was the panto dame! Thank you to Reverend Glover from Friars Baptist Church who attended the carol concert and spoke both at the beginning and end. Before the carol concert, we had another concert from the children who participate in Rocksteady. Children from across the school have formed rock bands and this was their first opportunity to play to an audience. The whole of Key Stage 2 as well as the children’s parents were in attendance – and needless to say that everyone was blown away with how good it was! Congratulations to everyone involved! In today’s celebration assembly we acknowledged all of the children with good or excellent attendance this term. I know that we talk about attendance and punctuality a lot but that’s only because great attendance almost always means great learning. For the autumn term we were below the national average for attendance so we do really hope that as a school we have a better spring and summer. If you ever need support with your child’s attendance or punctuality please do not hesitate to speak with our team. All that is left from me is to wish you a lovely Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year. We look forward to seeing all of the children back in school on Monday 5th January 2026. Mr. McClay, Principal

Outside Achievements

Congratulations to Jonathan in Year 5 who at the weekend took part in karate grading. He successfully passed and has been awarded 2nd Kyu + 2 Red Tags in the art of Goju-Kai. Wow! Brilliant stuff!

Uniform - September 2026

From September 2026, we will be asking the children to only wear purple short-sleeved polo shirts and not white. The vast majority of children in the school do wear purple already. It continues to be fine to wear white across the spring and summer terms this academic year. Thank you.

Nursery

We have had a very busy week in Nursery. Children have finished making their Christmas cards and photo frames which have all been sent out. They have enjoyed giving and receiving Christmas cards as well as a visit from Father Christmas, taking part in a nursery party and for those with us all day enjoyed a very tasty Christmas dinner. It has been a very busy half-term with lots of learning taking place but before we break up, we would like to wish you a very happy holiday and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

REMINDER: Please ensure all children have their own water bottle that can be brought in every day. 

Reception

As we approach the end of a very long first term, we would like to congratulate all the children for getting this far! At 4/5 years old, these long, busy days take their toll. Well done to all of you parents too!   This week has been full of Christmas festivities in Reception. We’ve been logging the behaviour of quite a few naughty elves, watching pantos and playing Christmassy games. On Wednesday we all looked spectacular in our Christmas jumpers, singing along to a selection of Christmas songs with the whole school and then followed by our Christmas lunch! Crackers, hats, turkey and pigs in blankets all being served by the staff while Slade and Shakin’ Stevens serenaded us!   Have a well-deserved rest, an enjoyable Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Year 1

This week has been full of excitement and joy! We were part of a lovely carol service and Christmas sing along with the whole school.  We all enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday the children had a great time at the Panto.  We have practised writing Christmas sentences and continued with our reading and phonics.  In maths, we began to look at 2 digit numbers practising counting and writing them.  We have had such a wonderful first term with your children we wish you a fabulous christmas break. 

Year 2

This week has been an exciting end to the children’s first term in Year 2! We have enjoyed lots of festive celebrations, including plenty of singing at our Christmas sing-along and lots of laughter during the staff pantomime performance. We particularly enjoyed performing one of our nativity songs in the Christmas sing-along and listening to the readings during the Christmas service assembly.   We have been focusing on our DT project this week. The children have been making the puppets they designed, using cutting and sewing skills to bring their ideas to life. Sewing can be tricky but the children showed great perseverance, carefully practising their techniques and not giving up when things became challenging. The children should be very proud of all they have achieved so far in Year 2. What a fantastic way to finish the term! Thank you for all your support and we look forward to welcoming the children back in the spring term.  

Year 3

As we reach the end of a busy and exciting term, we would like to take a moment to share how incredibly proud we are of all the children in Year 3. Moving into Key Stage 2 is a big step, and every child has shown wonderful enthusiasm, resilience, and a fantastic attitude toward learning. They have settled in beautifully, embraced new routines, and shown great maturity as they begin their KS2 journey. Throughout the term, we have been amazed by the children’s hard work across all subjects. From creative writing and problem-solving in maths to exploring new topics in science and history, each child has put in excellent effort. Their curiosity, kindness, and teamwork have made our classrooms happy and productive places to learn. As we head into the festive break, all the Year 3 staff would like to wish every child a very happy holiday. We hope the break is filled with rest, joy, and special moments with family and friends. Thank you for your continued support - we look forward to another brilliant term ahead!

Year 4

This week has been full of fun and festive activities for Year 4. We thoroughly enjoyed our fantastic sing-along concert, the carol services and, of course, the much-loved panto! In maths, we completed a range of Christmas-themed challenges, including problem-solving activities involving lots of presents. In English, we wrote letters to Santa, where all the children promised they had been very good this year, and we also created Christmas tree wishes, sharing our hopes for the year ahead. We have now completed both our history and science topics and enjoyed looking back at all the learning we have achieved this term. In RE, our learning took us around the world as we explored different Christmas traditions. In DT, we designed and made some rather sad (but tasty!) melted snowman biscuits. Thank you for a fantastic first term and for all your continued support.

REMINDER:

• Don’t forget to sign up to the Imperial War Museum trip.
• Please remember to sign up for the Bikeability sessions.
• Class 4L will have outdoor learning in the first week back.
• Please continue to encourage regular reading and times tables practice over the holidays.
• Most importantly, we hope you all enjoy a well-earned rest, have lots of fun over the break and return

Year 5

Another busy week for Year 5!   The children have enjoyed using 'The Grinch' in their English work this week. We recapped the story, discussed the features of instructions and then shared a few examples of instructional texts. We are looking forward to the finished article. In the afternoon, early in the week, the children followed a 'how to draw' activity linked to the Grinch. Such talented artists we have in Year 5.   We are coming to the end stages of our work on fractions, where children have continued their use of improper, proper fraction and mixed numbers to add and subtract. They have become more confident in mixed problem solving. After Christmas we are looking further at multiplication and division.   The children have enjoyed their time playing basketball for PE. Early in the week the class was split in half where some practised different skills learnt so far and the other half played several games. We stopped halfway. We saw some great sportsman ship ranging from strong team work to careful basketball skills.    Year 5 enjoyed their 'Singalong' which showcased their singing to Elton John's - Step into Christmas. We had a talented child play the piano and some other children dress up and perform with ukeleles. All children performed well. We also saw some excellent performance skills with our Carol Concert, where some children sung very well in choir and others read beautifully aloud to the school with readings rehearsed with Mrs James. A tremendous well done to our very talented rock steady pupils. They performed incredibly to key stage 2. Your families, staff and friends were very proud of you! We look forward to the next concert!   We'd like to wish you a wonderful Christmas and happy new year. Thank you to many cards and gifts that were sent in with children. Very generous of you. The children deserve a well-earned rest!   Lastly Year 5 wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to welcoming everyone back in the New Year.....

Year 6

We would like to say well done to the children for all their hard work this term. The final week has been very busy with carol concerts, singalongs, rock steady performances, Christmas dinner and of course the extravaganza, the pantomime, that the staff put on.  The children have focussed their attention on finalising their DT project. They have designed, printed and sewn cushions which the children should have brought home. We would like to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Computing

Computing became very festive this year with Years 1, 2 and 3 enjoying lots of seasonal activities across the week!   At the beginning of the week, Year 2 developed their mouse skills by creating a festive picture. They showed great care and control while using the mouse, and the finished designs were full of creativity.   On Tuesday, the Year 3 children created a festive message for you all. These have been uploaded to Showbie, so please do take a moment to check them out – there are some really lovely messages waiting to be read.   Year 1 finished their computing this week by working hard on their typing skills. They typed a Christmas message and illustrated it on the computer using paintz.app. I have seen such a big improvement in Year 1’s typing skills already, with children starting to recognise the keys more easily and showing much better mouse control.   Looking ahead to next term after the Christmas holidays, we will be moving on to some exciting programming units. The older year groups will begin using FMS Logo, Scratch and the Crumble controllers. The following week, Year 1 will be playing with the robot mice, Year 2 will be using Scratch Junior, and Year 3 will be creating music using Scratch.   It’s going to be great fun – we have lots to look forward to!

This term, our Digital Leaders reflected on their learning in computing, and their responses were outstanding. They show confidence, insight, and a real enthusiasm for digital learning. We are very proud of their hard work and hope you enjoy reading their reflections.

Sports & PE

PE this week has seen some lessons coming to an end of their unit. Most have involved playing full games in the different sports. Well done to those children who have managed to attend the extra training sessions in preparation for Sportshall Athletics in the New Year.

Online Safety

AI-driven toys are becoming increasingly common, offering children personalised interactions that can feel surprisingly lifelike. This guide unpacks how these toys listen, learn, and respond – and what that means for privacy, security, and healthy development. From data collection to the subtle influence of artificial voices, it highlights why adults may need to look more closely at the tech inside modern playthings.   It also explores how features such as constant connectivity, engagement-boosting rewards, and behaviour-shaping responses can affect children’s play habits. Alongside outlining the risks, the guide shares calm, practical advice to help parents and educators set boundaries, check permissions, and balance AI toys with offline experiences, ensuring AI remains a support for real-world interactions, not a substitute for them.