Diary Dates
October
- Monday 21st - Thursday 24th - Book Fair
- Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th Parents Consultations
- Friday 25th - INSET Day
- Monday 28th - Friday 1st November - Half Term
November
- Monday 4th - Return to school
- Friday 22nd - Year 5 & 6 Cinema trip
- Wednesday 27th - Reception Reading Workshop
December
- Friday 20th - INSET Day
- Monday 23rd - Friday 3rd January - Christmas Break
January
- Wednesday 15th - Year 6 Height & Weight check
- Wednesday 22nd - Reception Reading Workshop
February
- Monday 17th - Friday 21st - Half Term
- Monday 24th - INSET Day
April
- Monday 7th - Thursday 17th - Easter Break
- Friday 18th - Good Friday
- Monday 21st - Bank Holiday Monday
May
- Monday 5th - Bank Holiday Monday
- Monday 12th - Thursday 15th - KS2 SATS Week
- Wednesday 21st - Reception Height & Weight, vision & hearing checks
- Monday 26th - Bank Holiday Monday
- Tuesday 27th - Friday 30th - Half Term
June
- Monday 2nd - INSET Day
- Monday 9th - Friday 13th - Phonics Screening Check
- Monday 16th - Wednesday 18th - Year 6 Residential
July
Wednesday 23rd - Last day of term
Nursery
This week has been another busy week. We have started our ‘Talking time’ initial assessment and we are looking forward to beginning the program. We have also continued our work on ‘The Whales on the bus’ book, using our creative skills to produce some models, collages, pictures and paintings to add to a wall display in nursery.
Reminder: If your child has any ‘wow’ moments at home please let us know so we can share their achievements at nursery. We enjoy celebrating even the smallest achievements. Thank you
Reception
This week we started our phonics lessons. We have learnt the sounds ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘i’. We have started to learna how to write these letters and played sound games matching pictures to the initial sounds and sound talking items. We have been learning the story of Hansel and Gretel. The children have enjoyed listening to different versions of the story and acting it out during our story acting time. In maths we have been learning about matching, sets and sorting items into groups. We have continued to revise numbers 1-5.
Reminder: Please read at home and sign your child’s reading record. Please bring their reading book and record to school every day.
Don’t forget parents evening is next Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th. Please book an appointment online.
Friday 25th is an INSET day the school is closed for the children.
Year 1
Year 1 have been working very hard in maths. We have been looking for missing parts in number sentences.
During our English unit, we have practised our curly caterpillar letters again to ensure we are starting in the right place. Some children have been challenged to write a sentence with a connective conjunction.
The children worked very hard in PSHE this week. We discussed ‘big emotions’ and how we deal with how we feel.
Reminder: Reading books must be in school everyday.
Ensure jumpers, cardigans, coats, fleeces, hats etc are named. If they don’t have names in them, we can’t return them to you.
If you any signed letters for the office, please let the adult on the door know. Some of the children are forgetting to tell us.
Year 2
We have continued to explore the text ‘The Night Pirates’. We have described the setting and adapted the story by changing the characters and who their character meets. In maths we have found fact families to 20 quite tricky! The children didn’t give up but had another go. We are proud of their efforts. In computing we learned to label devices which can be connected to a monitor.
Reminder: If you have an opportunity to, please explore fact families at home and encourage your child to use three selected numbers to make their own fact family. Please remember that children should not be wearing any jewellery on P.E. days.
Year 3
In English we have written a set of instructions to make flatbread, which the children enjoyed tasting. We have used adverbs for time and manner to improve our writing. In maths we have continued looking at patterns in numbers when adding ones, tens and hundreds. We have really been enjoying dancing in PE and have learned lots of different styles i.e. hip hop, bhangra, line and country dancing. We are approaching the end of our Stone Age topic and this week moved into the Iron Age.
Reminder: Please ensure ALL the children have their PE kits in school on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Remember to hear your child/ren read at home.
Year 4
In year 4 it has been another busy week. We have been starting to write our own Anglo-Saxon stories in English and learning how to subtract and exchange in maths.
We are practising our three and four times tables on a daily basis and enjoying our tag rugby and golf lessons, learning new skills every day.
Reminder: Please ensure ALL the children have their PE kits in school on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Please listen to your children reading at home.
Year 5
This week in English, the children have written their own biographies about Maggie Aderin-Pocock. They researched about her life and then put the information into their own words to create a biography.
In maths, we have been looking at prime, square and cube numbers. It was good to see so many children applying their knowledge of times tables to help them!
Reminder: Learning consultations are next week. Please book if you haven’t done so already.
The book fair is on every day after school starting from Monday.
Year 6
In English, we have started reading and writing biographies. We will be writing about the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, the author who wrote the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories.
In maths, we have revised short division and moved on to learning long division. It has been great to see how confident children are in tackling these questions because their times tables knowledge is improving.
In science, we have started to design burglar alarm circuits for a home defence system. In PSHE, we are continuing to learn different ways to help ourselves and others if we are feeling overwhelmed. Lots of these resources are here: Calm zone | Childline
We are still focussing on increasing reading stamina (the length of time children read for). We are aiming for 12 – 15 pages a day.
IndiRock and The Clink trips
Letters for these trips have been sent on ParentPay. Please complete the online Permission form for IndiRock as well as the school permission forms.
PE
Mr Sesniak has signed us up for more exciting sporting opportunities. Watch out for those letters coming home. It could be you...
French
This week, year two have been making sentences about what the weather is like on different days of the week; year four have been using bilingual dictionaries to research and create material on the topic of the family; year five have been learning about the months in French.
Healthy Schools
Thank you to those parents who cam e to our workshop today. We hope you found it helpful, and that you are able to use the guidance and advice.
Online Safety
Many children and young people enjoy exploring new and exciting genres and themes in the films and TV they consume – and as they grow, the maturity of this content will likely increase with them. However, without proper supervision and safeguarding, youngsters looking for a new title to enjoy – especially in the horror genre – might get a little more than they're ready for.
The emotional and psychological impacts of viewing age-inappropriate content can be severe. It's vital for parents and educators to know how to keep the children in their care as safe as possible while young people explore new, potentially grittier or darker, pieces of media. This guide breaks down the risks of viewing age-inappropriate content, with a particular focus on horror, and offers expert advice on how to limit youngsters’ exposure to material that might upset or disturb them.
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Our Uniform shop is located within the front reception area of the school and is open Monday-Friday 8.30am - 4.00pm. All items are 50p each. We always have a good selection of skirts, trousers, jumpers, tops, dresses and P.E items. Please ask at the office to point you in the right direction.
We always welcome school uniform donations for us to sell at our school uniform shop. Could we please ask that the clothes are in good, clean condition. All items can be dropped off at the school office between 8.30am - 4.00pm. Thank you so much for doing this for the school as it helps our parents out tremendously.
Thank you
Attendance
Congratulations Attendance Awards
Congratulations to Oyster, Seahorse Lobster and Sea Turtle classes for achieving a certificate this week.
Being ready every day and getting in on time is the challenge you set yourself to achieve greatness!
his week, we celebrated 337 children who achieved 100% attendance, slight rise on last week. Well done to all those attendance hero's, children who were Here, Every day, Ready and On time.
Aim to attend school 100% Of every week.
Attendance monitoring
Advice and support for families who are experiencing difficulties around attendance is always available on request, please call the attendance line or email the attendance email and Mrs Wyer our attendance administrator will follow up any questions or queries.
Each week the attendance team contacts families about attendance
• National threshold review letters
• Level 1 absence review letter
• Attendance support meeting invite
• Punctuality review letter
Weekly attendance support meetings have started with Mrs D Morris This week, so if you are invited to an attendance meeting on a Thursday morning and you unable to make it, please do get in contact to rearrange for a day and time that suits you. We understand everyone leads a busy life, Mrs Morris often has availability at the start of the day just after you drop off in the morning or just before you collect your child at the end of the day, to have that short catch up about attendance for your child.
Being here is half the battle won!
Contact Us
If you would like to talk to someone for support or advice on attendance or punctuality at any time, please do not hesitate to contact the Attendance Team: Mrs. S. Wyer, Attendance Administrator, or Mrs. D. Morris, Assistant Principal and Senior Leader for Attendance. You can pop into the school office to speak face to face, if we are available. Alternatively, you can call the school or drop us an email at attendance@pgps.porticoacademytrust.co.uk We are here and always happy to help!
From the first day of term to the last,
the small moments in a school day make a real difference to your child.
Weekly Attendance Report
Dinner Menu
Week 2
Monday - Pork Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Vegan Sausage with Mashed Potato & Gravy - Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Sweetcorn & Baked Beans - Chocolate Rice Krispie Cake
Tuesday - Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta - Vegan Tomato & Mixed Bean Sauce with Fusilli - Baked Jackets with Grated Cheese - Carrots & Broccoli - Mandarin Jelly
Wednesday - Honey Roast Gammon with Roast Potatoes & Gravy - Sweet Chilli Stir-fry Mushroom & Steamed Rice - Wholewheat Pasta & Tomato Sauce - Seasonal Greens & Peas - Vanilla Ice Cream
Thursday - Beef Keema with Turmeric Rice - Vegan Layered Vegetable & Sweet Potato Bake - Baked Jackets with Baked Beans - Carrots & Sweetcorn - Apple & Carrot Flapjack
Community
Cost of Living Advice
Click here to access cost of living advice from Southend City Council. It contains information on housing support, energy cost advice and benefits and support for those with children.