https://www.alexandraprimaryschool.co.uk Friday 8th May Issue No. 31

Message from the Headteacher

At our school, we continue to live out our values of curiosity, courage, kindness and responsibility every day. It has been wonderful to see these values shining through across the school this fortnight.

Year 5 demonstrated fantastic curiosity during their recent trip to the British Museum, where they explored artefacts and deepened their understanding of history. Meanwhile, Year 1 have been showing curiosity and enthusiasm in their maths lessons, asking questions and enjoying new challenges. In Year 3, children have been fully engaged in their learning about ancient Egypt, exploring this fascinating civilisation with great interest and excitement.

Our children continue to show courage through their class assemblies, performing confidently in front of parents and the wider school community. Most recently, we enjoyed wonderful assemblies from Venezuela and Bolivia classes, who impressed everyone with their hard work and confidence.

Kindness is evident throughout our school community. Our buddy system helps new children feel welcomed and supported as they settle into school life. Our Inclusion Ambassadors & Playground Champions demonstrate care, empathy and friendship towards others every day.

Finally our Year 6 children have been showing great responsibility in their learning as they prepare for their SATs next week. We are very proud of their positive attitude, determination and resilience. We wish them luck!

Thank you for your continued support and please check the upcoming dates.

What's been happening this week?

Year 5 Visited the British Museum

Year 5 recently enjoyed an exciting visit to the British Museum as part of their History topic on the Ancient Greeks. During the day, the children took part in a fascinating workshop led by museum staff, where they explored famous Ancient Greek myths and learned about the characters and heroes behind these legendary stories.

The pupils also had the opportunity to study authentic Ancient Greek pottery, carefully sketching intricate designs and patterns inspired by the artefacts on display. One of the highlights of the visit was a museum trail, where the children searched for clues hidden within the artwork on the pottery to uncover the myths and stories being told through the images.

Year 5 Venezuela Assembly

Last week, Venezuela class put on a fantastic exhibition of their learning from this term. With a “Britain’s Got Talent” theme, children entertained us with music, poetry and examples of their writing. They shared powerful work about sustainability, explaining ways to protect the Amazon rainforest, and performed their own versions of The Explorer.

The children also impressed everyone with their knowledge of space and the planets. Musical performances included body percussion and drumming; the drumming was a clear favourite, voted best by the majority of the audience.

Thank you to the Year 5 team, Mr Ken, and all the parents who joined us for this wonderful celebration of learning.

Summer Term Clubs

Summer-term clubs are in full swing. Clubs are a great way for children to try new activities, build friendships and develop skills outside the classroom. Clubs help children grow in confidence while having fun. Thank you to the staff running these clubs and to the parents who support participation. There are still some spaces for Archery Club on Mondays. Sign‑up information is available from the school office.

Here are some photos of our music club with Mr Ken.

Year 1 maths hunt

Year 1 loved a hands-on maths hunt this week as they explored the idea of equal groups. Working in small teams, children searched the classroom for everyday objects, counted them, and organised them into matching groups — for example, sets of 2, 3 or 4 crayons, counters and toy animals.

This active, practical approach helped children see how multiplication grows from grouping and sharing, making an abstract idea concrete. It also strengthened communication and collaboration skills as children negotiated how to sort and checked one another’s counting. The lesson linked directly to Year 1 mathematics aims: counting in multiples, recognising equal groups, using concrete resources and describing results with accurate mathematical language — all while keeping maths engaging, hands-on and relevant.

Quick home activity for families: ask your child to make “equal groups” from items at home (e.g. forks, socks, grapes) and tell you how many groups and how many in each group — a simple way to reinforce today’s learning.

Year 3 Traveled Back to Ancient Egypt

Last week, our year 3 children travelled back to ancient Egypt. Each child practised writing their name in hieroglyphics, copying symbols and explaining the sounds they represented, which helped to develop their curiosity about writing across cultures.

In a practical challenge, small teams built pyramids from cubes, tested which designs were most stable and recorded their findings, using measurement language, problem-solving and teamwork to improve their models. Children enjoyed decoding a secret picture-message in pairs, applying pattern-spotting and reasoning skills to translate symbols into words.

The classroom buzzed during “Dance like an Egyptian”, where children learned simple choreographed steps that supported physical development and expressive language. A display of artefacts, canopic jar models, scarab beetles and replica masks gave pupils a tangible link to the past and sparked thoughtful discussion about beliefs and daily life.

It was a memorable week that made history active, relevant and engaging for everyone.

Spanish at Alexandra

Our Spanish lessons are bringing language, culture and confidence to life across the school. In Early Years, children have loved number and colour games such as dominoes and bingo, and action songs that make vocabulary memorable and fun.

In Years 1–5, pupils have been learning descriptive vocabulary for talking about family through partner card games, memory challenges and charades. Everyone has practised listening to longer sentences and responding on mini whiteboards to show whether the sentence is true or false — verdadero o falso!

Why this matters:

Learning Spanish gives children access to new cultures and helps us celebrate the many languages and backgrounds in our school community.
Activities are deliberately designed to develop speaking, listening and precise vocabulary — the skills children need to take part confidently in class and beyond.
Games, paired work and whole-class responses ensure every child takes part and gains a visible sense of progress.

We’re proud to use language learning to strengthen belonging, curiosity and communication across Alexandra Primary School.

Year 2 — Money Ready visit

This week Year 2 enjoyed a visit from Money Ready to learn about budgeting and keeping track of money. Children played a board game where they chose how to spend, earn and pay bills, then calculated their remaining money at the end. In another activity they dressed a superhero, buying cool costumes while keeping to a strict £20 budget.

They had lots of fun — and even met real-life bankers who answered our questions about money!

Year 6 SATs Breakfast

To ensure our Year 6 children feel calm, confident and ready for their SATs the week beginning Monday 11 May 2026, we will be running a free Year 6 breakfast each day from Monday to Thursday. Please bring your child to school at 8:15am so they can eat with their year group and settle before the assessments begin.

There will be no booster sessions from Monday 11 May onwards. Please support your child by ensuring they get a good night’s sleep each evening during assessment week and that they attend school on time each day.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Smyth, Ms Kennedy and Miss Calin
Year 6 Teachers

Year 3 Bolivia Class Assembly

Year 3 put on a fantastic assembly this week to showcase their learning from this term. They shared what they have discovered about the Ancient Egyptians and performed an energetic dance to bring the topic to life.

Children also presented examples of their creative writing and the reading skills they have been practising, including how they remember new learning through rhymes and raps — the highlight being their 4 timetable rap. In science, pupils explained their work on magnets, demonstrating push and pull forces with clear, age-appropriate explanations.

Finally, the class finished with a musical piece on the ukulele, a tune created by one of the children and performed confidently by the group.

We are very proud of Year 3’s enthusiasm and confidence — great work Bolivia Class!

Year 1 Exploring Toys as part of their History Unit

This term, year 1 class have enjoyed a lively History unit, Innovation and Change, exploring how toys have changed over time. They began with a Toys & Games Day when children explored, compare and discuss how toys look, move and feel. Children compared old and new toys, noticing materials (wood, metal, plastic, fabric), where toys come from and how play has changed with technology and batteries.

Through hands-on investigation and paired talk, pupils practised historical vocabulary such as past, present, then and now, made simple comparisons using evidence and explained their opinions about the toys they explored. Activities included sorting toys, drawing timelines of “toys then and now” and role-play corners recreating past and present play.

New to English Monitoring Cycle

This term we began a two‑week monitoring cycle to review our New‑to‑English provision and strengthen transitions for children joining Alexandra Primary. As part of this work we are launching a refreshed buddy system: our Inclusion Ambassadors will welcome new arrivals, show them key places around school (toilets, lunch hall, main office), introduce them to peers and help them find activities at playtimes.

Where possible, we will match new children with someone who speaks their home language, to support early communication and a sense of belonging. We recognise the importance of children learning English while also developing and celebrating their first language.

Over the coming weeks we will share more about how families can be involved and how we will continue to honour the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of our school community.

100% Attendance

This half term Alexandra Primary will continue with the weekly attendance drive to reinforce that every day in school matters. Each child who achieves 100% attendance in a week is entered into a prize draw to win one of our much-loved miniature ducks.

Winners of the weekly duck are then entered into a further draw for a bigger prize: either a popcorn party for their whole class or a £30 Morrisons voucher. The competition has already created a buzz around school and staff are noticing an improvement in attendance and enthusiasm for coming to school.

Parents and carers are asked to continue encouraging regular attendance so every child can benefit from consistent learning and friendship.

This is a fun, simple way to reward good attendance and remind families that each school day makes a difference.

Best Attendance for this week:

EYFS – Panama 90.6%

KS1 – Cuba 95%

LKS1 - Well done Mexico Class 100%

UKS2 – Well done Espana Class 98.67%

RISE House – Well done Rise House 100%