Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the final term of the year! I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine during the half term break and had a relaxing time. It has been lovely to welcome everyone back this week, despite the rainfall and change of weather.

This week, we introduced our updated behaviour system to children. Our behaviour policy has not changed, as we continue with our holistic approach. However, we have removed Good to be Green in our classrooms and instead we are teaching children about taking responsibility for their actions with clear expectations and boundaries. To do this, we are teaching the children “RULER” over this term. This approach has scientific evidence of supporting regulation and understanding how behaviours have actions.

R - Recognise how you are feeling (which Zones of Regulation are you in e.g. Green Zone, Red, Zone, Blue Zone of Yellow Zone)
U - Understand why you are in that zone (what happened just beforehand?)

L - Label your emotion (which one word would you say is how you feel? e.g. angry, sad, confused, anxious etc.)

E - Express your emotions (this is how in a safe way, you can express how you feel)

R - Regulate your emotions (what will help you to go back into the Green Zone)

This week in our letter directory, we have shared a few important whole school letters. This includes introducing our plans for a new school dog and after over 10 years of it being absent, the return of class group photos.

We hope everyone has a good weekend.

Iman Atwal

Headteacher

This term, we introduced our new value: Aspiration. We learnt that this is where you have a goal you want to achieve and the actions you take to achieve this. Whether you want to be the best footballer, mathematician, cook or just improve your handwriting, you have to put in focus and continue to work even when things get hard in order to reach your goals. 

Ask your child:

• What is your aspiration?

• How do you focus on this?

• What will you do when it takes a long time to achieve?

Nest

Welcome back! We are absolutely delighted to welcome all of our little learners back to the Nursery. They have settled back into our daily routine beautifully and have already been incredibly busy exploring, learning, and growing. Recently, we introduced the classic story of 'The Gingerbread Man', and the children have been listening with great interest, enthusiastically asking and answering questions.

They have also had fantastic fun exploring the water tray with small containers—pouring water back and forth while we talk about full and empty and big and small containers. They even showed immense curiosity watching the water cascade like a waterfall through our water wheel!

Finally, as we begin getting our children ready for the next exciting part of their journey into Upper Nursery, they have been working hard tracing over their name cards and have been introduced to learning early letter sounds.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a wonderful term ahead!

Saplings

This week in Saplings, we have welcomed the children back sharing joyous stories of their half term activities, it has been wonderful hearing all of the exciting things they’ve got up to in the holidays!

This week, we have been looking at ‘Olivers Vegetables’, the children have enjoyed reading and exploring the story together. We have then been discussing the different vegetables in the story, what meals you can make with them, their shapes, sizes, colours and taste. The children have enjoyed sharing their favourite vegetables and also talking about how they grow, building green houses for them in construction. We have also enjoyed our continued care for our class tomato plant, which now has 17 tomatoes growing on it! 

In Numeracy, we have been looking at counting, numbers and grouping, to do this the children have enjoyed counting the amount of children in class at circle time, and grouping them into different sections, such as boys and girls, trousers and shorts, hair colours ect.

In Literacy, we have been focusing on the phonic sound ‘W’ through repetition and song, as well as finding different things around the environment that begin with W.

Reception

We have had an absolutely fantastic first week back after the half-term break! The children settled back into their school routines so beautifully, bringing lots of energy and big smiles back to the classroom. We are so proud of how quickly they have refocused.

Here is a look at what we have been up to this week:

Becoming Planet Heroes

This week, our learning was inspired by the book Michael Recycle. We have been looking closely at how our actions can change the world around us.

• Our Big Word: We introduced the concept of integrity which means doing the right thing even when no one is watching!

• Talk Partners: The children had some deep discussions about why we shouldn't drop litter, even if we are all alone, and how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle our waste.

• Ask your child: “Why does Messy Margaret drop litter when no one is looking?” or “What is one thing you are going to try to do better this weekend to help the planet?”

Year 1

A Lovely Week of Learning in Year 1!

It has been another exciting and engaging week in Year 1, with the children showing great enthusiasm and curiosity throughout their learning.

In Maths, the children have been learning about place value. Using practical resources such as cubes, they explored how numbers are made up of tens and ones. The children enjoyed building different numbers and developing their understanding of how the value of a digit changes depending on its place within a number.

In English, the children have been learning about the features of fiction and non-fiction texts. They explored titles, subtitles, facts, and opinions, and worked collaboratively to identify these features using sticky notes. The children enjoyed becoming text detectives as they carefully examined books and discussed how different texts are organised.

This week has also been our DT Week, which has been a fantastic opportunity for the children to develop their design and food preparation skills. The children investigated a variety of fruits, exploring their appearance, texture, smell, and taste. They were able to sample different fruits and use descriptive vocabulary such as sweet, sour, juicy, and crunchy to share their opinions. The children then designed their own fruit salads, carefully selecting the fruits they would like to include and creating two different design ideas. To finish the week, the children brought their designs to life by making their own fruit salads. They thoroughly enjoyed preparing, tasting, and evaluating their creations, and were very proud of their final products.

We have been delighted by the children’s enthusiasm, teamwork, and growing confidence as they explored new skills and experiences throughout the week.

Year 2

Our first week back after half term has been full of fantastic learning and exciting activities!

In English, we started reading our new core text, 'Paddington'. The children have really enjoyed being introduced to this story, especially as many of them were able to make links with the Paddington film. Before revealing the book, we played a fun “police officer and witness” game. The witnesses had to give clues to the police officers based on mysterious items we found in the classroom, including a suitcase, marmalade, a small hat and the remains of some toast. The children loved using their detective skills to predict who the items might belong to!

In Maths, we have been learning about tally charts. In our first lesson, we focused on drawing tally charts carefully and recording information in the correct columns. In our second lesson, we used our tally charts to answer problem-solving questions. The children practised reading the information from their own charts and using it to explain their answers.

This week was also DT Week, so we completed lots of activities linked to our Design and Technology learning. We researched a variety of Caribbean foods from different Caribbean countries. The next day, we tasted some of these foods in the classroom and completed a tasting table, describing how they tasted, whether we liked them, and whether they were sweet or savoury. Later in the week, the children created posters for Johnny Cakes. To finish the week, we enjoyed a fantastic baking session where we made our very own delicious Johnny Cakes!

Thank you for your continued support.

Year 3

It has been an incredibly busy and productive week for our Year 3 superstars!

We have been completing our final round of assessments this week. The children worked exceptionally hard, showing wonderful focus and determination throughout. In preparation for these, they have also been busy practicing their fractions.

In English, we started exploring our new book, 'The Invisible', and began looking at how to write a diary entry from the perspective of the main character. Inspired by the story, we also looked at why community is so important and discussed meaningful ways we can help our own local community.

To channel our creativity, we have been preparing for DT week by exploring the history and origins of scones. We investigated different toppings and debated the age-old question: jam or cream on first? The highlight of the week was definitely the tasting session—they went down an absolute storm!

Thank you, Year 3, for your fantastic effort and enthusiasm. Enjoy a well-deserved rest this weekend!

Year 4

This week in Year 4 has been DT Week, where the children have taken part in discussions and lessons in preparation for making their own kebabs. They explored different kebab options and linked their learning to previous history lessons about the origins of kebabs in Ancient Greece. As part of their design process, the children carefully drew and designed their own kebabs, considering the ingredients they would like to include and explaining the reasons behind their choices.

In English, the children were introduced to their new core text, 'The Goldfish Boy'. To engage them with the themes of the story, they took part in a hook lesson where they discussed phobias and explored what OCD is. The children showed great maturity during these conversations and supported one another by listening carefully and sharing their thoughts respectfully.

During our class assembly this week, the children participated in a game that involved following instructions and directions. They worked collaboratively and demonstrated excellent listening skills throughout the activity.

The children have also been practising daily for their Multiplication Tables Check. We are extremely proud of the dedication, resilience and positive attitude they are showing each day. Their hard work and determination are a credit to them and we are confident that their efforts will continue to pay off.

Year 5

This week in English, Year 5 began exploring their thrilling new class book, 'Floodland' by Marcus Sedgwick. The children started by unpacking the concept of a dystopian world—an imagined future where life is extremely challenging—and discussed how the story's flooded setting impacts its characters. They then focused on profiling the main character, Zoe, analysing her personality, choices and actions to build detailed character studies. The class showed wonderful insight and empathy, laying a fantastic foundation for the reading adventures ahead!

In Maths this week, Year 5 have been busy investigating angles and mastering how to measure them accurately using protractors. The children then explored key geometric facts, discovering that angles on a straight line always add up to 180°, while angles around a full turn must total 360°. They then applied this knowledge brilliantly to solve both reasoning and application questions, showing great determination and sharp problem-solving skills throughout the week!

It has also been Design and Technology Week, and the children have spent the week investigating the art of pizza making! They explored different ingredients, learned about balanced toppings, and planned their designs. The grand finale of the week saw the children working in teams to make their own dough from scratch, stretch it into shape, and bake their final custom pizzas. They smelled and tasted incredible, and the children showed fantastic collaboration and culinary skills from start to finish!

Year 6

This week in English, Year 6 have been continuing to write their persuasive hotel adverts. The children consolidated their knowledge of subordinate clauses, using them effectively as adverbials of time. They successfully drew upon prior knowledge of subordinating conjunctions to support their sentence structure. This prepared them perfectly for the end of the week, where they drafted their introductions—ensuring the inclusion of subheadings, rhetorical questions, alliteration, and assonance.

This week was DT Food week, where Year 6 explored their food theme. It was an exciting time as the year 6 children explored the vibrant cuisine of Spain. The children started the week by exploring different Spanish dishes, discussing what they already knew, and introducing new culinary vocabulary. Later in the week, Year 6 made their very own traditional Spanish bocadillos. Using baguettes, jamón (Spanish ham), turkey rashers, beef salami, lettuce, and many other delicious fillings, the children thoroughly enjoyed the independence of creating their own custom sandwiches.

Summer Term Clubs

Bookings will be open from Friday 20th March at 6pm and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The dates exclude the half term week, 25th May 2026 - 29th May 2026 and Bank holiday, Monday 4th May 2026. Also, Inset day, Friday 19th June 2026.

Please book directly using the links provided or via Arbor where it is indicated to do so.

Kindly ensure your child commits to the duration of the club, as we cannot guarantee refunds.

Sign-up starts at the beginning of the club, not once the club has started.

Please follow this link for futher information and booking links: Summer Term Clubs 

We are using in-app messages to communicate with parents through the app - please could parents ensure they are able to log-in and Arbor is set up to accept these messages - they should be visible in the Communications section of the portal.

Parents who have the app should enable Push Notifications - this will alert you through the app that a message has arrived.

Over 90% of our parents have logged into Arbor - if you are having difficulty, please talk to the office who can help.

Check your Child's Data

Please log in to Arbor and check your child's/children's details are correct - and let us know if not. You can also request changes directly through the app which will take place once we have seen them - if we have questions, we will get in touch. Or you can let the office know directly.

It is important we have the correct data for all our families.

Please remember to check Arbor - either the Parent Portal (at https://login.arbor.sc/) or the parent app (available from the App Store or Google Play).

Parents who log in can:

* see their child's attendance

* log consent for local trips and those further afield

* pay for trips and book and pay for clubs

* receive In-App messages - and message the school

* book parent consultations

* see their child's details and request changes to ensure they are completely up to date

If you have more than one child at the school, they should be visible via a drop-down so you only need to login once.

To set up your account, you need the email you use for school communications and the date of birth of one of your children. Follow the Forgotten Password link on either the app or the website.

If you need support with logging in, please talk to the office team who will be glad to help.