Maynards Green CP School

OUR SCHOOL VISION

For our children to have the confidence, skills and attitude to become responsible citizens who can achieve their potential.

'Growing the community one child at a time'

A message from Mrs Clark

Dear Families,

I am delighted to end Term 2 with many celebrations of our community's festive spirit. Our children have brought joy and creativity through their Christmas performances! Our younger pupils shone brightly, with Reception and Year 1 enchanting us with their Nativity performance, and Year 2 and 3 delivering a fantastic Christmas show.

We look forward to Tuesday when Years 4, 5, and 6 will perform their Christmas Carol Concert.

Beyond the school grounds, this week saw our Year 6 pupils visit Cherry Tree Court. They delivered beautiful handmade Christmas cards and sang carols to the residents. Miss Francis and I were incredibly proud to receive feedback on their conduct, maturity, and positive interactions from both residents and staff.

I am also pleased to report that strategically, we are making good progress towards our whole school goals:

Data: Attendance aligns with national expectations; home reading engagement has improved; Times Table Rockstars is showing a positive impact on multiplication knowledge retention.

Wellbeing & Behaviour: Our investment in developing playtimes is progressing well, supported by a new, dedicated working group of staff and parents.

SEN Provision: The introduction of Clicker adaptive technology is already delivering significant benefits, increasing pupil confidence, enjoyment in writing, and measurable learning outcomes for those with special educational needs.

Site & Safety: Our recent East Sussex Health and Safety audit was exceptionally positive. We thank Caretaker Mike and the Health and Safety team for their commitment.

Finally I would like to extend our gratitude to our Governors, Staff and Parents for your unwavering support. Facing seasonal challenges with illness and other staff absence, the commitment and resilience of our team have been truly remarkable. Everyone has a part to play in making Maynards Green the best it can be. Thank you, and enjoy the Christmas break.

Please note that term ends on Friday, December 19th with open classrooms from 12:30 pm and final pupil collection at 1:30 pm.

🎄Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.🎄

Mrs Clark

Headteacher

A message from Julie Langdon, The Chair of Governors

We would like to welcome Simon Porter, who has recently joined the governing board.

The Governors have carried out visits this term monitoring; Finance, Safeguarding, SEND, Behaviour & Attendance and Health & Safety.

The Governing Board would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff for their continued hard work and dedication.

We would like to wish all our pupils, their families and our staff a joyful Christmas break.

Kindest Regards,

Julie Langdon

The Friends of Maynards Green

Our school hall is looking very festive! A big thank you to our wonderful sponsors for their generosity in providing our stunning Christmas tree.

We are very grateful and very happily displaying their company logos on our new tree.

Thank you to our sponsors:

🎄 Steve Winter Garden Machinery Sales and Services

🎄 Resin Bonded Ltd

🎄 Extence Carpentry and Joinery

As dogs are not permitted on school grounds, we kindly ask for your cooperation in extending this extra caution to the nearby trail during the busy pick-up time. Please remember that many children feel uneasy around strange, unattended dogs.

Parking

Residents of the nearby Tubwell Lane have asked the school to mention parking along this road. We understand that parking is difficult, but please remember to park sensibly and do not block the neighbouring properties driveways.

Thank you!

Please ensure that all of your child's items of clothing are clearly named. At the end of this term all items in the lost property basket will be donated to charity. Take a moment to check through the basket before we donate!

🌟Thank you so much for all those who have bought off our Amazon Wishlists so far!

This is an easy way to help enhance your child's learning environment. You can purchase items directly from Amazon, and they'll be safely delivered right to us.

Every purchase, no matter how small, makes a significant positive impact on our classrooms.

Thank you so much for your generosity!

Amazon Wishlists 🌟

Click the links here: Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 , Year 4, Year 5, Year 6 and whole school (including playground, science and outdoor learning)

Teacher Contact Details

Ailsa Clark - head@maynardsgreen.org

Helen Evans - hevans@maynardsgreen.org

Christina Green - cgreen@maynardsgreen.org

Colette Lacey - clacey@maynardsgreen.org

Verity Keet - vkeet@maynardsgree.org

Jane Taylor - jtaylor@maynardsgreen.org

Carly Townsend - ctownsend@maynardsgreen.org

Nicola Alexander - nalexander@maynardsgreen.org

Sophie Francis - sfrancis@maynardsgreen.org

Karolina Holton - kholton@maynardsgreen.org

Robyn Osborn - rosborn@maynardsgreen.org

Attendance

Link to our attendance policy - click here

Year R -91.8%

Year 1 -94.7%

Year 2 -95.9%

Year 3 -94.2%

Year 4 -96.6%

Year 5 - 95.1%

Year 6 -95.8%

The following NHS page helps parents/carers by providing guidance on common childhood illnesses: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Parent & Carer Workshops

We are offering a programme of free workshops for parents and carers of primary aged children.

We also host Lunch & Chat online groups for parents of primary and secondary aged children, providing parents with a relaxed space to share ideas and support one another.

These sessions not only equip families with practical strategies, but also reinforce the work schools are doing every day to help children flourish.

Parents and carers can book via TicketTailor
For any questions, please email mhew@eastsussex.gov.uk

Struggling with 'Tricky Mornings'?

Do you dread the morning rush? Are getting ready for school and the journey/arrival filled with stress, tantrums, or meltdowns? You are absolutely not alone! Many children find the transition from home to school challenging, and it can be exhausting for parents.

We are delighted to invite you to a supportive and practical workshop designed specifically for Maynards Green parents.

Workshop poster- Tricky Mornings_Maynards Green Community.pdf

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is for all Maynards Green parents who find the mornings challenging, whether your child is in Reception or Year 6. Come and share your experiences and learn from others in a supportive environment.

Safeguarding

Link to our current safeguarding policy - click here

If you are interested in booking a practical workshop please book your session(s) through People Matter: reception@people-matter.org.uk or 01323 431289 or 07843 190738

Jan-Mar 2026 Quick Guide .pdf

Support Guide Jan-March 2026.pdf

Dates for your diary

Dates 2025 for newsletter

Reception

Wow! What a term this has been. We have begun outdoor learning, learnt all about night and day and put on a fantastic Nativity show for our families.

We are incredibly proud of all the hard work and courage it took for the children to be able to go on stage and sing in front of lots of people. Thank you for coming along to support the children, they were so happy to see you all. Have a wonderful Christmas break!

Mrs Osborn

Reception Class teacher

Year 1

We cannot believe how fast our second term in Year One has gone! We have enjoyed our trip to Brighton Toy and Model Museum, designed and made hand puppets in our Design Technology lessons and have put on a great Nativity show for all the parents and grandparents.

We are so proud of all the children for having the courage to be able to stand on a stage and speak, sing and act. I hope everyone that came to see the show would agree that it always put you in the Christmas mood! Thank you for all the help, encouragement and support that you gave the children at home when they were learning their roles.

Mrs Green and Mrs Keet

Year One Class Teachers

Year 2

What a busy, but fantastic few weeks in Year 2! We have been so busy rehearsing for our Christmas performance of The Landlord's Cat. We hope you enjoyed watching the shows and seeing the hard work the children have put in to it.

We have been conitnuing our learning of 'The Great Fire of London' in history, looking at sources of evidence. The children have been deciding which pieces of evidence tell us about 1666 and which don't.

In English we have read 'The Owl wo is Afraid of the Dark.' Next week, the children will be finishing off this unit of work by writing their own versions of the story.

Next week, the children will be creating some Christmas crafts to bring home to share with you.

Mrs Evans and Mrs Keet

Year Two Class Teachers

Year 3

Both pieces of big news for Year 3 are based around Christmas festivities! Our much anticipated production "The Landlord's Cat" has been a triumph; the children were excellent at learning their lines, singing and developing their resilience against stage fright. Well done everyone!

Next Monday, we will be taking a trip to the White Rock Theatre in Hastings to watch this year's panto, Jack and the Beanstalk. For some of us, this will be our first theatre experience and we are all looking forward to it enormously.

Miss Taylor

Year 3 Class Teacher

Year 4

Year 4 enjoyed their visit from the Residents of Young at Heart. Together, we coloured in Christmas ornaments ready to hang on our Christmas tree by the school office. We also performed some of the songs from our Christmas Concert which was much enjoyed by our visitors.

We also finished our hockey and netball units with mini-class tournaments, putting the learning of rules and technique into practice. The children showed resilience, honesty, excellent team work and sportsmanship throughout.

Mrs Holton

Year 4 Class Teacher

Year 5

The children in Year 5 have been working extremely hard rehearsing for their Christmas performance which takes place on Tuesday 16th December. I have been very impressed with both the children's singing and choral speaking this year. Excitement is running high and the children can't wait to perform in front of their parents and carers.

In addition, to embrace the community spirit at this time of year, the children in Year 5 have created Christmas cards to give to all the residents of Cherry Tree Court Retirement Home. Year 6 children will be singing at Cherry Tree Court this week and will hand the cards out to its members when they arrive.

Sporting News:

Girls from Years 4, 5 & 6 took part in the Wealden Area Girls' Football Semi-Final at Uckfield College on the 26th November. The team showed great resilience and came third overall. This is only the second time that a girls' football team from Maynards Green has gotten through to the semi-finals. Well done to you all!

Miss Lacey

Class Teacher - PE Lead

Year 6

As Term 2 draws to an end, we have been as busy as ever in Year 6!

The sports captains ran a PE session to wrap up our football learning this term and focus on the skills that we have developed.

We have been practising hard for our Christmas performance on Tuesday 16th December. The children have learned their lines quickly and are trying hard with their singing and actions. It was wonderful to see so many of them trying out for solos or duets!

Earlier on in the term, we had a practise at a SATs reading paper. Many of the children worked in the hall and realised it wasn't as bad as they expected it to be.

Finally, this week, Mrs Clark and I took 15 of the children to Cherry Tree Court to sing to the residents there. It was such a wonderful experience for all involved. The children represented the school so nicely: they sang beautifully and were extremely respectful to the residents. After singing, they chatted to many of the residents and gave them the Christmas cards that all of our Year 5 children had made. It definitely got us feeling very festive!

SCIENCE NEWS

This term across there school there has been lots of exciting science learning taking place. Year 1 and Year 2 have been focussing on the properties of everyday materials while in Year 3 we have been looking at eating healthily and comparing the skeletal system of different animals.

Year 4 has been focussing their learning on changes that take place between solids, liquids and gases and Year 5 have been exploring space and learning about how the solar system moves.

Finally in Year 6 we have been exploring light and how without it we would not be able to see. We made periscopes to The term will be rounded off with a visit from Kim Twinn who will explore light further with the children.

Things to watch out for in the night sky this December

Geminid, Ursid and Quadrantid meteor showers

The Geminid meteor shower is active from 4 to 20 December and is one of the last major showers of 2025. It peaks on 14 December when the Moon is waning crescent. This should help viewing conditions as there will be less light pollution at a time when the Geminids have been known to produce over 120 meteors per hour.

The spacecraft should be visible above the UK for approximately four minutes at 05:56 GMT on 25 December. (Some of us will no doubt be awake then!)

Although it will be dark, the International Space Station will be high enough to reflect the sunlight, helping it to be seen.

It will be the third brightest object in the sky after the Moon and Venus and appear as a single, fast-moving bright star, easily spotted with the naked eye.

More information about these events and more can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cn0kg15nlppo

It's always lovely to hear how the children are inspired to develop their science at home. Please feel free to email me.

nalexander@maynardsgreen.org

Many thanks,

Mrs A

Science Lead

🌟Headteacher Awards🌟

Dormice

Zac - amazing 1 more 1 less knowledge

Mylavanna - for her super phonics skills

Dormice class - for an amazing Nativity performance.

Squirrel

All of squirrels - for an excellent dress rehearsal

Harper - excellent participation in reading groups

Bailey - for amazing reasoning in maths lessons

Hedgehog

All of Year 2 for a fabulous Christmas performance.

Ben Bourne - using expanded noun phrases in his writing

Rabbit

Dennis - for consistently accessing Doodle Maths at home

All of Year 3 - a fantastic Christmas performance

Foxes

Emilia - for learning and applying maths vocabulary for multiplication and division.

Elin - for excellent team work in our class hockey tournament

Badger

Delilah - for always giving her best

Alice - for demonstrating excellent reasoning skills in Maths

Jaxon - for demonstrating excellent reasoning skills in Maths

Deer

Oliver - for consistently applying verbal reasoning skills and making improvements in his reading

🌟Citizenship Awards🌟

Dormice

Taylor - For showing our school values and always showing respect

Lily T - for showing courage during our Nativity

Squirrel

Bailey - excellent resilience with threading a needle

Ottilie - for being an very brave and learning additional lines for the Nativity.

Hedgehog

Elsie W - showing resilience and determination in the mornings

Robyn - following all of the school values, all of the time

Rabbit

Charlie - for showing a greater responsibility for his own learning

Hugo - for being a great role model in the school

Austin - for consistently showing respect towards everyone in the school community

Foxes

Patrick - for growing in courage, joining in more readily in class discussions.

Artie - for his resilience in learning his times table facts.

Pandora - for reading more at home and logging her home reading on Boom Reader.

Badgers

Belle - for being a kind and thoughtful member of Year 5

Edward - for demonstrating excellent resilience in sport

Theia - for consistently demonstrating all our school values

Deer

Noah - for embodying our school values and just generally being a pleasure to have in the classroom and around school

Samuel - for being so kind and helpful around the school with his peers and the younger children

Hattie, Evie, Noah, Oliver, Alice, Cooper, Kendra, Rosie, Lottie, Julietta, Pippa C, Pippa R, Josie, Ruby and Emma - for beautiful singing in the community and representing our school well at the care home

After school Clubs

Look out for the email next week about the after school clubs. This will give you all information about bookings for term 3. Remember that our clubs are allocated on a first come first served basis! Thank you - The School Office 💻