Summer 1 Week 5

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What a wonderful week we’ve had in Reception as we completed our  topic on Transport! This week, we focused on London — its landmarks, ways of getting around the city, and all the exciting things you might see if you visited.

The children absolutely loved exploring our capital city! We listened to the story Miles in London, which took us on a journey through the bustling streets and iconic sights. The children were fascinated by the different ways people travel around London — from the underground trains to red double-decker buses!

We then turned into little tour guides, labelling famous London landmarks such as:

  • Big Ben

  • The London Eye

  • Tower Bridge

  • Buckingham Palace

Using their creative skills, the children built a giant Big Ben outdoors using bricks and created other amazing landmarks using junk modelling materials. Their attention to detail and teamwork were incredible! Each child wrote a postcard describing what they saw and enjoyed on their “visit”.

On Friday, we celebrated the end of our topic with a very special treat — jam sandwiches! The children had a go at making their own jam sandwiches. Beforehand, they sequenced the instructions and discussed what we needed to do first, next and last. Not only was this delicious fun, but it was also a fantastic way to build on their language and understanding of instructions.

This week in Phonics, we’ve been revising Phase 3 phonemes and tricky words that we’ve learned throughout the year. The children have been working hard to recognise these sounds in words, blend them for reading, and use them in their writing. We’ve sent home a list of the specific sounds and tricky words your child needs to practise. Please take a few minutes each day to go through these together. Try to focus on both reading and spelling the words.

       

In Maths this week, we continued learning about subtraction. The children have been using practical resources like counters and cubes, as well as drawing their own pictures to help them solve simple take-away problems. It’s been brilliant to see them becoming more confident with numbers and explaining their thinking.

In our Religion lessons, we read a story about Jesus’ disciples and how they shared the Good News about Him with others. We then thought about what we know about Jesus and what we would tell someone who had never heard of Him before. It was lovely to hear the children remembering stories from earlier in the year — they talked about Jesus’ kindness, His miracles, and the importance of love. I was so proud of their thoughtful responses!

Wishing you all a restful half term!

Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team.

Year 1 Week Beginning 19.5.25

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Year 1 have been using photographs as inspiration for independent story writing in English this week and have absolutely loved it! It’s wonderful to see them so excited about writing and creating such fantastic stories!

In Maths, the class have continued their learning on multiplication and division and have been learning how to make arrays. This is a very tricky concept but vital in their understanding of both multiplication and division. They have had lots of opportunities to work practically with apparatus to consolidate their understanding, and were able to record using sentences such as:

E.g.                              

In RE, Year 1 have continued to learn about Pentecost and how the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and went out to spread the good news. They heard that God has called those who are baptised to carry on Jesus’ mission, to take care of the world and to love our neighbour, and that the Church teaches us that we have a duty to show love and kindness to everyone in our world. The children thought about how we regularly learn about these important messages in our Catholic Social Teaching lessons and how they link with their own everyday lives.

This afternoon, Year 1 had a very special lesson reminding them about the importance of road safety. They then designed posters to display around the school.

The phonics screening is fast approaching (week beginning 9.6.25). The children have been working very hard revising all sounds taught. They have come home with some optional phonics home learning to keep practicing over the half term break. The following link allows you to look at past screening booklets to give you an idea of what the children will be doing. The test will be delivered in such a way that they won’t even realise that they are be tested!

National curriculum assessments: past test materials – GOV.UK

In case you missed it previously, this is a fun website that we use in class every day to apply and practice phonemes. We focus on Phase 3, Phase 4 and Phase 5. Although it requires a small subscription, some games are free, such as Buried Treasure, Obb and Bob and Dragon’s Den. PhonicsPlay – Phase 5 Resources

Wishing you all a well deserved half term break.

Have fun,

Ms Pemberton and the Year 1 team

Year 5 – 23/05/25

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This week in Year 5:

In Science, the children carried out dissolving investigations in groups. Some explored whether water temperature affects how substances dissolve, others looked at the impact of the number of stirs, and one group investigated how the water-to-sugar ratio influences dissolving.

In PE, Mr Moretti led a cricket session, helping children build on their skills through games. Today, half the class took part in the Oakmere Mini Marathon—a brilliant effort by all—while the rest joined in with PE games back at school.

In RE, we explored how the fruits of the Holy Spirit can help us to be true disciples, using Mary as a role model for living a life of faith and service.

In Art, the children created visual map self-portraits—imaginative pieces that express their identities through a combination of words, symbols and drawings. Inspired by the idea that maps can tell personal stories, they used creative typography to reflect their thoughts, feelings and individual journeys.

We were also led beautifully in prayer during our Celebration of the Word by two groups—thank you to Isabella B, Herbie, Leo B, Dino, Jayden and Rose for your thoughtful leadership.

The children have now been set up with Literacy Gold accounts—an online platform that supports spelling and reading through personalised activities. This will be the focus for English home learning over the half term. The more they engage with it, the greater the benefit to their reading and writing skills.

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable half term break!

Home learning for half term is:

Maths Please complete the following tasks on Mathletics:

·         Perimeter of polygons

·         Area of compound shapes
Reading Log on to Literacy Gold and use the following programmes:

• Fluency Builder

• Comprehension Superstars

 Log in at: www.LGlogin.co.uk
School Username: popepaul
Pupil Username: first name followed by first 3 letters of surname
Password: popepaul

The more time spent using Literacy Gold, the more it will support reading, spelling and writing development.
Spelling Use the Spelling Tutor on Literacy Gold.

Friday, 23rd May 2025

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During the last week of the first Summer term, the children in Year 2 consolidated their understanding of the key events behind the Great Fire of London and added some learning to their wonderfully colourful display.

In RE, the class looked at one of St Paul’s letters explaining the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and devised scenarios to best capture some of the powers, such as love, joy, faithfulness, gentleness or self control.

In PE, the class continued their learning of playground games with Mr Moretti and attended their weekly swimming session on Wednesday.

In English, we looked at DADWAVERS; a structure which will enable the children to construct more effective paragraphs following the pattern of description, action and dialogue. We further practised using speech marks and completed SPaG questions as well as some Reading Comprehension activities.

In Maths, we completed 2 practice papers this week and went over strategies before revising our fraction learning so far.

In Art, the class started their new unit of expressive painting by looking at some contemporary artists and their technique before learning about primary/ secondary   and warm/cold colours.

I hope you all have a lovely half term and I am looking forward to welcoming the children back for our last half term in Year 2.

Best wishes,

Ms Varga

Key Dates:

Friday, 20th June 2025- Blessed Sacrament Procession

Thursday, 10th July 2025- Transition Day/ Classroom Learning Celebration afternoon

Monday, 14th July 2025- Class trip to Knebworth Gardens

Tuesday, 15th July 2025- Sports Day

 

 

Year 3 Week 5 Friday 23rd May

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Maths

The children have continued their learning on Fractions. This week they focused on adding and subtracting two fractions together.

English

We investigated Flotsam and used what we found to write descriptive sentences .

DT

In DT this week, the children made their very own sandwiches. After careful planning and discussion ranging from where we source our products from, to who we are making our product for, the children independently produced their sandwich with a choice of fillings. They developed their technical knowledge and understanding using a range of skills and equipment.

PE

In PE, the children continued their tennis lesson with Mr Mills. This week they warmed up using cones and a ball, the aim of the game was to try and catch the ball with the cone! Working with a partner, they then moved on to practice their underarm throwing skills.

Thursday’s cricket lesson was much cooler than the last!

P.E. days are Monday and Thursdays for the summer term

 

We wish you a peaceful weekend and look forward to next week,

Mrs Poyiadzis and Miss Lambie

Mon, Tu & Wed        Th & Fr

 

 

Summer 1 Week 6

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In RE this week, we explored how we can embody the role of apostles today, focusing on key messages from the Apostles’ Creed.

Our English lessons provided an opportunity to publish our stories while revising various suffixes to enhance our writing skills.

In Maths, we practised estimation and rounding, applying these essential skills to problem-solving.

During our Science topic on habitats, we discovered the diversity of habitats around us.

Additionally, in Computing we learned about the excitement of editing photos and pictures, while also discussing the ethical implications of asking for permission before doing so.

This morning, the children enjoyed either practising for Sports Day or running the mini marathon. Everyone worked very hard. Congratulations to Joseph S, who came 3rd in the Year 4 race.

Have a lovely half term

Miss Pringle

Friday 16th May, 2025

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It has definitely been another busy week!  The children worked incredibly hard and have done a fantastic job with their SATs. They’ve shown great determination and focus – we are really proud of their efforts.

Now, we’re gearing up for our exciting Year 6 residential trip to PGL! The children are full of enthusiasm, and can’t wait for this adventure to Bawdsey Manor. It will be a wonderful opportunity for them to bond even more, learn new skills, and make memories.

When SATs was over, the children celebrated with a fun class celebration choosing to go outside and play with their friends, which was a lovely way to unwind after the hard work and have an ice-lolly. Today, when the children spent time with their reading partners, they were treated to another ice-lolly from the Reception Team!

 

Finally, we’re excited to share that we’ve begun preparations for our Year 6 production which is: ”I’m an 11 year old, get me out of here!  More details will follow, but the children are already buzzing with excitement about it. We talked about it, found out about the characters, did some acting alongside the script and listened to the songs.

Have a lovely weekend.

See you on Monday with luggage in tow!

Mrs McNamara and Mrs Lines

Home Learning:

There has been none set…the children need to relax and prepare for their special trip next week!

Year 1 Week Beginning 16.5.25

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This week in English, the children have learning how how to change verbs into the past tense by adding ‘was’ before the word and ‘ing’ to the end. For example, cry becomes ……was crying, dance becomes ….was dancing. The class have also been learning how to use alliteration and adjectives to make their description more exciting and interesting!

In Maths, Year 1 have been learning how to count and sort into groups of 2s, 5s and 10s. They have also been learning how to recognise and add equal groups, as part of their current Maths focus on multiplication and division.

In RE, the class have been hearing about the Ascension and exploring how this special feast day has been represented in art and music. They have also been learning about how Catholics celebrate special days like the Ascension of Jesus, and that they are called holydays.

In Geography this week, the children displayed brilliant teamwork when they were set the challenge of classifying rockpool habitats together!

In Phonics today, Year 1 were practicing their split digraph knowledge when word reading; whenever they noticed the letter ‘e’ at the end of the word, they had to sound the ‘e’ alarm. This meant that they had to take extra special care to check to see if the word they were reading was a split digraph or not! These sounds can sometimes be a bit tricky to spot in a word, but the children found this way very helpful!

In PE today, the children had lots of fun as they continued to develop their hitting and receiving skills in tennis.

Spelling Shed this week- Words with the digraphs ‘ai’ and ‘oi’.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Ms Pemberton and the Year 1 team

Summer 1 Week 4

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Our theme this week was trains, and we loved reading the story Oi! Get Off My Train by John Burningham. The story led us into some thoughtful discussions about endangered animals and how we can help to protect them. The children were so curious and caring — they thought of lovely ideas like planting more trees, keeping the oceans clean, and being kind to animals. The children have been busy creating their own trains by cutting out shapes and sticking them together. They have also been using paint to print their train designs and have been painting a wonderful world for their trains to travel through. It has been a fantastic way to explore shapes, colours, and creativity!

 

This week, we have been learning all about taking away! The children explored subtraction using a variety of hands-on resources, from cubes and counters to toy trains. We used stories and real-life contexts to help us understand how to “take away” and see what is left. I has been wonderful to see the children using mathematical language and building their confidence with numbers.

In RE, we learned about the Holy Spirit and how it can be like a special friend that helps and guides us. The children expressed their thoughts beautifully through art, drawing what they think the Holy Spirit might look like. From doves and flames to gentle winds and glowing lights, each drawing was unique and full of imagination.

This week, the children’s reading partners have been taking their SATs tests. Each day the children have been praying for them. On Friday, we had ice lollies and played with them.

Thank you for sending in photographs of your child visiting London or travelling on public transport. If you did not send one in, please send it in next week.

Please practise all of the sounds in the children’s phonics books and practise the tricky words.

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Mrs Carey and The Early Years Team

Year 3 Week 3 Friday 16th May

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RE
The children reflected on the Concluding Rites in Mass this week. They thought hard about the message that the Priest is trying to give ‘go forth, the mass has ended’ and came up with ideas how they can spread the word of God through their actions.

Maths
The children did their money and Fractions A end of unit assessments this week and will then start their time and Fractions B units after half term.

English
After working hard on their poems last week, this week the children performed their kennings to the class! They had to use intonation, tone, volume and action. Well done Year 3.


The children returned to their ‘Flotsam’ unit this week and used descriptive language to write matching sentences for the book as it is a book without words!

 

PE
In PE, the children continued their tennis lesson with Mr Mills. This week they warmed up using cones and a ball, the aim of the game was to try and catch the ball with the cone! Working with a partner, they then moved on to practice their underarm throwing skills.


Thursday’s cricket lesson was much cooler than the last!

P.E. days are Monday and Thursday for the summer term

We wish you a peaceful weekend and look forward to next week,
Mrs Poyiadzis and Miss Lambie
Mon, Tu & Wed Th & Fr

Homelearning:
Spellings: Spellingshed
Maths: Mathletics and TT Rockstars.

Congratulations to those children who made their First Holy Communion last weekend!

Alessio, Ella, Rocco, Cian, Camden, Abigail Hope, Josie, Noah C, Gabriel, Brooke and Ruben. 

Good luck to those who will be receiving the Holy Eucharist for the first time on Saturday.

Daniella, Lorena, Noah P and Aurora .

We will be thinking of you and your families on your special day.

A special thank you to Mrs McNamara who has taught the children the recorder this term, giving up her own planning time to do so.

They children have enjoyed the lessons and have been so excited to share their new talents with you.

We hope you enjoyed our concert.