Primary School Department – Newsletter – May 2026

Welcome to our latest newsletter where you can find out some of what our children have been doing in class. From outdoor art work to bread making, our children have enjoyed a whole range of exciting and interactive teaching and learning activities.

These engaging activities have been planned to further enhance our already creative and broad curriculum.

Making learning enjoyable, and even fun, is the best way that the children will achieve their very best – which is what we are all committed to.

In this newsletter you can also find out about a variety of special events which we have planned as the end of the school year draws near.

Pre-Nursery

In pre nursery, the children have been focusing on Spring flowers. The class have really enjoyed using lots of different colours. We have been focusing on learning our colours through songs and play, so being able to choose lots of colours using paints and crayons has helped a lot. We have had a lot of fun looking at different flower pictures, they especially liked the yellow sunflower. Painting is definitely the children’s favourite class activity.

Nursery

The nursery classes have been busy explorers this term, diving deep into the theme of “Understanding the World” through the lens of growth. The children have engaged in a variety of hands-on activities that have brought the magic of nature into the classroom.

Reach for the Sky with Jack

Inspired by the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, the classes have created their own towering beanstalks. This project combined literacy with creativity, as the children identified the letters of their names to decorate the leaves on their individual stalks.

Scientific Inquiry and Comparison

Scientific curiosity was high as the classes explored the beginning stages of life. The children participated in:

Bean Comparisons: Observing and sorting different sizes, shapes, and colours of beans.

Planting Seeds: Each child took part in the process of planting, learning exactly what a seed needs to thrive.

Plant Watch: The classes are currently monitoring the progress of their planted seeds as they begin to sprout.

Anatomy of a Flower: Through tactile play and visual aids, the classes learned to distinguish between the roots, stems, leaves, and petals, even decorating their own sunflowers gaining an understanding of how plants are structured.

It has been a wonderful season of discovery, and the progress made by the children is as visible as the seedlings on the windowsill!

Reception

Reception classes have been exploring traditional tales this month, which we called “A Tale as Old as Time.” Throughout the month, the children learned about dinosaurs, the circus, superheroes, the farm, and the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs.

During Dinosaur Week, the children had great fun pretending to be dinosaurs and listening to dinosaur-themed stories. The highlight was creating dinosaur fossil footprints using salt dough, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Circus Week was full of creativity. The children independently made 3D juggler art using pom-poms, designed colourful clown faces, and—with a little help—constructed 3D circus tents. The most exciting day was when they had their faces painted as clowns and took part in a lively circus-themed dance party.

Superhero Week was action-packed, with children rescuing teddies and designing their own superhero costumes. They especially loved Superhero Day, when they came to school wearing capes and enjoyed role-playing superheroes in the playground.

During Farm Week, the children explored farm life through hands-on activities, playing with farm animals, straw, and mud in the classroom. They learned farm animal sounds and even practiced some farm-themed dance moves. The highlight of the week was their trip to the farm with the Nursery classes.

It has been a wonderful, fun-filled, and fantastic month of learning for our Reception children.

Year One

This term, our Year 1 children have been busy learning how to tell the time! They started with o’clock and half past, and it’s been fantastic to see some children already challenging themselves with quarter past and quarter to.

To make learning fun and practical, the children created their very own moving clocks. They’ve loved using these to show different times, working with a partner to test each other, and even taking turns to be the “teacher” by asking the class to display a time on their clocks!

They have also been exploring simple fractions, focusing on halves and quarters. The children designed their own pizzas, which enabled them to clearly see how a whole can be split into equal parts, helping them make great connections between fractions and telling the time.

It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they practise these important life skills—perhaps they can show you what they have learned at home!

Year Two

The Year Two have recently completed a Science topic all about materials, their properties and how they can be changed. The children visited the Secondary school Science laboratory and observed an experiment which demonstrated a change in state from liquid to gas. This helped to reinforce some of the children’s recent learning and new vocabulary.

In another lesson outside of the classroom the children visited the school playground and park. This was part of an Art project about shape, texture and pattern. The children found different textures around the outdoor environment. They then made rubbings with crayons to produce textured patterns. The children were very proud of their creative and colourful finished pieces of work.

Year Three

The Year 3 children recently brought Science to life through a creative and hands-on project exploring how the human body works. As part of their learning about the skeletal and muscular systems, the children designed and built their very own model hands using simple materials such as card, straws, and string.

The project began with discussions about the structure of the human hand, focusing on how bones, joints, and tendons work together to create movement.

To demonstrate this, each child carefully traced and cut out a hand shape from card. They then attached pieces of straw along each finger to represent the bones. The next step was the most exciting: threading string through the straws. These strings acted as tendons, mimicking the way real tendons pull on bones to create movement.

Once assembled, the pupils tested their models by pulling the strings, watching in amazement as the fingers curled just like a real hand. This simple yet effective design helped them clearly see how different parts of the hand work together.

Year Four

Year 4 Music fun: Exploring Pentatonic Scales! We are thrilled to share with you the musical adventures that the Year 4 children have been experiencing recently in their music lessons. The children have been enthusiastically learning about the pentatonic scale, a delightful five-note scale that has been a favourite in music from all around the world. To bring this musical concept to life, the children had the opportunity to experiment with a variety of instruments. They used glockenspiels, which provided bright and clear notes, perfect for exploring the scale.

Alongside the glockenspiels, the children also played with untuned percussion instruments, such as tambourines and maracas, adding lively rhythms to their creations. Working in small groups, the children channelled their creativity to compose their own musical pieces using the pentatonic scale. It was wonderful to see them collaborating, sharing ideas, and helping each other to create unique and joyful sounds. Many of the children expressed how much they enjoyed working together, and they were very proud of the music they composed. The feedback from the activity has been overwhelmingly positive. The children not only deepened their understanding of the pentatonic scale but also developed important teamwork skills. Their compositions were filled with imaginative sounds and rhythms, and it was a joy to listen to their musical performances.

Year Five

As part of our Design and Technology work on Seasonal Foods, Year 5 had lots of fun whilst learning how to make bread. The children followed a recipe, measured ingredients, and safely made their own bread. Combining their learning with their Science topic on changing materials, they explored how the ingredients change—watching the dough rise as the yeast produced carbon dioxide, creating bubbles and seeing how heat in the oven created another irreversible change by turning it into bread. This project helped them to understand how materials can change in different ways and allowed the children to design, make, and evaluate a product successfully.

It was exciting to learn how ingredients change while creating something tasty to enjoy!

Year Six

This term, Year 6 took part in an exciting and engaging Design and Technology topic all about Global Food. Throughout the project, children explored a wide range of foods from around the world and developed valuable cooking skills that they will carry forward into everyday life.

The topic began with children discovering where different ingredients come from across the globe. They were fascinated to learn how foods grow in different climates and regions, and enjoyed handling and exploring a variety of unfamiliar ingredients. This helped them to build a deeper understanding of how food connects people and cultures worldwide.

The children also learnt about the importance of a healthy and balanced diet. They explored different food groups and discovered that, although meals vary from country to country, they often contain similar nutritional elements. This helped children to make informed choices about what they eat and understand the value of a varied diet.

A key highlight of the unit were the hands-on cooking experiences. The children learnt essential food hygiene and safety skills, including how to handle ingredients safely, maintain clean workspaces and use kitchen equipment responsibly. They practised a range of techniques such as chopping, grating and mixing, building both confidence and independence in the kitchen.

The children particularly enjoyed preparing dishes from around the world, including Mexican cuisine, where they made fresh and flavourful dishes using ingredients such as avocados, tomatoes and tortillas. These experiences allowed children to appreciate different cultures while developing their practical skills.

World Book Day

We will celebrate our very own “World Book Day” on Friday 22nd May. As we have traditionally done for many years, on that day the children can come to school dressed as a character from a book that they know.

If they have the book, even better, they can bring it to school.

On the day we will have a special whole school assembly to celebrate books and reading. The teachers will also plan lots of exciting activities based on specially chosen books in each year group.

We are all looking forward to seeing what characters the

children choose!

Excursions

As well as the educational excursions that the children take part in, to local museums and galleries, in the Summer term the children get to experience a day of fun and friendship. Each year group has arranged whole day excursions to nearby specialist centres.

These range from school farms to outdoor sports pursuits. As well as being fun, the children get to experience things they may never have done before and many of the activities develop the children´s skills in team work, resilience and perseverance.

Graduations

Our Reception and Year Six children are really looking forward to celebrating their graduations. The ceremonies will take place on 5th June for Reception and 9th, 10th & 11th June for Year Six. Our graduation ceremonies are a time to reflect on previous achievements and to look forward to the next stages of the children´s education. Parents will be treated to a ceremony full of song and music, memories and hopes for the future, as well as individual contributions from all of the children.

Year Six Transition Days

Our Year 6 children will be taking part in dedicated transition days to help prepare them for the exciting move to secondary school next term. The children will participate in a wide range of engaging and varied activities designed to introduce them to our Secondary School. This transition period is not only about academic preparation – it also plays a crucial role in fostering independence, confidence, and social development. The transition from primary to secondary school is a significant milestone, and we are confident that this experience will help our children feel more prepared, excited, and motivated for the next stage in their educational journey.

Summer Concert

Our much-anticipated summer concert will take place on Saturday 20th June. This Year´s theme is “Songs from Musicals”. Each class has chosen two songs from well-known musicals to perform as well as a summer poem to recite. We hope that you will able to attend to see our musical stars on stage. It truly is a unique event to mark the end of the school year!

Sports Day

On the 23rd June we will host our annual Summer sports day. Working in teams, the children will take part in a host of sports activities, games and races. The children will be helped and encouraged by some of our older Secondary school pupils, who do a great job in helping to organise the event.

Summer School

We are really pleased to tell you that we are now enrolling for our Summer School, which will run for 1st to 28th July.

It is open to all year groups. It is an ideal opportunity for the children to consolidate and extend their learning, particularly in English. The children also get to take part in lots of fun activities as well including music, sports and drama.

The Summer School runs for the first four weeks of July and you can enrol for all, or just part, of these weeks.

If you are interested, please contact the office as soon as possible.

Primary School Music Room

Welcome to our new Music Room! We have opened a specialist room for the teaching of music in our Primary School. As part of our continual investment in resources for teaching and learning, our new room is equipped with a wide range of instruments such as guitars, keyboards and glockenspiels. Each class will visit the room regularly to take part in practical music lessons.

What makes the room so special is that we have dedicated it in memory of Mrs Ashley Bedding, a teacher who had worked with us since the school opened, but who sadly passed away at the end of last year. Indeed, the centre-piece of the room is a beautiful piano, once owned by Mrs Bedding and kindly gifted to us by her family. As a lover of music, this fitting memorial will ensure that the fond memories we have of Mrs Bedding will stay in our hearts and minds for years to come.