Gazette 05/06/2026

Year to date 94.5%

We expect pupils to be in school everyday.

We will not authorise term time absence except in exceptional circumstances and where appropriate, Essex County Council will issue fines.

Classes:

This week, the class with the highest attendance was 1P with 100%.  Well done!  The attendance reward will be coming your way.

News from EYFS

We have had an adventurous week in Reception!  This week included our very first school trip, and we had an amazing time at Barleylands.

The children have fully embraced our new topic, “On the Farm.”  During our visit to Barleylands, they had the opportunity to become farmers for the day.  We fed sheep and cows, saw a pig and her piglets, goats and their kids, and geese with their goslings.  In true farmer style, we experienced all types of weather!  We also had the chance to touch and smell some of the herbs and vegetables grown on the farm.

The children explored the museum and learned how farmers worked with horses before tractors were invented.  We then enjoyed a tractor ride around the farm, giving us a closer look at the countryside and farm life.

As part of our topic work, we have been learning the story of The Little Red Hen.  At Barleylands, we discovered how wheat is turned into flour and even made our own bread.  It was a fun-packed day that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

In Maths, we have continued exploring grouping and sharing, making doubles, and identifying odd and even numbers.  The children used Numicon to create double butterflies, matched numerals to block towers, and investigated whether numbers were odd or even.

To round off an exciting week, we put on our dancing shoes and thoroughly enjoyed the Friends of Glebe disco.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate such a busy and enjoyable week of learning.

News from the Resource Base

RBR: This week we have been learning how to convert units of measure.  We began by exploring the different units of measurement and discussing how to convert from smaller units to larger units, and vice versa.  The children then applied this knowledge to a range of multi-step word problems.  This has been a challenging area of Maths, but they have worked incredibly hard and shown great perseverance as they developed their understanding.

In English, we have continued our mission to help Wallace replace his stolen invention ideas.  The children have designed their own inventions that they believe would be useful to the public.  They first created detailed drawings of their inventions before producing blueprints, focusing on the individual components and explaining how each part works.  By designing and annotating their inventions, the children are building the foundations for effective explanation writing, thinking carefully about how each component functions and how this can be communicated to the reader.

RBH: In English this week we have started our topic on narratives with an under the sea theme.  We will be using the book Flotsam, this half term.  This week we have focused on using conjunctions and expanded noun phrases.  As part of our learning, the children have created some descriptive phrases and sentences to describe illustrations of Sea Creatures from ‘Flotsam’.  Well done everyone!

In Maths, we started the week looking at the four operations and then we have continued our learning on fractions.  The children have been looking at thirds as well as equivalence between one half and two quarters.  We have become more confident in  understanding the vocabulary ‘denominator’ and ‘numerator’.  Can you explain what a denominator and numerator is, to your grown ups at home?

I am also very proud to say that all of the children in RBH have recently gone up in their rhino reader levels books, where they apply their phonic knowledge learnt in their phonics lessons.  Thank you parents, for your on going support in this with regular reading at home.

RBN: A week of new skills being learnt!  We have introduced free verse poetry.  Children have taken great pleasure in learning the ‘Storm at Sea’ poem.  The expression in their voices and signing has been pleasing to see and to hear.  They have identified key features of the poem and have attempted to describe objects using alliteration, similes and personification.  The children particularly found the personification of a fire licking walls both amusing and disgusting at the same time!  Their skills were put to the test when describing a rain forest.  We had some delightful descriptions:

The gorgeous, green leaves glimmered like emeralds.

The trees nodded in the wind.

There will be more of this to come next week as we plan our own free verse.

Maths brought the challenge of finding a fraction of an amount and then reversing the skill to finding the original amount when you have been told what part of the whole number is.  The children have found this challenging but when using bar models and reading the maths sentence as you would a sentence in English, their understanding developed. 

A great week!  Well done RBN!

Influential Figure – Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu was an inspiring leader who worked for peace, fairness, and equality in South Africa.  He spoke out against injustice and encouraged people to treat one another with kindness and respect.  Desmond Tutu believed in forgiveness, understanding, and working together to build a better future.  His life helps children learn the importance of standing up for what is right, valuing diversity, and caring for others in their community.

Music Moment

Our music moment this week was Lean on Me by Bill Withers.

Fortnightly Focus – Norms

During the first fortnight, our focus is on strengthening a calm, respectful and inclusive school culture where every child feels safe, valued and ready to learn.  Staff will consistently reinforce clear routines, positive relationships and high expectations in every classroom and around school.  Pupils will focus on kindness, attendance, behaviour for learning and taking pride in their school community.  Parents can support by encouraging punctuality, positive attitudes and strong communication between home and school.  This work aligns closely with key inspection priorities around behaviour and attitudes, attendance, safeguarding, inclusion and personal development, ensuring that all pupils experience a culture where they can thrive academically and socially.