Gazette 19/06/2026

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:

RBC: 94.2%	3VB: 88.3%
RS: 94.4%	4A: 91.4%
1D: 97.3%	4L: 91.7%
1P: 98.1%	5R: 95%
2A: 91.4%	6/5P: 89.6%
2N: 89.2%	6CH: 99%
3MH: 98.3%

This week, the class with the highest attendance was 6CH with 99%.  Well done!  The attendance reward will be coming your way.

 

Uniform Expectations for Next Week

As the forecast is looking very hot at the beginning of next week, children will be permitted to wear their PE uniform on Monday 22 June, Tuesday 23 June and Wednesday 24 June.

We will continue to monitor the weather forecast for the latter part of the week and will update parents if any further adjustments are required.

Water Bottles

We would like to remind parents and carers that all children should bring a named water bottle to school each day.  Staying hydrated is essential for children’s health, wellbeing, and concentration, and this is particularly important during periods of hot weather.

Thank you for your support in helping us to keep all children comfortable, hydrated and ready to learn.

News from EYFS

We have had a fun-filled week in Reception!

The children have really enjoyed sharing the story Farmer Duck.  We have been learning the repeating phrases and discussing the sequence of events in the story.  To deepen our understanding, we explored how Farmer Duck might be feeling at different points and talked about emotions and ways that friends can support one another.

To enhance our learning, we created collaged sheep, painted and collaged ducks, and discussed the different sounds that animals on a farm make.

In Maths, we have been exploring positional language.  Using small-world resources and construction equipment, the children have been demonstrating their understanding of words such as under, in front of, next to, below, behind and above.  We have also been learning how to give simple instructions and follow them carefully.  To further develop our understanding, we shared the stories Rosie’s Walk and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, identifying and discussing the positional language used throughout the stories.

News from the Resource Base

RBR: This week, we have moved on from converting metric and imperial units of measure and have begun exploring the links between fractions, decimals, and percentages.  The children have been using their prior knowledge to recognise equivalences and convert between the three forms.

In English, we have proudly handed over our inventions to Wallace and have now begun investigating the Great Diamond Theft.  The children have become detectives, examining clues and gathering evidence to create their own case files.  Their mission is to build a strong case and determine whether Feathers McGraw can be convicted of the crime!

We have also started a new guided reading book, Marvellous Messages by Rose Ayling-Ellis.  The book is taking us on a fascinating journey through the many ways humans communicate, exploring how, why, when, and where we share messages with one another.  It has already sparked some thoughtful discussions and links brilliantly to our learning about communication and inclusion in Deaf Studies.

It has been a week full of investigation, curiosity, and discovery, and the children have embraced every challenge with enthusiasm.

RBN: The children have completed their ‘Hot Task’ of writing their free verse poem independently.  It has been really pleasing to see them using and applying the skills and features learnt alongside ensuring their everyday skills of punctuation, spelling and cursive writing.  We are always proud of the efforts our children make in writing but this genre of writing they have really shown what they are capable of.  Well done RBN!

In Maths, the children have moved from calculating time onto the new topic of shape.  They have been recalling the names of 2D and 3D shapes and describing their properties.  Year 3 have been identifying right angles and Year 4 have been sorting acute, obtuse and right angles.  As always, they have enjoyed using our angle chompers to check their thinking and reasoning.

RBH: This week in Maths, the children have been learning about time.  We are learning about analogue time.  Although many of us use a digital clock these days due to having a variety of devices, analogue time is still very important especially for BSL users as in BSL we use analogue time.  The children have learnt how to tell the time using ‘o’clock, half past, quarter past and half past’.  We have used miniature moveable clocks to help us with this learning and the children have been impressing me with their time telling skills.  We have also started to look at minutes past the hour (in increments of 5 minutes), this is where our skills of counting in fives has been really useful.

In English we have been identifying and using expanded noun phrases, where we use two adjectives to describe a noun e.g. ‘sparkling, blue sea’.  The children have also been learning about fronted adverbials where a phrase at the beginning of a sentence is added for more information and effect e.g. ‘Suddenly’, ‘In the middle of the beach’ and ‘To his surprise’.  We have used the images from our book with no words ‘Flotsam’ as inspiration to complete sentences.

Influential Figure – Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford is an inspiring British footballer who is known not only for his sporting talent but also for helping others in his community.  Alongside his successful football career, he has worked to raise awareness about child hunger and the importance of ensuring that all children have access to food and opportunities to succeed.  Marcus Rashford’s determination, kindness, and commitment to making a positive difference show children how they can use their skills and voice to help others and create positive change.

Music Moment

Our music moment this week was Brave by Sara Bareilles.

Fortnightly Focus – Leadership

Our second fortnightly focus centres on leadership at every level across the school community.  Staff will develop consistent accountability, collaboration and reflective practice to drive improvement in teaching and outcomes.  Pupils will be encouraged to show leadership through pupil voice, responsibility, teamwork and positive role modelling both in and out of lessons.  Parents are invited to strengthen partnership working by engaging with school communication, events and shared expectations.  This focus supports improvement priorities linked to leadership and management, staff development, pupil participation, safeguarding culture and effective school improvement planning.