This term Southend diving club, based at Garons, visited Year 2 and 3 to identify potential diving talent. The children were asked to participate in a number of activities involving stretching and balancing. The children participated with great enthusiasm and impressed the coaches and their teachers with their skills. Twenty children have been selected to go through to the next phase of the selection process.
On Friday 29th March, Year 3 had some very special visitors arrive at Porters Grange… Snakes Alive! Snakes Alive a local company which specialises in reptiles and amphibians, brought in a number of unique and fascinating creatures for the children to interact with. Children and adults embraced their fears and held many creatures – including a massive spider. The highlight of the visit was probably when all of the children were given the opportunity to hold a 5 foot long boa constrictor. Although it looked a little scary it was perfectly well behaved. The visit really helped to support the children with their learning about rainforests and the session was followed up with further topic work b
During the Spring term the teachers in Year 3 through to Year 6 were on the lookout for the best spellers in their class. These children then took part in the Porters Grange Spelling Bee competition to find the best speller in each year group. It was a very close competition! Some of the contests even reached a tie break situation with a sudden death shoot out to find the winner! These children then went on to the final of the Portico Spelling Bee, competing against children from Hamstel juniors, Friars and West Leigh. The competition was really close with the overall winners coming from Hamstel and West Leigh. Our children excelled themselves on the day and were a credit to the school.
In Book Week we launched the FRED (Fathers Reading Every Day) programme to a group of nursery and EYFS parents. This involved the parents reading with their children every day for four weeks. They were encouraged to talk to their children about the books they were reading and the library was opened after school on Tuesdays for parents and children to choose books. On Wednesday 27th March we held our celebration event for the end of the four week programme. All participants were awarded a certificate and a book of stories at this event. The feedback from parents/carers was amazing. ‘Fred taught me to be more dedicated to my fatherly responsibilities not only in reading but in all areas of chi
What a fabulous time the children had during our ‘Learn to Ride’ week. All children enjoyed 3 sessions using balance and then pedal bikes with the Southend Learn to Ride instructors. The children amazed us with their commitment and drive to learning a new skill, with the majority completing the week riding a pedal bike without stabilisers. The team were so impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and behaviour that they have asked us to encourage parents to bring their children along to the free ‘Learn to Ride’ family sessions at weekends and during school holidays. These take place at Garons Park. Well done children!
On Thursday 28th March, I took a group of year 2 children to the Infant Music Festival. This year’s theme was ‘People’ and we had great fun singing about a variety of people including our families, friends and even a firefighter and the Music Man. The special song for us was ‘My Mum’, which we accompanied with bells and chime bars. Our songs on stage were ‘We’re Detectives’ and ‘My Teacher’. The children sang out clearly, with expression and enjoyment. They were all stars and I was very proud.
On 15th May Porters Grange celebrated Red Nose Day in style! On the lead up to Red Nose Day with the help of some Year 5 pupils, the rest of the school generously bought hundreds of Red Noses to donate to this fantastic cause. The actual day saw everyone turning up to school in their best red clothes and once again the children had a blast raising a substantial amount of money. Altogether the staff and children of Porters Grange managed to raise an amazing £454.30 – A massive thank you to all of you who helped to achieve this. You are all amazing!
