Swinefleet Primary School

Headteacher: Laura Bishell-Wells

Email: swinefleet.primary@eastriding.gov.uk
Website: www.swinefleetprimaryschool.co.uk
Location: Swinefleet Primary School, Low Street, Swinefleet, Goole, UK
Phone: 01405 704386
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwinefleetPrimary

Instagram: Swinefleet Primary (@swinefleet_pr) • Instagram photos and videos

Happy Valentine's Day! It has sadly not been the end to the half-term that we wanted but hopefully some have you have managed to avoid the dreaded Norovirus. For those unwell we do hope it passes quickly and you can enjoy the full half-term break.

Well it may have been a short half-term but we still managed to pack lots in and have so much coming up after our break. I hope that you will enjoy reading what we have been learning and looking at some of the fun we have had.

Parents evening was really successful with nearly every parent meeting their child's teacher either in person or via phone call. If you were unable to attend and haven't yet had a phone call please pop us an email and we can arrange this for you.

Within this newsletter you will find the usual diary dates, dinner menu, homework information and reminders. We have also included information on eating out deals for children over half-term and some events that are happening at various locations to keep you all entertained. If you hear of any great events, days out offers or food offers then please feel free to add them to our Facebook post for other parents to see. For those of you entitled to Free School Meals vouchers will arrive via email over the half-term.

Have a lovely half-term and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 24th February.

This fortnight in Little Pearls, we have read Handa's Surprise and The tiger who came to Tea as our focus books.

We have been practicing our independence skills, including using knives and forks, washing our own hands, and using different tools for a purpose.

We have added many different tools into the areas of provision, including juicers, mashers and other kitchen utensils into our mud kitchen, sand tray, playdough area and water tray. We explored different textures and the use of tools when creating jungle animals with the clay - the children enjoyed exploring this new texture!

The children explored squeezing oranges to make their own orange juice and had a go at tasting some of the fruit from Handa's story.

In maths, we have been exploring patterns and repeats through songs with repeats and stories with a repeated refrain whilst encouraging the children to join in with these.

We have also been making ABA patterns using different coloured blocks, printing with the fruit, and making some special valentines' cards.

This week we were exploring the story -'The Tiger who came for Tea'

In our story, the Tiger eats all the food in Sophie's house. We decided we needed to buy some more food for Sophie so our home corner has been made into a 'Tesco' and the children have been busy filling up their baskets and trolleys, taking it in turns to work on the checkout and beginning to use number names for a reason in their roleplay. This has sparked lots of conversations about the children's own experiences of shopping and their favourite foods.

We have had a go at market making and writing our own shopping lists, with some of the older children beginning to form some recognisable letters, whilst the younger 2-year-olds have been exploring the marks they can make, circles and lines using large motor skills.

We have also written our own invitations to invite the Big Pearls to our Tiger Tea party, where we had a go at making our own jam sandwiches using butter knives. We enjoyed our tea party with a story, music and dancing and even a real tiger came to visit us!

It was great to chat to everyone during parents evening and we can't wait for next half term!!

Don't forget to follow our Little Pearls Nursery in Goole Facebook Page or our Instagram where you can see more photos and videos of our learning.

Over the last fortnight we have been working hard in Pearls class. We have come to the end of our theme for this half term; ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.

Last week we read ‘Handa’s Surprise’ and used our senses to explore exotic fruit. The children drew a story map and then continued writing the story. The children have been working very hard, applying their phonics skills in their writing. This week we have been on a jungle adventure; we have planned what we need to take, and we have drawn maps to plan out our adventure! In our provision, we made African necklaces at our creative table and we acted out the story of ‘Handa’s Surprise’ in our small world area. We have also been playing counting games using a number spinner, we have been encouraging counting on and turn taking.

Over the last two weeks in maths lessons, we have been learning about 6,7 and 8. We have been finding showing 6,7 and 8 in different ways, we have been identifying odd and even numbers and we have started doubling and adding numbers together.

We hope you all enjoy a restful half term break. We will look forward to seeing you for the second half of the spring term, for our new theme 'Weather’.

This week we have open Rubies very own travel agents!!! The children were extremely excited at the idea of running their own travel agents. Each child has had time in the shop this week and have also made their very own passports. The children can book each other’s holidays, give travel money and also share travel documents. We look forward to using the shop much more after half term.

In English we have been using capital letters, full stops and conjunctions to write sentences to describe 'Ocean meets Sky'. The children have thought hard about how to describe the images from the book. They have connected their ideas together using conjunctions to extend their sentences. We have really enjoyed sharing this special book this half term and will continue to use this in our reading sessions after half term. We will be writing in character to describe the events in the book.

In History, we have continued to learn more about Christopher Columbus and his journeys to the Americas. We have learnt about all of the things he brought back to Europe. We have explored different fruits and vegetables, such as butternut quash, pineapple, peppers and tomatoes. The children have created some beautiful drawings to represent his findings from the Americas.

In RE, we learnt about the Lords Prayer. We looked at each line within the prayer and discussed what each part meant to Christians. We then drew images to represent different parts of the prayer. These included rainbows, praying hands, God, food and symbols of peace.

Children enjoyed decorating biscuits today to support the FOSPS bake sale. I hope they all enjoyed tasting them too!

READING – The reading reward will now be on the Monday we return from half term.

From next half term to receive a ‘read’ this will need to be an uploaded video of your child reading on seesaw. If you are not sure on how to do this, please ask and we can help you with this.

Wishing you a wonderful half term with all of your families.

Diamonds Class have had a fantastic week of learning, exploring a range of exciting topics across the curriculum!

In Art, we have been learning about the famous Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. We were inspired by his iconic wave paintings and have been experimenting with different techniques to create our own versions. The children have enjoyed using bold lines and shades of blue to capture the movement of the sea.

In Science, we have been investigating the human body and skeleton. We have learned about the different bones in our body and why they are so important. The children had great fun discovering fascinating facts—did you know there are 206 bones in the adult human body?

Our Geography lessons have been all about natural disasters. From erupting volcanoes to powerful earthquakes, the children have been researching how these events occur and their impact on people and the environment. We even created our own mini volcanoes to see how they erupt and the reaction

In Maths, we have been measuring and calculating length and perimeter. The children have been busy using rulers, tape measures, and even their own feet to explore different measurements around the classroom. We have also been solving real-life problems involving perimeter—perhaps they can measure some things at home too!

In English, we have been writing diary entries. We have learned how to express emotions, describe events in detail, and write in the first person. The children have written some fantastic entries, imagining they were visiting the beach from our class novel "The House with Chicken Legs"

Hope you all have a lovely half term and we can’t wait to see what after half term brings us!

February is flying by and we have been very busy in the Sapphires.

Some of the highlights have been our STEM morning where the children worked with hydrogen cars alongside Reedness Primary School. It was lovely to see all the children collaborating together racing their cars. The children spent an afternoon last week focusing on mental health activities as part of mental health week and enjoyed a film afternoon where they got the opportunity to watch Oliver Twist the musical. The Year 5s are really enjoying their weekly swimming lessons whilst the Year 6s are revising for SATs.

In reading, the children have finished Journey to Joburg which has been a very powerful and emotive book. Next term, we will start Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo and have got a cinema visit to look forward to in March to see Kensuke’s Kingdom. The children will have the opportunity to make comparisons between the book and the film. It will also be wonderful for the children to compare this book to War Horse by the same author that we read in September last year.

The Sapphires now have their own notebooks to draft their ideas in writing. We are currently using the film Alma from the literacy shed to inspire us. The children have created wonderful short stories focusing on suspense and tension. Their writing is such a pleasure to read!

In maths, the Sapphires finished algebra and are currently recapping on measurements including conversions. The children are continuing to make lots of progress on Fridays in mental arithmetic tests. Please keep reminding the children to play TTRS at home to improve times table rapid recall. The introduction of the new mental maths homework and a daily maths fluency has also been very successful and the children are working hard each week to complete the next level.

It has been lovely to hear from the children who have taken part in the well-being bingo and how much they are enjoying this.

In history, the Sapphires have studied William Wilberforce and considered whether he was the driving force in the abolitionist movement. It will be wonderful to go on our trip on Thursday 27th February to Wilberforce House to consolidate our historical learning. In computing, the Sapphires have enjoyed their live lesson on ‘Safer Internet Day’ this Tuesday. They created presentations, posters and raps on this.

In Science, the children have designed their own paper aeroplanes to see who can make the most streamlined paper plane. In Art, Mrs. Harrison has taught the children about Freedom Quilts linked to our Slavery and Freedom unit. The children have enjoyed sketching out their parts of the blanket and can’t wait to put it all together on a piece of material.

It was lovely to see parents at the bake sale thank you for your support. There is so much to look forward to next half term – a cinema trip, arete, Easter bingo, Easter Egg hunt, lunch with mums, Wilberforce House trip, reading reward, careers presentation from Hull College, therapy dogs weekly and much more!

The Sapphires team (Mrs. Dean, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Wilde) would like to wish you all a lovely weekend and a happy half term. Remember to practise spellings, times tables and to keep uploading reads to Seesaw. See you back at school on Monday 24th February, please don’t forget swimming kits Year 5s. PE kits need to be in school all week please.

If you haven't already please ensure you login to Arbor and give permission for your child to attend the school trip at the end of February for Rubies and Sapphires.

Please see letter below for further information.

Please ensure that P.E kit is in school all week and is named.

Due to the colder weather; joggers and a jumper are recommended for P.E.

Please remember that we are nut free and therefore nut products are not permitted. Thank you for your support in this.

Please can you ensure that your child has a coat in school as the weather has now turned colder and that they have suitable footwear for the weather. If you are sending your child to school in wellies then please ensure that they have indoor footwear to change into when inside.

Many thanks.

Please ensure that you have logged into Arbor and on the main page and filled in the consent question which appear near the top. Thank you to all who have already done this.

A new permission has been added about allowing us to speak to other agencies and professionals this includes services such as the Educational Psychologist and Speech and Language. If a referral was then needed to one of these services a discussion would occur first before referral.

Please can we ask that your child has outdoor shoes available to them on a Monday or Wednesday as Mrs Beadle often takes out groups to the outdoor allotment area which does get muddy. If you would like to leave these in school please feel free.

If anyone has any wellies that no longer fit they would be happy to donate this would be wonderful. We hope to build up a collection through some fundraising so that all children will have a pair of wellies available to them in school for these sessions.

Please can all nursery bookings for the following week be emailed to the school office no later than each Thursday. Thank you.

Load up your photos to Seesaw/Tapestry and return your dated sheets by 31st March to be in with the chance to win our 'Family Treat Hamper'.

Our mental maths challenges have been launched and are tailored to your child's current stage. As they conquer an objective they can cut off a strip and bring it in to be tested. They do not have to learn every objective on the sheet in one go. When they have mastered an objective they can spin our wheel and see how many raffle ticket entries they win. We will have draws throughout the year with our first one being on Friday 4th April.

Some stages and objectives take longer to conquer than others so your child may feel they are not managing to get as many raffle tickets as others at times. Please encourage them to keep going though as other stages they may well race through as they might have to learn specific facts such as number of days in a month rather than calculations on a later stage.

Children in Reception will receive their first stage after half-term.

We would love you to support your child with this at home as these skills help them tremendously with their maths work and are ones they we will be using continuously throughout their learning.

Regular reading is crucial in supporting children to develop their reading skills. In school we read with/ or to the children daily in every year group.

We love to see your reading and engage with it so it is great if this can be uploaded to Tapestry or Seesaw. Some of the children will film themselves reading and the staff then follow the stories with them. In Sapphires, the children often comment back and forth with staff based on what they are reading and staff are left on a cliffhanger waiting for the next read upload to find out what is happening.

Remember we offer reading clubs at lunchtime and after school and these are equivalent to three reads each.

Reading reward points needed for next half-term:

Bronze - 15

Silver - 20

Gold - 30

Unfortunately we missed the reading reward today due to being closed so this will take place on Monday 24th February when we return.

These show the key learning that your child will be doing as part of their current theme in school. It would be really beneficial if you could support them with this as they learn this within school. Updates on Seesaw and Tapestry will let you know when certain sections of this key learning will be tested. If you have any questions regarding this then please pop and see you child's class teaching team.

Pearls class have a new focus each half-term so look out for their new Knowledge Organisers when we return.

Each button below takes you to your child's class page where you can find this themes Knowledge Organisers and information. These will also be sent out via Tapestry/Seesaw.

Please see the menu below. Children can have a hot dinner on any day and do not need to be hot dinners all week. Dinners do not need to be pre-booked.

Dinners can be paid for via Arbor. Children in Reception, Year One and Year Two are entitled to Universal Free School Meals.

Free School Meals are available to some children dependent on household income. If you think you could be eligible there is more information available via Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) or Mrs Risebury will happily give you further information of how to apply.

Please see the button below. As a school we tried to give dates well in advance and will avoid changing these wherever possible. Please note new dates are in red.

Take a look at the up and coming events

Below are some ideas for days out in Goole and throughout Yorkshire. There is also a list of places offering deals on eating out with your child. If you come across any events or deals for meals out then please add them to our Facebook post for other parents to see.

🦸‍♂️ FREE Royal Armouries, Superheroes Feb Half term action packed week, 15-23 Feb (optional add on £3 shows)

🎬 Animation Workshop, Leeds City Museum, Thurs 20 Feb, 10.30-12:00 (8-11yrs) 1:00-2:30 (12-14yrs) Book your free place now!

🪲 The Bug Brigade, with crafts & behind-the-scenes insect tours, Leeds Discovery Centre, Mon 17 Feb, book your free place today!

🌿 Sabine’s Marvellous Medicine Trail – Nostell Priory, Wakefield | 15 – 23 February

🌳 February Fun at National Trust Properties – Various locations | Throughout Half-Term

🏛️ Springo Spotter Trail & Charcoal Making – Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire | 15 – 23 February

🐑 Meet Baby Animals – Temple Newsam, Leeds | 15 – 23 February

🎨 Crafty Creations – Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham | 15 – 23 February

👶 Lambing at Spilmans Farm – Thirsk | 15 – 16, 20 – 23, 27 February – 2 March

🚂 Fairytale February – Whistlestop Valley, Huddersfield | 15 – 23 February

🐠 Sea-sons at The Deep – Hull | 15 – 23 February

⚔️ JORVIK Viking Festival – York | 12 – 18 February

🎮 Yorkshire Games Festival – National Science and Media Museum, Bradford | Half-Term Week

🕵🏻 Eden Camp Spy Activities - Malton | 17 – 23 February

FREE, indoor half term idea for next week - a visit to Hull Museums and Ferens Art Gallery.
Entry is always free and they have extra children's activities running across the week that you can drop in and join in with at no cost -
💜Make a mini clay pot –17th February, 1-3pm, Hull and East Riding Museum.
💜Mini Masterpieces – Sea explorers art and stories. 18th February, 10am-12pm, Ferens Art Gallery.
💜Horsing Around – Family craft activity. 19th February, 1pm-3pm, Streetlife Museum.
💜Mermaids and Sea Monsters – Family craft activity. 21st February 1-3pm, Ferens Art Gallery.
💜Animal Puppet Fun – Family craft activity. 22nd February 1-3pm, Hands on History Museum.

There are some really fantastic offerings for children and young people coming up at Junction Goole over the next few months. All are being hosted at the Junction, with professional performing arts practitioners or companies.

Here’s some info below for a quick glance, but please see the attached PDF’s for more info.

Junction Goole Performing Arts School

They are launching a brand new Performing Arts School with classes for 5 up to 18 year olds. These are professionally led Saturday morning classes - letting children’s creativity take shape as they develop their skills in acting, singing, voice, musical theatre, and movement – all in a fun, dynamic, and inspiring environment. At the end of each year, they’ll take to our stage for a live showcase in front of an audience. This is especially great for children and young people with an interest in performing arts, who may not have the options to travel as far afield as Doncaster or Hull – but is a fantastic all round offering for anyone who wants to build their confidence, nurture their talents, get audition ready, and learn to shine on the stage.

BSL Signed Play In A Day

The Junction are hosting their first Play In A Day project aimed specifically at Deaf children. Working with professional practitioners with experience working with Deaf and hard of hearing children, as well as BSL interpreter Andy Hesslewood, Deaf children ages 5 – 12 can now have an opportunity they might not have had before – to work together on nurturing, good quality, and fun drama work with other children. This project is aimed at Deaf children specifically, but they can bring along a hearing sibling or friend to join the fun.

Thu 20 Feb, 10am – 4pm. Free!

Breathe | Half a String Productions

This visually stunning production blends jaw-dropping puppetry, intricate sets, and cutting-edge live camera work to tell a story like never before. Set to an unforgettable soundtrack of drum & bass and ethereal folk melodies, Breathe is a sensory explosion that will captivate audiences of all ages.

Mon 17 Feb, 2pm | £7 | Workshops available

Hansel & Gretel | Northern Ballet

Northern Ballet’s magical ballets for children bring much-loved fairy tales to life with bold sets, bright costumes and brilliant live music and dance – the perfect way for you and your child to experience the wonder of ballet together.

Sat 29 Mar, 12pm, 2pm, & 4pm (relaxed) | £9.50 | Workshops Available

Giddy Goat | Music In The Round

Based on the best-selling children’s book by Jamie Rix and Lynne Chapman with original music by Music in the Round’s children’s Composer-in-Residence, Paul Rissmann, this concert features instruments including strings, woodwind, and horn, presented together with storytelling and projected illustrations. Performed by the hugely engaging musicians of Ensemble 360, this concert is a great introduction to live music; full of wit, invention, songs and actions, and plenty of opportunities to join in.

Thu 3 Apr, 1.30pm | £5, One free teacher per 10 paying pupils.

Three Little Vikings | Wrongsemble

Three brave little Viking girls save the day in this bold and funny adventure story for little rebels. From the creator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Little Red and I Can Catch a Monster, Bethan Woollvin. A children’s theatre show all about cooperation, bravery, and getting your voice heard!

Fri 18 Apr, 2pm | £7

Below are our term dates up until July 2026.