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

What a great start we have had back to school with so much learning already taking place despite the many coughs and colds that are going around.

It has been wonderful to see so many of you engaging with our Wellbeing Bingo and Key Stage 2 have made a real start with their mental maths homework which has been great to see (there are more details about this below).

I hope you will enjoy looking at what we have been up to and check the diary dates for what is still to come this term.

Have a lovely weekend!

It's great to have everyone settled back into nursery and welcoming our new starters.

The last couple of weeks we have we have been focusing on the stories 'Rumble in the Jungle', 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'The Monkey Puzzle' The children have also selected lots of other animal stories to share and have enjoyed retelling them to Tina the therapy dog.

We have been practising moving like different animals through dance, action and listening games and on our climbing equipment to escape the crocodiles. Going on a bear hunt on the field and walking through sensory trays to explore different textures with our feet. We have been in jungle jail and practiced moving up and over and down and under obstacles and whilst outside we have been practicing pedalling bikes getting our leg muscles strong!

Our introduction to maths in nursery is done in provision, following the White Rose scheme. The children have been recognising more, less and the same and we have been collecting and sorting frogs and fish in the water tray, treasure in the sand and whilst playing shops.

We are now beginning to move on to shape and will be doing this through lots of block and construction play.

We have had lots of messy fun, painting jungles as well as painting our feet, as we walked through the jungle, saving animals from the slimy swap, painting with mud and going on a messy bear hunt sensory walk.

Outside this we have had fun on the bikes, using the cones to weave in and out, some of our older children are beginning to recognise the numbers on the cones and created their own parking spaces.

In the mud kitchen we have had lots of water play, exploring filling and emptying different containers. We have also enjoyed making nests and homes for the different animals, filling small hutches for the toy rabbits to burrow in was one of our favourites.

We have enjoyed a teddy bears picnic with teddy toast which we made by carefully cutting our Bananas and making faces using raisins, we set up camp in the bear's cave to share it with our own favourite teddies from home.

Last week it was 'Big Me' day. The children were invited to come dressed up as the occupation they wish to be when they're older. We had a great day role playing hairdressers, police, doctors, nurses, vets, builders, firefighters and racing car drivers! We love roleplay in nursery and there we see so much language development in this area of play.

This week as part of our learning we are looking at the Chinese New Year.

Don't forget to follow our Little Pearls Nursery Goole Facebook Page or our instagram where you can see more photos and videos of our learning. Here is one of our videos below.

What a busy January we have had in Pearls class! We have started our theme ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.

Over the last few weeks we have read ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and we described the animals that live in the jungle. We also listened to jungle sounds and talked about what it would be like to be there! We have read ‘Monkey Puzzle’ and we have drawn a story map, reviewed the story and matched animal adults to their young. In our provision we have been painting animal skins and furs and discussing how these help the animals to camouflage. In our small world areas we have been making enclosures and zoos for our jungle animals. We have also been playing phonics games, using our sounding and blending skills and playing numeral and amount matching games too.

We have just started our new maths programme and over the last few weeks we have been counting, matching and recognising amounts.

Last week we have been reading ‘Walking through the Jungle’ and we have continued the story and written our own version! We are really pleased with how the children are progressing with their phonics and writing.

In maths this week, we have been focusing on mass and capacity. We have been weighing objects and talking about which object is heavier or lighter. We have been filling different containers comparing which is full, half full or empty.

In our provision we have been splashing in puddles and making water travel in different ways using pipes, containers and trays. We have also been using our large construction materials to build different vehicles using tyres, planks and crates. We are encouraging imaginative play using open ended resources.

This week we have been focusing on Chinese New Year, we have read ‘The Great Race (The Story of the Chinese Zodiac)’ and ‘We love Chinese New Year’. We have tasted different Chinese foods, playing counting games that involve racing (as the animals did in the story of the Chinese zodiac) and we have been writing sentences about Chinese New Year. In our provision we have been making Chinese lanterns, using chop sticks to pick up objects and talked about Chinese artefacts and pictures in our talking tub.

In maths lessons, we have been focusing on numbers 6, 7 and 8 and we have been representing these numbers in different ways and with different objects.

Next week we return to our Jungle theme and we will be reading Handa’s Surprise.

Rubies have had a super start to the year and have come back after Christmas working really hard.

We have started our topic of ‘Voyages of Discovery’. We are learning about famous explorers through history. We worked together to find out all about what an explorer is and how exciting it would be to be one.

Over the last few weeks we have studied Ernest Shackleton and learnt about his famous journey to the South Pole. Children discussed how amazing his journey must have been and what challenges he faced as an explorer. They created a timeline to order the important events in his life. We are looking forward to learning about other famous explorer and the journeys they took, including Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong.

Within our topic of Voyages children have enjoyed creating different methods of transport, practicing their fine motor skills and developing their cutting skills. We have used shapes to create different boats and ships just like what Ernest Shackleton travelled on to complete his journey to the South Pole.

In RE, the children have learnt about Christian beliefs and artefacts that Christians use to express their faith. This week we have started to look at the Buddhist faith and the rules in which they follow in life. Children created their own images to represent their important rules.

In science we are exploring materials and their properties. We have investigated different materials and have discussed what we use different materials for in school and around the home. Children enjoyed grouping different materials together and going on a hunt around school to locate different materials.

Mrs. Beadle took the children on the field to create Chinese snakes. They worked in groups using the environment around them to create their wonderful creations.

In English we have enjoyed sharing the book, Ocean meets sky. The children shared so much enthusiasm when reading the book together. We spent time looking at each page at all the wonderful images, the children were very keen to share their ideas about each page and talk about what they could see. We have written sentences to describe the characters of Grandfather and Finn, using capital letters, adjectives and noun phrases. Over the next two weeks we will be gathering more ideas from the story and writing a recount, writing in role as one of the characters.

Thank you for all you support helping your children to practice their spellings each week. We are now sending home the purple spelling books each week. Each week we will stick in the new spellings to be learnt for that week. The children will also complete their spelling test in the back of their books so you will be able to see how they have done. Children will receive extra dojos if they complete sentences using their spellings. This will help them to learn their spellings.

It’s been an exciting and busy start to the term in Diamonds Class, packed full of engaging lessons, creative discussions, and lots of learning!

In Maths, we’ve been sharpening our measurement skills as we dive into the world of length and perimeter. The children have been investigating how to measure accurately, calculating the perimeters of shapes, and applying their knowledge to solve real-world problems. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they measure, compare, and calculate with increasing accuracy.

Our topic of Violent Earth has truly ignited the children’s curiosity. We’ve been learning all about volcanoes—how they form, erupt, and shape the landscape. The class was particularly fascinated by the process of magma rising to the surface and how volcanic eruptions impact people and the environment. We’ve also looked at famous volcanoes around the world, with many children eager to share their newfound knowledge.

In science, we’ve been exploring the incredible human body. From learning about vital organs and their functions to understanding how our muscles and skeletons work together, the children have been amazed at just how complex and fascinating our bodies are. There’s been lots of hands-on learning, and we’ve enjoyed some great discussions about how to keep our bodies healthy.

Our class text this term has been the magical story of ‘The House with Chicken Legs’ by Sophie Anderson. This beautifully written book has captivated the children’s imaginations and sparked some thoughtful discussions about identity, belonging, and courage. The children have written some excellent pieces, from character analyses to creative writing inspired by the story’s themes and imagery.

In RE, we’ve been learning about Leaders of Faith, exploring the lives and teachings of inspiring individuals who have shaped religious traditions around the world. The children have been reflecting on the qualities of good leaders and thinking about how they can demonstrate similar values in their own lives.

January has been busy and full of excitement in the Sapphires so far!

Some of the highlights have been our STEM morning where the children worked with mini turbines, FUTURE ME DAY where all the children spent the day focusing on careers-based learning and our weekly visits from the Therapy Dogs – Tina and Trevor.

In reading, the children are currently reading Journey to Joburg. They have found out all about Apartheid and the laws in place in South Africa during the time. Next term, we will start Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo and have got a cinema visit to look forward to in March. We are looking forward to that!

In writing, the Sapphires have studied the abridged version of Oliver Twist, continuing our study of Charles Dickens. So far, the children have written a wonderful encounter between Artful Dodger and Oliver focusing on dialogue, conjunctions and complex sentences. The Sapphires are currently planning newspaper reports on the murder of Nancy by Bill Sykes. The skills they have studied were: subjunctive form, formal language and passive voice.

In maths, the Sapphires have been working extremely hard on decimals and percentages. This week, the children have started to look at algebra – substitution and formulae. It is wonderful to see the progress the children are making 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 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 the slavery timeline, created double page spreads on the conditions of slavery, mapped out the trade triangle and discussed the fors and againsts of slavery including considering what the key influences were from the abolitionist movement.

The Sapphires enjoyed discussing identity and it was wonderful to see all the photographs and memories that the children brought in. In Science, the children have started to learn about forces, they have completed investigations on gravity and friction involving jelly cubes and oil! 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.

Year 5 have started weekly swimming this week and are really enjoying this. Next week we have some activities planned as part of Mental Health Week. Plus in the final week before half term, we have some exciting activities planned for our Reading Reward.

The Sapphires team (Mrs. Dean, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Wilde) would like to wish you all a lovely weekend. Remember to practise spellings, times tables and to keep uploading reads to Seesaw. We want everyone to be part of the reading reward in the last week.

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.

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.

If you haven't already booked your appointment for Parent's Evening please email Miss Lamming and she can arrange this for you. Phone calls are available if you would prefer this rather than a physical appointment. See your child's available times in the letter below.

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.

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 this half-term:

Bronze - 15

Silver - 20

Gold - 30

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.

Below are our term dates up until July 2026.