Swinefleet Primary School
October Round-Up
Contact us
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
Welcome to our October round-up newsletter. It has been a very busy start to the year and we have lots still to look forward to before Christmas. Many have asked about our Christmas trip this year as this is always a great day out but at present we are still working on the details.
I hope that you all have a lovely half-term and below I have included a few deals I have found and information on days out which might be useful. If you ever find any great deals that might help out another parent please feel free to add them to our school Facebook group.
We look forward to seeing you all again on the 2nd November!
Don't forget to check out our Swinefleet Primary School Facebook Group, our Little Pearls Nursery page and our instagram for further photos and insights into our learning.
Learning in Little Pearls
We have had a very exciting last few weeks of our first half term, with two exciting trips, lots of fun during forest school and fun growing confident with our new friends.
Week 5- We enjoyed 'The Huggarsaurus' story where we learnt all about how we can be kind friends, we enjoyed making dinosaurs swaps with green slime, playing hide and seek with our friends and practicing taking turns and sharing. During forest school, we had great fun making a muddy swamp for our dinosaur friends and even had a go in the swamp ourselves.
Week 6- We had our very exciting trip to Eureka, where we learnt all about our senses and our bodies. The children were so well behaved and we were super proud. Our favourite part was the role play areas where we played in the cars, in the bank, kitchen and the shop. In maths, we have been learning to count in a string, learning through a range of songs. During forest school, we enjoyed fishing for fish, whilst singing 1,2,3 4,5 and being frogs, jumping off the logs.
Week 7 - During our final week, we have been learning about growth and decay. We have enjoyed reading 'The Hungry Caterpillar' and this has supported our understanding of different foods including which are healthy for us and which we enjoy as treats. Our story also supported our maths where we counted out the different foods to feed the caterpillar. We have had a super trip, pumpkin picking, where we practiced using the wheel barrows to transport our heavy pumpkins.
This week we have also enjoyed the story, 'Pumpkin Jack' and have carved our own pumpkin and we will watch it over time to observe the decay.
Next half term, we are going to be enjoying some seasonal celebrations, Halloween, Diwali and Bonfire Night as well as recreating important celebrations in our roleplay.
Our Learning
Pearls
🚌 Out and About: Our School Trips & Community Visits
We have been very busy out of the classroom recently, and the children truly shone as ambassadors for Swinefleet Primary School.
· Harvest Festival Church Visit:
We recently visited the local church to celebrate the Harvest Festival. A huge thank you to all the parents and grandparents who were able to come along and support us! The children did super well and showcased their song, 'The Big Blue Tractor', impeccably well. They even sang it completely without a backing track! What a brave and brilliant performance.
· Marvellous Museum Explorers at Eureka!
We had the absolute best time on our trip to Eureka! The National Children's Museum. The children spent a fantastic morning exploring the interactive zones, learning all about the human body and the world around them. They also took part in a brilliant, hands-on senses workshop. We are super proud of everyone—the children demonstrated amazing behaviour and were incredibly responsible throughout the entire day. Well done, Pearls!
· Pumpkin Picking at Scalby Grange
Our autumn adventures continued with a lovely trip to Scalby Grange for pumpkin picking. The children had a wonderful time running around the fields and exploring all the different-sized pumpkins. Once again, their behaviour was absolutely superb, representing our school excellently.
✍️ Phonics & Drawing Club
Our communication and language skills are going from strength to strength through
· Drawing Club: In Drawing Club, we have loved exploring the story Geoffrey Gets the Jitters alongside a creative "A wild walk to school."
· Reception Phonics & Early Reading: Our Reception pupils are working incredibly hard on mastering their Phase 2 sounds . We are now moving past just recognising single letters and are beginning to orally blend sounds together to read short words (like cat and dog). We are also practicing our listening skills to identify both the starting and ending sounds in different words.
· Year 1 Phonics & Sentence Building: Our Year 1 learners are busy widening their reading toolkit by learning a variety of new Phase 5 sounds and alternative spellings. They have been putting these trickier sounds to excellent use in their independent writing, and the children have written some absolutely beautiful, well-structured sentences this month!
🔢 Maths Mastery
We have seen fantastic mathematical thinking from both year groups this month as we explore numbers and build our fluency:
· Reception: The children have been busy investigating the concepts of more and less than across a variety of fun, practical, and hands-on contexts.
· Year 1: Our Year 1s have stepped up to some brilliant challenges this month! They have been exploring larger numbers and learning how to master and navigate number lines. We have spent time comparing numbers using greater than and less than concepts, and the children are now confidently moving onto the fundamentals of addition and subtraction.
🎃 Spooky Celebrations in Continuous Provision
The children have thoroughly enjoyed their classroom provision time this month, which has been full of excitement with a seasonal, spooky theme in the lead-up to Halloween! Our primary focus across these child-initiated areas has been developing fine motor skills to strengthen little hands in preparation for writing—a focus that we will continue into the next half term.
The classroom has been buzzing with fantastic independent learning:
· Phonics Fun: The children have been busy building their own words in our literacy area using colourful letter magnets.
· Maths Magic: In our maths area, the children have been rolling dice to add spooky spiders to their collections, doing a wonderful job practicing their subitising skills (instantly recognising small quantities without counting them one by one).
· Creative Cutting: Our creative station has seen children using their cutting and sticking skills to add spooky items into bubbling cauldrons.
· Spider Balancers: The children have also put their hand-eye coordination to the test by carefully balancing spiders onto lollipop sticks.
🍂 Wishing You a Wonderful Half Term
As we come to the end of a very busy and successful few weeks, we would like to wish all of our families a truly wonderful and restful half term break. The children have worked incredibly hard, and we hope you enjoy making lovely memories together during your time off. If you are celebrating, we hope you have a brilliant, happy, and safe Halloween! Thank you so much for your continued support, partnership, and engagement with our school community this term. We look forward to welcoming all of our pupils back to school, refreshed and ready for another exciting term of learning together.
Rubies
What a fantastic first half term we have had in Rubies! The children have been working incredibly hard across all areas of the curriculum, and it has been lovely to see their confidence, creativity and enthusiasm shine through. Here is a little update on what we have been learning!
Maths
We have finished our place value unit by learning how to compare numbers and objects using the greater than (>), less than (<) and equal to (=) symbols. The children have been developing their understanding of number and using these symbols to explain which numbers are greater or smaller. We are now moving onto addition and subtraction, exploring more of that after half term.
English
We have recently written and edited our own Supertato narratives. It has been wonderful to see the children use their imagination to innovate the original story, creating their own ideas and adventures for the characters. We have been working hard to include interesting adjectives, conjunctions and accurate sentence punctuation.
Phonics
We are continuing to do really well with our phonics sounds! Our next step is to develop our blending skills further, particularly blending words in our heads rather than relying on saying each sound aloud. This will be a key focus for us after half term, helping the children to become more confident and fluent readers.
RE
We have continued exploring our RE topic and have had great fun recreating the Buddhist story of The Monkey King. The children enjoyed acting out the story, sharing ideas and developing their oracy skills. It has been lovely to see them bring the characters and events to life through drama!
Art
We have completed and evaluated our self-portraits, inspired by the artist Pablo Picasso. The children have explored how to make their artwork unique to them, experimenting with pencil techniques and different tones. We have been so proud of their creativity and the individuality of their finished pieces!
PE
The children have now completed their running unit with Kelly from Hull FC. They have worked hard to develop their running technique, learning how to run as fast as possible while maintaining good form. It has been fantastic to see their determination, enthusiasm and progress throughout the unit.
Music
We have finished our call-and-response unit, which the children have thoroughly enjoyed! They had lots of fun imitating different safari animals, listening carefully to sounds and copying them back using their instruments. We are now turning our attention to learning our Nativity songs, ready for our Christmas Nativity performance. We cannot wait for the children to share their singing with you!
History
We have been delving deeper into our Healthy Me history topic by exploring medicine in the past and comparing it with medicine today. The children have been thinking about what has changed and what has stayed the same over time. This week, we are learning about the Crimean War, which will help us build our understanding before exploring the life and work of Florence Nightingale in more depth after half term.
Our Trip to Eureka!
We had a wonderful time visiting Eureka! with the rest of KS1 as part of our Healthy Me topic. The children were a credit to the school, showing fantastic behaviour and enthusiasm throughout the trip. They loved exploring the practical activities linked to the human body and our senses, as well as taking part in the workshop. It was a brilliant opportunity to bring our learning to life, and we hope the children enjoyed sharing their experiences with you at home!
A big well done to all of Rubies for their hard work and enthusiasm! We hope you all have a lovely half-term break and look forward to welcoming everyone back for another exciting few weeks of learning!
Learning how to clean our teeth effectively at Eureka
We enjoyed exploring our senses
A dental check up was not what we expected from our school trip
Role play careers at Eureka
We had fun shopping at Eureka
Using the till was the best part
Diamonds
What an exciting and action-packed October it has been in Class Diamonds! We have been busy exploring new ideas, developing our skills and embracing challenges across the curriculum. Our classroom has been buzzing with curiosity, creativity and enthusiasm, and our Diamonds have certainly been shining brightly! 🌟
🧮 Maths – Making Numbers Make Sense!
Our mathematicians have been developing their understanding of flexible partitioning, discovering how numbers can be broken down and represented in different ways. We have also been putting our place value knowledge to the test by finding 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 more than a given number, learning how each digit changes as numbers grow. Most recently, we have been exploring number lines to 1,000, using our mathematical thinking to estimate, locate and identify numbers accurately. We are so proud of the confidence and determination everyone is showing as we tackle these exciting challenges!
🔬 Science – Magnets, Forces and Fantastic Investigations!
Science has been full of exciting discoveries as we have been learning about magnets and exploring how forces affect the movement of objects. We have investigated different surfaces by measuring how far marbles and toy cars travel across them. Through our practical experiments, we have been comparing distances, making observations and thinking carefully about why objects move differently on different surfaces. Our young scientists have been putting their investigative skills to the test and discovering just how much fun scientific exploration can be!
✍️ English – Becoming Authors!
Our budding authors have been working hard towards creating their very own stories. We have been building on our story maps, exploring characters, deciding where our stories will take place and imagining the exciting action that could happen in the middle. We have been developing our ideas, thinking creatively and carefully planning how to bring our stories to life. We cannot wait to see the wonderful adventures our Diamonds will create!
🎨 Art and Design – Getting Creative!
Creativity has been flowing in Diamonds as we have enjoyed making our own clay pendants. We carefully shaped our clay, created our designs and added colour by painting our finished pieces. It has been wonderful to see everyone's individuality and imagination shine through their creations!
We have also taken on an exciting design and technology challenge: constructing our very own longboats from paper! We have been investigating ways to make our boats stronger, including experimenting with twisting the paper to improve its strength. Our designers have been thinking carefully, testing ideas and discovering how small changes can make a big difference to a structure.
⚔️ History – Vikings and Anglo-Saxon Kings!
We have travelled back in time to explore key aspects of Viking life and learn more about the Anglo-Saxons. Our historical investigations have focused on King Æthelred and the fascinating concept of Danegeld. We have been discovering what Danegeld was and why payments were made to the Vikings, helping us understand more about the challenges faced by Anglo-Saxon kings. Our historians have been asking questions, exploring the past and building their knowledge of this intriguing period in British history.
🏐 PE – Teamwork on the Netball Court!
On the netball court, we have been learning and building our understanding of the rules of netball. We have been developing our skills, practising how to play fairly and discovering the importance of teamwork, communication and supporting one another. Our Diamonds are learning that being a great team player is just as important as scoring a goal!
As October draws to a close and the autumn leaves continue to fall, we can look back on a month filled with exciting learning, creative adventures and fantastic discoveries. Across every subject, our Diamonds have shown resilience, curiosity and a willingness to challenge themselves. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and the progress they are making every day.
Keep sparkling, Class Diamonds! We cannot wait to see what wonderful things we will discover next!
Sapphires
What a Wonderful Half Term!
What a fantastic half term we have had in Sapphires! The children have worked incredibly hard, embraced new challenges and made us proud with their enthusiasm, creativity and growing confidence. We have enjoyed a wonderful range of learning experiences, special events and opportunities to celebrate our achievements together.
📚 English – Reading and Writing
In Guided Reading, we have been thoroughly engrossed in War Horse, exploring the story and developing our comprehension skills as we consider the characters, events and historical context.
In Writing, the children have produced some super discussion texts exploring the question: Should we have school uniform? We have used think-alouds to help us process our thoughts, organise our ideas and develop well-reasoned arguments. It has been wonderful to see the children becoming more confident in expressing their opinions and supporting them with explanations.
We have also continued to develop our writing skills, with the children confidently using relative clauses, conjunctions and parenthesis to add detail, variety and sophistication to their work. There has been some fantastic writing taking place!
🔢 Maths – Building Our Number Knowledge
Our mathematicians have been busy developing their understanding of prime numbers, square numbers, cube numbers, multiples and factors. We have also continued to practise and strengthen our skills across the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
The children have shown great perseverance when tackling challenges and applying their mathematical knowledge to different problems. Keep up the fantastic work!
🔬 Science – Fingerprint Investigators!
Science has been full of curiosity this half term! We investigated our own fingerprints, carefully observing their patterns and discovering how fingerprints can be used to distinguish between individuals. The children enjoyed examining the unique details of their fingerprints and thinking like real scientists as they observed, compared and discussed their findings.
🌍 History – Exploring World War One
We have continued our study of World War One, focusing on the timeline of events and developing our understanding of how the war unfolded. This learning has linked beautifully with our Guided Reading text, War Horse, helping the children make connections between historical events and the experiences of people during this significant period in history.
We have plenty more exciting historical learning to look forward to, including our World Wars Exhibition next half term!
🍂 Harvest Festival – A Wonderful Celebration
Our Harvest Festival was a lovely occasion and a real highlight of the half term. It was wonderful to hear the Sapphires singing so beautifully and sharing their readings with the school community. The children represented their class brilliantly, and we were very proud of the confidence and care they showed during this special celebration.
💻 Computing – Creating and Communicating
In Computing, we have been developing our digital skills by learning how to create a webpage. The children have also been working on their PowerPoint presentations, preparing to share information and ideas during assemblies.
It has been fantastic to see them developing their creativity, presentation skills and confidence when communicating information to others.
🌟 Life in Sapphires
We have enjoyed lots of special moments beyond our classroom learning this half term!
- School Photo Day: A chance to capture some lovely memories of the children.
- Play Leaders: Our new Play Leaders have started this week, taking on their responsibilities and helping to make playtimes positive and enjoyable for everyone.
- Reading Reward: We had lots of fun celebrating reading achievements and recognising the children's efforts and enthusiasm for books.
- Halloween Bingo: Some children enjoyed staying for Halloween Bingo, which was a lovely way to end the half term with a little seasonal fun!
- Parents' Evening: It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers attending Parents' Evening. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us, celebrate the children's progress and discuss their next steps.
🎄 Looking Ahead to Next Half Term
After a well-deserved half-term break, we have lots of exciting opportunities to look forward to! Our upcoming experiences include:
- 🎄 The Christmas Extravaganza
- 🪖 Our World Wars Exhibition
- 🚌 An educational visit to Eden Camp
- 🎬 A special cinema trip
- 🌟 Arete sessions at Delta for some of our children
We are looking forward to another busy and rewarding half term filled with memorable experiences, exciting learning and opportunities for the children to shine.
💙 Thank You and Happy Half Term!
Thank you, as always, for your continued support, encouragement and partnership. It makes such a difference to the children's learning and helps us create a positive and supportive environment in which everyone can thrive.
We hope you all have a wonderful, restful and enjoyable half term. The children have worked so hard and deserve a well-earned break!
We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 2nd November, ready for another fantastic half term in Sapphires.
Have a lovely half term, everyone!
The Sapphires Team 💎
We have been debating whether children should have to wear school uniform
We used our debating skills and used this as a stimulus for our writing
An example of our writing about school uniform and whether we should have to wear it
Writing about World War Two
An example of our reading work based on the book 'War Horse'
In R.E, we have been looking at Christianity and focusing on the 10 Commandments
Celebrating Success
Stars of the Week
October's Stars of the Week
Headteacher's Award
Mathematicians of the Week
Our maths winners for October
Writers of the Week
October's Writers of the Week
House Teams Update
All of the children in Reception to Year 6 are placed in one of our house teams where collaboratively they can earn house tokens each week for showing our school values. Throughout the year we also take part in events such as Sports Day in our teams.
The winning house team at the end of the year will receive a special reward.
October's House Team Results:
5th - 9th October: Ben Nevis
12th - 16th October: Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike
19th - 23rd October: Scafell Pike
Current standings for the year
1st Place: Ben Nevis
2nd Place: Scafell Pike
3rd Place: Snowdon
Attendance
Weekly Attendance
It is important to attend school regularly but we understand there are times that this isn't possible.
If you want further information or advice regarding attendance and supporting high attendance then please take a look at our resources below or speak to a member of the team.
Each week we aim for at least 97% attendance.
October's School Attendance:
5th - 9th October: 93% Below expected standard
12th - 16th October: 98% Good
19th - 23rd October: 96% Below expected standard
Useful Links and Resources for Families
Free Parent/Carer Workshops to Support Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing
The below workshops are being put on by the MHST who work with our school and in the authority. A number of parents have accessed other workshops before and found them really useful. The up and coming workshops are listed below:
Behaviour as a Form of Communication: A Parent/Carer Workshop
- 30 September 2026, 4:30pm (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2000011950583?aff=oddtdtcreator
Understanding Anxiety: A Parent/Carer Workshop
- 4 February 2027, 4:30pm (Online)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2000012362816?aff=oddtdtcreator
The workshops are free to attend and offer parents and carers the opportunity to learn evidence-based approaches to supporting their child's emotional wellbeing and behaviour.
Parents and carers can book a place via the Eventbrite page (East Riding Mental Health Support Team) or the direct links next to each workshop.
Wake up Wednesday Resources
Information and advice on variety of areas such as children using Snapchat or playing games online.
Relationships Support from East Riding
We know that conflict is a normal part of relationships, and we also know that it's not conflict that is the problem, but how we deal with it.
Evidence shows that ongoing, poorly-resolved conflict can have a damaging effect on children’s well-being and happiness. The Relationship Matters website provides tips and support local to you and within the site, there are some great tools, such as the Amity's Little Book of Relationship Care, and links to a broad range of websites, including Mind, and the One Plus One site, which supports separating parents to handle arguments better.
There is also Separating Better, a useful app for families going through separation.
Half-Term Deals
Please share any deals or days out you find to our school Facebook page for others.
