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

We have had a busy fortnight and have lots planned ahead of the Easter break. Below you will see just a snippet of what we have been up to and find out about what we have coming up this week. Remember 31st March is our deadline to get your 'Well-being Bingo' sheets in.

There is a lot included in the newsletter this fortnight including up and coming diary dates, reminders, links to some external resources and a survey we would love for you to take a look at.

This fortnight in Nursery, we have been learning all about rain, rainbows, and wind - understanding that we have different weathers and that we need to dress appropriately for each weather.

Little Pearls have been practising putting on their outdoor clothing, including their puddle suits and wellies.

We have had lots of colourful play whilst learning about rainbows, including painting our umbrella, mixing colours in shaving foam and milk, and mixing coloured water.

Tying in perfectly with our colour theme, we also learnt about Holi festival and celebrated by having a paint party which was so much fun!

We have conducted lots of science experiments for British Science week last week, where we made a rainbow from skittles. The children predicted that if we used hot water the colours would melt, which is exactly what happened. We were amazed to see the colours mixing to make a beautiful rainbow. The Little Pearls used coloured kitchen towels in water to watch the colours bleed together and be absorbed by the kitchen towel.

We have been busy over the last couple of weeks making a huge volcano, from paper matches. The children worked together to paint this, and we then got the excitement of watching it erupt with the coke and mentos reaction.

Whilst outside on the field we had a go at painting rainbows, finding leaves and sticks to make nature paintbrushes with, strengthening our fine motor skills ready for writing.

We have also been strengthening our gross motor skills by running, rolling, and jumping on the field. Jumping and splashing in puddles and going under and over the sprinkler and reaching high to paint our umbrella.

Whilst learning about wind and the effects wind has, we have had a go at making our own kites and wind tunnels and flying these on the field. We have been finding out how things work and how they are powered by wind. We have raced boats in our water tray by blowing them to the finish line. This week we have really enjoyed watching the effect wind has on bubbles and have enjoyed blowing, popping, and catching bubbles in our outside area!

You may have noticed Little Pearls are using the field much more for their outdoor learning! We love getting outside in nature and there are so many health and development benefits for us getting outside more - this term we are hoping to expand the outdoor space and create a dedicated area on the field for nursery - but we cannot do this without your help. Please see below a list of what we are on the lookout for to help us with our project! Thank you!!

We’ve had a busy few weeks in Pearls class. We have been continuing our ‘Weather’ theme and we have been observing our very changeable weather over the last fortnight!

Last week we read ‘Little Raindrop’ and ‘Elmer and the Rainbow’. We have talked about how rainbows are formed, and we have been making different types of rainbows, using pipe cleaners at our creative tables. We have also read ‘Noah’s Ark’ and we have written sentences about part of the story. We have been singing our ‘Noah’s Ark’ counting song too. In our provision we have been building bridges using our construction blocks to go over water. We have been making rainbows using various resources and exploring colour mixing in our water trays.

This week we have read ‘After the Storm’ and ‘Elmer and the Wind’ and we have been building shelters (that can hopefully withstand the wind) in our outside area. We have also made our own paper windmills. In our provision we have been making and decorating kites at our creative table and chasing bubbles in the wind! We have also been playing matching games using numbers and amounts.

In maths lessons we have been focusing on numbers 9 and 10. We have been using tens frames, abacus beads, counters and our fingers to show these numbers in different ways. This week we have been learning our number bonds to 10 (all the number that add together to make 10. Eg. 3+7=10)

Over the next few weeks we are going to focus on sunshine, Spring and Easter.

Rubies have been busy this week reflecting on our trip to the Street life Museum. We have written about our favourite parts and all the things we learnt whilst we were there and we have drawn pictures of the things we saw. In English we are learning how to write formal letters. We are going to try to persuade another school to go on a trip, just like we did. We are learning skills to add into our letters such as, conjunctions, noun phrases and exclamation marks.

In maths the children have learnt about measuring length, weight and capacity. We have used lots of different things to measure objects in our classroom and on the playground. We are looking at cm and m and how to use a ruler to measure objects.

In science we are continuing our learning about plants and have planned our very own science investigation. We are trying to prove our theory of what things a plant needs to grow. We have thought hard about what we think plants need and why. We are making predictions about what we think will happen and trying to use scientific vocabulary within our explanations. We will use observations to see what will happen over time and if our theory is correct or incorrect. We will keep you posted!

In history we have now moved onto Space, we have learnt abut Neil Armstrong and his landing on the moon. The children took part in a role play activity where they acted out the landing and thought about how Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin felt when they landed on the moon.

We ended last week celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi. We spent the afternoon learning about the festival and drawing images from the Hindu faith. All the children thoroughly enjoyed our Holi festival of paint on the field, including all the adults!

The Rubies Team

It’s been an exciting and busy month for the children, and we’ve covered lots of fascinating topics in our lessons.

In History, Diamonds Class has been learning about the ancient city of Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The children have been captivated by the story of how the eruption in AD 79 tragically destroyed the city, and they have explored what life was like for the people of Pompeii before the disaster struck. We’ve also discussed how archaeologists have uncovered the remains of Pompeii, giving us a unique insight into the past.

In Maths, we’ve been diving into the world of fractions! The children have learned how to identify and compare fractions, and they’ve been practicing how to add and subtract them. We’ve had lots of hands-on activities, and the class has really enjoyed applying their knowledge to solve fraction problems. They are becoming fraction experts!

In English, Diamonds Class has been learning how to write newspaper reports. We’ve been looking at the structure of a report, including the headline, introduction, and important details. The children have created their own reports about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, using facts and details from their history lessons. Their writing has been creative and informative, and we’re excited to share some of their reports soon!

Our Science lessons have been focused on living things and their habitats. The children have been exploring different environments and the animals and plants that live there. We’ve discussed how habitats provide everything living things need to survive and how different species adapt to their surroundings. The children have been fascinated by the diversity of life on Earth!

A wonderful fortnight in the Sapphires. The children have written stories about Titanium, created dramas and reports relating to being a witness or a police officer.

From this week onwards, the children are focussing on non-chronological reports linked to animals and classification for their writing. The Sapphires are excited to be able to choose an animal that they are interested in to research and write a report about. This week, they have studied the skills of a wide range of punctuation, formal tone and passive sentences. We can’t wait to see their written outcomes next week!

The Sapphires are up to chapter 8 in Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo and are able to discuss the characters, their choices and motives. It will be wonderful to compare it to the film next week.

In maths, the Sapphires have focussed on calculating ratio and proportion. They were able to work out a range of problems using pictorial representations. The children loved investigating ratios using a range of manipulatives and of course smarties! This week, the Sapphires are starting to revisit statistics.

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.

During geography work this half term, the Sapphires have mapped where our food comes from and calculated food miles.

In Science, the children have used keys to classify vertebrates and invertebrates. They created keys of their own and researched types of plants. In Art, the Sapphires have created their amazing freedom blankets – we can’t wait to put all the pieces together to display on our wall.

Two of the highlights have been Fridays, last Friday the children loved researching Holi Day and then got the opportunity to celebrate the festival with powder paint on the field. This Friday. It’s the Sapphires turn to work with Tina the therapy dog and Break the Rules Day in aid of Comic Relief.

The Sapphires team (Mrs. Dean, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Wilde) would like to wish you all a lovely weekend. Remember to practise spellings, use SATs packs and keep uploading reads to Seesaw. PE kits need to be in school all week please. Two more weeks left until Eater with lots of fun activities to look forward to including Mother’s Day lunch, FOSPs Easter Bingo, Easter egg hunt, cinema trip, reading reward and more!

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.

Children with longer hair need to ensure that this is tied up for P.E so please ensure that your child has a bobble within school.

If you haven't already done so please can you send in a family photo this can either be printed or sent electronically over Tapestry.

Thank you

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

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.

Children in Years 5 & 6 are going to watch the screen version of their current book on Thursday 27th March.

On Tuesday 22nd April (1st day back after Easter), we will be celebrating Earth Day at Swinefleet Primary School. The theme is Our Power, Our Planet.

On this day, the children can dress in earth colours or another outfit that inspires you relating to Earth Day.

During the day, the children will be making items of clothing out of recycled materials (for example bin bag skirts out of crisps packets, bottle tops on capes) so we would like to ask for any recyclable materials to be brought in please.

Over the Easter holidays, there is an optional homework task where children can record an information video on seesaw about 'Our Power, Our Planet' to share with the class on Earth Day.

A number of people in Swinefleet are trying to set up a youth club for the children but need your views. It would be really appreciated if you could fill in their short survey below.

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:

Bronze - 15

Silver - 20

Gold - 30

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 have also been sent out via Tapestry/Seesaw.

Comment on Facebook to book your place or see Mrs Harrison or Mrs Dean within school

Raffle tickets available on the school playground - please see Mrs Harrison or Mrs Dean

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.

Whole school attendance: 96%

The attendance figure all pupils and schools are expected to aim for is 97%+

School attendance is vital in supporting children's progress and preparing them for their future careers. We appreciate sometimes children are unwell and need to be off school which cannot be helped. Below are some information leaflets which you may find useful.

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.

The Local Offer website.