Heartsease Primary Academy Newsletter - 17th October 2025

Office update

Diarrhoea/Vomiting

Please be reminded that if you child has an episode of diarrhoea / vomiting they need to be at least 48 hours clear from the last episode before returning to school.

Fortnightly class updates and achievements

RESPECT award winners:

Keir: Felix – for perseverance – when he gets something wrong, he wants to try again

Bright: Isabel - being focused at al times, showing commitment to  learning and completed all work independently.

Potter: Eddie receives this award for brilliant effort in learning and collaborating. 

Bond: Jackson was awarded a service award by demonstrating kindness all week.

Sanchez Vegara: Norbert has demonstrated wonderful enthusiasm for learning in every lesson.​

Hooper: Aleksander for his continual enthusiasm to learn and for his wonderful participation throughout the week.

Blackman: Lacie-Mai for an enthauastic approach to learning and school life!

Farook: Ronnie - for being brilliant this week!

Said: Rachel for continuing to shine with excellence this week.

Grill: Hannah G - consistently demonstrating responsibility, dedicated and a positive attitude!

Rundell: Estere for being excellent in learning and taking great pride in her work.

Almond: Joshua for amazing effort this week!

Thompson: Harry - for brilliant focus and effort in class.

Kier Class

  Week commencing 6th October

This week, we thought about our homes. We read and wrote about homes, including asking and answering questions about homes in the past. In Geography, we learnt the difference between a house, bungalow and flat. We then interviewed a Year 6 class, asking 'where do you live?' We recorded their answers on tally charts, then created and interpreted graphs. In PSHE, we talked about consequences. In DT, we prepared crudites and ate them with dip. In Math's, we continued working on addition.

Week commencing 13^th October

This week, we continued developing our adding skills. In English, we read and wrote about Edith Cavell. In computing we handled data by comparing groups. In PSHE, we revisited our learning charter. In RE we thought about how Christians believe God wants them to behave (towards others). In DT, we made and tasted vegetable kebabs.

Reception (Bee / Morris Classes)

Over the past two weeks, the children have enjoyed exploring seasonal stories and activities linked to autumn. Last week, we read The Squirrels Who Squabbled and used it as a springboard to talk about the changing seasons, with a special focus on autumn. The children went on a woodland walk around the school grounds where, although we didn’t spot any squirrels, we discovered plenty of autumn treasures like leaves, acorns, conkers and cones. This week, our story has been Pumpkin Soup, which led to thoughtful discussions about friendship—how friends sometimes fall out and how we can make things right.

The children practised sharing and taking turns, and had the chance to explore pumpkins by cutting one open and tasting pumpkin soup if they wished. In phonics, we’ve been working with the letters s, a, t, i, m, o, n and p, and have now introduced ‘h’ as an extra sound. In Maths, we’ve continued learning about repeating patterns, with children identifying and correcting mistakes in sequences.

Year 1

Potter/Bright Classes



The children have loved reading Beegu! Lots of good discussions about her experience as an alien on Earth. We are learning to predict what will happen next, retrieve answers from the text and look for clues to infer. Ask your child what Beegu thought of humans!

We are getting very good at using cubes and part whole models to find number bonds of any number up to 10. Your child can add and subtract numbers up to 10, either using cubes, number lines or mental arithmetic. They are learning that the most efficient way to add, is to start with the biggest number, for example, 7 + 2 is easier to count on than 2 + 7. 

Our new science unit is all about plants. Your child can label parts of a plant and is learning that every part has a purpose. Did you know the leaves help make the plant's own food?

Our computing lesson asks your child to consider shadows when taking photos. We know shadows are formed when an object or person blocks the light. We have taken photos of subjects with their shadows and only of shadows. We shared our photos in a gallery at the end of the lesson.

We are nearly finished our RE unit of Christianity with the enquiry question: What do Christians believe about God? This week we consider how we need to look after each other just as Christians believe that God has made them caretakers of the world.

We will be creating our own Learning Charter in PSHE. This is our last lesson of this unit so we will gather details together to create the best charter for our class. We want to have a happy and safe place to learn!

Year 2

Bond Class

In Bond Class we have been thinking hard about proper nouns in our writing, learning a new term and skill with enthusiasm. We have loved getting to know our new maths scheme, really diving deeper into our numbers, looking at mathematical problems in different ways.

In Writing we have been focusing on adjectives and expanded noun phrases.

We created a plan for our very own animal and carefully decided which adjectives to use to describe our character's appearance, feelings, special attributes and what actions they would do in our stories.

In Maths we have been adding multiples of 10. E.g 30+40= We have been using the tens and ones to help us.

In History, we are learning about the Great Fire of London and discussed how the fire spread so quickly.

In Spelling we are focusing on adding -er and -est onto the end of adjectives to show more and most. E.g grand, grander, grandest.

In Phonics we've been learning and recapping lots of sounds including ur, er and ir. 

We've also been learning the ea, ee and y spellings. (Happy and funny) How many -y words can you write down at home? Bring them in for an extra dojo point! 

In our IPAD curriculum we used software to draw self-portraits on our IPads.

Sanchez Vegara Class

What another two weeks of great learning in the classroom. 

In math we started looking at addition and subtraction word problems. We introduced a bar model as a resource to help solve the problems and find the answers. Our English writing a narrative and we are learning all the features necessary to write our own based upon one of Aesop's Fables, The Hare and the Tortoise. We finished reading our core text, Mrs Noah's pockets which we all loved and started our next text which is Paddington, the original story of the bear from darkest Peru which we are really enjoying .In science, we continue to learn about living things and our focus has been learning about habitats, micro habitats and food chains. We enjoyed investigating different food chains and telling the class about our favourite one. What a lovely afternoon we had sewing patchwork. We practiced running and over stitching to make our creations. Our learning question in geography was ,' What are Physical Features?' We identified features in the environment that are formed by nature.

Year 3 (Hooper / Blackman Classes)



In English, we wrapped up our exciting unit on first-person narrative writing, where pupils imagined stepping through mysterious doors into unknown worlds. They developed rich vocabulary, explored character emotions, and crafted suspenseful openings to draw readers in. We’ve now begun our new unit on non-chronological reports, focusing on fossils. Pupils are learning how to organise factual information clearly, use formal language, and include technical vocabulary linked to our science and history topics.

In Maths, we’ve been revisiting key concepts from earlier in the term, with a particular focus on solving addition and subtraction problems involving 3-digit numbers. Pupils have been exploring different strategies—including column method, number lines, and mental maths—to build confidence and flexibility in their approach.

In Reading, we celebrated completing our core text The Pebble in My Pocket, which took us on a fascinating journey through geological time. We’ve now started Leon and the Place Between, a magical and imaginative story that’s helping us explore inference, prediction, and descriptive language.

In History, we’ve been diving into life during the Palaeolithic era, learning how early humans survived, what tools they used, and how they adapted to their environment. Pupils have enjoyed comparing ancient lifestyles to modern ones and asking thoughtful questions about change over time.

In Geography, we’ve been learning to identify and describe physical and human features of different landscapes. Pupils have used maps, photographs, and fieldwork to explore how natural and man-made elements shape the places we live.

In Computing, the children have continued working on their own movie clips. They’ve been learning how to edit footage, add transitions and effects, and even incorporate sound to enhance their storytelling. It’s been a fantastic way to combine creativity with digital skills.

Year 4 (Said / Farook Classes)

Year Four completed their reading of the Queen's Nose and now know how important it is to be careful with you wishes. They were happy Harmony got a puppy at the end though! They have now moved on to an entirely different text a poem by Edgar Allen Poe - ask them about The Raven - it's dark and dramatic and we are loving how it's making us think. In science we continue to learn about living things and have thought hard about classification and taxonomy. We can now ask clear yes and no questions to help us sort animals into different groups. In art, we continued our drawing development and have been looking at negative space - it's so interesting to look at the space around the object instead of the object and our pictures became really different when we did this. In French we have begun to learn some instructions - if you want us to listen, try Ecoutez!



Year 5 (Rundell /Grill Classes)

In reading we are just finishing Shackleton's journey which the children have thoroughly enjoyed studying. As some of you may know from our reading cafe, we are about to start reading 'The Explorer' by Katherine Rundell (which we are very excited about!)

Year 5 have been planning and writing their first person narratives based on Greek myths and legends. They have been working hard to include action, description and dialogue. In Maths, both classes are just thinking their second unit this year (additional and subtraction), working on using a variety of strategies to solve calculations. Next we will be studying line graphs and timetables.  In Science we have just started Animals including humans and performed an experiment this week on measuring head circumferences.

Year 6 (Almond / Thompson Classes)

Over the last two weeks, Year 6 have been working incredibly hard! We've focused on SATs preparation, building confidence and sharpening key skills. We are so proud of how the children performed in their mock SATs test and look forward to sharing this data with you on parents evening.

In English, the children have written thoughtful and engaging autobiographies, reflecting on their lives so far. In science, we've explored the fascinating topic of blood—learning about its components and how it travels through the body. It’s been a packed fortnight full of learning and discovery! Today in D.T., we have been making pitta bread and hummus! Pupils enjoyed this very much and we hope you enjoy sampling this at home.

Additional Forthcoming events / Dates for the diary

      Parents Evening 1 (Autumn 2) -  12th and 13th November 2025

3:30pm - 6:15pm

   Parents Evening (Spring 2) -  11th and 12th March 2026

   SENCo Parent Appointments -  On parents evenings

       EYFS Sports Day -  Monday 29th June - 1pm

   Sports Day (KS1) -  Monday 29th June - 9:30

   Sports Day Reserve (KS1) -  Monday 6th July

   Sports Day (Year 3 and 4) -  Wednesday 1st July - 09.30

   Sports Day (Year 5 and 6) -  Thursday 2nd July - 09.30

   Sports Day Reserve (KS2) -  Wednesday 8th July  - 9:30

   Year 6 Residential -  Monday 13th - Wednesday 15th July

     Year 6 prom -  Friday 10th July

   Year 6 leavers assembly -   Friday 17th July

   Year 6 leavers trip (bowling) -  Tuesday 7th July

  EYFS Christmas celebration -  Wednesday 10th December

   Year 1 Christmas celebration -  Thursday 11th December

   Year 2 Christmas celebration -  Friday 12th December

   Year 3 Christmas celebration -  Monday 15th December

   Year 4 Christmas celebration -  Tuesday 16th December

   Year 5 Christmas celebration -  Wednesday 17th December

   Year 6 Christmas celebration -  Thursday 18th December

World Book Day -  5th March 2026

   NSPCC Number Day -  Friday 6th February

   Red Nose Day -  20th March 2026

   Year 1 - Art and Music Cafe -  Thursday 12th February 2026

   Year 1 - Family phonics -  Wednesday 18th March 2026

   Year 1 - Family Maths Challenge -  Tuesday 25th November 2026

Year 2 - Art and Music Cafe -  Thursday 5th February 2026

   Year 2 - Family phonics -  Thursday 19th March 2026

   Year 2- Family Maths Challenge -  Tuesday 25th November 2026

Year 3 - Art and Music Cafe - Friday 6th February 2026

   Year 3 - Family phonics -  Friday 20th March 2026

   Year 3 - Family Maths Challenge -  Thursday 27th November 2026

   Year 3 - Reading and prosodic reading -  Thursday 16th October

Year 4 - Family Maths Challenge -  Thursday 27th November 2026

   Year 4 - Reading and prosodic reading -  Thursday 16th October

Year 5 - Family Maths Challenge -  Wednesday 19th November

   Year 5 - Reading and prosodic reading -  Thursday 9th October

   Year 5 - Family OAA -  Monday 22nd June

Year 6 - Family Maths Challenge -  Wednesday 19th November

   Year 6 Family OAA -  Tuesday 23rd June

  EYFS Parent Cafes

    Christmas stay and play -  Tuesday 9th December

   Valentines stay and play -  Thursday 12th February

   Easter stay and play -  Tuesday 24th March

   Mini beast stay and play -  Tuesday 19th May