Moulton CEVC Primary School Parent Portal

A Message from Mrs Shipp

It has been a busy and enriching week in school, with lots to celebrate!

One of the highlights was the Communion Service led by Rev. Chris and Rev. Raúl for our Year 5 and Year 6 children. We felt extremely proud of the way the children conducted themselves throughout the service. Their behaviour, respect and reverence were exemplary - they were a real credit to you and to our school community.

We began the week with the Open the Book team, who shared the story of Naaman and Elisha. A special thank you to the Year 5 pupils who helped bring the story to life. On Wednesday, Mrs Gilmore shared the story Nasreen’s Secret School, which tells the powerful story of a young girl who is denied an education but is supported by caring adults who secretly teach her, even in very difficult circumstances. This story linked closely to our school value of consideration – thinking about the needs, experiences and feelings of others, and acting with kindness and empathy, even when it is not easy.

We have noticed an increase in outdoor rough play across several year groups, including occasions where children continue to rough play shortly after being reminded by an adult. Over the coming weeks, we will be supporting children more explicitly to prevent this and to choose safer alternatives. Our approach is always to reduce and replace undesirable behaviour, while avoiding shame and preserving children’s dignity. However, I will be speaking with the children on Monday about the consequences of continuing rough play or ignoring adult instructions to stop. We will also be reviewing our provision to ensure we are actively steering children towards positive, safe play. It would be really helpful if you could also talk to your child at home about this - thank you for your support.

Thank you so much for your continued support with reading at home. Many of our children are reading 5–6 times a week, every week, with lots reading every day. The impact on fluency and comprehension is really clear for regular readers during whole-class reading sessions. If there is a particular book series that your child (or others) really enjoys, please do let us know - we are always happy to add to our class libraries.

You might have noticed ongoing flooding in the lay-by and water running onto the playground due to blocked kerbside drainage. Mrs Gilmore has recently attended a meeting to raise this issue, and I have reported it as a matter of urgency to Suffolk Highways and our local councillors. Please take extra care when entering school, particularly during colder weather when standing water may freeze and create icy patches.

Have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone on Monday.

Year 3

Can you believe we are halfway through the Spring 1 term? Thank you to all Year 3 families for your continued support with reading at home — we reached an incredible 93% Star Reader total – just 3% away from our best ever 96% and proudly welcomed Bookster the Bear for a week. The children were absolutely thrilled! A big thank you, too, for the cardboard donations to help resource our Design and Technology learning.

In English, the children enjoyed planning Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf’s perspective. We discovered a few budding ‘tall’ storytellers with imaginative explanations for why the wolf might lock Granny in the wardrobe and don her nightgown! Alongside this, we’ve practised punctuating direct speech and explored exciting synonyms for “said” to make our writing shine.

In maths, we’ve been focusing on division, beginning with sharing quantities and using number lines to make equal jumps, helping us visualise division. The learning also including word problem-solving and calculating remainders. Some children have earned their first Times Table Rockstar certificates — well done! As confidence grows, they’ll continue to sharpen their recall, improve their Studio speeds, and turn their heatmaps green.

In science, we revisited how shadows are formed and explored how they change with the position of a light source. We’ve also started learning about invisible light, including ultraviolet (UV) rays - what they are, how they’re filtered by the ozone layer, and when UV is strongest (for example, around midday and closer to the equator). The children discussed both the benefits (like vitamin D) and the potential harms (such as sunburn) of UV exposure.

The Year 3 historians stepped back into Roman Britain, where Boudicca rallied the Celtic tribes after the Romans seized her whole kingdom following her husband’s death. The children explored her determination and courage in challenging Roman injustice and demonstrated their understanding by designing recruitment posters to enlist Celtic warriors.

RE: An introduction to Hinduism with Mrs Chittock, involving a game of snakes and ladders – intriguing!
Music: The children learnt the pentatonic scale on glockenspiels and composed their own simple melodies.
Design & Technology: We became engineers! The class experimented with barrel and chain mechanisms to lift castle drawbridges before building. We just need to finesse and decorate…
French: The class practised greetings, introducing themselves and asking friends for their names with confidence.
PE with Mrs Crook: The children stomped, clapped and moved rhythmically through dance.

Warm wishes for the weekend,
Year 3 Team

Year 4

We've had another lovely week this week, very busy with our learning. The children are now really getting into the swing of being in Year 4 and the level of work. I am so proud of them all trying their hardest at everything. Well done them.

Our learning this week:

Maths – we have been busy with fractions, looking at all three types; fractions, mixed fractions and improper fractions. Today we looked at equivalent fractions which we will look at again some more on Monday.

English – this week the children wrote a quest story as we started to look at our new unit about quest stories.

Topic – this week we looked at the structure of a volcano. The children are loving this topic and are asking me some really tricky questions!

French – listening to people talking about their likes/dislikes around food and then translating it into English.

RE - Looking at Hinduism, the unit is about Hindus collecting good karma. They played snakes and ladders.

Music – Used instruments to create the sound of falling blossom.

Art – we enjoyed our watercolour painting so much last week that we have continued this week by practicing some watercolour techniques ready to try our own version of 'The Bridge'.

Date for the Diary:

Monday 20^th April to Tuesday 21^st April is our residential trip to Burwell House. There will be more information to follow, but for now I want you to put the date in the diary. I have also told you now, so that if your child hasn't had the opportunity to have a sleepover without you as their main carer, then you have time to try and fit one in. It would be perfect if they have had an experience of sleeping somewhere without you before we go on the trip. It is only one night away, and two days of great fun.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Chittock and the Year 4 team

Year 5

In English this week, we have focused on speech! The children added correct speech punctuation and descriptive reported clauses to their planned conversation from last week. On Tuesday, the children typed up their conversations. This helped them make any edits if they missed some of the myriad of correct speech punctuation! Mrs Grosvenor and I really enjoyed reading their conversations once they had finished. They were very entertaining! In Maths this week, we have been calculating change from different amounts. We have used the 'shop keeper method' (counting up) as a mental method, and next week we will look at more formal written methods.

In Geography this week, we completed a ramp and flow investigation to see how the gradient of the river bed would affect water speed. We then discussed features in the upper and lower course and explained why they could only exist in that part of the river due to water speed and volume. In Computing this week, children programmed their MicroBits to attend the 'Stickman Disco'. They programmed the LED light display to have a dancing stickman. They even had a go at composing their own music for their stickman to dance to.

We started our next DT project this week. We looked at the history of Bolognese, traditional recipes and talked about how different families adapt this popular recipe. In Science, we looked at the science behind dissolving. Y5 had some great ideas about what was happening, but we were surprised to find out that you can dissolve a gas into a liquid! In PSHE, we discussed what sorts of behaviours are acceptable in relationships. The children all had a clear idea of what they wanted from their friendships and knew what to look out for if their friends crossed their boundaries.

On Thursday this week, Reverand Chris and Reverand Raul came in to lead a Communion service for Y5 and 6. It was a very special event and it was lovely for the children to see how some of the Bible stories they know have influenced the Communion service.

Have a super weekend. Please encourage your child to read and secure star reader status. We were bottom of the league table last week!

Miss Rutter, Mrs Grosvenor and Mrs Marsh

Year 6

This week in English, we have begun exploring tales of suspense. The children have been identifying how authors leave subtle clues for the reader to build tension and drama, as well as learning about the key features of an effective setting. They have been preparing to write their own detailed settings, which will later be included in a longer narrative.

In maths, the children have been converting between fractions, decimals and percentages, showing impressive accuracy and growing confidence.

In geography, we learnt about different types of coastal waves and investigated how they affect the shape and features of beaches.

In science, the children explored a range of fossils, studying them closely to produce careful scientific diagrams. They also learnt about how fossils are formed over time.

During computing, the children used spreadsheets to answer questions using census data, developing their data-handling and problem-solving skills.

In RE, we were delighted to welcome Rev Chris and Rev Raul, who led a service of Holy Communion.

In PSHE, the children learnt about the functions of different medications and how they are used to support health and wellbeing.

In PE, the children have been refining their dance and volleyball skills, focusing on control, coordination and teamwork.

Home learning this weekend is maths-based and will recap some of the learning from the past few weeks. As always, I am happy to support with homework that the children have attempted but found tricky during Monday lunchtime.

Have a super weekend!

Mrs Gilmore