Welcome to Spring Term Two. Every child has made a great start to their next learning journey at Garden Village Primary Academy.

The theme for this newsletter is Personal Development. In just two weeks, the children at GVPA have been brave, tried new challenges, showed curiosity and had lots of fun.

This week was the closing date for the Year 2 Teacher application. We have shortlisted many candidates and now look forward to the next part of the recruitment process.

Attendance has slightly increased to 94.6%. Thank you again for supporting your child's attendance and punctuality.

Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild continue to be amazed by the independence and progress the children in Reception Maple make daily. 

Drawing Club and Literacy

In Reception, we’re continuing to develop our skills and become confident writers! We have been practising writing clear, simple sentences using finger spaces between words and full stops at the end. We’ve been saying our sentences out loud first, then checking our writing to make sure it makes sense. We’re also working on developing handwriting skills. The children continue to practice how to hold their pencils correctly, form letters the right way, and write on the line with good control. We’ve also been focusing on starting letters in the correct place and using slow, careful movements to keep our writing neat. We’re so proud of their growing confidence and independence. Well done, Reception!

Mathematics

Reception have been exploring the numbers 9 and 10 in lots of practical ways. The children have used objects, ten frames, and cubes to represent each number and talk about how they are made. We’ve also been practising comparing numbers to 10, using language such as more than, fewer than, and the same as. We’ve also been learning about one more/less of 9 and 10. The children have been using language such as “one more than 9 is 10” and “one less than 10 is 9”, and many children are beginning to explain their thinking with growing confidence.
This week in Reception, the children have been learning all about how numbers up to 10 are made. Using ten frames, counters, and practical resources, they explored the different ways a number can be composed—for example, discovering that 9 can be made from 7 and 2 or 8 and 1. We have also introduced number bonds to 10, helping children see how two parts can join to make a whole. The class enjoyed finding pairs of numbers that add together to make 10, such as 7 and 3, 6 and 4, and 5 and 5.
The children are becoming much more confident recognising numbers, building them in different ways, and explaining their thinking—fantastic work, Reception!

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Our History topic this half-term is called ‘Adventures Through Time’. Reception is learning to compare and contrast people from the past and now by looking at photographs, listening to their stories and learning about their achievements.
Last week, the children explored family trees to help them learn about generations and how families grow and change over time. They have learnt that the higher on the tree you are, the older you are. Using simple templates and pictures, the children created their own family trees, showing themselves, their siblings, their parents, and their grandparents. The children enjoyed talking about who is older, who is younger, and how family members are related.

This week we have been learning to recognise and talk about our own interests and achievements, as well as those of family and friends. We shared special moments, hobbies, and proud accomplishments—anything from learning to ride a bike to welcoming a new baby or enjoying a favourite activity. The children learn that everyone has things they enjoy and things they are proud of, and that these can be similar or different from each other. In the classroom, we created rosettes to show off what we are the most proud of!

Physical Education (PE)

In PE, children have been practising their ball skills using tennis balls. They’ve been learning how to bounce, catch, and throw with increasing control. We worked on using two hands to catch, catching the ball with bowl-shaped hands, keeping our eyes on the ball, and using gentle, controlled movements to help the ball go where we want it to. We had a special visit from Charlie, the sports coach, who challenged us to spin and clap before we caught the ball!

Design & Technology

Reception has loved exploring junk modelling so far this half-term! They have learnt the names and uses of different craft tools and materials to support their junk modelling. They explored items such as scissors, glue sticks, masking tape, hole punchers, and a variety of recyclable materials. We talked about how each tool helps us join, cut, shape, or decorate our creations. The children also experimented with manipulating materials—bending, folding, twisting, tearing, and attaching pieces to create different effects. The children have been encouraged to explore junk modelling without a specific purpose or design. We are very impressed with their creations! 

The children have also been developing their scissor skills by exploring how easy or difficult it is to cut and shape a range of different materials. They experimented with various types of scissors, including right-handed, left-handed, squeeze-action scissors, and craft scissors that create zigzag or scalloped edges. The children tested how different materials such as paper, card, fabric, and thin plastic responded when cut, noticing which were easier, trickier, or required more control.

Foodie Club

The new chef has settled superbly into his new cookery role.

World Book Day 2026

Reception Maples Experience of the Animal Man

Literacy Tree

The children arrived at school one morning to discover a strange, sparkly boulder and a mysterious bag of objects in our classroom. They were incredibly inquisitive and eager to find out more! Using this exciting discovery, the children learnt about question sentences and generated their own thoughtful questions about the mystery object. We soon discovered that it was a comet, just like the one in our story The Comet. The children have also been learning about noun phrases and using them to write fantastic recipes explaining how to make a home.

Maths

In Maths, the children have been learning all about place value to 50. They have truly blown us away with how quickly they have understood this concept and how confidently they can explain their reasoning. We have been making numbers in different ways, finding efficient strategies to count objects to 50, and exploring one more and one less within 50.

Personal, Social, Emotional & Heath Education

This half-term in PSHE, the children are learning about citizenship. We have been discussing why rules are important and how they help keep everyone safe and happy. The children have also been learning about how to care for pets and what responsibilities come with looking after animals.

Science

We had a fantastic visit from the Animal Man, and the children were outstanding at showing off their knowledge of different animal groups. They impressed us by accurately using their scientific vocabulary while discussing the animals we met. This week we have also explored how we can take care of our planet and the small actions we can take to protect it.

History

In History, the children have started learning about toys from the past. Mrs Hand kindly visited our class to tell us about the toys she played with when she was younger and even shared photographs of herself playing with them. The children loved hearing about her experiences. We also explored and played with some older toys, including a fascinating toy called a Jacob’s Ladder.

World Book Day

World Book Day was so much fun! Thank you so much for all your support with the children’s amazing costumes. When the children arrived at school, they discovered that all of our books had been stolen! We had to become detectives and search for clues to figure out who had taken them. After investigating carefully, we discovered the culprit was the Gruffalo! The children created fantastic wanted posters, using noun phrases to describe what they looked like. Eventually, we spotted a trail of purple prickles that led us back to our missing books. The children also took part in a book scavenger hunt, where they searched through a range of books to find different characters and objects.

Foodie Club - Spring Term 2

Sammie has recruited some new chefs to join Foodie Club. Last week, the children made healthy chicken nuggets, and today they have made healthy flapjack biscuits.

March Personal Development Opportunities

Thank you for parking respectfully this term. 

This term, Mrs Burke and Mrs Stamp had the privilege of spending the morning at two of our other Trust schools. These opportunities are wonderful in terms of sharing our leadership expertise, but also in return is great professional development for us as staff, which will, in turn, positively impact on our children's learning. 

For further information about the Trust, please use this link: Fierté Multi-Academy Trust - Home

Telephone: 01827 214630

Office Email: office@gardenvillage.fierte.org

Headteacher / SENCO: headteacher@gardenvillage.fierte.org