As we come to the end of the first term of this academic year, I would like to say how incredibly proud we are of every child at GVPA. The children have settled wonderfully into their new year groups and classes, embraced new routines and challenges, and made fantastic progress already.

A huge thank you to all our parents for your continued support, particularly at Parents’ Evening. We really appreciated the lovely feedback you shared about your children’s learning, and we look forward to sharing your comments with the children next term so that they can feel just as proud of their achievements as we are.

We would also like to formally welcome Mrs Cardus, our new Lunchtime Supervisor, to the GVPA team. Mrs Cardus will be supporting the children in the hall at lunchtime and helping them to enjoy happy and active playtimes on the playground afterwards. This week, we were also delighted to appoint our new Year 2 Teaching Assistant, who will begin working with the class in November.

Thank you also to all the parents who expressed an interest in our new GVPA Parent Teacher Association and to those who attended our first PTA meeting. It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm for supporting our growing school community. After half-term, we will share an email to begin organising our first school event, a Christmas Disco! We are very excited to work together to make this a special event for our children.

Our attendance for the term is 95.1%. Thank you to every parent for your commitment to ensuring that children attend school every day and arrive on time. Good attendance makes such an important difference to children’s learning, progress and wellbeing.

Finally, from all the staff at GVPA, we wish you and your families a happy and restful half-term break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 2nd November, refreshed and ready for another exciting term together.

Mrs Burke

Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are super proud of Reception Maple 

Phonics and reading

Reception Maple have now learnt 20 Phase 2 sounds! Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are so proud of all their progress with their learning, with lots of children blending CVC words independently. 

Writing

Last week in Draw, Talk, Write we read Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Using the vocabulary ‘magnificent’, the children have drawn the Witch, where she will fly to and a new character to go on the broom. This week, we have read Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. Using the vocabulary ‘capture’, we have drawn the dog, an animal we would like to have as a pet and a way to catch the snake. Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are so proud of the children’s writing.

In the provision, Miss Matthews introduced the children to ‘The Mystery List’. The children loved hunting around the classroom for the colours, identifying the grapheme, and writing the grapheme on their paper. We have also been doing lots of practice of matching pictures to initial sounds. 

Maths

In maths, we have looked at numbers to 3. We have identified each number, made each number with loose parts, learnt about subitising and identified one more and one less! The children enjoyed using rhymes such as ‘One Big Hippo’ and ‘Five Little Ducks’ to support their learning. 

Reading & Phonics

In Reading and Phonics, the children have been learning the new alternative sounds ‘ir’, ‘ie’ and ‘ue’, as well as some new tricky words. They have shown fantastic enthusiasm and determination during every phonics lesson and are becoming increasingly confident readers. It has been wonderful to see the progress they are making, and they should all be very proud of how much their reading skills have improved already this term.

Writing

In writing, the children have been learning about the story Cave Baby and have been working incredibly hard on using full stops accurately. They re-wrote the story using their own words and carefully re-read their work to check that it included capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. We have been so impressed with their creativity, focus and independence, and the children should be very proud of the fantastic writing they have produced.

Maths

In maths, the children have been working hard on addition within 10. They now have a secure understanding of fact families and know that parts can be added in any order to make the same whole. We have also been practising our number bonds to 10 and have enjoyed listening to and singing Farmer Pete to help us remember them. The children have shown great perseverance and confidence, and it has been lovely to see them applying their mathematical understanding during lessons.

Art

In art, the children have been inspired by the artist Paul Klee to create their own self-portraits. They have used all the artistic skills they have learnt so far this year, including a variety of lines, organic shapes and careful colouring. 

Miss Guest is super proud of Year Two Birch. Here are some highlights from the past two weeks. 

Reading and Phonics

Last week was Assessment Week in Phonics. We have been reviewing any sounds that we are still unsure of and practising them before we move onto Bridge to Spelling next half-term. In our reading groups, the children have been focusing on reading with greater accuracy and developing their comprehension skills by discussing and answering questions about what they have read.

Writing

In English, we have continued reading The Minpins by Roald Dahl. The children have been learning how to use different suffixes and write in different tenses. We have also been learning to extend our writing using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. They have been applying all of these skills in their own imaginative versions of the story as we work towards the end of the unit. We have also been working hard to improve our handwriting, focusing on correct letter formation, sizing and presentation to make our writing neat and ready to join after half term.

Maths

In Maths, we have been developing our addition skills by making ten and using our number bonds to ten to help solve calculations efficiently. The children have been using practical resources and manipulatives to support their understanding and build confidence. We have also been exploring number bonds within 10 and using these to find related facts and number bonds to 100.

Art

In Art, we have been developing our observational drawing skills by carefully studying objects and drawing what we can see. The children have been learning about texture and tone, exploring how different shading techniques can be used to create light, dark and detailed effects in their sketches. They have worked hard to apply these skills to make their drawings more realistic and expressive.

Drumba

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had a fantastic time taking part in a Drumba workshop this week. The children were full of energy and enthusiasm, and their smiles lit up the room throughout the whole experience. The instructors were incredibly impressed with how well-behaved, well-mannered and positive our children were, commenting on the excellent attitudes they showed. It was a brilliant morning filled with music, movement and happiness!

Reception

Year 1

Year 2

Parking

Thank you to all the parents who are able to walk, bike or scooter to school. We are so proud of the children walking their scooters and bikes on the school grounds. 

As a polite reminder, please do not park in the flat car park opposite school. Last week, I was contacted by a resident who could not park in their allocated place.

Pre-loved uniform is available for you at no cost in the meeting room at the front of school. 

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

02.11.26 - Return to School

2nd-11th November - Poppy Sale at School

04.11.26 - Maths Parent Workshop

05.11.26 - Fire Engine Visit to School

11.11.26 - Individual School Photographs (more details to follow)

Telephone: 01827 214630

Office Email: office@gardenvillage.fierte.org

Headteacher / SENCO: headteacher@gardenvillage.fierte.org