We are excited to share this message from the government praising the staff and children at The Abbey Primary School for all their hard work last year – well done everyone!

To everyone at The Abbey Primary School,

Congratulations to you and your team on the excellent outcomes the disadvantaged pupils at The Abbey Primary School achieved at the end of the 2024/25 academic year. Your school’s performance places it among the very best nationally, and this is a significant achievement.

This success reflects the dedication of your staff and the hard work of your pupils. It shows what can be achieved when ambition and commitment come together. Thank you for everything you do to give children the best possible opportunities to succeed.

Your school’s achievements demonstrate what is possible, and I hope you will continue to share your experience and best practice with others.

Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to your staff and pupils. I look forward to working with you as we strive together to raise standards for all.

Yours sincerely,

Bridget Phillipson

Secretary of State for Education

We will be holding a short service to remember Mrs Popat on Friday 20th March. This will include a song and the unveiling of a bench in her memory. Children are requested to wear full school uniform on this day. 

Parents are invited to attend, but please be mindful that we may need to move the service indoors in the event of poor weather and space is limited so parents may need to wait outside. We hope the weather will hold out, and we will be able to come together outside as a whole school community. 

Nursery – The Vikings

The Vikings this term had been learning all about healthy eating and hygiene, focusing on The Hungry Caterpillar and Supertato.

The children have enjoyed our fruit and vegetable shop, creating butterflies using different materials and finding ways in which we can exercise our bodies and minds. Our next focus was to investigate ‘People Who Help Us’. This topic of learning has come directly from the Vikings children themselves, as they showed a huge interest in doctors and people who need help. 

We have created various roles in which the children can learn from, including firefighters, police, doctors and hairdressers. This has given the children lots of talking points about what they would like to be when they grow up. 

Overall, this term the children have been recapping the ‘5 bees’ to make sure we are always showing a positive, can-do attitude here in nursery.

 

EYFS – The Romans & The Celts

This term, Reception have explored ‘Long Ago’. In this part of the curriculum, they have been exploring lives from long ago and their own past lives (they thoroughly enjoyed looking at each other's baby photos!). In English this term, the children have been emerged in the world of ‘Perfectly Norman’; a book by Tom Percival. The children have written some imaginative sentences, designed their own wings, retold the story and created some marvellous artwork. In maths, the children are beginning to understand number bonds to 10 using the part-part-whole model. They have now begun to look at measure. They have continued to enjoy the variety of activities in provision including: Our ‘Abbey Express’ shop, ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ role play, Shape hunt, and building various models in our creative areas. We are so proud of The Celts and The Romans because they have worked so hard this term and this is particularly evident in their phonics progress. Now they are using their phonics knowledge in their writing. Well done Reception!

Year 1 – The Greeks & The Normans 

Year 1 has had a very busy term!

We began the term with our WOW experience of having a royal tea party in the classroom. This helped us to use our imaginations to get ready for our London-based Geography unit of ‘Bright Lights Big City’. In English, our story of ‘Last stop on Market Street’ allowed us to make our own soup by chopping, slicing and peeling. It was delicious!

We also started to look at different toys that people used in the past and got to bring in our own favourite teddy for a teddy bear picnic, and our favourite game to share with our class.

We had a writing workshop in Year 1 where many parents and carers came to find out how we practise our handwriting in The Greeks and The Normans. The children loved having the opportunity to share their wonderful hard work with everyone and teach their families how we learn at The Abbey Primary. 

We also had our chick eggs delivered on 2nd of February and have been so excited to watch them hatch. We are really enjoying looking after them and learning all about the chick’s life cycle.

Year 2 - The Saxons

There is a lot happening in Year 2 this term! We have been writing a biography about the activist Malala Yousafzai. It includes pictures that the children have drawn (see some of our examples), along with information about her life.

In February, we were visited by Jan from the RNLI, who talked to us about water safety. We  learnt about the different flags that you see at the beach so we will know when and where it is safe to go into the water. 

As part of our DT project, we  made model beach huts – yes, we have been sawing wood! 

Finally, we have received a request from Dave the sloth. He has lost his raincoat and asked us to help him source the perfect material to make a new one. We have been experimenting to find the ideal material – will he stay dry in the rain? 

Year 3 -The Franks & The Picts

This term, Year 3 have been learning all about fossils and ammonites in both art and geography.

In geography, we explored different types of rocks using magnifying glasses and discussed their features and how they were formed. In art, the children have been carefully sketching ammonites and creating impressive two-tone relief prints. 

Year 3 have also begun learning to play the ukulele. They can now name the different parts of the instrument and have been practising how to strum all four strings.  

Year 4 - The Huns & The Danes

We kicked off 2026 with a fascinating trip to the Hindu Mandir in Wellingborough, where we learnt about different gods and beliefs, as well as being incredibly impressed with all the paintings, ornaments and instruments. 

We have been writing about The Gut Garden (which included an experience day involving orange juice, crackers and tights!) and The Immune System and have been interested in reading “King of the Cloud Forests” by Michael Morpurgo, followed by “The Story of Planet Earth”. 

We are in full flow practising and improving on Times Tables Rockstars (a reminder the Multiplication check is 5 months away!) 

As part of our science unit, children were arranged standing in hoops to demonstrate how particles are arranged, depending on if they were a solid, liquid or a gas. 

Finally, the children have explored using charcoal, pencil or fine pen to create a picture on a landscape.  

Year 5 - The Gaels & The Jutes

Since returning from their Christmas break, Year 5 have stepped into the role of lifesavers during their PSHE lessons, learning how to respond calmly and confidently in emergency situations. They have practised placing a casualty into the recovery position and explored how to support someone experiencing an allergic reaction.

In science, children have been investigating the parts of a flower, carefully dissecting blooms to have a closer look at their structure.

Meanwhile, in DT, we may have discovered the next Gordon Ramsay, as pupils have been honing their culinary skills by preparing delicious leek and potato soup. 

Year 6  - The Angels and The Lombards

This term, Year 6 have been learning about Frozen Kingdom in Geography and had an exciting visit from Mike Collins who told us all about his Arctic adventures. He shared lots of pictures with us which gave us a really good insight into what it is like in the Arctic. In DT, we have been learning about bridges. We have learnt about the 4 main types of bridges, looked at shapes which are used to make bridges strong and have built bridges in a team and tested their strength. Our art unit – Inuit - has linked with our Geography project. We learnt about carving in Inuit art and completed some soap carving of Inuit animals.  

PE Dates for Next Half Term

Please see below for the PE days for your child's year group from after half-term:

EYFS: Wednesday (Indoor) and Thursday (Outdoor)

Year 1: Wednesday (Outdoor) and Thursday (Indoor)

Year 2: Wednesday (Indoor) and Friday (Outdoor)

Year 3: Thursday (Outdoor) and Friday (Indoor)

Year 4: Thursday (Indoor) and Friday (Outdoor)

Year 5: Monday (Outdoor) and Tuesday (Indoor)

Year 6: Monday (Indoor) and Wednesday (Outdoor)

 

PE Kit Expectations:

Tracksuit trousers/ shorts - plain black, dark navy or very dark grey

T-Shirt - plain white or house colour (School logo optional)

Jumper/tracksuit top - plain black, dark navy or very dark grey

Trainers

Please ensure your child wears their full PE kit on the appropriate days to allow them to participate fully in lessons and uphold the standards we set as a school community.

Thank you for your continued support.