Nativity lines and Costumes

                            

If your child has brought home lines to learn for their part in the nativity, please can you support them at home to learn their lines and deliver them with lots of volume and expression!

Your child will have a slip in their school bag to let you know what they will need for their costume. We have tried to provide as many costumes as possible, with those we have in school.

 

Please bring costumes into school when you have them, in a named bag.

The children will be having their photograph taken in their costumes on Wednesday 5th December so please bring them into school no later than this.

Many thanks for your support.

Mrs Morris & Mrs Fox

Pop Art

Grasshoppers have been exploring ‘Pop Art’, this term. We have been looking at the art work of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Taking inspiration from their style of art, we have created pop art portraits, inspired by Andy Warhol and pop art words, inspired by Roy Lichtenstein. We have used his ‘Ben Day’ dot technique on our backgrounds.

CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY CANCELLED 24TH OCTOBER 2025

Due to a change in circumstances we are having to cancel Celebration Assembly tomorrow, 24th October.  We apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment.  All the children who were due to be celebrated will be celebrated in the first Celebration Assembly after half term.

1 Minute Maths Free app

1 Minute Maths

To support your child and help them build greater number confidence and fluency, a free app is available to download via the White Rose Maths Hub website. It is an excellent resource that we would encourage you to download and use with your child.

Click the link below and follow the instructions.

https://whiteroseeducation.com/1-minute-maths#download

Spelling test

The spelling test for this week will be on Monday as I was out of class, on a course, this morning. The children can use ‘Spelling Shed’ to learn their spellings or use their spelling books to do ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’.

Many thanks

Spellings/Phonics/Reading books

Spelling test

As I am out on a course tomorrow, the spelling test for this week will be on Monday instead. It gives the children some extra time to learn their spellings. Their spelling list is on Spelling Shed in ‘Assignments’, if the children would like to use ‘Spelling Shed’ to learn their words.

 

Phonics

Some children have a little plastic bag in their reading wallet which contains the phonic sounds that they don’t yet know. Please could you support your child to learn these sounds.

Google ‘Sound Sayer’ for a brilliant game, which says the sound and gives a virtual pack of words to read containing the chosen sound.

 

Reading books

Just a reminder that the storybooks the children are bringing home are books that they may not be able to read themselves. These are just books to share for pleasure, with an adult if need be. You do not need to write these into their reading record.

The Twinkl phonics books are their main reading book and are closely matched to the phonic sounds that they know. Please record in their yellow reading records when they have read and which page they are up to or if they have completed the book. Reading books are checked daily.

Thank you very much for your support with spellings, reading and phonics. The input from home has a huge impact.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions. Our class email is: grasshoppers@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

 

 

 

Spellings – Grasshoppers

Please click on the link below to access a letter with information regarding weekly spelling tests, for children in Grasshoppers.

Just for this week, the children will bring home a blue spelling on Monday (15.9.25), with their first list of spellings.

They will be tested on these words on Thursday (18.9.25) as we focused on these words in class last week so the children have already had lots of opportunity to learn them.

Grasshoppers Spellings Information

Many thanks

 

Nasal Flu Immunisation – Wednesday 24th September

The Immunisation Team from Shropshire Community Health will be visiting the school on Wednesday 24th September to administer the Nasal Flu Immunisation to all of our pupils.
Please find attached a letter giving further details and  which includes the link for you to provide or deny your consent for your child to have the Nasal Flu Immunisation. This link closes at 9.00am on Wednesday 17th September.  If you miss this deadline there is also a form for you to complete and return to the school office.

Nature Hunt – Mr Smith’s Garden

Last Thursday morning, Grasshoppers went on a Nature Walk through the village to Mr Smith’s beautiful garden.

The children had two sheets with photographs of a variety of different plants, flowers and trees. The children had to find each one and tick them off their sheet. They then had some time sketching their favourite ones.

Thank you very much to Mr Smith for inviting us to spend time enjoying his garden.

Last Forest School Session

On Monday afternoon, Grasshoppers had their last Forest School session together.

They had a lovely time playing in the mud kitchen, making dens and pushing each other on the tractor. They also used elder to make beads by hollowing out the middle. They then threaded the pieces onto string to make bracelets and necklaces.

Mrs Rollings and Trish got the campfire going and the children toasted marshmallows to make S’mores.

Grasshoppers would like to thank Mrs Rollings and Trish for the wonderful sessions they have provided for them, throughout the year.

 

Stained glass windows

In RE, the children have made stained glass windows, using coloured tissue paper. They were exploring how the images on stained glass windows are used to tell stories or give a message, in places of worship.

 

Science – Trees, Plants & Flowers

Grasshoppers have finished their science work for this year. We very much enjoyed learning about trees, plants and flowers.

They are also doing some lovely printing work, in art, of plants and flowers inspired by the textile designers, Orla Kiely and Mary White.

The children have planted bean seeds and made cress seed heads of the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, which we explored in our English work.

Stan’s bean plant is in the lead at the moment!

 

 

Forest School – Planting, Printing & Playing

Grasshoppers had a lovely afternoon at Forest School yesterday. The children planted bean seeds and had a go at printing, using ferns and other leaves and plants.

They also enjoyed playing on the mini tractor, making dens and building nests for mini-beasts.

 

 

Tax-free Payments – Pioneer Centre

A question has been asked regarding paying for next year’s Pioneer Centre visit using tax-free childcare.

 

Tax-free childcare cannot be used for child care during school hours. However, as a large proportion of the residential takes place outside of school hours, £100 of the total can be paid via the gov.uk’s tax-free service.

 

If paying this way, please contact the school office so that we can ensure that this proportion of payment is accounted for.

Pioneer Centre Visit – December 2025

We are very excited for our next stay at The Pioneer Centre, which will take place from Wednesday 3rd – Friday 5th December 2025! Children who are currently in Y2 and Y3 (who will be in Y3 and Y4 next academic year), will be bringing a letter home today about this exciting residential trip. You can also see a copy of this below. Please get in touch with me at dragonflies@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk if you need any further information.

Many thanks,

Mrs Heath

Pioneer letter 1 – 2025

KS1 Cross Country Competition

Next Tuesday, we have a KS1 Cross Country Competition after school at Oldbury Wells.

Those that have asked for letters in school have been given one. However, all pupils in KS1 are able to join. The letter can be found here (KS1 Cross Country 2025).

 

Myself and the Bronze ambassadors will be at the event to help organise children ahead of their races.

Shrewsbury Museum Trip

Yesterday, Grasshoppers went on their class trip to Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery. The children took part in a Great Fire of London workshop in the morning, led by our learning officer, Rose.

The children created a timeline of the events and dressed up as some of the key people, including Samuel Pepys, Thomas Farrinor, Thomas Bloodworth and King Charles II.

They took part in four activities: Using a quill and ink to write, as Samuel Pepys did in his diary. Making a pomander using herbs and spices, making leather goods by threading wool and strips of leather and constructing a large Tudor house, using wooden frames and making the walls by weaving thin canes between wooden poles.

We also did a treasure hunt to find precious items that people would have tried to save in the fire.

After lunch, we went on a guided walk around the town to look at the Tudor buildings. We looked out for pegs that joined the beams together and carpenters’ marks on the wooden beams. We saw hooks that shop owners would have hung their produce from and the decorative patterns that meant the owners of the building would have been rich. We looked at the names of the streets and worked out what might have been sold in the shops there. We also found some very narrow passages which showed us just how close the building were built and how the fire would have spread so easily.

We had a wonderful day, the children were so inquisitive and engaged and we learnt lots of new things.

 

 

Class Trip

On Monday, Grasshoppers have their class trip to Shrewsbury Museum.

Please can the children bring a coat as, in the afternoon, we will be doing a guided walk, around the town centre. There is a chance of light rain for Monday.

Please also remember a non spill water bottle and packed lunch, if they haven’t ordered one from school.

Many thanks.

Helping-your-child-read Workshop

Thank you for filling in the form sent out regarding the helping-your-child-read workshop.

Based on the response, we will be holding a session at 14:00 on Monday 10th February.

 

During the session, Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Fox will be covering how phonics/reading is taught in school – as well as ways to effectively help your child when reading at home. After the presentations (inc. any questions) has finished, the children from Fireflies and Grasshoppers will join the session for you to listen to them read.

 

Please indicate on the following form (if you intend on attending or would with a different time): https://forms.office.com/e/fQrxLm6g6d

Spaces still left on after school clubs

Spaces are still available on the following clubs

As at 20/01/25

Monday Board Games All classes
Tuesday Textiles Bees & Scorpions
Tuesday Athletics D/F, Bees & Scorpions
Wednesday Yoga for relaxation All classes
Wednesday Tennis / Badminton D/F, Bees & Scorpions
Thursday Lego All classes
Friday Multi sports / Invasion games All classes

 

 

Please contact Mrs Godfrey

Spring Term in Grasshoppers

Welcome to the Spring term!

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you have enjoyed the Christmas break.

Our Spring curriculum is called ‘Famous Faces’.

Curriculum Overview Spring Term 2025

If you would like to get in touch, at any point this term, please use our class email and I will get back to you as quickly as possible.      grasshoppers@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Many thanks,

Nicky Morris

Listening to Your Child Read Workshop

We are looking to run a workshop in school – led by Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Morris – about listening to your child read at home. This will explain how reading is taught at school – particularly how we teach phonics.

This will help ensure the practice of reading children are doing at home links closely to what we do in school.

 

We would really appreciate if all parents of children in Fireflies and Grasshoppers (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) could fill in the following form so that we can plan this effectively: https://forms.office.com/e/6XiUWAXX1S.

After-School Clubs for Spring Half Term

Noticeboard poster Spring Term 1 – 2025

Please note that after-school clubs will now need to be booked and paid for on ParentPay.

 

To so, please click the yellow box “Pay for other items”:

This will open up all the available options to pay:

 

Care club bookings should be being paid this way (unless using the tax-free childcare payment system).