Current Newsletter

23rd January 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

Sometimes our children truly blow me away with just how inspirational they are. Today, during our celebration worship, I had the privilege of awarding a certificate to a child in Reception who had shown exceptional kindness.

I asked Miss Bishop to explain the reason behind the certificate, and what she shared was truly heart-warming. This child, in our very youngest class, had earned a sticker for excellent tidying up at the end of the day. She felt that one of her friends had also done a great job and, rather than keeping the reward to herself, she very carefully split her sticker in half—keeping one half and giving the other to her friend. When Miss Bishop noticed this thoughtful act and rewarded her with additional stickers, she immediately shared those too.

This is a moment when our school values shine through: love for one another, joy in sharing special moments, and a determination to make those around us feel valued and important. If everyone in the world acted with even a small amount of the love that our Reception children show to one another, what an incredible place it would be!

Maths Success Across the School

Well done to our children in Wrens class who have received their Numbots certificates for learning their number facts—keep up the great work!

We are also delighted to see more and more children in Kingfishers and Kestrels turning their TTRS heatmaps green. I am sure there will be even more children next week proudly collecting their ‘Gone Green’ certificates. Fantastic effort everyone!

Online Learning Support

We were pleased to offer a drop-in session today for parents who were having difficulty connecting to:

• Numbots (Wrens)
• TTRS (Kingfishers)
• Doodlemaths (Kestrels)

If you are experiencing any technical issues accessing this homework, please contact the school office. We would be more than happy to arrange another support session next week.

A Reminder About Social Media

As always, we kindly remind parents to monitor any devices their children may be using and to have open conversations with them about the types of messages they send and receive. These discussions play an important role in helping children stay safe and make positive choices online.

Coffee Afternoon – You’re Invited!

Please do join us for our coffee afternoon on Monday after school. It would be lovely to see you there. This is a relaxed opportunity for you to share with us—what’s working well and where you feel we can improve. Your feedback is invaluable and helps us ensure that Great Wishford continues to be the very best school it can be for our community.

We look forward to welcoming you for a cuppa.

Warm wishes,

Hannah Shillito 

23.01.2026 - Update

Wren Class have had a lovely start to the term, exploring our animal topics by sorting and naming different creatures and creating zoos, with Reception focusing on birds this week—please do share any photos of nests you spot at home. The children have also taken part in a fun jam‑sandwich activity to understand the importance of being clear and specific when giving instructions, which linked brilliantly to our work on writing instructions inspired by How to Clean a Woolly Mammoth. In Maths they have shown great determination while learning about shapes, and in PSHE they have been setting personal goals. Our Rock Steady club has started too, with some children joining their own bands and growing in confidence. Throughout all their learning, the children continue to show joy in their activities, love in how they work together, and determination in taking on new challenges.

Start of term

This term in Wrens, the children will be exploring a range of exciting topics, including learning all about different animals in Science and discovering how schools from the past compare to the ones they know today in History. In RE, we’ll be finding out who Muslims are and what is important in their daily lives, encouraging the children to learn with curiosity and respect. Our Reception children will also be diving into their theme of Amazing Animals, enjoying stories, play and creative activities as they explore the wonderful world of creatures big and small.

23.01.2026 Update

It's been a fantastic few weeks in Kingfisher Class! 

In Science, the children have explored how vibrations travel by constructing string telephones. In Art, they have shown great precision experimenting with tints and shades. During PSHE, the class have been focusing on community by designing inclusive gardens for various purposes. 

We have been very lucky to have Miss B in Kingfisher Class, who has been teaching us to speak French! 

Well done on a brilliant start the to term Kingfishers! 

Start of term 

Welcome to an exciting new term in Kingfisher Class! This term, we are diving into multiplication and division in Maths. In Writing, we are going to be creating imaginative short stories, inspired by the text The Incredible Book Eating Boy. In Science, we’ll be making some noise, investigating how sound travels through vibrations. In History, we are marching back to ancient times to uncover the impact of the Roman invasion of Britain. In Re, we will be exploring the question ‘What do Hindus believe God is like?’. It’s set to be a fantastic term of discovery!

Kestrel Class Update 23.01.2026

So far in Kestrel class (yr5 and yr6 ) we have accomplished a variety of experiences. First, we will go over the visitors that have been helping us, such as Miss B, who is a French college student and helps us learn French. We have also had a professional music teacher come in to help us learn traditional English dances and pop songs. Additionally, we have been lucky enough to have Rocksteady (a music company ,which goes to schools in Britain, to form bands with musical students) come to our school to teach us about music.

Next, we will talk about our curriculum subjects. In Maths, we are learning all about fractions and their many properties and in Writing we are preparing to write a non-chronological report about an animal of our choice. We are also doing science and history, in which we are learning about the ancient Greeks and classifying animals on their characteristics.  PE is being done by Mr Hunt who is teaching us how to play dodge ball and stay healthy in health and fitness.

In Kestrel class, we now have the ‘wow wall’ , which is helping us to put more effort and determination  into our work. It also gives us confidence as seeing our work on a special wall can boost joy (one of our school values) and creativity (the will to get on there again).

We also have our Spelling homework , which is given out every Friday to practice over the weekend. We do the test on Tuesday which is to improve our spelling skills, We use our curriculum spellings and spellings with specific suffixes in our tests. This greatly helps us with our spelling and PAG for the future.

Overall, it has been an amazing term and we greatly look forward to our trip to Ufton court with Heytsbury primary (contact the office for more information) to pretend to be Greeks! We are all looking forward to the rest of the school year followed by half term.

Written by :  Daisy and Darcey

Kestrel Class is ready for another busy and exciting term filled with learning and new opportunities. In Maths, we will be exploring fractions and decimals, building on our understanding and applying these skills in different contexts. Alongside this, we will continue our daily times tables practice, use Doodle Learn and take part in extra problem-solving sessions to challenge ourselves and develop confidence.

In writing,  punctuation and grammar will be a focus throughout the term as we hone and master key skills. We will then build towards writing a non-chronological report linked to our science topic of classifying animals big and small, before moving on to creating dramatic moments in a narrative. Our reading journey will take us into the pages of No Ballet Shoes in Syria, a story that will spark discussion and reflection.

Our PSHE lessons will explore the theme of dreams and goals, encouraging us to think about aspirations and how to achieve them. In topic lessons, we will dive into history with the question, “What did the Greeks ever do for us?” and in RE, we will consider “Why do Hindus want to be good?” These thought-provoking topics will help us understand the world and its cultures more deeply. PE will keep us active and engaged as we learn and play tag rugby, developing teamwork and resilience.

Just a reminder that spelling homework will be sent home every Friday in a spelling folder. Spellings are to be learnt and homework is due in on the following Tuesday for our weekly spelling test. Keep going with Doodle Learn activities in grammar and in maths as well as times tables practice on TTRS. Make sure to keep reading at home and handing in your reading bookmarks so we can celebrate your progress. 

With so much to look forward to, this term promises to be full of exciting learning experiences for Kestrel Class!