Beech Grove Primary School
Spring Term 2026
Head Teacher Message
Happy New Year everyone and welcome to Spring term 2026. The time has flown since children started their new classes in September! This Spring term will fly even faster no doubt as the evenings become lighter and the daffodils start to poke through putting a smile on everyone’s face.
As Head teacher of your school, I continue to be so proud of all of the children and the way they have started back since returning from the Christmas break. Their resilience and adaptability remain outstanding.
This was picked up on and noticed in abundance during the schools Ofsted Inspection on the 22nd and 23rd of October. The HMI Ofsted Inspector was blown away of what he described to us as ‘school is an oasis of calm’ for all children at Beech Grove.
“Pupils at Beech Grove are proud of their school, welcoming visitors with exemplary manners and conduct. They understand the school’s ‘next-door neighbour’ principles and the school’s five golden rules well. Pupils consistently show high levels of respect to adults and to one another. They are happy and safe. Highly trained staff put pupils’ needs first in all they do. Pupils thrive in the warm and nurturing environment that the school fosters.” Ofsted 2024/25. What a fantastic first paragraph of the Ofsted Report to read. I’m sure you’ll all agree.
This term we hope to pick up where we left off before Christmas with our children achieving good progress within their core subject areas, due to the tremendous hard-working attitude of themselves and the dedicated staff team here at school.
“Leaders have created a culture of high expectations for pupils’ achievement. Pupils meet these expectations… Behaviour across school is of a high standard. Well-trained staff create a purposeful learning atmosphere. Pupils’ learning is not disrupted by others. ”Ofsted 2024/25.
Children’s classroom and corridor manners remain amazing which continues to maintain a lovely, positive and caring atmosphere around school. The schools “Next Door Neighbour Qualities” of Respect, Tolerance and Kindness are certainly being upheld. The children take great pride in this in and around school and it is wonderful to see. Please keep having a bit of fun at home and test the children regularly on what it takes in school (and the community) to be a good “Next Door Neighbour”!
This term we will also be hoping for some lovely spring sunshine so that children can make full use of our Secret Garden in lesson time and maybe plant some wonderful spring flowers for us all to enjoy (even the ducks!!!). I always think that spring flowers with their vibrant colours and freshness cheer everyone up from the gloom of the long, dark and wet winter months. They are a sign that lighter nights and warmer weather is on its way! (fingers crossed)
Our teachers have lots of interesting activities planned for this term and hope that you will enjoy hearing what children have been working on at consultation meetings/phone conversations, and will support them with their homework and reading outside of school.
Please, please, please x10000 keep encouraging your child to read at home. Reading is the key to everything! The children are showing such a passion and love of reading in school, we hope you will continue this with them at home.
We also hope that every effort is made by you for every child to attend school regularly. It is so important for your child’s development. We can’t continue to stress this enough. (95% and above is GOOD attendance). As a school we need to be better on the first and last day of terms. Far too many children have these particular days off.
In addition to this being ON TIME every day for school is absolutely vital so that your child does not miss any of their learning. It can be really upsetting and frustrating for children if they come into a lesson that is part way through and they’ve missed vital teacher input and modelling. It can cause them great distress and being left with a feeling of not understanding what is expected of them.
Its really pleasing to see that our ‘lates’ are reducing and that you are all working really hard to support school on this issue. Well done everyone. Keep up the great efforts. Let’s have all the children in on time every day!
Here’s to a really positive Spring term!
John Dixon
Our work for this term
English
In AS1, we follow the Read Write Inc Phonics Scheme. Children reading RWI books have daily Read Write Inc sessions pitched at their individual reading level. We will be progressing through our RWI groups, revisiting misconceptions and learning new sounds on a daily basis. The children that are in Year 1, will work towards their Phonics Screening Check in June. (Look out for the alien word homework and ask your child to teach you about ‘special friends’.
Those children who have completed the RWI scheme have daily reading comprehension and Writing lessons linked to the topic. This term, we will be learning how to extend and improve sentences using different sentence types and conjunctions to make our writing more interesting. We will have daily Grammarsaurus sessions focusing on pre-fixes, suffixes and spelling rules. We will be looking at information texts, retelling stories and writing alternative versions of stories with accurate punctuation and grammar.
Every afternoon, we will be using ‘Talk Through Stories’ during storytime to deepen children’s comprehension and vocabulary.
Maths
Children working at Reception level will follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme. Through this, they will learn to subitise (recognise how many without counting), compare quantities, count accurately, and develop an understanding of how numbers up to 5 are made. Please support your child at home by encouraging them to practise correct number formation and to recognise, count and make numbers within 10.
Children working at Year 1 and Year 2 level will follow the White Rose Maths Scheme in their learning. This term, children working at a Year 1 level will continue to build their understanding of number, alongside developing formal written methods for addition and subtraction. The children will use all four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and apply these skills to solve word problems. They will also explore statistics, time and money. Regular practice of times tables will take place in class.
During the first half term, children working at a Y2 level, will revisit and strengthen their understanding of place value, working with numbers up to and beyond 100. They will represent numbers in different ways, such as using part–whole models and place value charts, and will consolidate addition and subtraction with one- and two-digit numbers. The children will also learn to recognise, make and count amounts of money using coins and notes, and real-life experiences such as handling money at home or when shopping can be very helpful. By the end of Year 2, children are expected to know their 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables, so support at home with times table practice and completion of maths homework is greatly appreciated. Children can practise by saying their tables aloud, answering quick-fire questions, and using online resources such as Seesaw and BBC Super Movers.
Topic
Our topic for Spring 1 is ‘Mix It Up!’ – This half term, the children be investigating materials and colours. Through hands-on science activities, the children will learn about different materials, how they can be changed, and what happens when materials are mixed together. In art, the children will experiment with colour mixing, exploring how new colours can be created and used in their artwork. This topic encourages curiosity, creativity and practical exploration.
Our topic for Spring 2 is ‘Healthy Living’–
In this topic, the children will learn about keeping their bodies healthy, including making healthy food choices, exercising, and understanding the importance of good hygiene. Through discussions, practical activities and stories, the children will develop an awareness of how to look after themselves and make healthy choices in their everyday lives.
This term we will continue to model positive interactions with others and will provide regular opportunities for the children to engage in play and social interactions with others. We will discuss the skills needed to become a good friend and what to do if you want to or do not want to play with somebody We will help the children to recognise that we all have similarities and differences and we can all be friends and work/play together.
Keeping Safe and Healthy
During this term we will be focusing on how keep ourselves and others safe and healthy.
We will explore different ways to keep ourselves healthy, such as eating balanced meals and taking part in regular exercise. The children will also learn about how medicines help us in everyday life and the importance of staying safe around harmful or dangerous liquids.
Jigsaw- We will be highlighting the importance of feeling safe and happy in a school environment and also why being unique is special. We will also be reminding children of the importance of being safe in our local area and people who help us. We will be talking about dressing appropriately for the weather (please provide warm coats, gloves, hats as the weather begins to cool, as we will be going outdoors to look at seasonal change). We regularly handwashing throughout the day and will highlight the importance of good hand hygiene and its impact on our health as a life skill.
In AS1, we want to help prepare children for adulthood and do this by working towards PFA pathways in their Education Health Care Plans. Planning is centred around the individual child. We try to include the child’s aspirations and abilities to support them to achieve their full potential. Ultimately, we want your child to live a happy and successful life and we want their time in school to be a positive experience.
Preparing for Adulthood Pathways include:
- Good health
- Friendships, Relationships & Community
- Independent Living
- Employment
Dates for your Diary
Spring Term: Monday 5th January 2026 to Friday 20th February 2026
Half Term: Monday 23rd February 2026 to Friday 27th February 2026