A message from Mr Copeland
It is hard to believe that this half term is over already as the time has flown by since returning to school on 7 January. Despite the cold, grey weather there has been a wealth of learning in school, both academic and personal.
helpful and showing kindness to others. These soft skills are very important and we aim to develop the children’s character alongside their academic progress in order for them to grow into well-rounded, caring and empathetic
During this half term we have celebrated many different themes including Chinese New Year, Bird Week and Children’s Mental Health Week. Throughout this newsletter you will see what each year group has been busy with and there are some key dates for your diary in the run up to Easter. At Hymers Hessle Mount we are very proud of the CARE Code and House System. This half term a number of pupils have been awarded merit certificates for following the CARE Code for reasons such as: being a good friend, looking after a new pupil, displaying good manners, being
birds, some children got to feed the parrots and many children enjoyed having their photograph taken, which Mrs Lawson has kindly shared with you all. It was great to welcome the colourful, intelligent and funny guests to the school, watch them perform a number of tricks and even say “hello”!
On Wednesday 29 January, 2A and Mrs Burns delivered a super assembly about Chinese New Year. They taught the rest of the school about The Great Race, and zodiac animals, and we learnt that we are entering the year of the snake. Each pupil received a Chinese lantern and we were also
people. On the final day of half term we celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week with the children rotating around a carousel of activities in House groups. This was a great illustration of the importance of the linear grouping of the House System. Older children responsibly looked after younger pupils; they set an example as positive role models and siblings in different year groups were able to spend the afternoon together.
During Bird Week we were excited to welcome Parrots and Pirates to the school. Each year group enjoyed learning insightful facts about the
treated to a Chinese dragon dance. Well done 2A!
We are already looking forward to some exciting events after half term including our third annual House Pancake Relay Race, World Book Day and the Year 1 production. I hope that you all have a restful half term break. We look forward to welcoming the pupils back to enjoy (hopefully) a warmer, drier second half to the Spring Term.
It has been a wonderful first half term of 2025 and we have welcomed many new children into the Pre-School. I would like to say well done to all existing and new children for being kind and friendly with each other.
We began by thinking about the season of winter and were delighted that the weather gave us a flurry of snowflakes and a little ice. Unfortunately, there was not enough snow to build anything but we have enjoyed being creative and making our own snowmen with felt hats and scarves to keep them warm. We are also getting much more independent with fastening the zips on our coats and working out how to pop gloves or mittens on. When playing outside it has been cold enough for us to see our breath most days!
In our water play, we explored large pieces of ice and wondered how
long they would take to melt. Some Arctic animals visited the icebergs and we had penguins slip and slide down the ice on their tummies and splash into the freezing cold water.
Our Winter theme continued with reading One Snowy Night, which was on the theme of coming in from the cold to the warmth of friends.
We took an imaginary visit to Antarctica with the book Penguin Huddle where we learnt that penguins stand really close together to stay warm. It was very exciting to look at our classroom world map to find the real Antarctica together. We made lovely creative penguins that are now proudly sitting on our world map in their huddle. Another wonderful experience was when the macaw parrots visited us to share their flying skills and help us to learn more about them. We enjoyed looking at their magnificent tail feathers and very sharp, pointy beaks. As part
We cannot believe how quickly this half term has flown by - we are now halfway through the academic year! We started January by making New Year’s promises and hanging ribbons on the trees outside to cement them. We have explored our winter role play areas, thought about seasonal changes from autumn to winter and learnt about the different garden birds we can see in our country. The visit from Parrots and Pirates was very exciting; we had a super time learning different facts about the birds, watching them fly and doing tricks. Some of us were even brave enough to hold one of the birds on our arm!
of our parrot learning we pretended to be a parrot chick curled up inside an egg, then hatch outed and began to explore the world around us. We created 3D parrots with large wings, long legs and bright feathers on their heads to fly across our world map to South America.
Three little pigs and a wolf was another exciting tale which we used to learn about taking on a character role, acting out the story together. Many of the group took part by playing either the wolf or pig parts, whilst others watched on as an audience. As a Pre-School we have decided that the wolf is an unkind character and maybe should stop chasing the pigs around and start following the CARE Code!
We are looking forward to a break at half term and to returning back for more fun learning as we move into spring and towards Easter.
We also found out how people celebrate Chinese New Year and listened to The Great Race story. It was fascinating to watch clips of Chinese New Year parades with fireworks and even experienced some dragon dancing in our hall!
In Maths we have learnt about mass, capacity, length, height and time. We have also been perfecting our number formation using mnemonic rhymes. Phonics lessons have seen us become more confident readers and writers; we have started to learn some very difficult Common Exception Words. We had fun listening to Lost And Found and The Emperor’s Egg in our Literacy lessons and finding out lots of interesting facts about polar animals. We ended the half term on a high by taking part in different calming and sensory activities for Children’s Mental Health Week. It was lovely to spend time relaxing, focussing on our well-being and, above all, having fun with our friends!
We are looking forward to a well-deserved rest over the holidays but also to the next half term, as the teachers have told us it is going to be very exciting!
YEAR
It has been another busy half term for us in Year 1! The children came back to school after the Christmas break full of energy and ready to learn. We have welcomed some new children in Year 1 too, which has been fantastic.
They have settled in beautifully and the boys and girls have been so kind and helpful, showing them where things go and explaining routines. We are so proud of how hard all the children have worked.
In English our focus texts have all been about birds, specifically penguins! The term started with a mysterious blue egg appearing in our classroom. The children loved guessing what was inside and were delighted when it hatched to reveal a gorgeous blue penguin! We read Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek and Jonty Gentoo, which is Julia Donaldson’s latest story. The children have acted out scenes together, retold the stories in their own words, written speech and
thought bubbles, and even wrote a penguin song! They have picked up lots of interesting penguin facts along the way, which they used this week to create their own fact files.
During Bird Week, we welcomed some feathery friends into school as the Parrots and Pirates came to visit. We learnt about the three parrots called Inca, Aurora and Mishka, who wowed us with their tricks, such as tidying up toys and filling a piggy bank!
The children all got the chance to feed and hold the parrots, and loved recalling the amazing facts we found out. We also looked at the story A Tale of Two Feathers, which was all about nocturnal and diurnal birds and animals. The children have particularly enjoyed our Colour Chaos artwork this term, which has seen us explore the work of famous artists such as Piet Mondrian, Mark Rothko and Paul Klee. We have learnt about the primary and secondary colours, investigating how we can create different shades by adjusting how much of each colour we use. The children have really impressed us with their work and careful attention to detail.
We have also already begun to practise our Year 1 production of There’s a Sunflower in my Supper. You should have received details of your child’s part. We have been working hard to learn the songs and look forward to continuing the rehearsals after the half term break. The children - and us - are so excited to perform to you all later in the spring!
Have a lovely break, everyone!
The children have once again worked really hard and we are so proud of their amazing effort this half term.
In English, we have been reading the heart-warming The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson, about a little bird who overcomes his fear of the dark. This nicely linked to our Bird Week topic, in which the children read non-fiction texts. Everyone proudly presented their bird fact file to the class and we were all left amazed by the new information we have learnt. Our promising artists have been creating some delightful pieces in Art, learning to draw owls and adding texture to their sketches by also exploring the different grades of pencils.
We are bridging the half term with another inspiring book, Billy and the Minpins by Roald Dahl, and we are excited to see who Billy will find in the Forest of Sin: Will it be the Terrible Bloodsuckling Toothpluckling Stonechuckling Spittler?
As always, we have had a hands-on approach in Maths; this time the children were making amounts with British coins and notes. Using the 2p, 5p, and 10p coins helps to consolidate their recall of the multiplication facts: 2x,
5x and 10x tables.
Whilst exploring the properties of materials in our Science lessons, the children were very excited to test protective structures, which they designed to encase marshmallow teacakes. We tested them by dropping them from a height to see which design protected their teacakes the best. Another weekly highlight for the children is visiting the forest school area,
where we made bird feeders and owls using natural materials.
We were also extremely proud of 2A as they presented with confidence their Chinese New Year assembly to the whole school. Gong Hei Fat Choy!
