Suckley School
Happy, Aspirational and Ready for Life
Summer Term
Dear Woodpeckers Parents and Carers,
I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and managed to enjoy some time together as a family. It has been wonderful to welcome the children back to school—they’ve returned full of enthusiasm and are ready for a busy and exciting Summer term!
We have begun the term by exploring our class text One Little Word by Joseph Coelho. Through this thoughtful and inspiring book, the children will explore themes of mindfulness, self-reflection, and the power of small changes. This will lead into some meaningful discussions and support the children in writing their own persuasive letters.
This term, we will also be launching our new topic, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” As part of this, we will be reading The Wizard of Oz in preparation for the KS2 play at the end of the term. This year we are incredibly excited to be performing The Wizard of Oz at the Conquest Theatre – more details will be coming your way very soon!
The children will also investigate Victorian Britain around 1900, when the book was written, and compare life in Kansas City with life in the UK. This topic will allow the children to make exciting links between history, geography, and literature. Further details can be found on the attached topic web.
Multiplication Tables Check – Year 4 only
The Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) will take place between Monday 1st June and Friday 12th June 2026. This is a short statutaory online test for all year 4 pupils designed to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so additional support can be provided. Children have been practicing their multiplications daily at school since September but to help support your child, please encourage them to practice their multiplication tables to 12 x 12 at home. Little and often is the key—practice makes permanent.
For further information, please review the government website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/multiplication-tables-check-information-for-parents
Reading
Reading remains a key focus at Suckley. Regular practice helps build confidence, fluency, and a love of reading. Please make sure your child brings their reading book and log to school every day. Listening to your child read and recording this in their reading log is incredibly valuable and greatly supports their progress. Once a book has been completed, children are able to change it after we have checked their comprehension. If your child is not enjoying their current book, we actively encourage them to choose a new one, as fostering a true love of reading is so important.
Spellings
We reassessed spelling levels at the end of the Spring term. New spellings will be practised from Monday every week and also available online at https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb/. Please supervise online activity for safety. Spelling books should come to school daily, and we encourage extra practice at home.
There won’t be formal spelling tests in Years 3 and 4. Instead, spellings are practiced daily during morning skills sessions, where children explore word meanings and patterns—an approach proven to boost retention.
P.E. and Forest School
P.E. will now be on Monday afternoons this term. Please ensure your child has a full P.E. kit, including suitable footwear, and that long hair is tied back. We recommend leaving P.E. bags at school and taking them home at half term for washing.
Forest School sessions will begin on Wednesday 22nd April. Please refer to the separate letter sent out this week for further details and all additional information regarding Forest School.
Swimming
KS2 swimming sessions will take place during the weeks commencing 15th June and 22nd June and will run every afternoon over this two‑week period. This intensive programme has proven to be highly effective, enabling children to develop confidence and make rapid progress in their swimming. For confident swimmers, it also provides valuable opportunities to refine skills and techniques within smaller group sessions. Further information will be shared closer to the time.
As always, my door is open—please don’t hesitate to pop in for a chat or get in touch if you have any questions or if there’s anything I can do to support your child during this final term. It promises to be a busy and exciting one, with musicals and swimming to mention just a few. Can’t wait!
Woodpeckers independent research into Tornadoes, what they are and how they occur! 🌪️
English - exploring Chapter 1 ‘The Cyclone’ of the Wizard of Oz through freeze frames 🎭
TCS Mini London Marathon (Suckley Edition!) - all children amazingly running 2 miles in support of Sundays race 🏃♂️🏃♀️🏃
🎨🖌️Incredible portraits in the style of Allison Colpoys the illustrator of our whole school book ‘One Little Word’ by Joseph Coelho
WE’RE BACK! 🌳🌲🪻 First Forest School of summer term - back to exploring and making wild garlic butter
PCSO Ashley Smith talks about the importance of being safe online and knowing your age ratings of games 👮♂️🚓🚨
Exploring our Whole School Book through oracy 📖 🎭
