What’s On – Friday 23rd October

Message from Mrs. Castell

Dear Parents,

As we come to the end of a half term like no other, I would like to thank you for your support as we continue to deal with the impact of Covid. The real stars as always are the children, who came back to school so well, or in the case of our new children, settled so well. The return to school has been a real success in terms of attendance and the children being ready to learn. I am so proud of our team, who have continued to do their very best for our children while taking on extra responsibilities, such as establishing different ways of communicating and additional cleaning. Our Governors are constantly scrutinising our risk assessment and supporting the staff to develop the school. They have issued a letter to parents which is included at the end of this newsletter. I would also like to thank all staff and governors, in particular our Deputy Head Mrs. Wilson, for looking after things while I have been absent this week. Thank you for your kind words at this time.

Thank you for supporting our non-uniform day today in aid of WISPA. I hope you can also participate in the Pumpkin Scavenger Hunt over half term. Every penny raised pays for extra resources for the children. Our budgets are even tighter than usual this year due to Covid measures costing the school thousands of pounds. Sanctus charity would also like to thank parents of both schools for your generous Harvest donations, which were collected today.

If you haven't already done so, please see the lovely virtual Harvest Festival on our website. Mrs Winsley has also taken some wonderful photos and video of the Parrots children enjoying their Forest Schools lessons. Parrots will have one more session after half term, followed by Turtles from 10th November. This will mean that both classes have an equal number of lessons.

The next half term would normally see many festive events in the run up to Christmas. These of course cannot take place, so we will do things differently, but there will still be lots of festive cheer! A different menu will begin after half term, with our new catering company Miquill. We now have some ketchup for fish and chip day (no sugar or extra salt), please let us know if you do not want your child to have it.

As we begin the half term holiday, I must remind you that under Tier 2 restrictions the mixing of households indoors is not allowed and you must maintain social distancing between households outside. Councillor Ray Gooding from Essex County Council has written to all parents about Essex's move to Tier 2 and Director of Public Health Mike Gogarty has issued a Q&A sheet about what the alert level means for you and your family. These letters are in the Community Links section of our website, where we publish important local information and useful resources for parents. Also of note this week are details of Chelmsford Foodbank, the October issue of Kidaround magazine and a note from Writtle Parish Council about the Warren Farm development.

Finally, can I thank you all for supporting our Health and Happiness Hub through your Co-op membership card over the past year. This initiative ends tomorrow, so you still have one more day to support us! We look forward to receiving news of the total amount raised and will let you know after half term.

Have a safe and restful half term break. We will see you again on Monday 2nd November.

Helen Castell

Awards

Well done to the following children in Years 1 and 2 who have been awarded Shooting Stars for setting a great example to others this week.

Sharks: Ruby for amazing art and Casper for magical maths!
Dolphins: Anwyn for her amazing book writing and illustration skills and Lucie for her marvellous maths!
Turtles: Arjana for trying really hard in English and using a sound mat to help her write! Olivia for really taking pride and care over her work!
Parrots: Daria for using initial sounds during the phonics lessons! River for being such a kind and caring friend to all of the Parrots - we'll miss you, good luck in your new school!

HIPIP awards were given to Iris and Michael in Sharks, Iris and Tia in Dolphins, Lincoln and Coen in Turtles and Michael and Thomas in Parrots for demonstrating our value of independence this week.

Notices

  • If any parents have an old tent they wish to donate to Forest Schools, Mrs. Winsley would be very grateful for it. Thank you!
  • Now that the weather is turning cold and wet, please remember to send your child in with a coat every day!
  • Please email us at parents@writtleinfantschool.com if you need to contact Mrs. Castell or the office. Class email addresses are listed in the year group sections below.

Year 2 Weekly Plan

Dolphins class logoSharks class logo

We have made some wonderful sculptures this week, in the style of Giacometti! Please take a look at our videos - we're sure you'll be very proud of the children's work!

Here’s what to look forward to after half term:

English:
Reading/writing: Firework themed descriptive writing, poetry and guided reading
Phonics: Phoneme ur written as ir, er and ear
Maths: Addition and Subtraction - Adding and subtracting 2 digit and 1 digit numbers
Computing: E-safety
PSHE: Amazing Minds Body Thinking module and family and people who are important to me Art: Firework themed paintings
History: Guy Fawkes

Don’t forget to try and complete your Autumn 1 Activity Passport. Let us know when you have completed it and we will send you an e-certificate. Many thanks for your support, patience and understanding during these unusual and often challenging times. It is greatly appreciated.

Our email addresses are dolphins@writtleinfantschool.com and sharks@writtleinfantschool.com.

Year 1 Weekly Plan

Parrots class logoTurtles class logo

We have had the best half term, settling into Year One after such strange times. Have a lovely and well deserved half term! Here’s what to look forward to after half term:

We are starting our new topic ‘Pumpkin Soup’, delicious!

English: We are going to look at the story of pumpkin soup and use drama to act out parts of the story.
Maths: We are moving on from addition and exploring what subtraction means and the different methods we could use.
History: We are going to be finding out some interesting facts about Guy Fawkes and the history behind bonfire night.
PSHE: We are going to look at the different ways to be safe during bonfire night.
Forest School: Parrots will have one more session on Tuesday 3rd November, then Turtles from 10th November. Please arrive in long-sleeved tops and trousers that you don't mind getting muddy. Lots of layers are recommended as we go out whatever the weather! The children will need to wear trainers to school and bring wellies that stay in school. A change of clothes is only necessary if it will be wet that day.

Please click this link for the week's home learning.

Our email addresses are parrots@writtleinfantschool.com and turtles@writtleinfantschool.com.

EYFS News

Squirrels class logo

Foxes class logo

This week we learnt our poem ‘Pointy Hat’.  See if the children can recite it to you at home. It’s been all about pumpkins this week! The children have had great fun washing them, carving them, chopping into them, making pumpkin soup and potions! Please send us your pumpkin carvings next week on Tapestry! The children have enjoyed our phonics sessions and we have practised saying the initial sounds of words. After half term we will be looking at the sounds p, i, n and learning about number 1 in maths. Have a wonderful half- term! Please add your holiday adventures to Tapestry, we love to see them.

Governors' News

Dear Parents,

Now we have arrived at half-term, on behalf of the School Governors I would like to thank all staff, parents, carers and children in helping everyone get back into school safely and securely. Everything may be different, but the children have adapted to new routines and all seems to be going smoothly. The Risk Assessment for the safe return of children into school is constantly being updated and tweaked.

We recently held our termly Governing Body Meeting and Finance and Premises Meetings when we discussed all aspects of the school and took on our individual responsibilities. We have decided this year that we will keep everyone informed of the Governors activities by writing a short article in the Newsletter. If you wish to contact a Governor we are all listed on the school website and the school office can put you in touch.

Governors are not currently as visible as they were; we are not allowed into school as all the “bubbles” need to stay secure. Please be assured that we are all constantly in contact with the school either by e-mail or telephone, we are still holding meetings, via video links and we are continuing to take courses, also by video links. As well as looking at budgets and finance, monitoring the curriculum, setting policies etc., this year we are focusing on Wellbeing, of both pupils and staff. Several Governors have recently attended a course on this subject to give us a better insight and understanding of the whole concept of Wellbeing; both in the school environment and outside of the school. Governors have also updated their safeguarding training. Some Governors also attended the recent Harvest Festival Assembly (via video). A fantastic video of the classes’ Harvest Festival has been sent out via Parentmail. Well done to all the children!

The very welcome news is that Friday is again Fish and Chips day, which I understand has made many children very happy!

The Governors would like to thank all parents and carers for their continued support of the staff in these unprecedented times.

Keep safe and have a happy half-term break and we hope to see everyone back when school returns on the 2nd November. Let us hope it will not be too long before we see things back to normal and we can meet up again.

Joan Gentle
Vice Chair of Governors