Dear Parents

Well, it wasn't the result we hoped for in the football, but despite the disappointment the children are still smiling and keeping all the staff happy! We have had a lovely week, with the children meeting their new teacher in a class swap. We also welcomed back Mrs Espinosa Pardo to school and she spent lots of time with her new class. Our EYFS children played in the main playground at lunchtime so that they could have that experience in advance of September (maintaining our bubbles of course). The Year Two children had a wonderful treat of magician Nicky Trix on Thursday morning. He was amazing and kept us all amused, including the adults! Thank you to WISPA for funding and arranging this.

We also received the results of our virtual sports competition with 15 other local schools and I am delighted to share our results with you:
EYFS (Cup Stacking): 1st place
Year 1 (Teddy 'Lympics): 8th place
Year 2 (Mini Games): 2nd place
The children also took part in Chelmsford School Sports Partnership's art competition and 3 entries won signed books from Dame Kelly Holmes. Well done to Hettie in Squirrels, Arjana in Turtles and Bella in Sharks!

Congratulations to Miss Smith (Dolphins) on achieving an "outstanding" grade in her teaching qualification, which is richly deserved. Thanks to Mrs Wilson for mentoring her over the past year and passing on her expertise. We are also very proud of Mrs Whitmell, our LSA in Foxes class who achieved a first in her childhood studies degree. She has studied for this as well as working for us, which is an amazing achievement.

As the children break up today, I thank you all for your support over this incredibly challenging year. Thank you for your work with the children during lockdown and for your understanding when we had to minimise contact whilst ensuring the children had lots of enriching learning experiences. I have written to you separately about the arrangements for September, but will send a final letter during the summer break. Our wonderful children never cease to amaze us with their resilience and I thank them for working so hard. We say goodbye to our Year Twos today and wish them all the best for the Junior school.

To our staff, thank you for your commitment over the past year. The pandemic has meant we have taken on so many new roles when families need our support more than ever. We were proud to support so many key workers during the lockdown and I could not have got through this year without you all.

Thank you to our governors who have helped us with the difficult decisions and continual risk assessments throughout this year.

Thank you to the small band of parents who are part of WISPA for their creative ways of making money. The children adored the magician! Following our appeal this week, we are delighted to say that a new committee will be running WISPA next year, with a number of volunteers also ready to lend a hand. Thank you so much for stepping forward - we appreciate it is a big ask when you all lead busy lives, but it makes such an enormous difference to the children, who love these additional experiences.

I hope and pray that next year we can have a full year and I look forward to inviting you back into the school building again for our events.

Have a wonderful break and we hope to see you on Thursday 2nd September, reverting back to normal school hours of 8.45am (doors closing at 8.55) until 3.10am. Please note that class emails will not be routinely monitored over the break, so please email parents@writtleinfantschool.com with any urgent issues.

With my heartfelt thanks for all your support this year.

Helen Castell

Chelmsford City Council have published a helpful flyer with lots of summer activities for SEND children during the holidays.
Essex ActivAte are offering free summer holiday clubs for families eligible for free school meals and working families who are struggling financially and who would benefit from holiday support. Every club offers fun physical activity, a range of enrichment activities and every child attending will get a nutritious meal. Details and booking links for all of the sessions can be found via Essex ActivAte - Summer 2021.

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

SHARKS - Jess for her positive attitude to her learning and Alex for being such a good friend to everyone!

DOLPHINS - Louie for his enthusiasm and love of learning and Bethany for her calm and mature attitude to school!

PARROTS - Ibrahim for putting effort into his handwriting and taking pride in his work! Edie for being a kind friend and offering children to join in with her games!

TURTLES - Edie-May for trying really hard with her recount of Year One! Sylvia for always being helpful around class and being a great role model for all the other Turtles!

SQUIRRELS - Kim for looking after her friends so well, Joe for making a wonderful game and then teaching his friends how to play it, Xander for listening well and following instructions, Oliver for always showing such great enthusiasm at school!

FOXES - Reuben for being such a lovely boy and being a great friend! Prezlee for your love of drawing and your kind nature! Carter for always being keen to learn new things and inquiring nature!

Firstly, thank you so much for kind words, cards and gifts, it is greatly appreciated. Our strange and unique year has sadly come to an end but we are so proud of our lovely Year 2 children. Despite the difficult circumstances we were faced with, their resilience and enthusiasm for learning shone through and they have achieved so much. The 2020-2021 Year 2 cohort will certainly be remembered and they will leave a lasting impression on us. Our thanks to all of you parents too for your support and for engaging so well with home schooling during lockdown. You are all amazing. Enjoy a Summer full of fun from the whole Year 2 team.

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

We just want to say a big thank you to our lovely Year One children. You have all been amazing and it has been such a challenging year for you all, but you have coped so well. No matter what has happened, you have all continued to smile and find joy in all that you do and we are so proud of you all. We are sad to see you go, but you are so ready for Year Two! Thank you for the kind words from adults as well, you have been so supportive this year and we cannot thank you enough. This week has been a blast as we've begun to wrap up our time together in Year One and prepare things ready for the next academic year. We will be sure to say hello when we see you in September, but for now have a lovely Summer break! You all deserve it.

Please click here for a letter from the Year 2 teachers to children who will be joining Sharks and Dolphins in September.

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

Well, we have had a busy week and the children have been super stars! We can’t believe it’s the last day of Reception. As Mrs Giles and I reflect on this different and challenging year we discussed how extremely proud we are of Foxes and Squirrels children. We talked about what a fabulous group of resilient children they are! They have formed such strong bonds and we will miss them so much next year. Today you will receive a download notification from Tapestry. Please download the journal as soon as you can, as next week we will be removing the children. All the EYFS staff would like to thank you for your kind gifts and for your support and home schooling this year! Have a wonderful holiday! Love Mrs Fisk and Mrs Giles xx

Please click this link for letters from the Year 1 teachers to children who will be joining Parrots and Turtles in September.

Our email addresses are foxes@writtleinfantschool.com and squirrels@writtleinfantschool.com.