Weekly News – Friday 15th September

Dear Parents

It has been wonderful to see the children settling in so well to their first full week. Mr Taylor and I have been popping into classrooms daily, and we are already impressed to see how calm, enthusiastic and engaged the children are. We were delighted to see so many parents at our EYFS Coffee Morning on Thursday and to hear such lovely comments about their first impressions of our school. We hope that all parents recognise that we put your children first and that we are here to support families wherever we can. Please don't hesitate to call or email us at parents@writtleinfantschool.com if you have any questions or issues to raise.

We had some great news over the summer, that we had secured funding from the Myland English Hub for a new DfE approved phonics scheme: Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. This is in response to the action point raised in our recent Ofsted report. The children will continue to have a daily phonics lesson, guided by the Little Wandle scheme, and will soon be bringing home special decodable books, matched to the sounds they are learning in school. Please be patient as we are waiting for these to arrive! In the meantime the children in Years 1 and 2 should all be bringing home a library book to share with you at home and we are reading lots in class. We have set up ERIC (Everyone Reading In Class) at the beginning of the afternoon, so that all children have a daily class reading session.

We now have a new style Celebration Assembly on Fridays. Each week we will look at different areas of achievement in school. This week we celebrated our Lovely Listeners; children who have stood out for their excellent listening skills and application in class. They were all acknowledged in assembly and received a certificate to take home. We still very much welcome your children's stories, certificates or awards received for their achievements out of school. Please bring them to the school office in preparation for our Friday morning assembly. During the week, children may come and visit Mr Taylor and I to show us exceptional work they have done in class. They may bring home a special note from us to celebrate their learning.

Finally, we are pleased to publish the dates of our Open Days for September 2024. If you know anyone with children starting school next year, please share the link with them so that they can register to attend one of our presentations.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes,
Tracey Wilson

Essentials for next week!

  • Next Friday the Safer Essex Roads Partnership will hold 2 assemblies for Foxes and Squirrels class. Please sign up on ParentMail to let us know if you can attend.
  • Please ensure you check the clubs timetable so that you know when to pick up your children, as the days are different from last year! All children will be seen out through the main entrance at their collection time.
  • Forest School lessons are on Tuesdays for Sharks and Thursdays for Parrots. Please make sure that children come to school in their Forest School clothing.
  • Children should come to school in their full PE kit on PE days. This is Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Year 1 and Thursdays and Fridays for Year 2.
  • Coming up are our Year 1 and Year 2 Parents Meetings on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th September respectively, both at 8.50am. We are also hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 29th September. Please check the diary dates for details of upcoming events.

Word of the week

Our word of the week is "inspiring", chosen by Sharks class. Please discuss the meaning of the word with your child and try to use it in conversations this week.

Highlights of the week

Year 2

We're loving our new topic, The Great Fire of London! We're learning the historical facts and have had a bread tasting session, trying new breads such as naan. Please take a look at our home learning for this week!

Year 1

The children have settled fantastically into Turtles and Parrots and have been enjoying exploring their new classrooms and getting to know the new adults who will be working with them. Please take a look at our home learning!

EYFS

We're so pleased with how the children have settled into EYFS. It's been lovely to see them skipping into school and we have so enjoyed finding out all about them!

Forest School

This week in Forest School we've talked about how to keep safe as we explore the outside area and the new equipment. We also practised the tie-dye technique using blackberry juice!

Keeping children safe

  • Emergency contact details must be up to date. Please email us at parents@writtleinfantschool.com if your details have changed.
  • Any food brought to school must not contain nuts or egg-based foods (e.g. egg mayo, scotch egg, omelette etc.).
  • We all have a duty to safeguard the children in our care. If you have any concerns about a child, please contact the school, the Chairs of Governors (if your concern is about a member of teaching staff), or the Essex Child and Families Hub on 0345 603 7627.