Weekly News – Friday 13th October

Dear Parents

What a wonderful week! Our Year 1 and 2 Harvest celebration on Wednesday was an absolute delight. The children sang with gusto and retold the story of The Little Red Hen beautifully. I can still hear Mr Taylor singing the songs! It was fantastic to see so many of you in the church, thank you for your support - we had some truly lovely comments from parents. Your children were a credit to you and our school. Thank you to Reverend Tony for hosting us. As ever, his calm presence and kind words resonate with us all. Thank you for your contributions to our collection for The Link Club, we know that the elderly in the village really appreciate the boost to their Christmas party. As you are aware, both schools are collecting donations for Chelmsford Food Bank next week - please bring them to either school before Thursday afternoon. A list of preferred items is available in our letter.

We were so pleased to see Foxes and Squirrels classes join the older year groups in the playground at lunchtimes. It was a pleasure to see children finding their older siblings and for them to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. Our midday team pay close attention to the children to make sure they follow our play time rules and look after each other.

This week Mrs Pluck and I attended a meeting to discuss the monthly Messy Church sessions which will be hosted at All Saints Church between now and Christmas. We will be running one of the activities at the first session on Sunday 22nd October, 10am and would love to see you some of you there. Please use our ParentMail form to let us know if you can attend.

We had a lovely visit from Mrs Castell last Friday - she managed to fit us in between her various holidays and theatre visits! Retirement is suiting her well and she looked suitably relaxed and stress-free. She popped down to all the classes to say hello to the children who were absolutely delighted to see her. She is keeping in close touch with the school and we look forward to seeing her again at some of our upcoming school events.

This morning we celebrated our Remarkable Readers in assembly. The children will bring certificates home to you in their book bags. A reminder that we love to celebrate achievements outside of school - please bring in any certificates, badges and trophies to the office. We look forward to seeing you later today at our Autumn Storytime. We're delighted to see that 75% of you can attend, it's a new event for us and we hope the time works for you all. Please remember you can always send us comments and feedback to parents@writtleinfantschool.com, we really do welcome your input.

Next week we will be welcoming all of you to our Parents Evenings. Again, we are trying out a different format which is more similar to the Junior school and it's great to see how many parents have engaged with us. The new style meetings will involve your child (if you wish them to attend) and will be a chance to find out how they have settled into the new term, to celebrate their strengths and suggest some next steps in their learning. Children in Year 1 and 2 will have their books out for you to look through their work and WISPA will be on hand to offer refreshments. Your feedback is encouraged, again please email parents@writtleinfantschool.com.

The weekend is looking distinctly more autumnal, so stay warm!

Best wishes
Tracey Wilson

Essentials for next week!

  • Our Parents' Evenings are on Tuesday 17th and Thursday 19th October. Please arrive promptly for your appointment. A reminder that STEM, Drawing, Forest School and Football clubs are cancelled on Thursday afternoon. There will be an extra club on Thursday 30th November to make up for the number of sessions.
  • We break up for half term at 3.10pm on Friday 20th October. Children return on Monday 30th October at 8.40am.
  • Unfortunately we are now receiving weekly complaints from local residents regarding dangerous parking outside the school. Like us, they are very concerned for the children's safety given that at times it is difficult to find a safe place to cross the road. Please take extra care in the mornings and afternoons to ensure that you're not blocking driveways or parking on pavements and grass verges. You may simply need to park a little further away and allow time to walk a slightly longer distance to the school. We have been in touch with our local Police Community Support Officer for assistance.
  • Forest School lessons are on Tuesdays for Sharks and Thursdays for Parrots. On these days those children should come to school in their Forest School clothing. After half term it will be Dolphins on Tuesdays and Turtles on Thursdays.
  • Children should come to school in their PE kit on PE days. This is Mondays for EYFS, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Year 1 and Thursdays and Fridays for Year 2. As the weather becomes cooler, please ensure children have joggers or leggings to keep them warm, and a school sweatshirt or plain hoodie for exercise outside. A waterproof coat is also useful.
  • Please check the diary dates for details of upcoming events.

Word of the week

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

WISPA Update

We are thrilled to have acquired another 100 discounted tickets from Barleylands, just in time for October half-term. There is loads to do at Barleylands, from reptiles to lambs, to epic foam parties and giant bouncy inflatables, it offers a great family day out.

Tickets are for general entry and not in connection with specialist events. They are valid until August 2024. **Orders must be with us no later than 18th October and will go home in book bags on Friday 20th October.** Order online below:

£11 single tickets, normally £14.45

£40 family of 4 tickets (any combination), normally £51

We hope you have a Baaaahhhrrrrilliiant day!!

*prices are at the time of publication

Home Learning

Please follow the links below to access this week's home learning for Years 1 and 2.
Year 1 Home Learning
Year 2 Home Learning

Highlights of the week

Year 2

We've learned about the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. We discussed the changes made to St Paul’s Cathedral and used shading techniques with charcoal to draw the new dome designed by Sir Christopher Wren. We loved taking part in the Harvest Festival and have written some fabulous recounts!

Year 1

The children have worked hard on including punctuation this week. They've written letters and made cards for Moose and Bear, the characters in "A House in the Woods".

EYFS

Foxes and Squirrels have had so much fun in the rain this week. It's given us a great opportunity to manage our raincoats, waterproof trousers and wellies!

Forest School

This week Sharks made our wonderful scarecrow, Harvey Vest, and Parrots had a very muddy bear hunt!

 

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.