Weekly News – Friday 3rd November

Dear Parents

What a blustery end to the week! Thank you for bearing with us during the stormy weather. Hopefully we will see the return of some autumn sunshine soon.

It was lovely to see so many familiar faces at the first Messy Church session at All Saints Church during half term. The next one is on Sunday 26th November and it would be great to see even more of you there. Reverend Tony has also sent us an invitation to the All Souls Day service this Sunday at 4pm. In a very poignant week, where the community celebrated the life of Ellis Wild in a uniquely heartfelt and special service, it feels particularly apt. Our thoughts remain with Ellis’ family and all those who loved him.

Milo's pumpkin
Amelia's pumpkin
Mabel's pumpkin

We really enjoyed seeing your costumes and decorated pumpkins on Tuesday. We saw incredible ingenuity and creativity in the children’s designs - I suspect some of the parents enjoyed the challenge too! Well done to Milo B, Mabel D and Amelia M who won WISPA’s year group prizes. It was an impossible task to pick any winners, but your imagination and independence shone through.

We also celebrated Wonderful Writers in assembly today, these children will come home with our special certificates. Thanks to those of you who have sent in details of your child’s achievements outside of school, the children love to hear about their friends’ successes in our Friday assemblies.

Next Wednesday we look forward to Family Learning Time for children in Years 1 and 2. Please come into the classroom when you drop off your child. We will also host the second of our Open Days next Wednesday evening, 6-7pm. Word of mouth is our most effective advertisement, so do please recommend us to friends and family who may have children starting school in September 2024. Don’t forget that the deadline for primary school applications, including applying for Year 3 places, is 15th January 2024.

WISPA’s AGM was held this afternoon and there will be announcements to follow about their upcoming events. Their work makes such a huge difference to our school and allows us to buy extra resources and experiences that we would otherwise simply not be able to afford. I know how much they welcome your help and ideas, so please get in touch at wispacharity@gmail.com, they would love to hear from you.

Finally, we wish Mr Williams well as he is having an operation. He hopes to return to school on 4th December. We have written to Foxes class to explain the staffing arrangements in his absence and we are very grateful to our wonderful Foxes team for stepping in to maintain the marvellous start that that children have made to their schooling.

Stay warm and dry this weekend if you can!

Best wishes
Tracey Wilson

Essentials for next week!

  • Poppies and other accessories in support of the Royal British Legion are on sale at the school office.
  • Family Learning Time is on Wednesday morning from 8.40am for Years 1 and 2 only.
  • Forest School lessons are on Tuesdays for Dolphins and Thursdays for Turtles. On these days those children should come to school in their Forest School clothing. Please ensure that wellies are clearly labelled!!
  • 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. Please ensure the children have warm clothing and a waterproof coat for activities in cold weather.
  • Please check the diary dates for details of upcoming events.

Word of the week

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

WISPA Update

It was wonderful to welcome in the children in their Halloween finery on Tuesday, and to see so many brilliantly decorated pumpkins!  Congratulations to the competition winners, we hope you enjoy your prizes! Donations for the day raised £430.

This year’s Christmas cards designed by your children has had fantastic interest, and your orders are due to be delivered over the coming week.

Highlights of the week

Year 2

We kicked off our Frozen topic by learning about the Inuits and life in the Polar regions. We wrote some wonderful paragraphs about what we know so far. We also enjoyed learning about habitats and created some wonderful pictures showing the key characteristics of different habitats.

Year 1

This week we have used all our senses to find out about pumpkins and we learned all about Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes!

EYFS

Foxes and Squirrels have been learning all about pumpkins this week, in lots of different ways!

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.