Dear Parents
Amid an absolutely torrential downpour yesterday, the children in Forest School were heard chanting “We love rain! We love rain!” which is just as well, as there’s been an awful lot of it this week! It’s lovely to see the children’s delight in experiencing nature, which is why we foster a sense of care and respect for our wild spaces, so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. We’re sure you feel the same way at home.
This week
On Monday the children sang to our midday assistant, Mrs Bridges, who was celebrating a landmark birthday. She is our longest serving member of staff, having been with the school for over 30 years, and she and her family have made an enormous contribution to the school in that time. Thank you Mrs Bridges, and Happy Birthday!
We held our Macmillan coffee morning yesterday, welcoming lots of parents and a very special guest - Mrs Castell, our former headteacher! We raised over £180 for a very worthy cause, so thank you for your cake-baking and your generous donations. There will be more treats on sale next Friday, when the PTA hold their cake sale, please see their message below for details. On Thursday afternoon we hosted a maths course for EYFS parents, which will run over 2 weeks, so we look forward to their return next Thursday afternoon.
Phone line
An update on the phone line - we are hoping for a fix on Monday afternoon. Until we announce otherwise, please continue to email us at parents@writtleinfantschool.com or call our mobile in emergencies - 07745 216022.
Next week
We are lucky to be welcoming one of our parents, Mr Skorzewski, on Monday afternoon to talk to Year 2 about fire safety, a topic that is as important today as it was in 1666, the date of the Great Fire of London which Year 2 have been studying this half term. Thank you to Mr Skorzewski for giving up his time, as we know he is a busy London firefighter!
On Tuesday the EYFS team are hosting a Stay and Play for all parents, which will consist of a meeting in the hall followed by time in class. Please arrive at the main entrance for 1.30pm.
It’s National School Census day on Thursday, when we send a snapshot of a day in school to the government, from which they compile statistics about schools and decide on funding allocations. For this reason we encourage all children to try a school lunch on Thursday, it’s free of charge and you can always send a packed lunch in reserve! Please email us if you’d like to change your child’s choice of a packed lunch.
We are holding the first of our Open Days for prospective parents on Friday 4th October. We are lucky enough to have a full house on this day, but we have 2 further open evenings on 6th and 28th November, from 6 - 7pm. Word of mouth is our best advertisement, so if you know parents with children due to start school in September 2025, please point them to our website.
Attendance and punctuality
We are receiving lots of holiday requests at the moment. As you know, the monitoring of absence and punctuality is a hot topic for the Department of Education, and our attendance figures are sent automatically to the government every day. Please ensure you don't take holidays in term time, and do everything you can to avoid your child being late to school. The roadworks around the school continue to cause disruption, so please allow additional time for your journeys, as we have seen some lateness as a result. Remember we do have to refer to the Local Authority for penalty notices if your child has 5 days (or 10 half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling 10 week period.
Y1/Y2 Harvest Festival & Donations for Chelmsford Foodbank
Finally, we wanted to remind Year 1 and 2 that we will be holding our annual Harvest Festival at All Saints’ Church on Wednesday 9th October. The Infant and Junior schools will be holding a Harvest collection for Chelmsford Foodbank, so you are invited to donate any of the following items to either school by this date.
Food Items: Tinned meat; Tinned fish; Tinned vegetables; Tinned tomatoes; Tinned soup; Rice; Mashed potato sachets; Tinned pulses; Pasta sauce; Ketchup/Mayo; UHT milk; Long life fruit juice; Tea bags - 40/80; Small jars instant coffee; Cereal; Tinned fruit; Sponge puddings; Tinned rice pudding; Custard sachets; Jam; Chocolate bars - Kitkat/cereal bars
Non-Food Items: Shower gel; Shampoo; Deodorant; Handwash; Toothpaste & Toothbrushes; Toilet roll; Washing up liquid; Laundry tablets/pods; Nappies sizes 4-7
Enjoy the weekend, hopefully we will see some sunshine!
Best wishes
Tracey Wilson
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