Weekly News – Friday 4th October

Dear Parents

All ready for our prospective parents!

We have just held a very successful open morning for parents of children starting school in September 2025. Thank you to all the children who represented the school beautifully in class lessons, for story time in the library and in a special Forest School session today. The parents were very impressed by how well-behaved and confident the children were. We are very proud of our wonderful school and we have been able to pass on some lovely comments from our new Foxes and Squirrels parents about how well this year’s intake has settled into school life. We hope our EYFS parents enjoyed the Stay and Play session on Tuesday, we have sent home the presentation via ParentMail.  

Newsletter Questionnaire

Thank you for your feedback about our newsletter this week. We are delighted to see that it remains an important feature of our school communications, with 85% of parents reading the letter every week and 86% saying that the amount of communications is “about right.” We will try to bullet point the reminders for next week (below), so it’s easier to follow. 

Fire Safety

We are grateful to Mr Skorzewski for coming to speak to Year 2 about fire safety on Monday. For some months now, contractors have been working out of hours to install a new fire alarm system in the school. It is being tested after school today, so there may soon be some new bell sounds for us all to get used to!

Next week 

  • Monday, 5.45pm: On Monday we will hold our consultation meeting about the formation of the HIVE Family of Schools in the school hall at 5.45pm. The same presentation will be given at the Junior School at 7pm. All parents are welcome to attend. 
  • Tuesday: Parents’ Evenings will be held on Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th October.  Bookings will open next Tuesday, details will be sent home via ParentMail. 
  • Wednesday, 9.30am: Year 1 and 2 parents are invited to our Harvest Festival next Wednesday at All Saints’ Church, 9.30am. Please drop your children off at school at the usual time of 8.40am and then make your way to the church. There will be reserved pews in the centre of the church for the children and staff. Please note there will be no piano lessons next Wednesday as a result, but Bonnie will make up the time with another session later in the term. 
  • End of Wednesday: All families are invited to make a small donation to our Harvest collection for Chelmsford FoodBank. Both schools are collecting, so you can drop off any of the following items to either school by the end of Wednesday 9th October please. 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

  • Friday: If your children would like us to celebrate their achievements outside of school in our Friday assembly, please email us with details or drop off certificates or trophies to the school office.

Finally, can I thank the PTA for organising today’s cake sale, we hope there are some delicious treats for you all to enjoy this evening!

Have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Tracey Wilson

PTA update

Thank you to everyone who donated to and bought treats from this afternoon’s cake sale - the amount raised will be included in next week’s update.

Paint & Sip

Tickets are selling fast for this event on Saturday 19th October - get yours by following the link; https://square.link/u/b3OYOWEu?src=sheet

Free fundraising

Easyfundraising are offering a £2 bonus for all new supporters registered during October. This free passive fundraising costs you nothing and earns donations for your school for your normal online purchases.  Please sign up here and start earning free donations.

Home learning

Home learning passports have now been published for this half term. Please try to complete these activities over the course of this half term, and email any work or photos to parents@writtleinfantschool.com.

Year 1 Home Learning Passport, Autumn 1 2024
Year 2 Home Learning Passport, Autumn 1 2024

Highlights of the week

Year 2

Year 2 have been improving their number knowledge by using number lines, counting up and down in 2's, 5's and 10's, partitioning and using our brand new 'rekenreks'.  They also very cleverly imagined that they were living in Pudding Lane on Sunday 2nd September 1666 and wrote some super eyewitness accounts of their Great Fire of London experiences! We've all been working hard on practising for our Harvest Festival too... we hope to see some of you in Church next week.

Year 1

Year 1 have thoroughly enjoyed learning the songs for our Harvest Festival next week! We can't wait for you to see it!

EYFS

Thank you to all the parents who came to the Stay and Play afternoon. The children loved having you there to share in their learning environment. We are very lucky to have received our Writtle Infant School waterproof clothes for the garden. The children love wearing them and they all look so grown up!

Daily Essentials

  • 2 snacks (fruit/veg/healthy savoury) and a bottle of still water.
  • A coat
  • Book bag (no large backpacks please)
  • Trainers rather than formal footwear or sandals (this is non-negotiable on PE days).
  • PE kit must be worn on PE days and jewellery MUST be removed.
  • Forest School clothes must be worn on Forest School days. Wellies must be brought to school.
  • All clothing, footwear and belongings MUST be named!!

Keeping Children Safe

  • Thanks to those parents who have supported us in protecting the children’s privacy by waiting on the path by the main entrance until 3pm.
  • 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.