Weekly News – Friday 21st March

Dear Parents,

The school turned red today for 40 years of Comic Relief! Thank you for supporting Red Nose Day, we have raised over £180 for a brilliant cause, so we are very grateful to you all. Well done to all the children who stood up in assembly today to recite poems they had written about Red Nose Day and what it means to them. Phoebe and Amelia even composed a song! Mr Taylor and I unintentionally wore matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse Comic Relief t-shirts. We did laugh when we saw each other!

Outdoor Play

It's been lovely to have some warmer weather this week and the children have been enjoying the sunshine outside. Fridays have become Dance days with the children enjoying some music and practising dance routines at lunchtime. We love to share the children's sporting achievements in assembly on Fridays, the only thing we have had to remind them is not to demonstrate their karate or gymnastics skills on the playground and to save them for a safer place! We would really appreciate you sharing this message at home too, to avoid any unnecessary accidents.

Important Reminders

Most clubs have their final session next week, although Yoga and Gymnastics continue to the following week. Please check the timetable to make sure that any alternative childcare is arranged for the last 2 weeks of term.

Next week

The Year 2 children will be going to Christ Church next week to perform in the Chelmsford Infant Schools Music Festival. It's an exciting opportunity to work with other schools on a musical production. We are also looking forward to the ever-popular Someone Special Gift Sale run by the PTA. ARU Writtle have generously donated potted plants for this occasion. Tickets have been limited to one per family initially, but if you would like to purchase more than this, the PTA can order more - please just contact us or email wispacharity@gmail.com.

School Nurse Appointments

The school nurses are available in our library every Tuesday afternoon.  Please take a look at the flyer to see the list of health concerns they can help with and then book your appointment online.

Community Events

We are looking forward to the Miss Wakeling's fundraising ice hockey game tomorrow! Tickets sales have been amazing, so we look forward to a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters from Writtle Infant School! We also hope to see some of you at Messy Church on Sunday 23rd March, 10am at All Saints' Church.

Best wishes,
Tracey Wilson

Home learning

Home Learning Passports

Please try to complete this half term's passports and email any work or photos to parents@writtleinfantschool.com.

Year 1 Home Learning Passport - Spring 2 2025

Year 2 Home Activity Passport - Spring 2 2025

Spelling Practice

There is also some spelling practice for Year 1 and Year 2 below.

Year 1 Spelling Practice: Spring 2 2025

Year 2 Spelling Practice - Spring 2, Week 5

Topic Maps

We have also published our topic maps for the this half term, so you can see what the children will cover in all areas of the Key Stage 1 Curriculum.

EYFS Tapestry Challenge

Enjoy a double game. Use two dice, one for you and one for your child. Roll them at the same time. Both of you put thumbs up if it's a double, and thumbs down if not. When you throw a double, ask your child to tell you the 2 parts and how much is the whole. So for example, 'the part is 3 and the part is 3. The whole is 6.'

Have fun!

The EYFS Team

PTA Update

Someone Special gifts

What an incredible response to the first week’s sales!  There are still some tickets available, so we’re pleased to be able to open up sales with no restrictions for any multiple purchase you may want to make. Don’t miss the chance to grab your tickets: https://square.link/u/KaygxlwP

Adventure Island tickets

We have just 10 discounted tickets for Adventure Island left, with dates now extended to the end of 2025 – but these are the last so when they’re gone, they’re gone.  Get yours via the link: https://square.link/u/ZNuQtufZ

Discounted Barleylands tickets

The weather is improving, time to get out and secure your discounted days out!  Follow the link below to grab one of our limited discounted tickets. Be sure to complete your child’s class and full name so tickets can be sent home: https://square.link/u/GoOZH0e5

Next up….

  • Easter Egg hunt – get out, get active, maybe even get some chocolate!  Find the special eggs around our village and spot the children’s artwork in the process.  Maps go on sale from Wednesday 26th March, to be sent home Thursday 3rd April.
    https://square.link/u/hw4ymUKh
  • Bag2School – clear out those wardrobes and get collecting your donations over the Easter holidays, ready for drop off on Friday 25th April.  Collection bags and more details coming home soon!

Dates for your diary

Friday 23rd May – Inflatable Fun – our after-school celebration of the half term holidays

Saturday 28th June – Summer fair

Free easyfundraising App-eal!

Since our newest supporters joined up in the Autumn, we’ve seen a big increase in the donations coming in.  Remember that it’s simple to set up, and means companies donate without any extra cost to you!  If you’re not already using this to shop online, please do download the app and sign up – follow the link below: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/create-an-account/

Forest School

Horray for spring! We have had a gorgeous week of mindfulness laying on the grass, the birds in full song, the heat from the sun warming us up, listening to different sounds followed by some nature inspired yoga.
We have talked about the spring equinox and excited to welcome many more glorious sunny days.
We also had our usual activities in the forest school area, which is now in full daffodil bloom!

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.

Highlights of the week

EYFS

What a beautiful week! We have been enjoying the sunshine with plenty of outdoor play. The children have loved spending time in our garden and there has been lots of sand and water play.
We have enjoyed our Poetry Basket poem, 'Stepping Stones' and the children had a great time doing stepping stone relay races in PE.
In maths the children have been doing a great job, learning all about double numbers up to 10. In phonics the children have been reading and writing longer words with double letters such as 'ribbon', 'kitten,' and 'hammer'.
Have a lovely weekend!

Year 1

This week, the children have been thoroughly enjoying Maths! They have learnt how to compare two two-digit numbers. For example if we were to compare 32 and 54 we would say that in 32 there are 3 tens and 2 ones and in 54 there are 5 tens and 4 ones. First we would look at the tens digit and compare 3 tens and 5 tens. We know that 5 is more than 3, so 5 tens will be more than 3 tens. Therefore 54 is greater than 32. If you could please continue to practice with your children at home that would be marvellous!

Year 2

We've had an amazing week! Our multiplication skills have flourished as we've worked on our 5 and 10-times-tables. In English, we've explored the past tense, which tied into our fascinating History lesson on schools in the past—thank you for your insightful contributions! We've also been channelling our inner artists by creating sculptures inspired by Giacometti. Now, we’re excitedly looking ahead to next week’s Music Festival and Victorian Day!