Dear Parents,

As we come to the end of our most challenging term, I would like to thank you all for being so supportive and understanding of our new measures. I am acutely aware of the arrangements families have had to make to work within our timings. Your children have been absolute stars and have made our challenges so much easier. Fortunately none of our children have received positive test results at the time of writing and I thank you all for your vigilance in isolating and testing. We are never complacent about our risk assessment: although it is robust (even yesterday's Pass the Parcel games were risk assessed!) we continue to review and update it every fortnight.

I want to thank all of our staff for their commitment and dedication during this term. Our teaching team have had to make so many adaptations, including fitting cleaning into their daily routines. Our wonderful Learning Support team have supported children so well and taken on many tasks that are not usually part of their role. Our midday and catering team have ensured that hot meals are back and our site manager Mr Turner has taken on extra responsibilities. Our office team are always available to keep in touch with parents and we are grateful to Kate Pluck for maintaining our social media accounts.

I hope you enjoy the videos of our Christmas productions which were sent home by ParentMail - please donate to our chosen charity Barnardo's if you are able to. The sale of poppies this term raised £206 for the Royal British Legion and our Children in Need Day, together with the Duckling Nursery, raised £300. We are so grateful for your generosity. Reverend Tony from All Saints’ Church Writtle has sent us a Christmas message, which is also on our Facebook page. Here is a link to Chelmsford Methodists' Christmas Eve family service which is a live service at 4pm on Christmas Eve. It is around 30 minutes long.

Your donations for our dress down days and the amazing success of the Christmas raffle has meant that over £1000 has been raised by WISPA this term. A huge thank you to our small band of WISPA volunteers and to those who donated prizes. Please accept your prizes if you haven't already, as the money is held back until all the winners have completed their online form. WISPA has provided every child in the school with a present this Christmas. Santa made an early visit to the school which was caught on video for the children!

We have sent you a plan of what to do if you experience symptoms within your household over the Christmas holidays. Let’s keep everything crossed that we do not have any concerns between now and Christmas and beyond.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas and hopefully a much better year to come.

Helen Castell

Well done to the following children in Years 1 and 2 who have been awarded Shooting Stars for setting a great example to others this week.

Sharks: Olive for taking pride in her work and growing in confidence throughout the term! Luke A for his great attitude to learning!

Dolphins: Benji for his love of writing - poems, stories, letters and songs! Jessica for proudly displaying her dancing talents!

Turtles: Luca for an excellent attitude to learning! Stanley P for trying so hard with his pencil grip!

Parrots: Dudley for always being polite towards his friends! Piper for persevering with her letter writing skills!

If dogs are tethered outside the school, please do not allow your child to approach them without supervision and the owner's permission. Equally, if you know your dog does not react well to strangers, please leave them at home. Dogs are not permitted on the school premises.
Please ensure that you are aware of the symptoms of headlice and threadworms and treat your child promptly if necessary. You can follow the links to NHS advice. Both conditions are very common and easily spread, so it pays to be vigilant! Thank you for your support.
To contact the School Office or Mrs. Castell, please email us at parents@writtleinfantschool.com. Class email addresses are listed in the year group sections below.

Merry Christmas from the Year One Team! Thank you for a wonderful Autumn Term. We
cannot wait to see you in the New Year!

Here’s what to look forward to when you return in January:

English: We are introducing our new topic book and creating wanted Posters.
Maths:
PSHE: We are looking at our values and how they influence our decisions.
P.E: We are starting a new dance topic.
Science: We are looking at animals and their habitats.

Please click this link for the week's home learning.

Our email addresses are parrots@writtleinfantschool.com and turtles@writtleinfantschool.com.

Wow, hasn’t that term flown by! We are super proud of the children and how they have settled in. Even though some of them hadn’t been at nursery during the spring and summer term, they have amazed us with their language, independence and gross motor skills! All those walks during lock down! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and we can’t wait to see you all in January for our very favourite poem ‘Popcorn’.

Our email addresses are foxes@writtleinfantschool.com and squirrels@writtleinfantschool.com.