Weekly News – Friday 10th November

Dear Parents

It's been lovely to see so many parents in school this week. We had a great turnout at the Year 1 and 2 Family Learning Time on Wednesday morning. We hope our demonstration of Little Wandle means you now understand more about the new scheme and also how you can support reading at home, at the moment with ebooks, but shortly with the beautiful new hard copy books that are due to arrive any day now. Don't forget to access your child's eBook on the Collins app and enjoy hearing your child read. Each time they start a new book, it will be added to their library. I've been lucky enough to hear groups of children read this week and will continue to do this weekly until I've heard every child.

We also had a full house at our Open Evening this week and it was a pleasure to meet future parents, whose children will start at our school in September 2024. The final Open Evening is on Thursday 30th November, so do let friends and family know that they can book a place via our website.

This weekend is of course a very poignant one, as we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. Reverend Tony has written a separate message to invite you to attend a service of remembrance at the War Memorial on Sunday morning. On Monday, EYFS and Year 1 will hold a 2 minute silence in school at 11am, while Year 2 will visit the War Memorial to hold a short service of remembrance, weather permitting. Parents are welcome to meet us there if you wish. A reminder that poppies are still on sale in the office.

We celebrated History Detectives in assembly today, these children will come home with our special certificates. We've been really impressed with the other achievements you've sent into school, particularly the swimming awards, please keep them coming!

We're pleased to report that Mr Williams is doing very well following his operation. He is under strict instructions to rest up and not think about school! Thank you to Mrs Whitmell and the whole Foxes team for their hard work in his absence.

Enjoy your weekend.

Best wishes
Tracey Wilson

Essentials for next week!

  • Children in Need Day is next Friday, please wear bright clothes in exchange for a donation to this wonderful charity.
  • Please ensure children bring their book bags and reading records each day. We would appreciate it if they only have one keyring on their bags so that they are easier to store.
  • Writtle Junior School are holding meetings for Year 2 parents on Thursday 16th November at 6pm and Friday 17th at 9am. Remember you can apply for your Year 3 place from now until 15 January 2024.
  • If you have any spare children's socks to donate, we would very much welcome them in school!
  • 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 wear lots of layers and accessories to keep warm and bring waterproofs if you have them! 
  • 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. Children must wear (or have in school) trainers for PE activities, so please ensure you send in additional footwear if they have worn boots/wellies to school!
  • Please check the diary dates for details of upcoming events.

WISPA Update

A big thank you to the new faces who attended our AGM last week. The PTA is comprised entirely of parent volunteers from our school community, so we really appreciate any and all help.

Dates for your diary

  • Friday 24th November - Dress Down day in exchange for donations of gifts for the Elfridges store. We’re excited to be running the ever popular ‘Elfridges’ this Christmas season!
  • Monday 27th November - Elfridges ticket sales open
  • Friday 8th December (day time) - Elfridges store opens
  • Friday 8th December (after school) - Movie Night! Grab some extra Christmas shopping time while your children enjoy a festive flick after school!
  • Wednesday 20th December - Christmas Crazy day - no donations, just fun! Christmas jumpers & Christmas hair for the last day of school.

Finally, watch this space for details of our Christmas jumper swap…

Word of the week

Our word of the week chosen by Dolphins class is "colleywobbles"! If you have the colleywobbles, you feel very nervous and queasy. Please discuss the meaning of the word with your child and try to use it in conversations this week.

Home Learning

Please follow the links below to access this week's home learning for Years 1 and 2.
Year 1 Home Learning
Year 2 Home Learning

Highlights of the week

Year 2

Year 2 have been asking thoughtful questions to discover why we celebrate Remembrance Day. We created some fantastic poppy scenes and discussed some of the events of the First World War. We have also been working very hard at using ambitious verbs to write about the Ice Bear.

Year 1

Our pumpkin adventures continue! We've looked more closely at our story 'Pumpkin Soup' and talked about how the characters feel. The children are now experts on pumpkins - ask them to tell you the names of the different parts!

EYFS

We've loved learning about Autumn leaves this week and produced some wonderful leaf-rubbing artwork!

Forest School

This week we talked about the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees, checked animal habitats ready for hibernation, used autumn leaves for colour matching and made lots of poppy-based crafts. We also set up a Pumpkin Cafe!

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.