Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News week ending 3rd MAY 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

We've had an amazing week here at Hamstel Infants filled with excitement, fun and great learning experiences for our children!

On Monday and Tuesday, our school was abuzz with excitement as our children embarked on an unforgettable visit to Gemma's Farm. Set up in our wildlife garden, our curious learners had the opportunity to interact with the farm animals and it was a wonderful opportunity for hands-on learning and a chance for connecting with nature. The joy and wonderment on the faces of our children truly proved that it was a real hit!

Our school's musical prowess was on full display during a brilliant morning of melodies and harmonies shared with our fellow Portico schools. Hosted by Hamstel Infants, it was a fantastic morning and gave us the chance to not only collaborate but also foster inclusivity within our Portico community. A big thank you to Miss Whiston for all her hard work to arrange this event and well done to all the children involved!

Today we also welcomed back a familiar friend of Hamstel Infants, Rev’d Andy Goodliff from Belle Vue Baptist Church. Andy came into school to take a very interesting assembly based around the parable of The Lost Sheep and engaged the children fully with his adaptation of another well known story as the children ended up ‘going on a sheep hunt’.

We have another busy week planned as we get ready to cheer on our talented dance team as they prepare to dazzle everybody at the upcoming Infant Dance Festival! The team have been really committed to learning the routines and have shone brightly throughout rehearsals. We have no doubt they'll leave a lasting impression on the stage. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting event next week.

Calling all bookworms and literary enthusiasts! On Friday 10th May our popular open-door sessions have been extended for our ‘Share a Book’ session. This is a wonderful chance for families to connect over a favourite book, so feel free to join us and don't miss this opportunity to share the joy of reading with your child at the end of a busy week.

Also attached to our newsletter today is a letter detailing plans for our Sports Day this year which will take place on Wednesday 19th June. Please time take to read this letter as it contains a lot of information.

Thank you all for your ongoing support and involvement in our school community. Together, we continue to create memorable and enriching experiences for our children!

Attention all children and parents! A friendly reminder that class photographs will be taken on Wednesday 8th May. Let's ensure everyone is picture perfect and looking their absolute best by dressing smartly in full school uniform. If your child is participating in PE, swimming or outdoor learning on Wednesday, don't forget to pack their appropriate gear so that they can change at school.

It’s a Bank Holiday on Monday, so we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday and I hope you have a great long weekend!

Scott Roche

Principal

Nursery

The children really enjoyed visiting Gemma’s Farm and having the opportunity to hold some of the animals and stroke them.

This week we have been reading 'Elmer' and talking about which animals we would find in a jungle and which animals we would find on a farm. We have also been learning about the features of animals such as a horse has hooves and sheep have wool etc

In Maths we have been practising counting to 12 and counting backwards from 10.

In RWI we have learnt the sounds ‘n’ and ‘p’. You can access the video and practise at home.

How to help at home:

Watch the RWI Virtual Classroom Video’s

REMINDER: Please return the toothbrushing consent forms ASAP

Please let Mrs Snashall or Miss Brooks know if you are able to help take the children to the library, thank you.

Please ensure that your child has spare clothes at nursery especially now that the weather is getting warmer as we will have water play in the garden.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Class photo - 02.05.2024
• Whole School - Swimming Pool Closure - 01.05.2024

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

This week the children have been learning about farm animals and listened to the book 'Farmer Duck', they have enjoyed looking at different animals in their setting, and the sounds they make. The children have made some lovely handprinted animals, and enjoyed visiting Gemma`s Farm, all the children were very well-behaved using kind hands and listening to directions. This week we have been practising curly caterpillar letters, simple additions and number ordering, cvc words, and sentence building, daily reading and matching games. The children have been listening to the story, and why farmer duck was unhappy, and how that made him feel, we used the zones of regulation to help the children express their own feelings and how they can use the colours to show others.

We had water play on Wednesday as it was such a lovely day, the children enjoyed playing with bubbles and water, learning to share and take turns.

REMINDER: With the weather warming up can I please ask for a change of clothing for water play.

Starlight

Our new story this week is ‘Farmer Duck.’ The children are learning the story well and beginning to join in with the repeated story language. We have written words to match the verbs in the story.

The children thoroughly enjoyed Gemma’s Farm; they listened well to instructions and took it in turns to hold the animals. We have played listening games to try to identify the sounds made by different farm animals.

In Maths we have identified 5 and not 5. We have subitised groups of numbers and used our fingers to make the same number.

We have continued to practise rolling a ball to a target by playing a group game and naming the person we are passing the ball to. The children have listened well and been ready for their turns!

How to help at home

Handwriting:

Maths

• Practise subitising numbers up to 5. Identifying whether a number is 5 or not 5. Represent numbers 1-9 on your fingers.

Reception Year

This week we have been learning about farm animals. We have had a great time visiting Gemma’s Farm, being able to stroke the animals and hold some of the smaller animals. We have been reading ‘Farmer Duck’ and writing about different farm animals. In RE we have been learning about why animals are special. In outdoor learning this week we have enjoyed making a rope friendship bracelet

In PSHE we have been learning about why sleep is important and in PE we have been learning to dribble a ball with our dominant hands.

In Maths we have been learning about the how 5 is made up and how to identify a missing part of 5.

In Science we have been learning to compare animals that live in cold climate and in Geography we have been comparing life in this country and life in cold climate countries.

In DT we have continued about learning about sewing, this week focusing on what a sewing stitch is.

How to help at home

Handwriting

Longed Legged Giraffe Letters

Maths

• How many ways can you make 5?
• Represent numbers 6 – 9 on your fingers.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Class photo - 02.05.2024
• Whole School - Swimming Pool Closure - 01.05.2024

Year One

This week we have thoroughly enjoyed a visit from Gemma’s Farm. The children absolutely loved holding and stroking the different animals.

In Literacy we used our visit to Gemma’s Farm to write a recount about what we did and what we saw. The children have been revising their learning on time conjunctions and have been introduced in how to use an exclamation mark accurately.

In Maths we have been learning about fractions. We folded shapes and identified what a half and a quarter is. We then learned how to share to find a half and a quarter of a number.

In Geography we have been learning about the countries of the UK and their capital cities. We have been looking at the features and characteristics of the UK and revising human and physical features.

How to help at home

Continue to watch the RWI Virtual Classroom videos:

REMINDERS: Outdoor Learning will be next week after the Monday Bank Holiday. Newt Class will have their Outdoor Learning on Friday 10th.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Class photo - 02.05.2024
• Whole School - Swimming Pool Closure - 01.05.2024
• Year 1 - Visit to Southend Christian Fellowship - 01.05.2024

Year Two

We were so lucky that the weather was fairly kind to us at the beginning of the week when we had Gemma’s Farm visiting. All the children had a wonderful time meeting Gemma and welcoming all the animals to our school. The children were so well-behaved and respectful during their visit.

This week in Year 2 the children have been developing their knowledge and skills in instructional writing. The children made African masks using card, colourful paper and pens and followed some simple instructions to create these. They thought about the steps they followed and how they would organise them and write the instructions down to help someone else. The children thought about time conjunctions to begin their sentences e.g. First, Then, Next as well the verbs they needed and extended their explanations with adverbs to describe the action e.g. carefully cut the card with scissors. The children wrote some fantastic instructions, and the masks look wonderful displayed in the classroom.

In Maths the children have continued to further develop their calculating skills and build on their subtraction understanding using the variety of practical and written methods they have learnt. The children have been working hard to apply this knowledge to solve a variety of problems and demonstrate how they solved these. There has been some excellent problem solving going on in the classes and the children have really shown some dedication and perseverance in solving some challenging mathematical tasks.

In Science the children have been revisiting habitats by comparing habitats in different places in the world and their suitability for animals. The children have also been continuing to develop and explore their knowledge of Kenya and what it is like to live there.

In other news, we would like to congratulate some children who won a drawing competition that was held at Holy Trinity Church. Some of the children entered during their visit last term. So, a big well done to Milah in Hedgehog Class who was the overall winner and Mia, Lula and Paige in Hedgehog Class as runner ups. They received a prize each, well done!

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Class photo - 02.05.2024
• Whole School - Swimming Pool Closure - 01.05.2024

Celebration Assembly - Aspire

This weeks value has been 'Aspire', below are highlights from around the classes.

Online Safety

On 19th April 2024, Ofcom released their annual Media Use and Attitudes Report, detailing the findings of several surveys and their implications for parents, children and young people in the UK. These statistics often include plenty of thought-provoking information relating to online safety.

The report itself is extremely extensive, so instead we've provided a bespoke selection of data gathered by Ofcom about children and young people’s experiences on social media, video games and the like. Check our guide for a thorough breakdown of the headline findings.