Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News

If you would like the opportunity to see the Dennis recycling truck for yourself then pop down to Southend seafront this Saturday 25th April. Follow the link for details https://www.visitsouthend.co.uk/event/get-on-board-with-recycling/

Elsewhere across the school, our reception children visited Southchurch library, where they had a talk about various books and characters from one of the lead librarians, before enjoying the chance to explore the books for themselves. A big thank you to all the parents that came along to help and to Southchurch library for supporting our visit.   Next week it’s a very exciting week for our Year 1 children as they are off to the beach for a day of exploration, fun and adventure… we look forward to hearing all about their days! We will also be sending our Team Hamstel dance troupe off to Alleyn Court school for a fantastic annual event – The KS1 Dance Festival! This is a very well supported event where our children will before on the stage in front of lots of other schools, so we wish them luck and know that they will do us proud! Some of our Year 2 children will also be taking part in a Portico Sports competition against the other four schools in the Portico Trust. We will share how they get on next week! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend… see you on Monday! Scott Roche Principal

Weekly Celebrations!

Attendance

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Summer 1 Diary Dates - Nursery - Reception - Rainbow & Starlight Year 1 - Year 2 - Lunch Menu - PTA - Messages from the Office - Community

Nursery

This week our NELI story has been ‘Pip and Posy and the new friend’ the children have been talking about friendships and when they have been to the beach. We have had different shells for the children to explore. The children have loved playing in our ice cream parlour! In maths we have been learning to count objects from a larger group. In outdoor learning the children loved exploring and looking for signs of Spring. We learnt about the life cycle of a frog and Mrs Shine found newts in the pond for us to observe.

REMINDER: As the weather is getting warmer and the children will enjoy spending more time in the garden, please ensure that your child brings a named hat to nursery and that you apply suncream before they attend their session. Could you please ensure that your child has a spare set of clothes at nursery and if you have borrowed any clothes could you please return them.Thank you

Reception

This week we have been learning about minibeasts and reading the book ‘Mad About Minibeasts’ and writing about different minibeasts trying to use adjectives to describe what they look like. In PSHE we have started our new unit Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing. This week we learnt about what foods and drinks keep us healthy. In RE we have been learning to understand what a church is and know who uses churches and why. In maths we have been learning about odd and even numbers, sorting Numberblocks and describing the Numberblocks. In art we have been using circle stamps to practise creating a print with circles. In outdoor learning we have been making Twig Butterflies, making flower potions and taking part in a minibeast hunt. We also learnt about tadpoles changing into frogs.   How to help at home Maths: Numberblocks - Series 2: Odds and Evens - BBC iPlayer Nursery rhyme of the week: Incy Wincy Spider - CBeebies Handwriting: Practise all the curly caterpillar letters and zig-zag monster letters.

Letters sent home this week

• Reception - Local Church Visit - 24.04.2026 
• Reception - Summer Term Events - 17.04.2026

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

This week, the children have continued exploring the changing features of the seasons. We also introduced the concept of hibernation, learning about which animals hibernate and the reasons why. In our science activities, the children investigated floating and sinking, as well as the ideas of heavy and light. They began to understand why some objects float while others sink, linking this to the concept of density. As part of this, the children made paper boats and tested them in water to see if they would float. This was a very enjoyable activity, and everyone had lots of fun experimenting together. The children have also been engaging in group problem-solving activities. It has been wonderful to see them collaborating, sharing ideas, and working together to find solutions. In literacy, we have been practising using CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in sentences and exploring which “red words” we can include to support sentence building. We have continued to encourage independence through self-care skills, with children washing their hands before and after snack and lunchtime, as well as brushing their teeth. RWI – th recap sh and cvc words and two/three-word sentences.  Math – Additions up to 6 (according to ability) tens frame and partitioning. REMINDER: On Monday we have outdoor learning, please dress children accordingly if it's a warm day, please bring along caps, and a change of clothes, thank you.

Starlight

We’ve had another busy and enjoyable week in Starlight! In English, the children have been using different sources to find key information. They used what they found to write their own non-chronological reports about meerkats, which they really enjoyed. In maths, we have continued learning about 2D shapes. The children have been recalling the names of shapes and describing their features. They have also been recognising and creating repeating patterns using shape, size and orientation. Alongside this, we explored directional vocabulary to describe movement, and looked at rotation, including half, quarter and three-quarter turns. In geography, we have been learning about Kenya. The children identified different landscape features and found out about the people and culture of Kenya. We also compared this to life in the UK, which led to some great discussions. We also had a visit from a Dennis truck this week, which the children were very excited about. They learned all about recycling and why it is important to look after our environment.   REMINDER: Outdoor Learning on Monday. Please dress your child in appropriate clothing and provide a change of clothes too. Thank you. 

Year 1

In literacy this week we have been continuing with the story ‘The Queen’s Hat’. We designed our own lost object that the Queen had lost in the wind and used this to write our own three part story. In maths we have been looking at division by grouping and sharing equally. We worked practically to share objects equally. In science we have been consolidating our knowledge about plants, including the difference between a garden plant and a wild plant. We have also observed different kinds of trees. In PSHE we have been learning about similarities and differences, and what makes people unique. 

REMINDER: Beach Trip next week; Tuesday 28th – Duck and Dragonfly Wednesday 29th – Heron and Newt 

Letters sent home this week

• Year 1 - Summer Term Events - 17.04.2026

Year 2

This week the children have enjoyed learning about meerkats. We explored their diet, habitat, and discovered many interesting facts. Using this knowledge, the children wrote their own factual pieces, focusing on conjunctions and accurate vocabulary. In maths, we have continued studying 2D shapes, including creating repeated patterns, rotating shapes, and understanding direction and movement. In Geography, we explored the landscape and culture of Kenya, comparing it to the UK. The children showed great interest in identifying similarities and differences in daily life and environments.

Letters sent home this week

• Year 2 - Summer Events - 17.04.2026

Support Our School with Easyfundraising!

Our PTA is using Easyfundraising to help raise money for our school and you can help too, simply by doing your everyday shopping online! It’s completely free to use and takes just a minute to get started.

1. 🛒 Here’s how it works: Visit our fundraising page here
2. Click “Support this cause” and create your free account.
3. Start your online shopping at your favourite retailers (like Amazon, Argos, Tesco, M&S, Just Eat and many more!).
4. The retailer sends us a free donation at no extra cost to you!

It’s an easy way to support our school while doing what you’re already doing online. Every penny raised goes directly towards enriching the learning experience for our children from new equipment and resources to fun events and activities. Please take a moment to sign up and share the link with friends and family too!

Messages from the Office

Parking around the school

Have you spotted unsafe, illegal and inconsiderate parking near to the school at drop off and collection times? As a citizen if you see problem or illegal parking you can report this - the link for Southend Council is here Report a Parking Problem and the link for Essex Police is here Report antisocial behaviour | Essex Police

Arbor Hints and Tips

How to make a payment towards the Enrichment Events:

1. The payment item can be found on your child’s main profile page under ‘Quick Actions’, ‘Trips’, choose this option.
2. You will see a section 'Trips Open to (your child's name), choose School Enrichment Events.
3. Now you can view the information and on the right hand side of the page is a 'Sign up ....' button, choose this option.
4. The cost for the Spring Term events your child will be taking part in is £6.00, increase the amount to pay to this figure or you can also choose to pay the full amount.
5. You can now choose to 'Add to basket' - use this option if there are other items you want to pay for in one total transaction.
6. Or choose 'Make Payment'. You will then be asked to add your card details and confirm the payment.

If you are unable to make payments using the system after following these steps please contact the school office.

Breakfast and After School Club

To change or cancel Breakfast or After School Club you need to contact the office. Parents are unable to change/amend their own bookings. If your child is booked into After School Club or Breakfast Club, it will show on their calendar in Arbor, including the session i.e SHORT, FULL, LATE. A full week view can be seen by clicking the blue arrow in the ‘Calendar’ tab.

Are you eligible for tax-free childcare? This can be used to pay for wraparound care at our setting. Please see the information below.

Community

Relationships and sex education in Southend-on-Sea: Survey for parents and carers

This survey is for parents and carers of children and young people who are school‑aged (up to 18, or up to 25 for those with additional needs). We want to hear your thoughts about Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in Southend‑on‑Sea. Your feedback will help Southend‑on‑Sea City Council and local schools understand what is going well, what could be improved, and what support families and schools may need. SMPL Research is carrying out this survey on behalf of the Council. Your responses will be kept confidential and will only be shared in an anonymised and combined format. There are no right or wrong answers, please simply share your experiences and views.