Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, huge congratulations to Southend United for winning their first domestic trophy last Sunday at Wembley, it was great to chat with so many of the children who talked so animatedly about their day out. After reaching the play off final last year as well, let’s hope it’s a much more frequent occurrence from now on and not a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment! It’s been another busy week at Hamstel Infants, where the fun learning never stops! It was especially busy for our Year 2 children, who headed off to Holy Trinity Church in Southchurch Boulevard for their educational visit. Mother Claire always give us a very interesting tour, full of facts about this wonderful old building, parts of which have been stood on that site for over 900 years making it one of the oldest known churches in South-East Essex.  Yet again, the visit didn’t disappoint and the children came back full of new knowledge and interesting facts about the features of the church. A big thank you to all the parents that came along to support the visit – your help is very much appreciated and of course, to Holy Trinity Church for welcoming us. Year 2 also had their mini first aid workshops this week, this is an essential part of our Year 2 curriculum and not only teaches the children some important life saving skills but also how to respond and stay calm if somebody is unwell or hurt. The children as always, responded really well to these sessions. KS1 also had a special story box assembly from a regular friend of Hamstel Infants, Jacqui from Jacqson Diego Book Emporium, who introduced the children to some exciting new books on Monday linked to our World and environment. These regular assemblies are a real celebration of our love of reading at Hamstel Infants!   Our outdoor learning garden was also full of excitement this week as we welcomed Rainbow and Starlight parents on Monday, before we opened the sessions to our Year 1 parents across the rest of the week. The children have been learning about all things ‘Minibeast’ and enjoyed going on a bug hunt and finding lots of creepy crawlies to learn about. We have also been learning about ‘pond life’ and as luck would have it, our school pond is currently full of newts and we were able to view a couple each afternoon. Our parent/carer visitors have been really enjoying visiting the Hobbit Hut, which has come in very handy this week as a quiet space to retreat from the heat and pick up a book to learn all about a specific ‘bug’. Alongside, these exciting tasks we have been digging over the allotment beds ready to plant our beans and watering all the flowers and baby plants in our greenhouse. The children have also enjoyed some spring potion making and a turn in The Jungle Den. A great outdoor time has been had by all and we hope you all had a wonderful time seeing how our curriculum is enhanced and enriched by our outdoor learning programme, led of course by the ever enthusiastic, ball of energy, that is Mrs Shine. Thank you to everybody who came along, it means a lot to us and the children, to have you there! A final shout out of the week goes to our amazing Rainbow, Starlight and Nest Children who did absolutely brilliantly at their swimming lesson at Garons today. They did everybody proud! After half term we have many more great events for the children to enjoy including, more beach visits, sports days and our We are Artists Day in the first few weeks. We will also begin the very important transition work that we hope will allow every child to move successfully to their new teachers and alleviate any worries before the summer holidays. This can be a time of great excitement but understandably also some nervousness, so if you have any concerns about your child and how they will manage the move to their new adults, please speak to the class teacher and we will discuss some extra transition plans to make it run smoothly. I hope you all have a fabulous half-term break and that you enjoy some family time and get the chance to rest, relax and recharge your batteries ready for what is going to be a very busy last term of this academic year. We look forward to seeing you again on Monday 1st June!

Scott Roche Principal

Water Bottles We just wanted to reiterate the rules in school around water bottles. As we have mentioned previously these should only contain water, however it was discussed and agreed with Parent Council that these can also be infused with pieces of fresh fruit. Normal fruit juices, squash or flavoured waters are not acceptable, except in exceptional circumstances where there is a proven medical need to support the child’s hydration. Whereby there must be a conversation with a member of our office staff. This has also been shared again with staff to ensure consistency.

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 book has been ‘Franklin Frog’. The children have been learning about the life cycle of a frog. They have enjoyed creating different model frogs, they even had races jumping like frogs!  In maths we have been learning about symmetrical patterns by creating butterfly prints.  How to help at home RWI- click on the links below to play our Fred talk games https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/sCm0srkY/2PPElDnk https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Tl0ZXAvL/O9O2X3lL

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 animals that live in the sea and reading the book ‘Billy’s Bucket.’ In literacy we have been writing sentences about some of the sea animals, trying to use adjectives to describe the animals and make our sentences more descriptive.  In maths we have been finding out all the knowledge and skills the children have gained this year. We have updated the Teddy Bear Challenge and identified each child’s next step in math learning.  In PSHE we have been learning about how to keep our teeth healthy, thinking about the sugar content in different foods and drinks. In RE we have been comparing different religious communities, identifying and talking about similarities and differences. In art we have been combining all of our printing skills to create a final ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ picture.   How to help at home Handwriting: practise and review all the letters that we have learnt this year, focusing on starting and finishing each letter at the correct place. Nursery rhyme of the week: The animal fair - BBC Teach

Letters sent home this week

• Reception Year Beach Visits

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

Thank you to everyone who attended the outdoor learning session. It was lovely to see you all, and we hope that you enjoyed the experience as much as we did. It has been a fast-paced week with RWI and maths, and the children have been working very hard on their numbers and problem-solving skills. We have also started learning Red Words and building sentences with 3 – 4 words. The children have been fantastic at sitting, listening, and maintaining good focus. We have continued learning about farm animals, their jobs on the farm, and why farms are important. The children have also enjoyed learning more about being a good friend and exploring the different emotions we may feel. We have made some changes to our room and introduced a new reading area, which also serves as a calming space. Children are able to sit and read there, have some quiet time, or ask an adult to read to them. They have really enjoyed exploring this new area. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a lovely half term. Have lots of fun and hopefully enjoy the weather!

Starlight

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended our outdoor learning session. It was lovely to see you, and we hope you enjoyed the experience as much as the children did. During maths this week, the children continued learning about fractions. They explored halves, quarters and thirds of shapes, while also developing their understanding of numerators and denominators. In English, the children created their own versions of 'Sleeping Beauty'. They showed great imagination by changing the problem and resolution in the story to make it their own. As part of our PSHE learning, we discussed people who help to keep us healthy, including doctors, nurses, opticians and dentists. The children especially enjoyed the sensory activities linked to this topic. On Friday, the children took part in their first swimming lesson. They seemed to enjoy the experience, and all did very well. As always, thank you for your continued support this half term. We hope you have a lovely break.

Year 1

This week in literacy we wrote a recount about our visit to Gemma’s Farm. We sequenced the pictures in chronological order and added time conjunctions. We used this to support us with our final writing piece. In maths we have been learning about time. We discussed what the minute and the hour hand are and looked at o’clock and half past.  In DT we drew our background for our moving pictures. We then made our mechanisms and added them to our backgrounds. In the end we evaluated our final product looking at what went well and what we would improve next time. In outdoor learning we enjoyed welcoming some of our adults to join us! We hope you enjoyed seeing what we get up to during these sessions! 

Year 2

In literacy, the children planned and began writing their own version of 'Sleeping Beauty', changing the evil character to create imaginative new storylines. They worked hard to consolidate their story writing skills and used a range of story language to make their writing engaging.  In maths, we continued learning about fractions, focusing on the numerator and denominator. The children practised recognising halves, quarters, and thirds. In art, the children completed their Tingatinga-inspired artwork. They carefully used bright colours and repeating patterns to make their animals stand out and “pop” just like the artist’s work.  The children also enjoyed their visits to Holy Trinity Church, where they explored the church grounds and took part in thoughtful craft activities based on what they are thankful for.

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

COMMUNITY INFORMATION From the local authority Early Years Team - Information on the upcoming Best Start Family Hub event for families to find out more about childcare funding support and the Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) programme. This session will provide families with:

• Information about childcare funding options (9 months – 4 years)
• Details about the Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) programme
• Support with applications and eligibility
• Opportunity to speak with staff and ask questions