Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News 10th october 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we were joined in school by Jacqui, from Jaqson Diego Story Emporium who led an assembly linked to Black history month. This tied in perfectly with our whole school Black History Day where the children studied such influential figures such as Rosa Parkes, Mary Seacole and Mae Jemison. The children have produced some lovely work today around this very important theme.

Elsewhere across the school, the children have all viewed a great video created by our wellbeing champions to recognise World Mental Health Day, which takes place every 10th October as a reminder of the importance of good mental health and the need to prioritise and invest in good mental health. Our outdoor learning programme also links very closely to this area and maintaining good health and wellbeing in our children. This week in our wildlife garden, Mrs Shine has been doing some observational drawings in our pumpkin patch and some map and compass work with Year 2. Everybody had a great time!

A few important messages;

Home packed lunches - Just a reminder that home packed lunches should not contain chocolate bars or sweets. Please do not be offended if these are sent home, even if they have been repackaged in food bags. As previously mentioned, drinks should not be sent in with packed lunches as water is readily available.

Breakfast Club – we are getting very close to the maximum number of children that we can accommodate each day. It is therefore essential that you pre-book the session required as we don’t want to have to refuse people at the door. It is also important that you contact the office if you no longer require a place that has been booked as this can be freed up for another child to use.

Calling all year 2 and Nursery parents…Places for Year 3 and Reception in September 2026 are now open for applications. These close on 15th January 2026, so please make sure you have applied before then.

Next week, we have the wonderful Night Owls coming into school to show Year 2 their wonderful birds. This visit perfectly complements knowledge discussed in school such as flight, night and day, nocturnal animals, camouflage and adaption, as well as offering the opportunity for our children to sit down at close quarters with some of the owls. It should be another visit to remember!

We have our parents’ evenings on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. It’s not too late to book an appointment so please speak to the class teacher or office if you would like to come along and haven’t been able to book yet. We look forward to welcoming you into our school for these important discussions.

Finally, the big event of next week is our Colour Run on Friday. Thankyou to everybody that has already donated. Please keep trying to find those sponsors to really encourage the children around the course! Full details can be found on the previous letter. Don’t forget that all of the funds raised will go straight back into giving our children the amazing outdoor learning opportunities that are such a crucial part of our curriculum at Hamstel Infants. The children are really excited for this event, and are raring to go so we hope to see you there to cheer them all on!

Have a great weekend and we will see you all bright and early on Monday morning!

Scott Roche

Principal

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Autumn 1 Diary Dates - Nursery - Reception - Rainbow & Starlight - Year 1

Year 2 - Dinner Menu - PTA - Messages from the Office

Key Dates for Autumn Term - Community

Nursery

This week we have been learning about ourselves. The children have enjoyed painting a self-portrait by selecting the correct colour for their facial features.

We have also been focusing on following instructions and answering questions in full sentences.

In Maths we have been finding objects that are the same. The children have had great fun finding leaves that are from the same tree, the same colour and size.

We have also been learning about Autumn talking about the leaves changing colour, using the leaves to make pictures.

The song that we have been learning this week is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

REMINDER: Outdoor Learning is on Wednesday.

Please dress your child in clothes suitable for the weather.

Colour parade timings for 17th October - Starfish AM parents and carers – please come at 11:00am. Seahorse and Starfish PM parents and carers – please come at 2:45pm.

Seahorse parents - If your child has a packed lunch could you please cut small round fruits like grapes, cherries, berries, strawberries and cherry tomatoes, into small pieces: cut lengthways and then cut them in halves again (quarters). Thank you.

Reception

This week we have been learning about homes and reading the book ‘This is our house’. We have been learning to describe the home that we live in and learn the names of different types of homes such as flat, house, bungalow.

In PSHE we have thinking about why it is important to take turns and share resources.

In PE we have been learning to walk in different directions and at different paces.

In writing we have continued to learn to write our names, focusing on forming all the letters correctly.

In maths we have been learning about the numbers 2 and 3. We have learnt that 2 is made of 1 and 1 and made collections of objects of 2 and 3. We have learnt that 4 is made of four 1’s. In shape, space and measure we have been describing ABB and AABB patterns and continuing these patterns.

How to help at home

Handwriting: practise the lone-legged giraffe letters j and y

Maths:

• Make collections of objects of 2, 3 and 4. How many 1’s are in each group?
• Play the pattern game: Shape Patterns

Nursery rhyme of the week: Five little ducks

• Five little ducks went swimming one day - BBC Teach

REMINDER: Outdoor learning next week

• Tuesday: Woodpecker
• Wednesday: Kingfisher
• Thursday: Peacock
• Friday: Owl

QUESTIONNAIRE: Reception Transition

We are very keen to make every child's start at our school as smooth and happy as possible. Now that you and your child have settled into school life we would very much appreciate your feedback on our transition process.

Please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire which can be accessed at the link below. The deadline for responses is Friday 24th October, thank you.

We are always looking for ways to fine tune and improve procedures so they are the best they can be and ensure that all children have a settled and enjoyable start to Hamstel Infant School & Nursery.

Letters sent home this week

• Reception - Handwriting Workshop - 08.10.2025

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

It has been a busy week for Rainbow Children, we have been learning about families and what they mean to us, we have labelled and made some lovely portraits of family members. We have started to look at how to be safe, understanding who friends are and who are not friends. The children have enjoyed learning about Autumn and the changes that we have noticed, colours and shapes we may see. What animals we may come across. We have familiarised ourselves with the story 'The Family Book' and the children have created some lovely artwork. The children have enjoyed looking at emotions and how they make us feel, using the Zones of Regulation.

We are learning:

• RWI: t – top, tap, tip revise:
• Family Letters: long legged giraffe letters - y u
• Maths: counting and showing a said number up to 10, subitising up to 10, ordering and recognising numbers up to 20, colour/shape sequencing.
• Long and short, big and small, Repositions, cvc words(blending)

Letters sent home this week

• Rainbow Room - PSHE/RSE Lessons - 03.10.2025

Starlight

We’ve had another fantastic week in Starlight, full of fun and learning!

We continued reading Percy the Park Keeper: The Owl’s Lesson. The children really enjoyed thinking about the owl and wrote some brilliant character descriptions using expanded noun phrases. We thought carefully about how the owl might feel and what she looks like.

In Maths, we explored number patterns, counting both forwards and backwards, in 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s. The children are becoming confident number detectives!

We practised our fine motor skills throughout the week. We got creative with playdough and lolly sticks, making some amazing structures.

Inspired by Percy’s adventures, we designed our very own maps. We added human features and included a key to explain our symbols.

Year 1

Thank you to our adults who came along and watched our Phonics session, we hope you found them useful.

This week we have been continuing with the story ‘Here comes Mr Postmouse’ We began the week by learning about the features of a letter including Dear/To and From. We spoke about Mr Postmouse’s appearance and personality and listed different words to describe him under these headings. We used this information to write him a thank you letter about how good a postmouse he has been.

In maths we have been learning about number bonds within 10. We have been working practically with cubes and counters to work out all the different number bonds to make a certain number.

In science we have finished looking at our senses and have now moved on to learn about the different parts of a plant and the role they play.

REMINDER: Parents Evening next week

• Tues 3:30pm-5:30pm
• Wed 3:30pm-7:30pm

Year 2

Year 2 have had a great week! The children have thoroughly enjoyed being the Outdoor Learning garden this week, completing observational drawings of pumpkins, developing their map skills and further developing their knowledge and skills of using a compass.

In Literacy we have continued to use the text Percy the Park Keeper: The Owl’s lesson. We have focussed on a sentence construction, using adjectives and expanded noun phrases to describe the Owl character. We started the week with some ‘Hot Seating’. This means the children took on some roles by putting themselves into the characters shoes with their partner asking questions linked to how the character was feeling about different events. The children finished the week by writing a simple character description of the Owl.

In maths this week the children have been consolidating their place value work and counting in patterns of 2’s, 5’s and 10’s starting at different numbers.

REMINDERS: Next Week:

• Monday 13th October – The Nite Owls are visiting
• Friday 17th October – The Colour Run

Applying for a Year 3 Place for your Child & Hamstel Junior School Tours.

The application window for on time applications for a Year 3 school place is between 14 September 2025 and 15 January 2026 and parents can apply via the online form which is available during this period.

Full details can be found on the Southend Council website https://www.southend.gov.uk/.../primary-school-admissions-1

National Offer Day, when all that have applied receive the outcome for their application is 16 April 2025.

Please remember all Year 2 children leave Hamstel Infants School at the end of this school year. You must make an application for a Year 3 place either to a Junior School or a Primary School, even if you want your child to move onto our sister school Hamstel Junior School.

Hamstel Junior School - Tour Dates

We have been asked to share the tour dates available at Hamstel Junior School, please see the attached flyer.

For parents interested please contact Hamstel Junior via their office email office@hjs.porticoacademytrust.co.uk

Places will be available on a first come first served basis.

Letters sent home this week

• Year 2 - Nite Owls Visit - 03.10.2025

Support Our School with Easyfundraising!

Dear Parents & Carers,

We’re excited to let you know that our PTA is now 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!

Thank you for your continued support,

Messages from the Office

Reception September 2026 - School Tours

If you have a child born between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 they will be due to start school in September 2026. The application process opens on 16th September and if you live within the Southend City Council area you can apply online at www.southend.gov.uk/admissions. Deadline for applications is 15 January 2026.

If you, a family member or friend have a child due to start school and would like to view our school please contact the school office either by telephone 01702 468461 or by email office@his.porticoacademytrust.co.uk to book onto one of the tours we have coming up.

Christmas Fair

We know it is very early to be mentioning Christmas - but initial plans have already begun - please see the flyer below.

Admission Arrangements

• St Bernards Consultation Letter
• St Bernards Proposed Admission Arrangements
• Greenways Consultation Letter
• Greenways Proposed Admission Arrangements
• St George's Admission Arrangements

Community