Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News week ending 6th december 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Tuesday this week our children were treated to watch a fantastic ballet performance called ‘A Christmas Wish’. It was great to see the children mesmerised and really gazing in awe at the dancers skills and they were fully engaged in the story about the Christmas fairy and her elf friend on Christmas Day. A big thank you to Miss West for organising this great opportunity for our children to experience something completely different.

The children also got to enjoy a Christmas themed assembly by Revd Andy Goodliff from Bellevue Baptist Church. Revd Goodliff’s assemblies are always a firm favourite of Hamstel Infants and once again, it was thoroughly enjoyed and we thank him for giving his time to come and speak to our children.

Next week the Christmas fun continues as we start our performances to parents and carers, beginning with our Nursery and Reception nativities. For Reception, these take place in the Infant hall at 9:00am on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th December. While, for Nursery, the performances are 2:15pm on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th and 9:15am on Thursday 12th in the nursery building. The PTA will be selling refreshments at the Reception performances this year to keep you well hydrated throughout, so please bring some change along with you to the event if you would like to purchase a hot drink or snack.

Thursday 12th promises to be a very exciting day as not only are our early years performers in action, but it is also our Christmas dinner day and Christmas Jumper Day, where the children can wear a suitably festive jumper, t-shirt or top. We look forward to seeing some very festive attire on display!

On the same day, our fabulous PTA will also be holding a Christmas Pop-up Shop for the children to buy their own gifts for family and friends. They will visit the shop during the school day, so please send the children into class with a named envelope containing their money, if they wish to purchase gifts for the special people in their lives. All gifts are priced at £2.50 each.

Just a reminder that during our final week of term, it’s the turn of Year 1 and Year 2 parents to come into school for the Year 1 Christmas crafts event (Thursday 19th) and the Year 2 Christingle (Tuesday 17th & Wednesday 18th) respectively. We are also hoping that a very special visitor might even find time in his busy schedule to pay Hamstel Infants a visit too!

Have a great weekend and we look forward to see you bright and early on Monday morning!

Scott Roche

Principal

Nursery

This week we have been learning about the Christian Nativity story by sharing the book ‘The Christmas Story' and preparing for our Nativity performances next week.

In PSHE we have been talking about our feelings and different emotions. The children enjoyed taking part in an emotions treasure hunt looking for hidden pictures of emotions.

In Maths we have continued to look at 2D shapes especially circles.

Nativity Performances:

• Tuesday 10th December - Seahorse at 2.15pm
• Wednesday 11th December - Starfish at 2.15pm
• Thursday 12th December - Starfish at 9.15am
• Thursday 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas dinner

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

This week the children have been listening to the book 'Dear Santa'. We have been learning about Christmas and what happens at Christmas. What a celebration is, and what presents are and when we receive them. We are continuing to learn about light and sound, night and day, dark and light. The children are learning about different things that they may like as a present. And have been exploring different feelings connected to this.

We have also looked at the different features of Winter, learning about how the weather changes, and what the signs are. We have enjoyed making some Christmas art and listening to Christmas songs that everyone enjoys singing along to.

Letters: Zig Zag family letter formation writing. Phonics: R J V Y W

Maths: One more one less/whole and half/counting on from a given number/number recognition/number sequencing/missing numbers and additions.

Starlight

This week we have been reading the book ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman.’ The children have made a story map of all the places he delivered the letters to. We also made postman hats!

The children loved watching the ballet performance - ‘A Christmas Wish.’ It was lovely watching their reactions to the performance.

We have been learning about Winter; the types of clothing that we wear, the different types of weather that can be expected and how the day light hours are shortening.

REMINDER: Outdoor learning on Monday 9th December. Please dress your child in appropriate clothing and pack some spare clothes too.

Please come to our Christmas activity afternoon on Friday 13th December at 2:30pm in Starlight Room.

Reception Year

This week we have been learning about the Christian Nativity story and preparing for our Nativity performances next week.

In PSHE we have been learning about the importance of being polite, taking turns and sharing.

In PE we have been exploring jumping from a height, remembering how to land safely by bending our knees.

In Maths we have joining in with counting sequences to 10, using our fingers to represent quantities to 10 and recognise numerals to 5.

How to help at home

Reading: Watch the QR codes with your child, encouraging them to join in. Practise the sounds ‘My Speedy Sounds’ book.

Handwriting:

Maths:

• Count objects at home
• Show the correct number of fingers for a given number

Next week:

• Tuesday 10th December 9am: Nativity performance – Kingfisher and Owl
• Wednesday 11th December 9am: Nativity performance – Woodpecker and Peacock
• Thursday 12th December: Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner

Year One

This week we have been continuing with story ‘The Lost Property Office’. We have been learning about the features of a diary and why you might want to write one. For our ‘big write’ this week we wrote a diary entry in the role of the main character who was a little girl who lost her teddy bear on the train!

In Maths we have been working on subtraction within 20 which has been quite tricky! We have been doing lots of practical tasks and using the part-part-whole models to support our understanding.

We have started our Science block this week and we have been learning about different materials including wood, plastic, metal, paper and glass. We have been discussing the different properties of these materials and what they look and feel like. We have sorted and organised different objects and materials based on different criteria.

Outdoor learning next week. Please ensure your child has a waterproof coat and appropriate footwear.

• Thursday 12th December - Christmas jumper Day and Christmas dinner

Year Two

Year 2 have continued to work hard practising their songs, words and acting skills ready for our Christingle in the last week of term.

Back in the classroom the children have been learning more about Christmas traditions during the Victorian Era and how Christmas has changed over time. We have learnt about the first Christmas cards, the invention of the Christmas cracker and how Prince Albert brought the tradition of the Christmas tree over from Germany. Using our new knowledge and research the children have been writing factual sentences to explain some of these traditions and changes.

In Maths we have continued to learn more about division using grouping and sharing methods. We have learnt how to represent our understanding using pictures and calculations. We have begun to learn how division and multiplication are linked.

• Thursday 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner

Celebration Assembly - Effort & Resilience.

This weeks value has been 'Effort & Resilience', below are highlights from around the classes.

Online Safety

The rise in awareness of mental health issues has given way to several easily accessible services to help with such problems – for example, wellbeing apps promising to serve as an assistive tool for anyone in need of support. While these can be useful to some, there are a few risks which are important to consider – especially if a child or young person is using the app.

Of course, it can be tricky to know exactly where the safety concerns lie with a service intended to help and support its users – and it can be harder still to safeguard younger users. This guide breaks down the online safety risks of mental health and wellbeing apps, before letting you know how best to keep children and young people safe if they ever wish to use these services.