Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News week ending 13th October 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week has been one of the busiest yet for the children and families of Hamstel infants.

On Monday and Tuesday we were joined by the amazing Happy’s Circus and from the moment the vans and trailers pulled onto our field and the big top started to go up, the excitement across the school grew. We were over the moon to see over 900 people come and join the fun, the games, the food and of course the circus performance over the two days. Everybody we spoke to, left the event buzzing after a real, ‘feel good’ evening. A big thank you to all of the staff and PTA Members who gave up their time to support the event and an especially huge thank you to Mr Bailey, Mrs Barrand and Mrs Tracy who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

During the week we have had lots of great learning going on, our Year 1 children had their local walks around the area and there has been lots of learning based around what they saw around our community. Wednesday was a great day for our Year 2 children as they were visited by the Nite Owls. The children saw a flying display in the hall and were amazed as they glided silently from place to place. It was lovely to see them all so engaged in their research and creation of Owl linked work that followed the visit.

We had our first parent council meeting of the year and some interesting points came up for discussion. It is so important for us to hear your views about school so it would be lovely to have as many parents as possible involved. If you are interested in being a parent councillor and can spare an hour every half term, please let the office know and we will be more than happy to provide you with more information.

Next week our Teacher Parent meetings take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings so if you haven’t booked an appointment yet, it would great to see you!

On a personal level, I am absolutely delighted to be saying at Hamstel Infants, we have great parents, great children and great staff and I am really excited to see all of the brilliant things we can do together in the future!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday morning for our last week of this first half term. A reminder too that school will be closed on Friday 19th for staff training.

Scott Roche

Principal

Celebration Assembly - Effort and Resilience.

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

Nursery

This week we have been learning about the book ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’. During our outdoor learning session, we went on our own bear hunt and found lots of bears hidden in the wildlife area. We have been learning to retell a story using a story map.

The children have enjoyed making their own bear hats using scissors to cut the ears and a stapler to fasten the ears to their hat.

In Maths we have been learning to count objects accurately and creating repeating patterns. Maybe you could create some repeating patterns at home and share them on Tapestry.

REMINDER: Could you please ensure that your child has their name in their coats, jumpers and cardigans Thank you.

Letter home this week

• Whole School - Individual Photos - 11.10.2023
• Whole School - Staff Update - 11.10.2023

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

It has been a busy week in Rainbow Room, the children have been experimenting with autumn leaf printing, painting and so much more. The children have enjoyed looking and touching different types of leaves and using them in their play. We have used the sensory room in the afternoons and had lots of fun with matching and sorting games. The children have been fantastic following routines and directions, and we have continued with mark-making, handwriting and number work.

REMINDER: Could you please ensure that children have names on all their coats, jumpers and cardigans. Thank you.

Starlight

This week the children have been learning about the changes that take place during Autumn. They have been collecting leaves and then printing some colourful autumn leaves and painting autumn trees.

We have also been looking at the characters in the story of 'The Gingerbread Man'. In cooking the children were excited to bake their own Gingerbread Men.

In Maths we have been learning that we can subtract by crossing out.

Reception Year

This week we have been learning about the book ‘Who Sank the Boat.’

We have been continuing to learn about different modes of transport, as well as learning about the Christian Bible story Noah’s Ark. In Science we have been learning about floating and sinking, we have been exploring which objects float and which sink. In DT we have been learning to design and make a boat.

In Handwriting we have been learning to write the long legged letters ‘u and t’, remembering to start at the top.

In Maths we have been learning to subitise 2 and 3, practise making 2 and 3 with our fingers and identify when a small collection is rearranged, or a quantity is changed.

How to help at home:

Sounds of the week:

Reading

Spend time reading stories to your child.

Encourage your child to share their school reading book with you. Encourage them to talk about the pictures using full sentences.

Handwriting

Encourage your children to write the letter u and t. Make sure they start each letter in the right place and finish in the right place.

REMINDERS:

Outdoor Learning Next Week

• Owl Class: Monday
• Peacock Class: Tuesday
• Kingfisher Class: Wednesday
• Woodpecker Class: Thursday

Letter home this week

• Reception - Information for Parents and Carers - Nuffield Early Language Intervention - 13.10.2023
• Reception - Information for Parents and Carers - Nuffield Early Language Intervention - 13.10.2023
• Reception - Handwriting workshop - 12.10.2023
• Whole School - Individual Photos - 11.10.2023
• Whole School - Staff Update - 11.10.2023

Year One

Year 1 have had a fantastic week, we have really enjoyed going on our Local Area Walk. We spotted different examples of street furniture and learnt the names of the roads we walked along. When we returned to class we mapped our route onto a simple map.

We have been reading the story the Gingerbread Man and learning to describe the characters and settings.

We have been learning how to subtract in maths, using different methods to take away.

REMINDER: We need helpers for our trip to the Hive after half term. Please talk to your class teacher if you would like to support.

Letters home this week

• Year 1 - The Hive visit - 12.10.2023
• Whole School - Staff Update - 11.10.2023
• Whole School - Individual Photos - 11.10.2023
• Year 1 - Art Club - 11.10.2023

Year Two

It’s been another busy and very exciting week in Year 2! The children have enjoyed their time in the Wildlife Area, creating and using an obstacle course and using their observational skills to draw pumpkins. We also enjoyed the visit from the Nite Owls, where the children watched a fantastic flying display and learnt lots of new facts about Owls. Watch out for a news story about this next week.

In Literacy the children have been asking questions and researching about Owls, learning about their habitats, what they like to eat and the life-cycle.

In Maths the children have continued to work on their calculating skills and knowledge linked to addition.

Reminder: Mrs Farrell Headteacher will be conducting tours for prospective parents who are thinking of sending their child to Hamstel Juniors in September from Year 2.

The dates are:

• 31st October at 9.15am
• 2nd November at 9.15am
• 9th November at 4.30pm

Letters home this week

• Whole School - Staff Update - 11.10.2023
• Whole School - Individual Photos - 11.10.2023