Hamstel Infant School & Nursery Weekly News 16th january 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

Another great week at Hamstel Infants full of super work, great attitude to learning and children pushing themselves to rise to new challenges.   One of my favourite parts of the week is getting to see the children’s work and this week I was treated to some absolutely fabulous, beautifully presented, writing across Year 1 and 2 as well as getting to see several reception children who were now able to write and form their own words for the first time. I also had the privilege of seeing some amazing maths work, where the children had taken on every challenge thrown at them by their teachers. This is what great learning is really about, each child learning new things, meeting their own challenges and being extremely proud in the achievements they make but all making great progress! Well done Hamstel Infants we are so proud of everything you achieve each and every day.   We also held our termly reception and nursery progress meetings in school this week. This is where we sit down with the teachers and talk about the progress being made by each child and their next steps. It was great to hear how well our younger children have settled into school life and how much they are already achieving. It is also worth mentioning just how well our teachers know your children, they certainly do an amazing job and we are very lucky to have such a dedicated team working in our school.    Today, we welcomed Reception parents into school for a maths workshop with our maths lead Miss Goodman. This was a chance for parents to see and hear how we teach early maths concepts and we hope you found the sessions helpful. A big thank you to Miss Goodman for arranging this event.   Next week we have a relatively quiet week in terms of actual events, although lots is going on behind the scenes, especially with our wildlife garden project where things are really starting to take shape. New exciting equipment has been purchased using the funds kindly donated by you after our excellent colour run event and since then we have had some amazing offers of support from local businesses, donating materials or equipment. This means we will have lots of news to share shortly, when we publish our garden project….the story so far in the coming weeks.   Just a quick save the date for some key events coming up this term; ·         Friday 30th January – Year 1 parents to watch maths mastery lesson ·         Friday 6th February – Year 2 parents to watch maths mastery lesson ·         Thursday 26th February – Year 1 Reading Rocks workshop ·         Thursday 5th March – Dressing up day for World Book Day ·         Tuesday 10th March – Reception Healthy Lives workshop ·         Tuesday 24th & Wednesday 25th March – Year 1 Spring Show ·         Thursday 26th March – Nursery Easter crafts and Reception Relative’s afternoon tea   More details will follow soon about these great events but we wanted to give you as much notice as possible to avoid missing out.   I hope you all have a good weekend- we look forward to seeing you again on Monday morning.   Scott Roche Principal   Weekly Celebrations!   This week our special value was Respect and while the children have still been busy earning dojos and special awards, there was no celebration assembly today due to our maths workshops taking place in the hall. However, we will return next week with a double celebration.   Attendance This week our attendance stood at 94.7%, just marginally below our 95% target. Interestingly, 28% of all our absence was actually caused by lateness, arriving after the registers had closed. While unexpected traffic, roadworks etc can’t be helped, please try where possible to arrive on time as it not only gives the children a settled start to the day, but also ensures that they don’t miss out on vital early morning learning. Thank you.   This week our weekly attendance cups went to…

• Kingfisher class who yet again, recorded 99% in Reception for the second week running!
• Heron class, who regained the Year 1 cup, also with 99%
• Fox class, who had the best attendance in Year 2, with 98%

Well done Hamstel Infants!   Scott Roche Principal    

Jump to a section...

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

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

Spring 2 Diary Dates - Community

Nursery

This week we have introduced our NELI program; this is an early language intervention to promote vocabulary and narrative skills. Each week the children will listen to a story and learn 4 or 5 special words from the story.  Our story this week is ‘Neon Leon’. Our special words are match, smile, sad and jungle. In maths we have been practising counting out objects from a larger group. How to help at home NELI: Please check tapestry for our weekly NELI home learning newsletter.

REMINDER: Please ensure that your child has a change of clothes at Nursery. If you have borrowed clothes could you please return them as our stocks are very low. Thank you.

Reception

This week we have been reading 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' and writing about the story. In maths we have learning the song ‘The five little speckled frogs’ and exploring number bonds to 5, learning to say the number bonds in sentences such as ‘3 and 2 make 5’. In shape, space and measure we have been identifying and naming shapes with 4 sides and thinking about their properties. In PSHE we have been learning about rules in different situations, talking about why rules might be different in different places for example in the classroom and on the playground at lunchtime. In PE we have been learning to roll a ball with control. In DT we have been exploring different tapes, such as masking tapes, clear tape and double-sided tape. In handwriting we have introduced the curly caterpillar letters, starting with c. We have taught the children the important starting point of 1 o’clock.  Thank you to everyone who attended the maths workshop, the children really enjoyed showing off their maths learning and we hope you have learnt some ways to support your child at home.  

• How to help at home

Maths: Number bonds to 4 | Reception maths | addition - BBC Bitesize

• NELI Special words: sleeve, collar, long, short, cardigan, pocket, button, zip, pyjamas, dressing gown, slippers, sleep
• Handwriting: Practise the curly caterpillar letters

 

• Nursery rhyme of the week: Rock-a-Bye Baby - CBeebies

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - School Meals Information to Parents - 09.01.2026

Rainbow & Starlight

Rainbow

This week, we have continued our learning about being safe and what that looks like in our daily routines. The children enjoyed listening to the story 'The Gingerbread Man', and we discussed the events of the story together. They created some lovely artwork inspired by the story and have been focused on revising subitising, number recognition, and counting backwards. The children have continued with RWI and are learning to build simple sentences using CVC words. We have also been exploring feelings, discussing how we may feel at different times of the day, what makes us happy or sad, and how we can help change our feelings. In addition, we have been learning about the seasons and what they look like. The children produced some amazing drawings, using different media to explore colour and texture. Although we have not had many opportunities to access the garden due to the rainy weather, the children have remained engaged and focused indoors. They have kept busy with activities in the Rainbow Room and used this time to practise important sharing and turn-taking skills.

Starlight

In English, we explored the story 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers. The children created word banks based on the penguin character and used these descriptive words to help write and design a “found” poster, thinking carefully about how to help the penguin find his way home. In maths, we have been learning about grouping and sharing as a way of dividing. The children explored how division links to multiplication, using practical resources to support their understanding and build confidence with these concepts. In geography, we identified some of the physical features of the polar regions, linking our learning to the setting of our story and deepening the children’s understanding of cold places in the world. Our outdoor learning session was full of excitement. The children worked together to rescue polar animals trapped in blocks of ice and used construction equipment to build shelters for penguins, encouraging teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. It has been a pleasure to see the children so engaged and enthusiastic in their learning this week.  

Year 1

This week we have been continuing with the story ‘The Something’. We recapped the features of a diary and discussed the little boy’s feelings throughout the book. We sequenced the story in order and used this to help us write a diary entry.  In maths we have been focussing on subtraction. We have been counting back using a number line and practising subtracting ones and tens.  In geography we have been looking at the weather. We learned about what a forecast was and looked online at the weather for the upcoming week. We also looked at the rain gauge in the playground to see what the rainfall had been. We wrote some sentences about how the weather changed over the course of the week. 

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - School Meals Information to Parents - 09.01.2026

Year 2

In literacy, we read the story 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers. We talked about the penguin character and collected vocabulary linked to the penguin’s appearance and feelings. The children used this work to write their own found posters to help the penguin find his home.  In maths, we used our multiplication knowledge to help with division. We practised grouping and sharing equally and learned how the two are connected. In geography, we continued learning about the polar regions, comparing Antarctica and The Arctic’s physical features.   

REMINDER: Outdoor learning next week 

Letters sent home this week

• Year 2 - Swimming Letter - 14.01.2025​
• Whole School - School Meals Information to Parents - 09.01.2026

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.

Community

Course for Carers of children aged 0-25 years with SEND.

A six-week programme to support the health and wellbeing of carers. It is free and more information and registration is through Eventbrite.     https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ssif-6-week-healthy-parent-carer-programme-tickets-1976576391194?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl