The best start in life for all our children.
CARTERHATCH INFANT SCHOOL
Issue 6: 20th November 2020
Office email: office@carterhatch-inf.enfield.sch.uk Website: https://www.carterhatchinfants.com/
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Diary: 27th November – Flu Nasal Spray for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Wednesday 9th December – Christmas School Dinner Friday 11th December – Christmas Jumper Day (you can wear something Christmassy or winter colours - 50p donation towards school fundraising) Wednesday 16th December – Christmas Party Day Friday 18th December – Last day of term, non-school uniform Day (50p donation towards school fundraising) Monday 21st December to Monday 4th January – Christmas Break Monday 4th January - Staff training day (School closed for children) Tuesday 5th January - Children return to school Soft start to ease congestion Year 1 & 2 – 8.45/8.55 Reception 9.00/9.05 Nursery 8.30/9.00
Dear Parents/Carers, It was lovely to see so much support for Children in Need last Friday. Thank you all for any donations you gave. I know it is a tough time financially but it is such a good cause that we didn’t want families to miss out on the opportunity to contribute. Thank you to everyone for adhering to all the changes implemented this term due to Covid-19. In particular for wearing face coverings and using our one-way system to enter and exit the school. Any measures we can take to reduce the risk of spreading this awful virus will benefit the whole community. Unfortunately, we have had to send children home if they display any COVID symptoms, which I am sure you are fully aware of by now. Government guidelines state that someone only has to display one of the symptoms in order to be advised to have a COVID test. Most parents/carers have fully understood why we needed to send their child home and why we advised them to arrange a COVID test for their child. However, we have experienced some parents/carers taking their frustrations out on staff and at times becoming confrontational, abrupt and even abusive. Not only do we want to keep our children and staff safe but also the families they go home to at night. We have vulnerable children, staff and families that we need to protect, as the consequences of them contracting this virus could be very serious. We also need to ensure this virus is not spread across bubbles, as we could potentially have to send home classes, year groups and at worst close the whole school. There are schools in Enfield that have had to close this term due to an outbreak in their school. Therefore, we would appreciate your understanding if we have to send your child home as we are not willing to put our school community at risk. Our staff are here to help and do not deserve to be treated in this way. We would like to point out that this has only been a small number of parents as most understand we have to follow these guidelines. The only way anyone can determine if your child has COVID is by having a test. It is of course your choice but if you choose not to then your child would need to isolate for 14 days. If there are any families within our school community who are finding things challenging then please make contact with Jeanette, our Family Support Worker, who will try to help you in any way we can. Thank you for your support and cooperation. Adrienne and Sarah Co Heads
Feedback from Forest School – Year 1
“We began with a very active game of go, stop using the whole field to run fast and practise responding to instructions. It was hard to hear the adults’ voices sometimes, so children began watching friends for an additional clue to stop quickly. We retold the story of Rama and Sita, which was already familiar to the children - they like the bit with the ugly demon King! Year 1 got lots done, children were good at making their minds up about what they wanted to do, most children covering all activity choices given today - making shapes (Rangoli patterns), making tents for Rama and Sita in the forest and making clay diva lamps. Showing security in their routine of the Wolf call and reflection, children chose ‘proud, good and happy’ to describe how they felt at the end of the session and left clutching leaves and diva lamps; they had been very creative. Children enjoyed banging in pegs, and with teamwork, they built a three tent shelter for Rama and Sita, Hanuman and Lakshman. Children reminded each other to stand back, showing a good understanding of and respect for safety rules.” Year 2: In recent weeks we have been making the most of the mild weather and taking children out of the classroom as much as possible. We have been able to safely go on Autumn walks within the school grounds. We have not only been inspired by the stunning ranges of colours that this season offers us but also by nature in general. We have produced art enthused by the work of Andy Goldsworthy. This has really got the children thinking about a range of art techniques such as using colour, line, shape, pattern and texture in their work. We can’t wait to create rain shadows – weather permitting. In addition, the children have been keen to spot and identify birds that they can see flying above us and even observed one magpie trying to build a nest in the guttering of a house opposite the school! It would be really beneficial if you could take your child for a nature walk to compliment what we have been doing. One of our children brought in a pair of binoculars that he informed me he had been using in his garden frequently this year to spot birds. I think we could have some budding ‘twitchers’ amongst us in the future and a really good idea for a stocking filler! Finally, a huge cheer to all of those children that completed the half term reading challenge in year two and not only provided us with an image of where they had read their books but more importantly wrote a matching book review. Thank you and well done! If you didn’t win this time around keep an eye out for our Spring reading challenge. Winners: Leopard Class: Andreas Tiger Class: Archie Jaguar Class: Elizabeth
Year 1: Year one children have had 3 sessions of Forest school now and are enjoying the outdoors and exploring their surroundings. Jude and her team have been so enthusiastic with the children encouraging them to observe closely, work as team and discover new things about nature. “This is so amazing! I love Forest School!” – Fredi “We played a game with the leaves to make them fly away in the wind’ - Anastasia Don’t forget your child needs a waterproof coat and a spare pair of shoes on THURSDAYS!
Reception: This week your child would have received their home reading record. This is for you to write in weekly when you have read with them or when you practise their letter sounds and blending/ segmenting skills with them. Please read the first few pages in your child's reading record to see what you can do to support developing their reading skills at home. Each week your child will read with an adult and a comment from school will be recorded in their reading record. Please ensure they have a school book bag and their reading record in school every day. Thank you to all the families who have been sharing their child's home learning with us through their child's online Tapestry Journal or through the class emails. Now the home learning has been up and running for a month, it is an expectation that all families will be engaging with this and supporting their child at home. We will be choosing children each week to receive a home learning certificate as a 'star home learner'. We look forward to starting this from next week! If you have any questions regarding how you can support your child with their home learning, please email your child's class email. Best wishes, The Reception Team
Nursery: Nursery children are continuing to settle into their new routines and are enjoying exploring all areas of the Nursery. We have seen a big improvement with their independence and listening skills and it has been lovely to observe lots of new friendships forming. Thank you to all Parents/Carers for trusting the members of staff, and working together to settle your child into Nursery, helping them to form positive associations and look forward to coming every day! We’d love to share a recent comment from a parent, “It’s like a second home for my son, and he loves it there!” Feedback like this makes our jobs very rewarding. Unfortunately, we are unable to have face to face consultations at present due to the current circumstances. If it has recently been your Child’s focus week, either Lily or Leah will telephone you with an update on how your Child is doing at Nursery. This will give you an opportunity to discuss anything significant happening at home or answer any questions you may have. The children have loved listening to our focus books ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?’ and ‘Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what can you hear?’. It has been fantastic to see and hear the children joining in with the repeated phrases from the story. We have also noticed a lot of curiosity with the changing weather and seasons. One child pointed to a tree today and commented “look there’s no leaves!” Children learn so much from their environment, please talk and encourage them to look around and notice seasonal changes, such as what is happening to the trees and leaves on your way to school. Nursery is working in partnership with Chickenshed Theatre and will be introducing Tales TV to the children over the coming weeks. We will text a link so that you can join in the songs and movement with your child at home. Talk PANTS is a simple conversation to help keep children safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule that can help children understand what abuse is and how to speak out about it. And with the help of their materials and friendly dinosaur. Pantosaurus, it can be roarsome fun too! https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/
Learning Power Buddies: At Carterhatch Infant School we have a set of special powers and characters that help us learn. They are called our ‘Learning Power Buddies’. The children have designed, named and thought about the powers each buddy has. This week we would like to introduce Problem Solving Pepe who has the power to plan and think it through, he’s willing to try, think about different ways of doing things and to talk to others if help is needed and not to worry if things do not go to plan. These skills can involve anything from your child solving problems in the work they do in school to finding the best way to resolve a problem they have with a friend. It’s all about thinking about their choices and finding the best solution. At home you could help by encouraging them to solve problems with you and when appropriate by themselves. A few examples,
If they are building a tower with lego or bricks and it keeps on falling down, questions you could use to encourage them to think about e.g Why do you think it keeps on falling down? Is there anything could do to make your model stronger?
Autumn Close: At the end of the day Autumn Close is becoming extremely busy. Parents and carers are telling us that they are worried that an accident might happen. We have discussed our one way system and congestion with our Metropolitan Community Police Officer. If you are in a car please note that there is a clear no access for vehicles sign between 8.15 & 9.15 and 2.45 & 4.00. Our Community Police Officer is patrolling the road and last Tuesday issued several warnings and a fine. He has asked us to share this warning - “parents/guardians will be issued with a ticket to prevent any pedestrians being injured” He also added that traffic enforcement officers will be attending to monitor and issue penalty notices in Autumn Close. Please remember that Year 1 & 2 are collected at 3.00 followed by Reception at 3.15 and Nursery at 3.30. This allows for a staggered finish to ease congestion. We continue to ask that you wear face coverings on site and to use social distancing measures, particularly when speaking to staff. Please do not be offended if staff remind you to wear your mask or stand back from you whilst talking. We want to still be able to communicate with our families whilst maintaining recommended safety measures. Thank you for your cooperation in these difficult times and helping the school to maintain COVID safety related systems.
Free School Dinners: We provide healthy, balanced, hot free meals for your children. Children are given a choice, you may want to show them the menu and discuss what is on offer each day. Staff support and encourage the children who sit together to enjoy the social aspects of eating, taking turns politely, using cutlery (which aids fine motor skills) and sharing the lunchtime experience. Occasionally a parent may ask if their child can change to eating a packed lunch. Before doing so please speak to a member of staff. If you still want to provide a packed lunch please complete the slip available from the school office as we need to make separate arrangements for children not having school lunches. This includes seating arrangements and changes to organisations in the kitchen. Please note that if items in the lunch box are considered unhealthy choices, school will remove them. For information on school meals, healthy choices and the current menu please visit - https://www.carterhatchinfants.com/school-meals/
Parent and Carer Free Online Courses: Working as a Teaching Assistant Taster – https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2020/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C2421973 Working in Adult Social Care – https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2020/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C2422028 Step Up to Emotional Health Mentoring Taster -https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2020/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C2422045
Over the past few years many of our parents and carers have attended courses with WEA and talk positively of their experience with them. From encouraging them to progress onto higher courses, supporting them into work and writing references they have helped our families gain confidence and develop many life skills. The tasters are free for everyone and the main course is free to those on benefits. However, for example, as a member of the Carterhatch Community the fee in total for Working in Adult Social Care is £48 for ten sessions.
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