THE
GILES NURSERY
AND
INFANTS’
SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mrs Rouane Mendel
Deputy Head Teacher : Ms Joyeeta Majumdar
Durham Road, Stevenage, Herts. SG1 4JQ
Telephone : 01438 359747
Fax : 01438 359747
Email : admin@gilesinfants.herts.sch.uk
3/07/2015
School Aims: our school is a place where we aim to develop:
► Positive attitudes to learning
► Creativity and a sense of self-confidence and self-esteem
► Equality of opportunity, independence, individuality, tolerance, sensitivity and
cooperation
► Good relations, respect for others and the environment
► A broad and balanced creative curriculum
► Pupil achievement by providing quality experiences
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been another wonderful - if rather hot - week. Today has been a particularly special day
with Mr McPartland MP coming in to celebrate the opening of our new Eco Area in school. The
Assembly was led by Mrs McPartland with the School Council who has fund-raised so
successfully to build this lovely new area. Well done to them and thank you all for your support
for this special project.
Also today the spectacular Nursery Fun Day took place. Our Nursery team works for weeks to
prepare for this event and it has been a tremendous occasion. Thank you to our wonderful
Nursery team. Do check the website for photos.
If you haven’t yet done so, do also check the website for some absolutely terrific pictures of Year
1 at the seaside - and also of Year 2 teachers who dressed up and administered cures for the Great
Plague in class this week!
Thank you also to everyone who contributed so generously to the Bake Sale yesterday. I will let
you know how much was raised for the PTA.
Our Health and Safety Governor, Mr Stevens, conducted the termly audit and went round the
school checking all areas. Our Curriculum Committee also met and were particularly pleased
with the progress made by children in all year-groups, including vulnerable children and those
with special educational needs.
The Year 1 summer concerts were a delight to behold - we are so proud of our children!
Staff notification: It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Ms Majumdar, our Deputy
Head and SENCo, will be leaving the school at the end of the summer term. Ms Majumdar has
been successful in finding a wonderful new job as SENCo at a school in London and though we
are so sad to lose her, we are happy she won’t have such a long drive to work every day. Ms
Majumdar has contributed the most enormous amount to the school during her time here and has
led our Special Needs Team brilliantly. We will miss Ms Majumdar’s big personality, smiling face
and huge sense of fun terribly. We all wish her the very best for the future.
We are also very sad to be losing Miss Hennings who came to this school as a student and stayed
on as a newly-qualified and then fully-qualified teacher. She has contributed so much to the
school and to the Reception team; all the children and staff love her and will miss her. We wish
Miss Hennings the very best for the next stage in her career.
If anyone would like to contribute towards a gift for Ms Majumdar or Miss Hennings, please give
any donations to your child’s class teacher or to Mrs Leach in the office. Thank you.
We are of course delighted at the same time to be welcoming Mrs Russell to the school as our new
SENCo, Miss O’Regan as our new Year 1 teacher and Mrs Dear as our new Reception teacher.
All three teachers came to our Open Evening and will be coming into school to meet their new
classes and ensure a good transition. I am sure you will all make them very welcome.
Year 2 Summer Concerts: These take place this Tuesday July 7th with Puffins (Mrs McPartland’s
class) at 1.30 and Penguins (Mrs Garley) at 2.30 pm.
Reminder: Nursery is closed July 10th: Children joining Nursery in September will have their
Open Day on that day. Thank you so much for your understand and we apologise for the
inconvenience.
Attendance Reporting: Before the end of term, we will be sending an individual attendance
session summary for each child. Please note that each day consists of two sessions.
PTA Stay-and-be-Active session for Reception children: Monday July 6th 3.30-4.30 pm. Note
that other siblings are welcome but that parents are expected to remain with their children for this
event.
PTA Nursery bedtime story: This will take place in the Nursery from 6.00-6.30 pm on Tuesday.
Year 2 Great Fire of London Workshop: This will take place all day Monday.
Parking Incident: A member of staff had their car damaged by another vehicle whilst parked
outside the school in the road opposite the layby. The incident happened around 12pm on
Wednesday; if anyone has any information or saw anything that may help please could you
inform the school office. Thank you
Nursery: In Nursery this week the children really enjoyed making biscuits to share on Fun Day.
They were all very excited, looking forward to their parents staying, dressing up and enjoying the
pirate activities. They have been investigating ice and finding out which is the best insulating
material. They all worked together as a team to play games using the parachute.
Next week, the children will be making a class book to record what they have really enjoyed
during their time in Nursery. They will continue to participate in lots of pirate activities.
Next week is our last stay-and-play session and we would like to thank all parents and carers who
have joined us throughout the year.
Reception: This week the children have been learning all about caterpillars and butterflies. They
have learned about the life cycle of a caterpillar, from caterpillar to butterfly, and have created
many representations of the minibeasts using a variety of materials. In mathematics, the children
have been learning about symmetry and have explored using mirrors with many practical
resources. They have also played symmetry games on the interactive whiteboard and matched
symmetrical butterfly wings. The children have been learning minibeast songs and listening to
many stories. They have demonstrated their understanding of the stories through discussion and
by labelling their drawings that represent the story.
Next week the minibeast theme will be spiders. The children will create spider headbands for our
picnic and explore with a range of materials to create spider webs and flies. The children will
listen to spider stories, such as 'ARRGGHH! Spider' and 'The Very Busy Spider' and will learn
all about different types of spiders and their webs. Following our church visit, the children will
discuss important people in our community and in different religions.
Year One: In English this week, the children have been continuing with their learning about
Barnaby Bear and his seaside holiday adventures. The children have written letters to the RNLI
and watched video clips of life boats being launched. They have talked about our trip to Waltonon-the-Naze and written a recount sequencing the day. In mathematics, the children have been
measuring with water and cubes and making careful predictions. They have been using key
mathematical vocabulary during their practical activities; for example, full, half-full, nearly
empty and empty to describe the level of water in each container.
During our capacity work Emma from Big Cats said “I love measuring with cubes. This is the
best activity I’ve ever done. I’m going to do this at home.”
In geography, the children have been looking at geographical features of the seaside and in RE
they listened to the Muslim story ‘The Seven New Kittens’ and talked about the wonders of the
natural world.
The children were so excited to perform their summer concerts on Tuesday and were extremely
pleased to present all their work on the topics of plants and the seaside.
Next week in mathematics, the children will be participating in a work wheel of activities related
to weighing. In English the children will be reading a range of summer time poetry and writing
their own poems on this season.
On Tuesday, John Forster will be coming in to share some stories from the Bible with the
children. In computing, the children will be finishing off their ‘Let’s Create’ work and adding
sound to their digital book. In design and technology the children will be designing a moving
pirate ship picture.
Year Two: This week the children have been learning about the Great Plague. They have learnt
lots of different facts about the Plague and looked at the uniform of the plague doctor. Kyle said,
“So the fleas bit the rats, then the rats bit people and they got the plague.” Please see the website
for photos of the plague doctor’s visit to the classes. The children then went on to learn about the
Great Fire of London and thought of questions about it. Once they had written their questions,
they used computing equipment to research the Great Fire of London and find the answers to
their questions. The children have also been working really hard and rehearsing for their
summer concerts.
On Monday, the children had the opportunity to go to their new classrooms at the junior school
and have their questions answered by the current Year 3 children. Then on Thursday their new
teacher visited for the afternoon and taught the children a PSHCE lesson.
Next week on Monday 6th July, the children will take part in a Great Fire of London workshop.
This will give the children an idea of what it was like for the people living in London when the
fire started to spread. They are encouraged to come to school dressed as children did in 1666,
although this is not compulsory.
On Tuesday next week the children will be performing in their summer concerts. Puffin class will
be performing at 1:30 and the Penguin class will be performing at 2:30 pm. The concerts will take
place in the school hall and everyone is welcome. Then, on Thursday, the children will have the
opportunity to visit Giles Junior School for most of the morning. They will have a lesson with
their new teacher and enjoy playtime on the Junior School’s playground.
Tiger Class: In English the children have been busy practising their play about ‘The Little Red
Hen.' Tiger class have also been developing their singing skills and playing musical instruments
in time. The children have also been thinking about different characters from the story and
describing what they are like.
In mathematics, the children have been learning about pictograms and they have really enjoyed
visiting other classes to find out children's favourite animals, food and other such things. The
children have used the information to create their own pictograms. Tiger class have also used the
2graph programme on the computer to create a pictogram.
In geography, the children have been learning about rivers and looking at the river Thames and
the Amazon River. Tiger Class have developed their knowledge of how rivers were used in the
past and how rivers are used today. The children have been identifying the different animals
which live in the two locations both in the rivers and on the riverbanks. The children drew some
fantastic pictures to demonstrate their knowledge of rivers and their uses.
I would just like to thank everyone for coming to the concert on Wednesday. I was so proud of all
the children for saying their words clearly, acting out the story and singing and playing
instruments beautifully.
Next week the children will be developing their knowledge of another traditional tale and
character descriptions.
STARS of the WEEK!
Ladybird Nursery Classes
Jakub Jaworski and
Alexia Worrell
For always enjoying Nursery
activities.
Rasmiyah Mohammed
For joining in so well during group
times.
For being an enthusiastic member of
the Nursery.
Bailey Martin
Owl Classes
Tawny Owls
Phoebe Kiss
Hagan Zahra
For having a great understanding of
symmetry.
For settling in well to an activity in
the mornings.
Barn Owls
Madina Afrooz and AmyRose Adams
For good progress in letters and
sounds.
Snowy Owls
Asharne Stewart
Big Cat Class
Alyssa Alupay
O’Shea Bourne-Bell
Red Fox
Billy Sugg
Owen Chidavaenzi
Samuel Knapp
Israel Ehindero
Puffin Class
Kyle Whitham
Lola Parry
Penguin Class
Lily-Mai Springett
Tiger Class
Adil Shah
Max Orchard
For using his imagination to write a
creative story.
For writing a super recount of her
trip to Walton-on-the-Naze.
For working really hard on his
reading this term.
For excellent capacity work.
For fantastic singing in our class
summer concert.
For excellent estimating during a
capacity activity.
For lovely work on geographical
features of the seaside.
For completing some fantastic work
on the Great Plague.
For always listening and doing her
best.
For settling in to her new class
superbly.
For being helpful and well organised.
For always being ready and keen to
learn.
TROPHY-BEARING CLASS WITH THE BEST ATTENDANCE FOR THE WEEK
RED FOX CLASS
FANTASTIC ATTENDANCE – WELL DONE!!
Dates for your diary:
SUMMER TERM 2015
Monday July 6th - PTA Reception Stay-and-be-Active 3.30-4.30
Tuesday July 7th - PTA Nursery Bedtime Story 6-6.30 pm
Tuesday July 7th – Year 2 Summer Concerts (Puffin at 1.30pm; Penguin at 2.30pm)
Thursday July 9th - Moving up Day for all children
Friday 10th July - Nursery Open Day for new children; Nursery closed to current
children
Monday 13th July – Friday 17th July: ‘One World Week’
Thursday 16th July: Whole School: Steel Drumming
Thursday 16th July - Reception Picnics
Friday 17th July – Whole School: Indian Dancing
Monday July 20th Parties
Monday July 20th Year 2 Leaving Celebrations and Parties
Tuesday July 21st - Last day of school; school closes 2pm
Term Dates 2015/16
Autumn Term 2015
Thursday 3rd September – Friday 23rd October
Half-term: Monday 26th October – Friday 30th
Tuesday 3rd November – Friday 18th December
Spring Term 2016
Tuesday 5th January – Friday 12th February
Half-term: Monday 15th February – Friday 19th February
Monday 22nd February – Friday 1st April*
*Please note that Easter Weekend is Friday 25th – Monday 28th March and falls outside the
School Spring Term Holiday period.
Summer Term 2016
Tuesday 19th April – Friday 27th May
Half-term: Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June
Tuesday 7th June – Friday 22nd July
Inset Days
Wednesday 2nd September 2015
Monday 2nd November 2015
Monday 4th January 2016
April 18th April 2016
Monday 6th June 2016
Occasional Day - Monday 25th July 2016
Have a lovely weekend
Kind regards,
Rouane Mendel
Head Teacher