THE
GILES NURSERY
AND
INFANTS’
SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mrs Rouane Mendel
Assistant Head Teacher : Mrs Judith Garley
Durham Road, Stevenage, Herts. SG1 4JQ
Telephone : 01438 359747
Fax : 01438 359747
Email : admin@gilesinfants.herts.sch.uk
6.11.2015
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,
Children have returned to school having had a really wonderful half-term break and ready for
another busy time at school. During half-term a lot of work went on including laying astro-turf
to create a new space for outdoor learning behind the Reception block of classes. This is now
where children take part in Child-Initiated Learning outside during the school day and is
providing an invaluable additional area for our Reception children. The rear path has been
tarmacked and this gate should be open again by next week. New canopies have been put in
place for the Nursery children, providing a much better outdoor area for our youngest pupils.
And new Touchscreen Interactive Whiteboards have been bought for the three Year 1 classes,
which means that all classes throughout the school now have this high-quality, flexible system.
Reception Assemblies: Miss Moore and Miss Freestone’s Tawny Owls class assembly will take
place in the hall at 2.30 pm on Tuesday November 10th; Miss Pritchett/Mrs Dear/Mrs Darlow’s
Barn Owls class assembly on Wednesday November 11th at 1.30 pm and Mrs Clark/Miss
Ingrid/Mrs Kitchener’s Snowy Owls class assembly on Wednesday at 2.30 pm.
Inco Parent Drop-in: for parents/carers in the staff room Thursday November 12th 8.50-9.50 am.
Open Evening: Don’t forget this is now next week on Tuesday. We look forward to welcoming
you all on November 10th 6.00pm-7.30 pm. Please come with your children and let them show
you their lovely school and classrooms.
Non-Uniform Day Friday November 13th: Children-in-Need day. Children can come dressed in
their pyjamas. Please bring a donation.
Pudsey-in-Pyjamas Sports: Year 1 children will be taking part in this event during that day, led
by Stevenage Sporting Futures.
Diwali Workshops and Assembly: These will take place throughout the day for Years 1 and 2 on
Friday 13th.
Pupil Premium Report: This is available on the website and shows how we spend money in this
school to support our vulnerable children.
Value of the Month: As part of our whole school PSHCE work we will be introducing a ‘Value
of the Month’. At the beginning of each month the children will be introduced to a different
value, which will then form part of their learning. They will deepen their understanding of each
value and will be encouraged to incorporate it into their behavior and attitude. The values are
designed to develop co-operation, respect, care and sensitivity towards others and will deepen the
already strong sense of unity within our school. They will also help promote friendship and teach
how to approach life with positivity and hope. Through these values our school community will
continue to grow and thrive as a happy, harmonious, fun place, where children feel secure.
The whole staff team and all pupils will be involved in promoting these values and recognising
their positive effects around school. It would be wonderful if you could help to support these
values at home too. This month the value is ‘Peace’. The key themes will include, respecting each
other; acting with compassion and reflecting on your choices and actions.
School Council Assembly: There is a lovely picture in this week’s ‘Comet’ of last week’s special
assembly during which Mr Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, gave out badges to our new
School Council pupils.
PTA Tea Towel: Our hard-working and creative PTA is introducing this new idea, with luck to
be ready for Christmas. The tea towel will have a self-portrait of each child in the year-group and
will make a lovely Christmas present.
Nursery: The Nursery children have loved all the firework activities this week. They made
firework pictures by drizzling glue and sprinkling paint and glitter. The children covered tubes
with shiny paper and sequins to make rockets. They sang a firework song and thought of
descriptive words. The children had a wonderful time outside, dancing and moving around with
bells and streamers like fireworks. They jumped along a number line to ten and launched
themselves like a rocket!
Next week the children will be celebrating Diwali and participating in related activities.
To celebrate Children in Need on Friday the children can come to Nursery wearing their
pyjamas. The children will be decorating a biscuit to eat at snack time. Please could we ask for a
voluntary donation of 20 pence to add to the Children in Need collection?
Thank you.
Reception: This week in the Owl classes the children have started a new topic of ‘Journeys’.
They have been thinking about the different journeys people make and what kind of transport
they might use. In each class the children have been learning to take on a character with simple
props and have been on imaginary journeys. In mathematics, the children have begun learning to
use a number line to ‘count on’ for addition and to ‘count back’ for subtraction. Using this
knowledge, they are beginning to be able to say ‘one more ‘ or ‘one less’ than a given number.
The new Astro turf in the back reception garden has transformed the children’s outdoor play and
has enabled us to provide a much improved outdoor learning area. It has been really enjoyed by
the children this week.
Next week the focus for Tawny Owls and Snowy Owls will be journeys to visit grandparents and
other relatives using the story and song ‘The Journey Home from Grandpa’s.’ In Barn Owls, the
children will be extending their action word vocabulary through the story ‘Fidgety Fish’ and
going on an imaginary submarine journey. In all Owl classes the children will also be focusing
on reading and spelling familiar CVC words. In ‘understanding the world’ Tawny and Snowy
Owls will be looking at roadways and drawing their own journey maps. In Barn Owls the children
will be investigating floating and sinking. The children are also looking forward to their first
class assembly!
Year 1: This week, in our cross-curricular English and Science learning, the children have begun
a non-fiction topic on animal classification. They have been writing questions about amphibians
and mammals and using non-fiction books and the internet to research information about these
groups. The children have looked in detail at a hedgehog and a fox and watched a short video
about their habitat and diet. Stevenage museum has very kindly loaned us some display animals
and the children thoroughly enjoyed guessing what was in the mystery boxes.
In mathematics this week, the children have been learning about ordinal numbers. They have
listened to the poem ‘The Quangle Wangle’s Hat’ by Edward Lear and ordered the animals that
came to visit the Quangle Wangle using 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
In art the children have followed a set of instructions to make a moving owl and in PSHCE the
children focused on firework safety. In computing the children experienced a new programme
called ‘Textease Turtle’ and practised making a shape based on an algorithm. After a letters and
sounds lesson on two-syllable words Tyler Black said, “This was the best lesson ever!”
Next week the children will be continuing their research on animals. They will be looking
carefully at fish and birds and sorting animals into sets which can fly, walk, slither or swim. The
children will be learning about alphabetical order and making a class animal dictionary.
In mathematics the children will be identifying the tens and units in teen numbers. On Friday the
children will be taking part in a Diwali workshop, making Diwali cards, rangoli patterns and
Rama and Sita puppets. They will also be taking part in ‘Pudsey- in- Pyjamas’ sporting activities.
Year 2: This week the children have taken part in an exciting themed day about Guy Fawkes and
Bonfire Night. They had the opportunity to research Guy Fawkes, design a fireworks safety poster
and make a rocket using card and tissue paper. The children also started a non-fiction unit about
Guy Fawkes. They looked at non-fiction books, used the index, glossary and contents pages to
locate information. The children also ordered key vocabulary in alphabetical order. In
mathematics the children used money to make different amounts; they then completed some
addition and subtraction calculations.
Next week the children will begin to draw diagrams, make flow charts and use symbols to
represent how an electrical circuit works. They will learn about Remembrance Sunday and why
people buy poppies at this time of year. In mathematics, the children will be doubling and halving
numbers as well as adding and subtracting 10, 11 and 21 using various strategies and equipment.
On Friday the children will have the opportunity to take part in an exciting Diwali workshop.
They will also be able to support ‘Children In Need’ by coming to school in non-uniform and
making a donation to the charity.
STARS of the WEEK!
Ladybird Nursery Classes
Hannah Stewart
Felicite Joy
Jacob Banks
For becoming more independent and
exploring a wider range of activities.
For always being so enthusiastic
during adult-led activities and
participating so well during the
Fireworks music session.
For demonstrating lovely control and
movement when being a firework.
For her positive and enthusiastic
approach to Nursery.
Owl Classes
Monet Steele
Tawny Owls
Riley Cook
For always listening and trying his
best at the task set for him.
Taylin Large
For always caring for and looking
out for her peers.
Snowy Owls
Abbie Draper
For being so kind to a child who had
hurt themselves.
Ted Dennis
For settling well into his new school
and for being kind and helpful.
Barn Owls
For creating a super bear puppet.
Charlie Earwaker
Daniel Furr
Isabella Hantea
Big Cat Class
Red Fox Class
Walker Bear Class
Summer Gooch and
Madina Afrooz
For working beautifully together to
order the Quangle Wangle characters
using ordinal numbers.
Jack Sparrow
For creating a super flapping owl in
art.
Gracie-May Houchen
For trying really hard with her
numbers in mathematics.
For creating a beautiful flapping owl
in art.
Angela Kioko
Savannah Flynn
Penguin Class
Puffin Class
For extending his learning especially
for independent writing.
For being a kind friend.
Archie Nelson
For trying really hard with her
numbers in mathematics.
For a fantastic firework safety poster.
Aaron Singh
Amber Fraser
For completing his self-assessment
sheet really carefully.
For making a wonderful rocket.
Xavier Alonday
For completing some fantastic
research about Guy Fawkes.
TROPHY-BEARING CLASS WITH THE BEST ATTENDANCE FOR THE WEEK
RED FOXES CLASS
FANTASTIC ATTENDANCE – WELL DONE!!
Please see previous newsletters for dates for the full year, which are also posted on our website.
Dates for your diary for the term ahead are:
Tuesday November 10th 6-7.30 pm OPEN EVENING
Friday November 13th Diwali Workshops and Assembly in school (children only, nonuniform day in support of Children-in-Need and Year 1 ‘Pudsey-in-Pyjamas’ sports event
PARENT-TEACHER CONSULTATIONS NOVEMBER 16TH - 20TH
Wednesday November 25th Guru Nanak’s Birthday Assembly in school, children only
Thursday December 3rd Year 1 Christmas Concerts: 1.30 pm Red Foxes (Miss O’Regan)
and 2.30 pm Big Cats (Mrs Edwards)
Friday December 4th Year 1 Christmas Concert 2pm Walker Bears (Mrs Dacombe)
Monday December 7th Hanukkah Assembly in school, children only
Thursday December 10th Year 2 Christmas Concerts: 1.30 pm Puffins (Mrs McPartland)
and 2.30 pm Penguins (Mrs Garley)
Friday December 11th Nursery Christmas Concerts: 11 am and 2.45 pm
Monday 14th December Chair of Governors – Christmas Assembly, children only
Tuesday December 15th 9.30 am Year 1 Nativity at All Saints’ Church - all welcome
Tuesday December 15th Reception Christmas Concerts: 1.30 pm Tawny Owls (Miss
Moore) and 2.30 pm Snowy Owls (Mrs Clark)
Wednesday December 16th Reception Christmas Concert: 9.15 am Barn Owls (Mrs Dear
and Miss Pritchett)
Wednesday December 16th Christmas Dinner
Thursday December 17th Christmas Parties and Entertainer
FRIDAY DECEMBER 18th LAST DAY OF TERM. SCHOOL CLOSES AT 2PM
I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Kind regards,
Rouane Mendel
Head Teacher