GRINDON INFANT SCHOOL & NURSERY NEWSLETTER
AUTUMN TERM
We hope you found the ‘Welcome’ meetings informative and helpful.
Please find below some important information and details about the forthcoming term:
Autumn Term 2015 Dates
1 September 2015 – 18 December 2015
***
11 September 2015 – INSET Day
(school closed to children)
***
23 October 2015 – break up for half-term
(1 week)
2 November 2015 – return to school
***
Parents’ Evening - Monday 19 October from 2.30pm - 5.30pm
***
18 December 2015 – INSET Day
(school closed to children)
Christmas Holidays
(school closed for 2 weeks)
Return to school Monday 4 January 2016
School Uniform
Important Dates/Events
29 September 2015 – School Photographer – individual and
family photographs for Christmas
***
Harvest Festival
21 October 2015 – Year 2 will be leading the assembly.
Donations of fruit/ vegetables/tins will be most welcome
***
8 December 2015– Rec Christmas Production 1.45pm
9 December 2015 – Y1 Christmas Production 1.45pm
14 December 2015 - Y2 Christmas Production 2pm
***
11 December 2015 - Nursery Christmas Party
15 December 2015 – Rec Christmas Party
17 December 2015 - Y2 Christmas Party
16 December 2015 - Y1 Christmas Party
10 December 2015 Nursery, ‘Sing Around the Christmas
Tree’ 11am & 2.40pm
Please put names in all items of clothing including gym shoes
and re-label if necessary.
CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Please ensure children wear sensible shoes for safety
reasons.
Water bottles are needed daily. Please do not add juice.
Homework for Y1 & Y2 children
Homework will be given out every Friday, to be returned on
Monday. Please encourage your child to complete their
homework and return it to school on time. If you have any
concerns about the homework please come along to see us.
Don’t forget to encourage your child to read and return
their reading folders on a daily basis (even if they have not
finished).
PE Days
Children must not wear earrings on these days as they will
not be able to participate in PE.
Children should have a PE Kit in school consisting of shorts,
t-shirt (may be bought in school) and gym shoes or trainers.
Reception
Year One
Year Two
-
Wednesday
Monday andTuesday
Wednesday and Thursday
Please inform school of any changes to telephone numbers as
we must be able to contact you in case of your child being
unwell or in an emergency.
Weekly Clubs
Y1 & Y2
Y2
Y1
Y2
Y2
Y2
Football Club
Tuesday
Swimming
Tuesday
Fit for Fun Club Wednesday
Performing Arts Thursday
Reading, Maths, Science Clubs
Homework Club Wed
After school
After school
After school
After school
Lunchtimes
Lunchtime
Every School Day Counts
It is very important that children attend school regularly
and on time if they are to make good progress. If your child
is unable to attend school please ring the school office
(5536865) before 9am. Dental and medical appointments
should be made, whenever possible, outside of school hours.
If this is not possible, please show the dental card or letter
confirming the medical appointment to staff in the school
office.
Our school’s website can now be viewed:
www.grindoninfantschool.co.uk
Helping Hands Group. Please come along on Thursday 17 September at 9am to meet Mrs Scott and other
willing helpers.
EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE - NURSERY AND RECEPTION
This year’s Nursery Team is Miss Findlay and Mrs Lloyd. Please note that on Tuesday morning Miss Findlay does not work in
class – the children will be taught by Mrs Robson.
The new term got off to a good start in the Nursery. Returning children settled quickly and are helping our ‘new to nursery’
children learn school routines.
The topic for this half term is ‘’All About Me’ and we are exploring our classroom and making new friends. We’ve also had fun
practising songs and action rhymes linked with the theme.
Spare Clothes for All Weathers - Please remember:

A spare change of clothes including underwear and socks.

Wellington boots.


To label all clothes and bags with your child’s name.
A waterproof jacket.
The Reception team (Mrs Bishop, Mrs Scott, Mrs Grassam & Miss Alvey) is pleased to report that the children have all settled
well into their new classes and routines and we are all looking forward to getting to know each other better.
Please note that on Wednesday afternoons Mrs Bishop and Mrs Scott do not work in class – children will be taught by
Mrs Morgan (class 6) and Mrs Robson (class 5).
Topics/Theme – All Things Bright and Beautiful – the children will be learning about themselves and the world around them.
Further information will follow regarding PE.
YEAR ONE
This year’s team is Mrs Jones, Mrs McCalvey, Mrs Cleminson, Miss Angus Mrs Summers, Mrs Robson and Mrs Young.
We would like to take this opportunity to let you know how pleased we are with how the children have settled into Year One.
They are getting used to the new routines and staff in Year One. We are all looking forward to the year ahead.
Our topic for this half term is ‘All About Me’. We have already made a great start to the topic. We are enjoying reading the
story ‘Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell’ and have had fun hunting for snails and retelling the story. We have also made a
great start at painting our own portraits and will begin looking at the work of other artists for inspiration. We would like to ask
for baby and toddler photographs to be sent into school to enable us to create personal timelines. We are able to make copies if
needed. Due to this topic being about the children, we are encouraging them to bring in work or photographs from home to
share with the class during show and tell.
YEAR TWO
This year’s team is Mrs Breen, Miss Kirwan, Mrs Bernardi and Mrs Price.
As you are already aware our topic this term is based on the book ‘Pumpkin Soup’ by Helen Cooper. We would like to say a huge
thank you to all of the families who have worked so hard to grow their pumpkin plants over the summer! We have had lots of
amazing plants returned to school and one of them already has a pumpkin growing on it. We intend to develop children’s learning
further by continuing to grow the plants and use these as a base for our scientific investigations. In the coming weeks we are
planning many exciting activities including, making and tasting pumpkin soup, developing our own recipe book, exploring where
food comes from, sewing our own quilt and making our own papier-mâché pumpkins amongst other exciting activities.
We will be handing out homework every Friday during the year. Homework this year will consist of a list of spellings to be
learnt, a maths skill to be practised and a piece of work linked to our topic. We would like this to be completed by the following
Friday as we will be checking children’s ability with their spellings and maths skill on this day. The year 2 staff will be running a
homework club on a Wednesday lunchtime that all children are welcome to attend. If your child requires any specific help with
their homework please inform a member of staff before this day.
PE for Year 2 during this term will take place on a Wednesday and Thursday, please ensure your child has their PE kit in school
on these days, including appropriate outdoor PE shoes and that earrings have been removed if they are worn.
We expect children to bring their reading folder to school every day and to change their book regularly. We hope that every
child reads at home with family members and we would ask you to ensure you write a comment in your child’s reading diary as
often as possible. Rewards will be given to those children who have at least 3 comments a week in their diary.
Our annual visit to Ewesley Road Church will take place around harvest time. Letters will be given nearer the time. We will be
looking at how harvest is celebrated around the world.
If there is anything we can help you with or anything else you would like to know, please come in and see us. Thank you
for your support and we look forward to working with you. Grindon Infant School and Nursery Staff