NewsletterApril Newsletter

Play/Climbing Equipment

We have been very lucky to be able to replace our old outdoor play equipment with some brand new climbing apparatus.

The school councillors were involved in the design and chose the one we have from 3 different designs and companies.

Otis and Jake met the builders who explained where they were putting each piece of apparatus and how they linked together.

We have been watching with excitement as the apparatus was put in.

The all-weather surface and path to it will mean we can use it during the whole year and we can't wait to try it out.

Otis and Jake tested out the equipment and said "It is amazing but also challenging, it is lots of fun and the green bit is very bouncy."

Worry Support 

The worry club is on Tuesdays at 12.15pm. We will be doing crafts, games, yoga, reading books and calm time. Our job is to help children with anxiety and sad emotions to feel better.

The teachers will choose a child from each class to attend each week. We will do crafts, games, dancing and mindful colouring. My job is to make people laugh and feel better with the help of Mrs Moncaster and Mrs Tilley.

Worry club is a club to talk to year 2 wellbeing councillors – Camille, Max and Autumn. Our job is to help the children become happy and enjoy their time in the club and at school.

Guinea Pigs

We have a rota so that each class knows when it is their day to feed and stroke Robert and Miles. They like to eat carrots and the vegetables from our lunch. They do eat a lot. They are usually asleep in their tunnel but they wake up when we go out at break times. The Year 1 children like to say hello to them when they come back from playtime. When we hold them, they leave lots of hair on our uniform. Robert squeaks really loudly. Having a school pet makes us really happy.

Lunch

We took a questionnaire to every child in school to ask them about what their favourite dinner was and what they didn’t like. We are going to speak to John, our school chef to share what we found out. Since John has started the lunches are really good and more children are having school dinners because it is so delicious. We really liked his yoghurt and banana pudding. We are going to be growing lots of vegetables with Mrs Wright and are starting a new grow club. We want to grow strawberries and cucumbers and potatoes.

We now have our new Head Cook, John, working with us to provide delicious, nutritious FREE meals. We are very excited to have John on board with us and the children will be noticing some positive changes to their meals. Every child here receives a Universal Free School Meal, which not only saves you money but the hassle of putting lunch together. We want to encourage children to try new foods, to broaden their tastes and experiences.

I understand that some children will want to bring in a packed lunch, but I would ask you to have them try the meals and not send them with their own lunch. The selection is great for an infant school, hot meals including meat free days, jacket potatoes, tomato pasta and the option of a school packed lunch. If you do send your child with a packed lunch, we will offer them a meal of their choice to try. We really do not have the space or cold facilities to store lunch boxes so would ask you not to send them in.

Lunchtimes at Robert Miles are a really important part of our day. We allow additional time for each year group to sit together and share a meal. They learn about the importance of a healthy meal, how to use cutlery to support them to develop their fine motor skills (crucial when learning to write) and they get to try new foods. We are looking forward to growing our own food for the children to try too.

Our school council will be meeting with John to discuss the provision and share the finding of a questionnaire they used to get feedback from all the children about the lunches.

If you have any concerns regarding dietary/allergy requirements, please feel free to meet with John.

Our final INSET day of the year is Monday 24 July. This means that the last day for children is Friday 21 July.

The children’s’ first day back after the summer holiday is Monday 4 September 2023.

We have a number of enrichment activities running over lunchtimes. We currently run:

· Forest School Club and Nurture Group with Mrs Towers – each day

· Reading Club – each day with Mrs Wallis and Mrs Axten for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

· Bible Explorers for Year 2 – Thursdays with Mrs Hobbs

· Grow Club for School Council and Gold Award winners – each day with Mrs Wright

· Worry Club - Tuesdays run by Mrs Tilley and Mrs Moncaster alongside our school councillors – children self-select to join the group

· Poetry Club – Thursdays for Reception and Year 1 with Mrs White (one of our Trustees) 

On Thursday 11 May at 2.30pm we would like to invite parents of Reception and Year 1 children to come into school to meet your child’s new teacher and find out about what to expect in September. This is a lovely opportunity to understand what the next part of your child’s journey through school will look like. We will be finished for normal pick up time.

To celebrate the Coronation we have a special street party lunch planned for the whole school. On Friday 5 May John will be making a special afternoon tea for our lunch that day. This will be for all children to join in together.

Please watch this short film which hears from children and staff sharing their experience of being part of Robert Miles Infant School.

We say goodbye and good luck to Mrs Jennings who is leaving us to take on a new role supporting foster families. We wish her all the best and are thankful for all her hard work and commitment to our school. We are in the process of recruiting her replacement.

Mrs Towers will continue to work with us.

Mrs Mowska has joined us to help us to deliver our phonics programme in Years 1 and 2.