Dear Parents/Carers, 

Please see below for an important letter regarding our plans for reopening in September 2020.  There is also the menu for lunches that will be used for at least the first 2 weeks of term - you can read more about this in the letter.

Reopening Sept 2020 - Letter to Parents

Lunch Menu for First 2 Weeks of Term

The letter also refers to specific times for dropping off and picking up children, by year group.  Please click below for this timetable:

Drop off and Pick up Timetable - Sept 2020

Thank you.

The new Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education curriculum, including the new statutory requirements to teach Relationship and Health Education

As we communicate with parents of the changes that are being introduced which will be statutory from the summer term 2021, we understand that some parents may have questions or concerns about some elements of the curriculum. The new PSHE policy was sent out on 26 June and issues raised by parents were shared by the parent reps with the senior leadership team on 3 July. The new curriculum will be rolled out in September, and an opportunity to ask questions will be offered at our coffee morning on 2 October 2020. Please come and share your thoughts.
 
Please take a few minutes to read through the PSHE policy carefully. 

PSHE Policy
 
The questions from the meeting have been recorded on the document below.

FAQs on PSHE Policy
 
Finally, thank you to our wonderful parent reps who met with the PSHE Leaders and the senior leadership team to discuss the new PSHE Policy. Parent reps were also asked for feedback from their classes on the following:
-Online home learning
-The return to school from 2nd June, how their children have settled
-The plans for September 
 
We were so grateful to have received such positive feedback and are proud to share that there were no outstanding issues or concerns about any of the areas discussed. The feedback summary can be found below.

Feedback on home learning and school reopening

Please find attached the leaflet for SCL summer club 2020.

SCL Summer 2020

Some of you may remember that last October we invited our Achieving for Children's ICT and Online Safety Advisor in to school to talk to parents about keeping children safe online.  Many of you found the session very useful and relevant to your lives. 

With children spending more time on line whilst at home during lockdown, our Advisor has now made this invaluable information-packed session in to a short 2 part video session which you can follow along at home.  Click below to access the videos (12 mins and 10 mins respectively) and view resources:

Keeping Children Safer Online While At Home

Please find attached a letter with all the new classes for September. 

New Classes for September

If you child is currently in Reception, please click on the corresponding class link below to 'meet' your new teacher:

Hedgehogs to Sapphires

Rabbits to Diamonds

Foxes to Rubies

Squirrels to Emeralds

If your child is currently in Year 1, please click on the corresponding class link below to 'meet' your new teacher: 

Emeralds to Saturn

Rubies to Mercury

Diamonds to Venus

Sapphires to Jupiter

Finally, we understand some children may feel a little apprehensive or have questions about the transition.  There are some useful documents to help guide you and your child through this below:

Your Child's Wellbeing web page

Hello to all our new families joining Burlington Infant & Nursery School in September 2020.  This post is specifically for the parents of children starting Nursery in September 2020.  

Please click below to watch an introduction and presentation to Nursery for all new parents:

New to Nursery Video

Hello to all our new families joining Burlington Infant & Nursery School in September 2020.  This post is specifically for the parents of children starting Reception in September 2020.  

Please click below to watch an introduction and presentation to Reception for all new parents:

New to Reception Video

Please click below to watch a short welcome to your individual class in Reception - just click on the corresponding class name below: 

Welcome to Foxes Video

Welcome to Squirrels Video

Welcome to Hedgehogs Video

Welcome to Rabbits Video

Please see below for a letter from the local authority regarding the current situation for schools.

Letter from Achieving for Children

Every year Burlington Infant and Nursery School takes part in the National Library Summer Reading Challenge. New Malden Library is sadly closed at the moment so this year the challenge has gone online and is called ‘Silly Squad’. 
You can find it here: 

Burlington goes all silly!

Look out for Burlington staff going silly in the week starting the 29th June. We will be reading you silly books or poems and putting the videos onto Google Classroom or Tapestry! We would love it if you joined in too. Send a video or picture of you reading a funny book or poem to your teacher and they will share it with your class if you say that is okay! You could ask your brothers, sisters, Mums, Dads or other family members to join in too!

Here are the Silly Squad characters! Can you make your own Silly Squad character reading a book? We’d love to see your creations!

Dear Parents/Carers

If your child has not returned to school we will need you to come and collect their PE kit and any other belongings we have found in the classrooms. Items will be available for collection on the following days for each year group:

Year 1 - Monday 29th June

Year 2 - Tuesday 30th June

Reception - Wednesday 1st July

Nursery - Thursday 2nd July 

Tables will be set out in classes by the blue gates off of Burlington Road between 10.00 a.m. - 2.00 p.m. only so as to avoid any congestion at school drop off and pick up times.  All PE bags/belongings have been packed up and labelled with your child's name clearly shown.

**IMPORTANT** - Please could you also return all reading books, library books or games that your child has borrowed from school.  Please put them in the box under your child's class table.

Year 2 - if your child has medication held at school please come & collect from the school office on your allocated day - Tuesday 30th June.

Kind regards, 

Elaine Walker, School Office

Please find attached 2 letters from the junior school regarding your child's transition into year 3.  The first outlines the key dates for how you and your child will learn more about the Juniors.  The second regards admission and within the letter there are also links to forms which eed to be completed for your child. 

Y2 Timelines Letter

Y2 Letter with Admissions Information

Thank you.

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please find attached the new PSHE Policy which meets the requirements of the new statutory Relationship Health Education. Through our PSHE curriculum (Personal, Social, Health, Economic), we support children’s development as well rounded individuals who can play a role in their community. This underpins the ethos of Burlington Infants and helps us to promote children’s wellbeing including their physical and mental health, building children’s self-esteem, developing healthy relationships and understand how to live safely and thrive in the wider world. Our new PSHE policy will come into effect from September 2020, as a gentle lead in prior to the statutory start date of summer 2021. We would like to ask you to read about our offer in the policy and if you have any questions or comments about any of the changes or what we are planning for your children, we’d love to hear from you through your class reps. 

I have sent a message out to class reps to collate any feedback or questions from the parents in each class, and we will be meeting (virtually) with them on Friday 3rd July. Hopefully this will give you a chance to get any questions answered and learn a bit more about how we support your child’s development at the school.

I have attached the PSHE Policy for you to read.

PSHE Policy 2020

With thanks and best wishes,

Mrs Yay-Walker, Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers

With the summer holidays fast approaching and the easing of lockdown measures, you may be starting to think about making travel plans so, we wanted to make you aware of the latest advice. 

The current Foreign Office guidance is that you should only undertake essential foreign travel. Schools have been advised to remind everyone that as from the 8th June, if you do decide to book a holiday abroad, you will need to ensure that you allow for 14 days quarantining upon your return to the UK. 

We are planning for children to return to school in the first week of September which means that as a family you will have needed to return home from a holiday abroad and quarantine for 2 weeks prior to children starting school. If your quarantine period falls into the first or subsequent week in September, the days that your child is absent from school will be recorded as unauthorised. 

We are aware that the advice is changing daily and we will keep you updated as and when it does. 

Thank you and best wishes,

Mrs S Yay-Walker, Headteacher

Here is a helpful guide on how to help your children learn at home, and it has been translated in to many other languages.

Helping your child learn - guidance for EAL parents

Here is a website with information about the COVID-19 Pandemic translated in to 60 languages.  We think this may be useful for some of our families.

Coronavirus Information in 60 different languages

You can click on the link to see a video in your language or click on the Google Drive link to find the written information in a pdf in your language.

I love to see you all enjoying Science and would like you to continue sharing your Science Selfies with me!  Please take a photo of yourself trying out an experiment, sharing something that you have created or an interesting find. You could be with an animal, reading a book, feeding the birds, watching the butterfly lifecycle or planting in your garden.  Feel free to add captions or comments explaining what your science selfie is about and what you were learning. 

Please email your science selfie to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk and please let me know if you would allow for it to be shared in the school newsletter and on our school website.  I look forward to seeing your Science Selfies! 

You can check out the selfies we've received so far by clicking below:

Science Selfie Challenge Photos

Mrs MacMillan

Dear Parents/Carers

Please find attached a letter regarding dates for your child's transition into the next school year. There is also a short survey which we will need all Reception and Year 1 parents whose children are not currently attending school to complete. Click on the relevant links in the letter. Please complete by Friday 26th June.

Transition Dates Letter to Parents

Thank you.

We have a series of 4 workshops to help parents / carers manage difficult behaviour from their children.  We know this will be beneficial to lots of our families during these difficult times, so please do have a look.  You can find more details and the workshops themselves on:

Your Child's Wellbeing web page

Please help us to minimise the risk of the spread of infection by keeping to the 2 metre rule. Please ensure you are socially distanced at drop off and pick up times and keep your children with you at all times especially when waiting at the gate in the mornings. Please also be mindful that social gatherings should still be held outside and with no more than 6 people from different households. Children should not be having indoor playdates. 

Please click below to read a letter from the local authority regarding the phased return to school. 

Letter from Council re: phased return

Just a little reminder that all children in Reception and KS1 can read books online on Bug club. It is a brilliant resource with exciting books, wonderful illustrations and interactive quizzes. Your child has been allocated books at their reading ability. 

Login at www.activelearnprimary.co.uk

IMPORTANT: Open with Google chrome and allow pop-ups.

Login with the following:

Username: enter your child's lgfl login (excluding .314)

Password: bugclub

School code: rkhk

We are pleased to announce Burlington Infant & Nursery School has retained the Centre of Excellence in the Inclusion Quality Mark for a 2nd year running.  This celebrates our high level of care and inclusion for every child, and support for individual needs.  You can read the full report below.

Inclusion Quality Mark Centre of Excellence Report June 2020

In line with government guidelines on social distancing, the Nursery Parents' Evening on Wednesday 24 June and the Reception Parents’ Evening on Wednesday 1 July have been cancelled.

We appreciate that this is a valuable and important part of your introduction to the school.  In order to share the information we would normally present at this meeting, and answer some of your questions, we will be providing a virtual welcome and tour of the school.  This will be emailed to you, and will also be available on the school website.

Dear Parents/Carers

Please find attached a letter from the Junior school with details of your child's transition into year 3 and their new class names. Please also find attached photographs of the year 3 staff. 

Junior Letter to Y2 Children

Year 3 Staff Photos

Best wishes, Burlington Infant & Nursery School

Following the government's decision not to open schools more widely to other year groups, we have been thinking about what transition arrangements we can put in place for our Year 2 children. Transition arrangements have always been key for our children to help them to settle and feel secure as they leave the infant school and move on to the junior school. Sadly this year, this puts our Year 2 children at risk as they will not have the chance to understand the changes that are taking place and what is in store for them as they move up to Year 3.
 
Therefore, we have been looking at how we can facilitate bringing year 2 children back in school for 1-2 days in the last week of the summer term, week beginning 13th July. The purpose of this is to provide a sense of closure, allowing children to say goodbye to their teachers, hold a simple outdoor leaver's ceremony (socially distanced), to meet the new Year 3 teachers and to get a small insight into what their new school will be like. Depending on the take up, we hope to be able to offer 1-2 days per child in a socially distanced 'bubble' of 8 children from their class.
 
As you may be aware, we currently do not have capacity to increase the numbers of children as all classrooms are in use. What we would like to propose is that as Year 1 has benefited from starting a week before other year groups, we will finish 1 week before the end of the summer term for Year 1 children only. This will free up desperately needed classrooms to facilitate a small transition for Year 2 children. We realise that this is not ideal for some parents, but we hope that you would be happy to support this to ensure all our Year 2 children have had the chance to return to school before we break up for the summer holidays.
 
We would like to ask Year 2 parents to complete this short survey https://forms.gle/aPQ4jR1DQYzEunHa9 so we can determine how many spaces we will need to accommodate. For Year 1 parents, we hope you will understand the reasons behind this proposal. If there is no adult at home to look after your child, we will try our best to support you, however we will be prioritising the Year 2 children just for the final week of term.
 
There is a video on our website which will give you an idea about what the classrooms will look like on these days. We will update you with further information once we have confirmation of numbers wishing to return.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mrs Yay-Walker

Normally around this time we would be starting the children’s transition to the Junior School and the schools are working together to create ways in which to do this.  Mr Blow, Deputy Headteacher at the Junior School, is planning a few videos to introduce himself and the school to the children which we will post on our virtual classrooms.  We are also thinking about the best way to have a ‘Y2 Graduation’ and will be in touch with details once we finalise them. For now we are hoping that you could send us in a photo of your child’s head and shoulders holding a picture they have drawn or something that has been special/helpful to them during lockdown (like the pictures in the school staff video).  Some ideas for the picture - rainbow, the year, their class planet.  The object might be a favourite toy, ipad (to represent home learning!), a stone with the year painted on it.   Please send the photo to your class teacher through google classroom by Friday 19th June.
Many thanks

For families with children back or soon to return to school, here is a lovely child-friendly way of explaining what 'bubbles' mean and a reminder of how the school experience will be for them.

Coming Back to School in a Bubble

If you are looking to buy new school uniform items, especially Year 2 who will be moving up to the Junior school in September, please click below for PMG's opening hours and ordering details during the pandemic. Please note, in store purchases are by appointment only. 

How to Buy Uniform this Summer

You can also find more information about the uniform required in our school on our website:

Uniform web page

A very warm welcome back to all our children and families! We have had a very calm and positive start this week, with some of our Year 1 children in their new ‘bubbles’ back at school. Thank you to everyone who has completed our parents’ survey so far. Your feedback is very much appreciated and will help us to improve on our provision as we welcome back our Reception children next week. Thank you for your kind and positive comments in the survey. I have passed these on to the staff. This means a lot to all of us, as we have worked so hard to get this right for all our children. If you have not completed the short survey yet, you can find it here - https://forms.gle/XU8cExiU8RmyqT64A. Thank you also for your patience with fruit and milk – the suppliers have stopped taking orders and we have not yet been able to set this back up. In the meantime, please send in one piece of fruit each day for your child’s snack time to prevent the children from getting too hungry before lunch time. Only fruit please (raisins, carrots etc are okay) – no other snacks will be allowed. We will be finalising milk orders next week so hopefully milk should be delivered the following week. These jobs are unfortunately not very straight forward so we thank you for your patience while we sort this out. Finally, please can you send in coats in case of rain, cold or windy days. Thank you so much for your on-going support during lock down, with home learning and in helping us to make this week as positive as possible for the children.
 
We have really missed the children and are happy that this has been a successful start during such a challenging time.
 
Mrs Yay-Walker

The school is re-opening on Tuesday 2 June with a phased return of children in Year 1, Reception and Nursery.  Those Year 1 children who have accepted a place for 2 days a week will have already received more information from the school office regarding their return from 2 June: class allocation, start / end times and what to bring.  Following a satisfactory risk assessment review at the end of the first week, we hope to welcome back Reception children from week commencing Monday 8 June.  Those children in Reception will receive more information in the coming few days.

We have prepared a video that shows you how the school will look when children return.  For those of you with children returning as part of this phased return, please share this video with your child to help them prepare for the changes.

Return to School Video June 2020

Return to School Video - additional information for Nursery

Achieving for Children have put together a useful presentation deck to highlight the possible worries or anxiety your child may have in returning to school after the lockdown, and suggestions on how to handle and manage those feelings effectively.

View the deck here as a pdf:

Transition to School After Lockdown as pdf

To access the voice over and other links throughout the presentation, please visit the link below and download the presentation in Powerpoint if possible.

Link to 'Transition to School After Lockdown' so you can follow it along

We hope you have enjoyed your teachers reading stories to you on Tapestry and Google Classroom. If you would like to hear more, Storytime Storytime is a great YouTube Channel where you can hear lots of children's stories being read. Helpful if you have run out of books to read at home. 

Storytime Storytime

Wishing you all a lovely half term break next week. Have lots of fun with your families and don't forget to keep safe and look after each other.

Our lovely staff have put together a little video message for the children. Please check your Google Classroom or Tapestry account to watch the video. 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please find attached a letter from Mrs Yay-Walker explaining the current plans for the phased reopening of Burlington Infant and Nursery School.  At present this guidance only applies to Nursery, Reception and Year 1, but we felt it important to share our plans with the whole school.  In the letter, there is a link to a survey.  This survey must be completed ONLY by parents who have children in Nursery, Reception and Year 1. The deadline for completing the survey is Monday 25th May, 3pm.  Please also find attached the responses to parents’ questions in the form of FAQs and a copy of the summer lunch menu for those children returning to school. 

Best wishes, Burlington Infant & Nursery School

Return to School Letter for YN, YR, and Y1 (sent 22 May)

FAQs for Parents and Carers

Summer Packed Lunch Menu

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you safe and well.

As you may know, the government has announced its initial plans for schools to reopen, and I know that many of you will have questions about what this will mean for your child. We are waiting for further guidance this week, with Headteachers meeting across the borough to make some decisions on the way forward. As an infant school, this could mean the vast majority of our children return, which will present more challenges for us in terms of social distancing. Especially considering the age of our nursery children. We are therefore putting together very careful plans and risk assessments before I can give any further information for any gradual reopening of our school.

The priority as always is the safety of all our children and staff, and I thank you for your support and patience at this time.

Finally, on behalf of the whole staff team at Burlington Infants, please let your children know that we are all really looking forward to having them back in school.

Best wishes,

Mrs Yay-Walker, Headteacher

Each week, the WWF will be providing five engaging ways for children to connect with nature and learn more about our amazing planet. Their themed weeks will include live learning events via their dedicated Facebook group, an opportunity to participate in fun and insightful webinars with WWF experts, and links to their popular educational materials. And in case you miss any of these live events, you can revisit and access all content as and when you need to.

Find out more here: 

WWF Learn to Love Nature

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
Thank you all for supporting your children to take part in some of the activities we have sent home. We are very aware that we have sent out a range of work to cover most areas of learning, and that this can be overwhelming for some parents, especially for those who are working full time. Please can I make it very clear that it is not compulsory to do every single thing that is sent out. We have had a range of responses – some parents have sent back every piece of work and have asked for more work, and some parents have found it more difficult. We are reminding parents that we are only asking for the following to be returned:

Phonics/English
Maths
Reading

We are very happy to receive more than this and encourage you to try to look at other subjects too. But please do not feel that you have to get through everything if you are finding it difficult. We understand how challenging this situation is, as many of us are also juggling work with our own children at home. Please take time to just have fun with your children, spend some time in the garden, cook together or play a board game – anything that keeps your child happy and calm.
 
Thank you again for all your support and I hope you have a lovely weekend.
 
Best wishes
 
Mrs Yay-Walker

Kingston libraries have a range of digital resources for adults and children plus lots of activities and events. For more information, click below:

Family Newsletter from Kingston Libraries

We have been amazed at some of the fantastic work that our children have shared with us. Please keep the work coming and let us know if you are happy for us to share it in the newsletter.

As you know, Google Classroom has now been set up for Year 1 and 2 and hopefully you have all managed to log in. Please let us know if you get stuck – it is important that your children keep up with maths and phonics/English every week and return the completed tasks to their teachers. Please do look at other areas of learning too. Teachers will be monitoring the work that children are doing and will be in touch if they feel some children may need extra support accessing the online learning.

We hope that you are enjoying the lovely weather, staying safe and well, and managing to squeeze in a bit of Joe Wicks or Don Rae every day too!

Best wishes,
Mrs Yay-Walker

A message from Mrs MacMillan who is our Science Leader:

I love to see you all enjoying Science and would like you to continue sharing your Science Selfies with me!  Please take a photo of yourself trying out an experiment, sharing something that you have created or an interesting find. You could be with an animal, reading a book, feeding the birds, watching the butterfly lifecycle or planting in your garden.  Feel free to add captions or comments explaining what your science selfie is about and what you were learning.

Please email your science selfie to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk and please let me know if you would allow for it to be shared in the school newsletter and on our school website.  I look forward to seeing your Science Selfies! 
Mrs MacMillan

Our lovely music teacher, Mrs Williamson, has filmed a brilliant music lesson for our nursery children with the help of her family. We thought other children may enjoy watching it too!

Mickey sings with Burlington on YouTube

Some of you will know Don Rae from our 'Wake Up Shake Up' sessions during Around the World Week - he's also popular at local birthday parties!  During the schools closure, Don Rae is streaming a fun home-made mini TV show for young children up to age 5 years.  Tune in to BEANIEBOPS: RISE AND SHINE, an online series created by Don Rae himself, streaming every Tuesday morning at 8am on his YouTube channel.

BeanieBops: Rise and Shine YouTube link

This week's theme is TEDDY BEARS so grab your Teddy snd join in the dances and games!

Here is a great collection of activities and ideas for parents and carers to try at home with younger children.  Many of the ideas have an educational slant, but the learning is done through playing and exploring.

(At Least) 50 Fantastic Ideas To Try at Home