Wednesday 9th February – 2.00 – 5.30 p.m. (Reception to Year 2)

                                              4.00 - 6.30 p.m. (Blue, Green & Yellow Nursery)

                                              4.00 - 6.00 p.m. (Orange & Purple Nursery)

Thursday 10th February – 4.00 – 7.00 p.m. (Reception to Year 2)

                                             4.00 - 6.30 p.m. (Blue, Green Yellow Nursery)

                                             4.00 - 6.00 p.m. (Orange & Purple Nursery)

We are going back to in-person meetings with your child’s teacher in their classroom.

The school uses an online appointment booking system for parent consultations. This allows you to choose your own appointment times with teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointments.  Appointments can be made from Monday 24th January from 8.00 p.m. and will close on Friday 4th February at 10.00 p.m. Should you wish to make any changes after this date please contact Elaine Walker in the school office. 

Booking your appointment

Please visit https://burlington.schoolcloud.co.uk/ to book your appointments. (A short guide on how to add appointments is attached below.) Please ensure you arrive for your appointment on time. 

Parents’ Guide for Booking Appointments

Due to Covid-19, we ask that only 1 parent attends the meeting.  Please wear a mask at all times whilst on the school grounds. If you are unwell or are showing any symptoms of Covid-19 please do not attend your appointment.  We kindly ask that you do a lateral flow test before meeting the teacher.

If you have any difficulties accessing the system, please contact the school office between 8.30-1.00 and speak to Elaine Walker who will be happy to help you with your bookings.

Dear Parents/Carers

We have been issued with more lateral flow tests  – the large boxes of 20.  We will be giving them out to the children on Monday 24th January (1 box per family). 

We are aware that some of our families already have a stock and do not need any more at the present time so, if that is the case, please give your box back to the class teacher or hand into the school office when given to your child on Monday.

If you urgently need some test before the weekend, please pop into the school at pick up time today to collect your box.

Thank you for your help.

School Office

Reading Support Video Presentation - January 2022

This is a video of Mrs Davies, our reading lead with essential information on how to read a decodable book with a child on a one to one basis. It covers decoding words, pronouncing phonemes correctly, segmenting, blending and tricky words. It also gives tips on how to encourage children to read with prosody, which means reading fluently with expression. Finally it covers how to talk to children about the book, ask questions and build comprehension skills. It is aimed at parents, Beanstalk Readers and parent helpers. 

Thank you to everyone who attended Nursery Reading workshop on Wednesday.  For those of you who missed it, please see below for a copy of the presentation: 

Nursery Reading Parent Workshop presentation - January 2022

The teachers are really enjoying teaching Computing at school and we know the children love taking part in Computing at home too!  Some classes have learnt about online safety and some classes have learnt about word processing.  If you are taking part in Computing at home, please submit an observation on Tapestry titled “Computing Home Learning”.  This half term’s optional challenges are:

Nursery & Reception:  Do any of your toys make a sound or move when you press a button?  Are any of them remote-controlled?  Your child could take a photo/video of their technological toy and explain or demonstrate how it works!​

Nursery and Reception Tech Time Challenge

Year 1: Write a fact file about Animals or a topic of your own choice using 2 hands to type.  You could edit it using the backspace and delete keys.

Year 1 Tech Time Challenge

Year 2: You could record your online activities, or digital footprint, at home over the course of a week or imagine that you are a website designer and you have been asked to create a homepage.

Year 2 Tech Time Challenge

You will find further details on the images and on the 'Computing Home Learning' Tapestry post dated 10.12.21.

Here are a selection of submissions to share with you this week. Enjoy!

Tech Time Submissions 2021-22

If you are taking part in science learning at home, please take a photo and email it to the school. It could be a photo of you 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, at your allotment or visiting a science museum. Please add comments and quotes from your child explaining what your science selfie is about and what you were learning.

Please email your science selfie to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk.  We look forward to seeing your Science Selfies!

Here are some of the Science Selfies we've received!

Science Selfie Challenge Photos

We are currently looking for nursery and SEND teaching assistants and a lunchtime supervisor. Please visit our web page for more information and details on how to apply:

Vacancies web page

Please find attached a Covid update letter and a copy of our updated risk assessment. 

Letter to Parents 17 Jan 2022

COVID Risk Assessment for Jan 2022 v2

Please remember to check out our web page for the latest information and guidance on COVID: 

COVID-19 Latest Updates web page

School photographs will take place on Thursday 20th January. Please ensure your child is wearing their full school uniform. Unfortunately we will not be able to offer sibling photographs this year. 

What an eggciting Science Day it has been! When digging in the Rainbow Garden, Mr Williams found a huge dinosaur egg!

To find out what type of dinosaur it belonged to, we needed to take a frozen sample of blood to the lab and investigated the best way to stop it from melting.

To find out more, click below: 

Science Day 2022 summary and photos

Please remember to return your KS1 and YR Science Day Quiz sheets to your class teacher by Friday 21st January.  
 
If your child has enjoyed learning about dinosaurs today and you love to explore the great outdoors, here’s a family challenge for you!  Go on a dinosaur hunt from Griggs Green, near Liphook GU30 7PD and you will find a dinosaur hiding in the woods on the Old Thorns Estate. If you find the dinosaur, please send your photo into school and we will share it in the newsletter! 

ASD Parent/Carer Support Group
Friday 28th January 2022
 
9.30 to 10.45am
Virtual Meeting via Google Meet
 
This meeting will be a general chat and support for each other with any issues that you might be having.
 
Please email address below if you would like to join.
Jane Pidduck (e-mail  jpiddu2@grandavenue.kingston.sch.uk)

Jane will also be running an Understanding Autism Webinar on Wednesday 2nd February at 9.45am - click here for more details.

Burlington Infants and Junior Schools are signed up to the police initiative Operation Encompass that helps the school provide confidential support to children. The system ensures that when police are called to an incident of domestic abuse, and where there are children in the household who have experienced the incident, the police will inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead in school the following day. This ensures that school has up to date information about the child’s circumstances and can enable confidential support to be given.

Please can we remind parents that GP and dentist appointments for children should be made outside of school hours where possible.
Thank you 

Please find attached a letter regarding Operation Encompass which is a national scheme that operations jointly between schools an police forces.

Operation Encompass letter to parents - January 2022

Please find attached a letter from the school health team regarding a flu immunisation catch up clinic. 

Flu Catch Up Clinic Letter Jan 2022

Today one of your children will be bringing home a large box of tests for your family to use. You may receive two boxes if you have children in both the Infant and Junior Schools.

Please can we kindly ask if you already have a store of tests at home that they are returned to the school so we can distribute them to other members of the community and our staff.

Thank you for your help and understanding.

Welcome back to the new term! We hope the children had a lovely break and are ready for some exciting learning! 

Please find attached 2 important documents which should be read before the children return to school tomorrow: 

Updated Covid-19 risk assessment based on latest guidance for self-isolation 

 Attendance and Punctuality reminder letter

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email the school office. 

In order to help the children develop a love of poetry and recite poems by heart, this year the whole school will be learning a different poem every month. We will learn it in class and recite it in assembly all together! You can also practice it together at home!

January's poem is LUNCHTIME by Michael Rosen. Here it is!

The Mental Health Support Team from Achieving for Children will be delivering an online seminar on Child Anxiety.
It will be held on 21st January at 9.30am and will cover:
- What anxiety is
- The causes and maintenance of anxiety
- How parents can help their child deal with anxiety

If you would like to sign up, please do so here.

Places are limited and are on a first come first served basis.

Our school catering provider Radish have now introduced the new Spring menu. We will be trying out some new salad vegetables this term which we hope the children will enjoy and we are working with Radish to include more variety in our menus. 

Infants Spring 2022 Lunch Menu

Nursery Spring 2022 Lunch Menu

For more information on school lunches provided by our caterers, Radish, please visit our web page below: 

School Lunches web page

We are so lucky in our school to have such a diverse range of home languages. We are looking for parent volunteers who speak other languages in addition to fluent or a good command of English to help support us communicate with families with English as a second language. This may be in the form of accompanying parents to meetings as an interpreter or translating correspondence from the school. If you would like to help, please email the school office with your name and the languages you speak. A big thank you to all the parents who have already contacted us to volunteer - we really appreciate it! 

If you know anyone who is looking for a nursery place for their child to start in September 2022, please let them know that we will be holding nursery open days in January/February. The open days will include a presentation from our Headteacher, along with a Q+A session and a tour of the nursery.  The dates for open days are: 

Tuesday 18th January at 9.30am

Tuesday 1st February at 9.30am

Wednesday 9th February at 9.30am

Further dates may be added, depending on demand. To book a place on the open day, please click on the link below: 

Nursery Open Days 2022 - Eventbrite booking system

For more information on the Nursery admissions, places and options available, please visit our web page: 

Admissions web page

Kingston Council has been working on plans for a new community leisure centre and public space on the Kingfisher site in Kingston town centre. The designs have been shaped by feedback from people across the borough - and now they want to hear from children and young people on the latest proposals!
 
The new centre will include a 25-metre swimming pool, a splash deck for younger children, a teaching pool, a climbing wall, a five-a-side rooftop pitch, a sports hall and modern gym, as well as a cafe and playground.
 
The council wants to make sure the new centre and surrounding public space is fun for all ages and family friendly. It's also important it meets the highest possible sustainability standards and is accessible for all - as requested by local people in the latest summer engagement.
 
The team working on the proposals is keen to hear from young people and wants to encourage all those who live, study, work and visit Kingston to look at the latest designs and take part in a young people’s survey which can be filled out here: https://bit.ly/3dpvuf7.
 
The survey will remain live until Sunday 16 January, but you can contact the team with feedback at any time by emailing: Transformkingston@kingston.gov.uk.

Dear Parents/Carers 

Please find attached 2 important documents which should be read before the children return to school tomorrow: 

Updated Covid-19 risk assessment based on latest guidance for self-isolation 

 Attendance and Punctuality reminder letter

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email the school office. We look forward to welcoming the children back tomorrow. 

Thank you and best wishes,

Burlington Infant & Nursery School 

Wishing all our families a wonderful and safe festive break. We hope the children have a good rest and lots of fun. We look forward to welcoming them back in school on Wednesday 5th January.

Children were sent home with lateral flow tests this week and we would encourage and appreciate children doing a lateral flow test just before returning to school in the new year.

Please continue to report positive cases to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

This week was Computer Science Education Week 2021! In light of this, we have been taking part in the "Hour of Code". The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science.

The ‘Hour of Code’ for Computer Science Education Week 2021 this week was a success! Through a range of puzzles the children were able to use sequencing, conditionals and loops to create algorithms with code blocks.  They learnt that programming is neither difficult nor boring – but a powerful tool they can use to bring their imagination to life!

Reception children had their Hour of Code using Busy Things which you can access from home through LGFL using the children’s personal Usernames and Passwords. Launch Busy Things using the link below and log in using their “Normal USO Login”. Reception – Understanding the World – Technology – Helicopter Rescue.

Busy Things access through LGFL

I enjoyed it a lot! It was a challenge!

Year 1 enjoyed coding through “Candy Quest” and Year 2 were engrossed in “Dragon Blast”, both accessible from home through https://hourofcode.com/uk/learn.

I’d never tried it before but I went up to level 11!

I was a little bit frustrated when I got it wrong but I persevered, debugged it and got it right!

A big well done to you Burlington for successfully completing the Hour of Code 2021!

Last year you all helped choose the winner of the Spark Book Awards, ‘Avocado Asks’ by watching Mrs Davies read the 4 shortlisted books online and voting for your favourite during lockdown. Exciting News! The Spark Book Awards are starting again right now. From the 1st December they are announcing a shortlisted book a day. These are all great high quality books and brilliant ideas for Christmas presents. Here are the final 4 books which have been shortlisted: 

Everyone knows how a day goes. The sun rises and shines above us with his glorious smile. At the end of the day, he disappears over the horizon. But what  people don't know is what the sun gets up to after he goes home . . .

Ten very foolish teachers have missed the last bus home. But LOOK - a shortcut through the forest! They'll be back in time for tea! Off they skip, unaware that in the woods a hungry horde of mischievous and hilariously goofy monsters is waiting...

Come on a magical journey of wonder and discovery from misty seaside shorelines to cold ice capped seas. This beautiful tale of friendship between a child and a whale invites us to consider our responsibilities towards the environment and makes a direct plea to end plastic pollution.

Billy's family is not what you'd call ordinary. His mums won't listen to NORMAL music. They love to sing sea shanties and dance jigs in the lounge. Their clothes are highly unusual, they have a rude parrot for a pet, and their taste in house design is, well . . . FISHY. Billy wishes his family could be more like everyone else's. Until a swashbuckling adventure changes everything!

Click below for a summary of all 12 shortlisted books:

The 12 Books of Christmas

These books will all be available in school and will be read to the children. You can find out more at:

Spark! School Book Awards

Here you will also find a link to the Spark Justgiving page to help get books to children who might not be otherwise able to access them.

Click here to see this week's Inspiration Station.
Well done to all the children who have entered, we have really enjoyed reading your amazing stories!

Inspiration Station Entries Autumn 2021

As the holidays are again approaching and everyone is feeling excited about Christmas, we are holding a “Christmas Story” writing competition. We would like to invite you all to enter our competition and create an exciting winter story. Here are some possible ideas to help you:

Characters: Father Christmas, Elf, Snowman, Reindeer, Penguin
Setting: Lapland, School, North/South Pole, Midnight sky

Your story can be as simple or as long as you wish. You could include: pictures, front/back cover, page numbers and blurb on the back.  Please do not copy writing from a grown up, it is great to see you using your own sounds and trying your best.

Prizes will be given for winners in each year group and certificates will be awarded for all entries. Winners will also have the chance to share their story in assembly.

Please label your story with your full name, class and year group and hand them in to your class teacher by Wednesday 12th January.

I look forward to reading all of your exciting stories! 
Thank you, Mrs Clack

Please click here to see the programme of activities at Children's Centres in the local area for next term.

The South West London Clinical Commissioning Group have put together a helpful sheet for parents and carers to support their mental health during the Christmas break.

MH School Assets

Please can we kindly ask parents not to bring in sweet treats or cakes to school when it is their child's birthday. An alternative idea to celebrate your child's birthday is to buy a book for the class which can be read on the day. You can choose your own book or the school office has a selection of new books which are sold at £2 per copy. The office can also supply a little birthday label which can be stuck in the inside cover to dedicate the book to your child's special day.  

We are really pleased to announce that we will be able to offer a French and Spanish after school club in the new year. Please see details below: 

Spanish Club – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

When: Tuesday 3.30 - 4.30pm

Where: Infant Library

Dates: 11th January – 29th March

No of Sessions & Total Cost: 10 sessions - £89.00

French Club – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

When: Friday 3.30 - 4.30pm

Where: Infant Library

Dates: 14th January – 25th March

No of Sessions & Total Cost: 9 sessions - £80.10

The class will be run by Childrens Clubs who have previously run after school clubs at Burlington. Please see the attached flyer for more information. To book a place on either of these clubs, please use the online booking system for Childrens Clubs: 

Childrens Clubs online booking for French and Spanish clubs

This week was Computer Science Education Week 2021! In light of this we have been taking part in the "Hour of Code". The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science.  It's been a big success here at Burlington and you can read more below: 

Hour of Code 2021

Thank you to everyone who attended the new reading and phonics scheme workshop on Monday 6 December. If you were unable to attend, please click below to see a copy of the presentation. 

New Reading and Phonics Scheme: Parents Workshop Slides

Essential Information on Changes to Phonics and Reading Books - letter to all parents

Video of Parent Workshop on Phonics and Early Reading Scheme

Little Wandle Resources for Parents

Please click here to read a letter from the Director of Public Health Kingston regarding the Omicron variant and how you can keep your families and the wider community safe.

COVID-19 Update for Parents: Omicron Variant of Concern and the Festive Season

Please click here to see a list of courses run by Kingston Adult Education. 

Please find attached details for the after school clubs which will commence week beginning 10th January. Please note a change to the booking process. 

After School Clubs 2022 Spring 1

Chess Club Spring term 2022

Thank you to everyone who attended the parent information morning on Friday 3 December. If you were unable to attend, please click below to see a copy of the presentation. 

How are we doing?: Autumn term update on attainment, attendance and Ofsted

Following recent changes to the government guidelines for Covid-19, please click below to see an updated version of our risk assessment.

COVID-19 Risk Assessment - Summary of Actions for Parents (updated for December 2021)

Don't forget, you can always find the latest information and guidance regarding COVID-19 by visiting our web page:

Covid-19 Latest Updates web page

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office - admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

To find out more about what our School Council have been getting up to, please visit our web page: 

School Council web page

​Well done to all the children for taking part. The teachers have been amazed at all your hard work and creativity! We have enjoyed learning lots of new facts and we are very proud of you all! Well done! 

If you haven’t brought your work in yet, we’d love to see it! I will be sharing more homework next week too! 

Mrs MacMillan 

A huge thank you to everyone who brought in donations for the Dons Local Action Group foodbank. We will be collecting again in the new year so look out for messages in the newsletter. 

Please can we remind nursery parents to always close the small blue gate outside the school office which leads through to the nursery drop off area. This gate must remain shut at all times so once you are through the gate, please ensure it is closed behind you. 

Following guidelines from the Department for Education, we would kindly like to ask that parents and carers wear face coverings if entering the school building. 

Thank you for your support.

Each year the Book Trust send out book packs to every reception child in England. In 2021 each pack includes a free copy of I Am a Tiger by Karl Newson alongside some top tips for reading together.

Our Reception children took them home this week. We hope these packs will spark every child’s imagination, improve language and listening as well as encouraging the development of more practical skills such as making new friends and dealing with change. Reading together is a great way to bond as a family and we hope you enjoy this book together. 

Squid Game is a South Korean television series streaming on Netflix. The plot centres on a group of adult debtors, thieves, and gamblers competing against each other in a series of childhood games for a grand cash prize. Since its release in September 2021, Squid Game has become number one across 90 different countries in Netflix’s ranking of most watched TV shows. It is rated by the TV-MA – TV Mature Audience Only. This program is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore unsuitable for children under 17. Parents and carers should be aware that video content from this show is found on various social media platforms such as TikTok and Youtube and given the popularity of the games in the show, developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Roblox and other gaming platforms. We would like to ask that you are extra vigilant about the content your child is accessing when online and to make sure that parental controls are set on all shared devices. Children should not be watching any content linked to Squid Game.

For more information on how to keep your children safe online, please visit our web page: 

Keeping Your Child Safe

Following feedback from parents, we have decided to go back to the old format of booking after school clubs. This half term we used the booking option on School Gateway which was on a first come first serve basis. Lots of parents commented that going forward this may not give the majority of children a chance of getting a place on a club. Therefore for next term we will be asking parents to email their choice of club along with a second and third choice as back up. We will allocate spaces manually for the more popular clubs to give children who did not previously get a place a chance to take part. 

On Thursday 25 November, we held a Maths workshop for Nursery and Reception parents.  Please see below for a copy of the presentation that was shared.

Maths Workshop for Nursery and Reception - Nov 2021

Thank you. 

The children in Year 1 and 2 have been learning about what took place during COP 26. They were encouraged to think about what they could do as individuals to help the planet. They each wrote a personal pledge on a leaf. They were very reflective and did a great job. 

The leaves contributed to The Forest of Promises created by children from many other schools across the world.

A recurring theme within the pledges was turning off lights when not needed and conserving electricity. For this reason, we will be taking part in 'Switch Off Fortnight'. 

We are asking you to support your child in switching off electrical appliances when they are not in use. This includes those appliances that can be switched off at the mains rather than being left on in the standby mode. The adults and children will also be doing this in school. In school, we will be focusing on the financial cost and the cost to the planet of wasting electricity and gas. Thank you in advance for your support.

For everyone that signed up and paid for a Mathletics subscription - your child's login details will be sent home next week. We have had a slight delay with finalising the subscription but we should receive all the logins before the end of the week. Thank you for your patience. 

Our local branch of Lloyds Bank will be closing very soon which will make it harder for us to pay in cash. We would like to ask all parents to download the School Gateway app and pay for items via the app where possible. Thank you.

If you have not already downloaded the School Gateway App, please do this immediately. This is our communication and payment system for the school so it is really important that you have activated your account. We will use this system to send emergency text messages and all clubs, trips, Acorns, nursery fees etc can be paid using the app. If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask the school office. 

This week, seven of our Year 2 children took part in a football tournament at Corpus Christi School. The children played against three other teams and all had a lot of fun. It was great to be back at a football competition for the first time in nearly 2 years and we're looking forward to many more! Well done Burlington!

We are looking to expand our governing body and recruit associate members to join our lovely team.

As an associate member, you will join our board of governors and bring your expertise and skills to help support specific areas within our committees. We have 2 committees, Curriculum and Resources/Finance. Our committees meet once per term plus an additional meeting of the full governing body once per term also.

Free training is available to all members and you will have the opportunity to observe one of our meetings and meet with school leaders to discuss the role in more detail.

The skills that we are looking for are:

Teaching and Learning – Curriculum and/or Early Years
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Inclusion
English as an Additional Language
ICT and Technology
Pupil Welfare, Child Protection and Safeguarding
Health & Safety, Facilities Management
Human Resources

If you are interested, please get in touch with Nadia Ahmed in the school office.
admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

In our Good Deeds assembly this week, we talked to the children about COP26 and explained the reasons why this meeting takes place. The children were asked to think about climate change and what we as a school and community can do to help make a difference. Next week, the children will each make a pledge around what they can do to help. Please encourage your child to discuss these issues at home with their families. 

We currently have 3 vacancies that we are recuiting for: 

Lunchtime Supervisor

Teaching Assistant

Extended Services Playleader

For more information on these roles and how to apply, please visit our Vacancies web page:

Vacancies web page

Today we are sending home a Data Collection sheet which shows the information currently held on our database for your child.  Please check your child's book bag today for this important letter.

Please check this Data Collection sheet carefully to make sure all the information is correct.  If you need to make any changes, please email them to the School Office by Friday 19th November at nrathod2@burlingtoni.org.uk

If there are no changes, you do not need to return the sheet or send an email.

It is very important that the school has the most up to date contact information for your child so that we are able to telephone you in an emergency. 

Please click here for activities for children aged 0-5 which take place at children's centres in and around the Kingston area. 

Achieving for Children will be running a new 'Parent Support Cafe' which will take place fortnightly at Old Malden Children's Centre. This is a drop in session for any parents who would like to have a chat about their child's behaviour. Click here for more information.

Our children have been learning more about the Indian festival of Diwali and the story behind it.  Earth Song came in to do a special Diwali workshop with Year 1 and Year 2, involving a puppet show and Indian drums.  The children really enjoyed it and later on Friday they were able to do rangoli colouring.