Please find below a copy of the email sent to all parents in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 reminding them of our expectations and guidelines concerning Attendance and Punctuality.

Attendance and Punctuality Email to all Parents in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

A public consultation event has been arranged for the afternoon of 2nd November between 3pm and 6pm at Malden Leisure Centre regarding the expansion of Burlington Junior School. This is a drop in session where the Junior School new building plans will be on display and members of the Design Team will be available to answer any questions. Please go along if you can.

Please note the following changes to drop off and pick up times from week commencing 1st November: 

Reception, Year 1 & Year 2

Drop off - 8.50 - 9.00am 

Pick up - 3.20pm (children will be dismissed from class at 3.20pm only, no soft finish)

Green Nursery

Drop off - 8.30 - 8.45am (children arriving after 8.45am must report to school office first) 

Pick up - 11.25 - 11.30am (collect no later than 11.30am)

Orange Nursery 

Drop off - 8.30 - 8.45am (children arriving after 8.45am must report to school office first) 

Pick up - 11.15 - 11.30am (collect no later than 11.30am)

Blue Nursery

Drop off - 8.30 - 8.45am (children arriving after 8.45am must report to school office first) 

Pick up - 3.25 - 3.30pm (collect no later than 3.30pm)

Yellow Nursery 

Drop off - 12.30 - 12.45pm (children arriving after 12.45pm must report to school office first) 

Pick up - 3.25 - 3.30pm (collect no later than 3.30pm)

Purple Nursery 

Drop off - 12.30 - 12.45pm (children arriving after 12.45pm must report to school office first) 

Pick up - 3.15 - 3.30pm (collect no later than 3.30pm)

Please continue to send in your Science Selfies! 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

Cake Sale

A huge thank you to Years 2 and 6 for such yummy cakes, and to everyone who came to buy them after school. The cake sale raised a whopping £488.39 by far our most successful cake sale ever!
 
You will have noticed that the cake sale was incredibly busy. We had 3 stalls and only
8 volunteers, so things were a little hectic!  If you’re able to volunteer to help at future sales please contact the BSA - info.burlingtonpta@gmail.com

Christmas Cards

All children should have received forms to create their own Christmas Cards at home. This is a really lovely opportunity to have cards featuring their own artwork professionally printed, and is a great fundraiser for the school! Please remember that the forms have to be returned to school by the FIRST TUESDAY AFTER HALF TERM!
 
For more information and ideas please see the BSA Facebook page: 
https://m.facebook.com/BurlingtonSchoolsAssociation/

If your child tests positive for Covid-19 during the half term break please continue to inform the school office by email - admin@burlingtoni.org.uk
Thank you.

Kingston Adult Education will be offering some new family learning courses including 'Keeping Up with the Children - Primary English' and 'Help your Child to be a Good Friend' 
 
To see their full range of courses and details on how to book, please click here. 

Thank you to everyone who attended the workshop this morning. 

If you were unable to join us, please click here to see a copy of the presentation. 

Online Safeguarding - Presentation from Parent Workshop on Friday 15 October

Zone All Sports and Care will be running their holiday camp from Burlington Infants during the October half term. For more information and booking details, please see attached flyer. 

Zone All Sports and Care Holiday Camp for October Half Term

Please can we ask that when you report your child absent, to make sure you leave a brief description about why your child cannot attend school and if they are unwell to let us know what their symptoms/illness is.
Thank you 

We are seeking to appoint a part time Intervention Teaching Assistant on a temporary basis for 2 hours a day Monday-Friday (mornings).  There is also a vacancy for a Lunchtime Supervisor.  For more information on both roles, please visit our web page:

Vacancies web page

Essential Information - New Phonics and Early Reading Scheme

We will very soon be starting an exciting new scheme and need your help. Please read attached letter and watch the video presentation below. Also attached are the slides to go with the presentation. 

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

Parent Workshop presentation on Phonics and Early Reading

Video of presentation by Reading Coordinator

Good attendance at school is now more important than ever. Our children have missed out on a lot of school-based learning, having gone through two lockdowns, and we are doing our very best to address the gaps. However, this is not possible if children are not in school every day. We run interventions daily and many of our children have support across a range of areas. Please can we remind parents of the key points from our attendance policy: 

Key Points from our Attendance Policy

If you would like to read our Attendance Policy in full, please click below: 

Attendance Policy

For more information on our Attendance at Burlington Infant and Nursery School, please visit our web page: 

Attendance web page

To celebrate Black History month the school is buying books with characters that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our school community.  We are using the sponsored read money you so generously contributed last year, so thank you again for your support. Below is a list of recommended books for 3-7 year olds. Great ideas for Christmas and birthday presents!

Black History and Diversity - Recommended Books

At Burlington, we are very much interested in learning more about all religions from around the world.

Would you like to come into school to share your first-hand experience and knowledge with the children?  Maybe you would like to do an activity related to your special celebration? This could include reading a story, cooking, singing, dancing, showing artefacts.

If this sounds like something that you would be interested in helping with, please contact the school office.
Thank you!

Our Year 2 children had a lovely day yesterday at the London Wetland Centre. They spotted lots of different species of bird as well as other wildlife to complement the learning they have been doing in class this half term. The children and staff had a great time and we were so proud to hear that the organisers at the centre had commented on what a delight our children were and that we were one of the best school groups they have had visiting the centre. Well done Year 2!

 Does your child or young person really struggle to separate from you when they go to school? Following lockdown, a lot of children and young people are finding it hard to separate from parents and caregivers. The MHST will be running a live 90 minute workshop on separation anxiety for parents/carers. The aim of this workshop is to help you identify anxious behaviours, think about what maintains these and provide you with some ideas on what you can do to help your child or young person overcome these challenges. 
 
The MHST will be running one workshop over 2 dates (please note, it will be the same workshop offered on each date). Please book your tickets for one workshop using the Eventbrite link below.
 
Tuesday 12th October 2021 (6.30pm - 8pm)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-12102021-tickets-181874951877
 
Friday 5th November 2021 (10am - 11.30am)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-05112021-tickets-181877609827
 
For further information, please read this leaflet.

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. 
Thank you!

As you will have seen on our calendar, the PTA had confirmed the date for the Monster Ball disco on Friday 15th October. Following further consultation with health & safety and public health, and in light of recent confirmed cases across both schools, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the disco. We understand that this is disappointing for the children but we hope you understand that our priority is to minimise the risk of the spread of infection in order to keep children, staff and the wider community as safe as possible. The PTA are hoping to reschedule the disco for next term and we will share details with you as soon as they are confirmed. A big thank you to all the PTA team who work really hard to organise these events and for their ongoing patience in these ever changing times.

Please find below a copy of the email sent to all parents in Nursery reminding them of our expectations and guidelines concerning Attendance and Punctuality.

Nursery Attendance and Punctuality Email Reminder

Please find attached the menu for Nursery lunch club for all children in Blue Nursery.

Nursery Autumn 2021 Lunch Menu

For more information about School Lunches, please visit our web page: 

School Lunches web page

Urgent! Please return all reading scheme books on Monday 27th September.

We urgently need to collect in all the reading scheme books in preparation for the introduction of a new reading scheme across the school. We will be reorganising all our books over the next week.

Why are we doing this?

There have been some exciting new changes recently introduced by the Department for Education to the way children are taught early reading skills. One of them is the need to ensure children read high quality phonetic books that they can decode the words in using the sounds they have been taught so far in class. We therefore need to check we have enough books and reorganise them. In order to do this over the next week we would be grateful if you could return all Reading Scheme books on Monday 27th September. We will need a week to reorganise the books and are sorry for the inconvenience.

In the meantime Oxford Owl has lots of books you can read online https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/​

Thank you for your support.

On Thursday 30 September, we will reopen the Free Little Library (also known as our Book Tardis). Children and parents are welcome to borrow the books and return them when you have read them. It is situated in the Orchard by the Blagdon Gate. If you have any good quality children’s books you would like to donate please bring them to the office. No old Reading Scheme books thank you! 

Can you help? We are looking for reading volunteers across the school!

If you can spare a few hours every week, we would love to hear from you. It is a great opportunity to get involved in the school and get experience in working with children. 
We will offer some guidance and training on how to support 1 to 1 reading with children. Please contact Mrs McEvoy via the school office if you are interested in becoming a reading volunteer.

A huge thank you to volunteers from AXA XL, 2 of which are parents from our school who came in today as part of their global day of giving where they volunteer for a day in their community. The lovely team were in school today to give a fresh coat of paint to the railings, window ledges and doors around the school. We are so grateful for their support - Thank you!

Please can we remind parents again that children should not be wearing large hair accessories, this includes cat ear head bands and large bows. If your child brings sunglasses into school, please make sure they are age appropriate and fit well so they do not fall off during play time. PE kits should be plain colours, grey, navy or black and trainers should be plain black. Click below for guidance. 

PE Kit for Years 1 and 2

Parents and carers of children aged 0-5 years - click below for a really useful guide about what to expect in the first 5 years of your child's learning and development. 

What to Expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage - a guide for Parents

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) covers Nursery and Reception.

Children are invited to send a picture of a book they would like to recommend to others with a short explanation of it and why they like it. Please send entries in on Tapestry and label it 'reading tree challenge'. Photos and captions will be put in the Newsletter and displayed in our Library. Happy reading!

If your child is feeling unwell, please do not give them Calpol or Nurofen before school. If a child is unwell, please keep them at home and report their absence with the school office. If you need advice about your child's symptoms, the office staff are happy to help. Please can we also remind you that if a child has been vomiting or has diarrhoea, you must keep them home for 48 hours after the last bout. Thank you for your continued support. 

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. 

If you are planning to apply for Reception at Burlington for admission in September 2022 and would like to attend one of our open days (these will face to face in school), please click on the following link to book a place.

Reception Open Days - Eventbrite booking

For more information on applying for a place and our Admissions process, please visit the relevant page on our website: 

Admissions web page

Does your child or young person really struggle to separate from you when they go to school? Following lockdown, a lot of children and young people are finding it hard to separate from parents and caregivers. The MHST will be running a live 90 minute workshop on separation anxiety for parents/carers. The aim of this workshop is to help you identify anxious behaviours, think about what maintains these and provide you with some ideas on what you can do to help your child or young person overcome these challenges. 
 
The MHST will be running one workshop over 6 dates (please note, it will be the same workshop offered on each date). Please book your tickets for one workshop using the Eventbrite link below.
 
Tuesday 21st September 2021 (9.30am - 11am):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-21092021-tickets-170309832293
 
Wednesday 22nd September 2021 (5.30pm - 7pm):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-22092021-tickets-170311003797
 
Friday 24th September 2021 (12pm - 1.30pm):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-24092021-tickets-170312105091
 
Monday 27th September 2021 (12pm - 1.30pm):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-27092021-tickets-170311555447
 
Tuesday 28th September 2021 (5.30pm - 7pm)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-28092021-tickets-170312652729
 
Thursday 30th September 2021 (9.30am - 11am):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-separation-anxiety-30092021-tickets-170313952617
 
For further information, please read this leaflet.

Please find below the term dates for this academic year. 

Term Dates 2021-22

Nursery parents & carers - please take note of changes to early closure on parent consultation days. 

The school gates will open just before 8.50am in the morning. Children can be dropped off any time between 8.50-9.00am. In the afternoon, the gates will be open at 3.10pm and children can be collected any time between 3.10-3.20pm. 

Please can we ask that children do not play on the equipment in the infant playground or the reception playground during drop off and pick up times and please remember scooters should not be ridden on the school site. Please carry your child's scooter once inside the gates. Thank you for your support. 

Reception Parents - your child will receive free milk to have at school each day until they turn 5 years of age.

After your child's 5th birthday, you will need to register them with Cool Milk if you would like them to continue having milk at school. Payments can be made via the Cool Milk website. 

Register with Cool Milk

Please can we remind parents that children should be dressed in the correct school/PE uniform each day. 

This consists of: 
Grey trousers/ shorts/ skirt/ pinafore dress/ blue and white gingham dress in the summer 
White polo shirt
Burlington jumper or cardigan - please make sure these are the ones with the school logo 
Black shoes
Grey, white or black socks/ tights

Children should also bring a Burlington book bag to school. 
On the days when your child has PE, they should come to school in their PE kit. Please click below to see the correct items for the PE kit. (Reception children do not need a PE kit until the Spring term).

PE Kit for Years 1 and 2 
Please can we also remind you that hair accessories should be discreet and simple – no cat’s ears, no bobbles or other large accessories - thank you.

For more information on our school uniform, please visit the Uniform web page on our website: 

Uniform web page

A huge welcome back to all our families and an extra special welcome to all our new children and parents. We hope those children who have started back this week have enjoyed the first couple of days in their new classes, it has been so lovely to see them all again.

Dear Parents/Carers,

Re: Arrangements for the Autumn Term, September 2021

We hope that you and your children have enjoyed your summer holidays, and are looking forward to the start of a new school year.

As promised, please find attached, the risk assessment summary of our Covid-19 safety arrangements. 

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

Following the announcement on 16th August, schools no longer have to ensure that start times are staggered. With this in mind, we have considered the number of families on site at the start and end of each day, and the narrow areas outside some of our classrooms.  As a result, we have now put in place a ‘soft start’ and ‘soft finish’ to ease congestion at these busy times.  For your convenience, you can arrive at any point during the indicated time slots.  We also ask for your support in ensuring that you do not wait around outside classrooms, and drop off/pick up swiftly and leave the site as quickly as possible.

Please take the time to read the risk assessment summary. We hope that these new measures will ease some of the pressure of previous arrangements, whilst continuing to ensure we do everything we can to minimise the risk of the spread of infection. 

As before, we will be sending out a questionnaire to gather your views on the new arrangements after the start of term.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the rest of the summer holidays and we look forward to welcoming you back from Thursday 2 September.

Warmest wishes,

Mrs S Yay-Walker, Headteacher