We have a vacancy for maternity cover for a EYFS / KS1 Class Teacher.  Please check out our Vacancies web page for more details.

Vacancies web page

If your child tests positive for Covid during the first 3 days of the Easter break (until 3rd April), please email the school office - admin@burlingtoni.org.uk - to report the result.
Emails will be checked twice daily during this period. This will help us to manage track and trace and notify the class bubble. 

Well done to everyone who entered our Easter egg competition! What amazing creations you all came up with, it was such a tricky job picking the winners as they were all so brilliant! Congratulations to our lucky winners: 

1st Prize
Casey in Orange, Hashir in Purple, Zoe in Green, Amara in Yellow, Esme in Blue, Charlotte in Foxes, Toby in Hedgehogs, Ashnavi in Rabbits, Penny in Squirrels, Imogen in Diamonds, Jude in Emeralds, Neha in Rubies, Isabel in Sapphires, Sadie in Jupiter, Edith in Mercury, Katherine in Saturn and Leo in Venus.

2nd Prize
Olivia in Orange, Amelie-Rose in Green, Maisie in Yellow, Liberty in Blue, Idris in Foxes, Abel in Hedgehogs, Alice in Rabbits, Ella in Squirrels, Hannah in Diamonds, Meena in Emeralds, Eloise in Rubies, Olivia in Sapphires, Freddie in Jupiter, Nathanael in Mercury, Daniel in Saturn and Inayah in Venus.

3rd Prize
Rianne in Green, Zainab in Yellow, Logan in Blue, Armand in Foxes, Connor in Hedgehogs, Isobel in Rabbits, Sasha in Squirrels, Phoebe in Diamonds, Theo in Emeralds, Aleksi in Rubies, Evie in Sapphires, Josh in Jupiter, Leo in Mercury, Orla in Saturn and James in Venus.

Here are just some of the beautiful winning eggs!

Please click below to find out more about the Sponsored Spell event, taking place on Friday 30 April.

Year 1 Sponsored Spell - April 2021

Year 2 Sponsored Spell - April 2021

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

Characters
Lamb, bunny, chick, butterfly, a bird, maybe you could be in your story!

Setting
Farm, blossom tree, a magic garden

 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.

Some stories will be shared in class and some in the newsletter and on the website. All entries will receive a certificate and there will be prizes!

Please upload your story onto Tapestry titled ‘Spring Story Competition’ by Friday 23rd April.

I am looking forward to reading all of your exciting stories!  Mrs MacMillan

Thank you and well done to all the children who sent in their stories for Inspiration Station last week. We have really enjoyed reading them! Here are some examples of the wonderful stories we received: 

Inspiration Station Entries

Kingston Council is currently talking to residents about plans to transform the Kingfisher Leisure Centre, Cattle Market car park and Guildhall campus. They want to hear from all residents, including children, about what they would like to see on these sites, especially the new leisure centre.

Children can get involved by completing a children’s survey about what activities they would enjoy in the new leisure centre and are invited to do this by sharing their written ideas or drawing a picture.

The Council hopes to display the best artwork on the hoardings surrounding the site. Closing date 25 April.

You can find out more on the Transform Kingston website

The lunch menus for Summer term are available to view on our School Lunches web page: 

School Lunches web page

Dear Infant Parents/Carers,
Please could I ask you not to let your children onto any of the equipment in the junior playground or the school field. We are working hard to keep everything as safe as we can and regularly wipe down these surfaces to protect the children during the day. I know that the children do not climb on the equipment in the Infant playground before or after school and I’d be grateful if the same can apply to our play spaces.
We normally ask children not to climb on the play equipment anyway at the end of the day. We have had some new equipment installed which does make it very exciting, but they will get a chance to use it when they join the school.
Best wishes,
Burlington Junior School

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

Parents and carers of children who have been advised to self-isolate by their education setting or by NHS Test and Trace are now able to apply for a payment of £500, if they meet the eligibility criteria. For more information please click here.

Please click here to view a letter which the junior school sent to their parents regarding the expansion plans. 

Advice on bedwetting, sleep, eating problems, sibling rivalry, stress, anxiety, challenging behaviour, setting boundaries, rewards and penalties, family rules and so much more.

If you need help with any of the above - we can help! 

Mrs Docwra and Mrs Easty will be running parenting sessions for families via Zoom. To book an appointment, please email the school office with your name and contact telephone number and a brief description of the topics you would like to discuss. 

On Tuesday The Happy Chick Company delivered some eggs in an incubator to Nursery! We now have eight healthy happy chicks. The children were able to watch them hatch and have been loving watching them and talking to them. Next week we will be able to handle them gently and on Friday they will be taken back to free range farms in Norfolk. It has been very exciting and we feel very lucky to have them.

Please can we ask that hair accessories worn in school are small and discreet and used to keep hair off faces – no cat’s ears please or other large headbands, bows or clips.

Trainers may be worn with PE kits, not with school uniform. Black shoes only with school uniform please.

No jewellery or toys should be brought into school.

Only one adult per household to collect and drop off please.

Please arrive promptly for your child's allocated drop off and pick up time. Some children are still arriving very late which means they have missed the beginning of their lessons.

Thank you for your continued support

Zone All Sports & Care will be providing a holiday club from the infant school during the Easter break. Please see attached flyer with more information and how to book. 

Please can we ask that parents do not park across driveways on the surrounding streets to drop off or pick up children from school. We have had some complaints from local residents who have noticed parents with Burlington children parking across their driveways in the mornings and afternoon. If you need to drive to school, please use the Curry's car park opposite the school which is free of charge for a short stay.

Thank you for your cooperation.

In order to avoid congestion at the gates, please can we ask you to arrive at the gate no earlier than 5 minutes before your child's drop off and pick up times. It is really important that we try and avoid large groups of people waiting at the gates. Attached is a copy of the timetable with drop off and pick up times for each class.  

Drop off and Pick up Timetable from 8 March

Please can we also ask that you keep your children with you at all times when entering and leaving the school site, please do not let them run around and please remember to keep a safe distance from other people.

We have now reviewed and updated our COVID-19 risk assessment.  You can view a summary of this risk assessment here.

COVID Risk Assessment - summary for parents

Please remember you can view the school's latest information regarding COVID-19 on our website: the 'Covid-19 Latest Updates' page is under the 'News' tab on our website: 

COVID-19 Latest Updates web page

On this page you will find the latest notices and communications from the school regarding the pandemic and how we are operating safely during this time.

Dear Parents / Carers, 

Lateral flow (rapid response) home testing kits are available for parents to collect from the testing site at Cocks Crescent (behind Lidl) for asymptomatic testing of their household. The site is open 7 days a week from 1.30-7.30pm. Parents are asked to support the school's efforts in preventing the spread of Covid-19, through twice weekly testing of households. This is not compulsory, but we would be grateful for your support. For further guidance, see here.

Please note that these tests are for asymptomatic testing only. If you or anyone in your household is showing Covid symptoms, or if your lateral flow test has given a positive result, you must book a PCR test immediately. 

Thank you and best wishes, 

Burlington Infant & Nursery School

The teachers are really enjoying teaching Computing at school and we have seen some of the most incredible work being taught at home too!  Some classes are learning to program toys and some classes are learning to program turtle logo.  If you are taking part in Computing at home, please submit an observation on Tapestry titled “Computing Home Learning”.  

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

Tech Time submissions

Enjoy!  Miss Holmes

We would like to say a huge congratulations and thank you to Steph who along with her team cooks all the delicious meals in school. Steph was recently awarded a Long Service Award and voucher for her 15 years at Burlington! Steph always ensures that the children have hot, nutritious lunches every day and is so kind and patient with us all. Thank you Steph, we are so lucky to have you! 

Thank you to everyone who voted for their favourite book in the Spark Book Awards. The clear winner was Avocado Asks by Momoko Abe. We will be having a whole school celebration of this book in the summer term. We have postponed our book week and dress up day until June, more details to follow nearer the time. 

Meet the Author of Avocado Asks - Momoko Abe

Help Burlingon Infant & Nursery School choose the children's book of the year!

https://sparkbookaward.co.uk

To discover the shortlisted books, read to you by our very own Mrs Davies, please click on the attached poster:

Spark Book Awards

You can also buy the books from the Regency Bookshop in Surbiton. The books are also on display in our library so your teachers can read them to you when we return to school.

Online Author Visits: The authors of all four books are sending us video messages about their books. We will send you the links to these as soon as we can.
 
Voting: We would like you to vote on your favourite book before World Book Day on the 4th March.  Please click below to access the google poll to vote for your favourite book by Wednesday 3 March.

Google Poll for Voting on your favourite book
 
Pupil Competition: There is a competition for children from all over Kingston and Richmond. To enter they would like you to create your own way of responding to one of the books. You could draw a picture, make a collage or model, make your own book, dress up and take a photo, write your own version, write about what you thought of the book. Please put your entries on Tapestry with the title SPARK Book Award by the end of April.
 
School Competition Time: Once we have decided on our favourite book, we will be thinking of how we can enter the whole competition. Further news after World Book Day on 4th March!
 
THANK YOU FOR ENTERING AND GOOD LUCK! 

Kingston Libraries have lots of free virtual events for families. Events can be booked online by clicking below:

Kingston Libraries Bookings through Eventbrite

Early morning starts may be tricky for some of our children to readjust to when school reopens on Monday 8 March.  Getting back in to a healthy sleep routine could be helpful.  Here is a short workshop to check out for useful tips and practical help to support your child with sleep.

Sleep Workshop presentation and voice recording

Sleep Workshop slides

The local council has developed these resources to support parents with home schooling. The situation will change on 8 March when schools open and children start attending school.
However, for the next couple of weeks and any future bubble closures / self-isolation periods, these resources might prove very useful to support parents offer structure to home learning and manage their own and their children's stress levels.

Resources to support parents with home learning

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have been absolutely delighted to have received all your wonderful feedback. It has lifted our spirits and kept us going throughout this very challenging term. Thank you for bearing with us and for cheering us on! You have all been amazingly supportive and kind, and it has been fantastic hearing about how your children are enjoying home learning. It has been lovely to see some of the fantastic work that your children have been producing. We are so proud of them! I know it hasn’t been a smooth ride all of the time, but thank you for persevering. Thank you also for sharing some of your thoughts and concerns. We have put together a feedback response letter with some of these FAQs addressed, which you can find in this newsletter.
 
I hope you have a very well earned rest, and look forward to ‘seeing’ you again after the half term break!
 
Warmest wishes
Mrs Yay-Walker

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our recent survey on remote learning. A summary of the results as well as a set of FAQs can be found below: 

Summary of Responses - Remote Learning Survey (Feb 2021)

World Book Day is on the 4th March. 

To celebrate we are focussing on the Spark Book Awards.

The World Book Day website tells you which books you can buy for £1 this year and has some excellent ideas for celebrating reading. The books will be available in book shops and supermarkets and can be bought with cash, card or tokens. https://www.worldbookday.com 

When our £1 World Book Day tokens arrive in school we will let you know. They can be spent between the 18th Feb and 28th March.

Family Challenge!

Can our school walk, run, jog, scoot or cycle the distance from Kingston upon Thames to Kingston, Jamaica?

While we are still learning from home it is very important that we take part in plenty of exercise. This challenge encourages you to get moving in whatever way you enjoy the most! It could be walking, running, scooting, cycling or some other creative way you can think of. 

All pupils can have a tracking sheet and record the distance they cover each day. This challenge will run until schools re-open so that once pupils return each school can collect in the tracking sheets and add up the total distance covered. We will then see which school has got closest to Jamaica!

Tracking Sheet

We are looking forward to seeing how many miles we have covered and whether we’ll get to Jamaica or not!

Good luck!

Mr Johnson and Mr Wood  

Dear Year 1 & 2 Parents/Carers 

We would be most grateful if you could spend a couple of minutes to help your child complete the following questionnaire. We would love to hear what they think about learning at home. 

Pupil Voice Questionnaire for KS1

Thank you and best wishes, 

Burlington Infant & Nursery School

If you need printed work packs for your child, please email the school office to request one. 
admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

If you are using printed work packs please remember to return the completed work when you pick up the next pack so that teachers can monitor your child's progress. Alternatively please upload photos of your child's work to Tapestry or Google Classroom. 

If you have any old devices such as a tablet or laptop that you no longer use, we would be most grateful for any donations so that we can provide support to families who may be struggling to access online learning. Unfortunately the government scheme to provide laptops and tablets for remote learning does not include infant schools. The device will need to be in good working order and no older than 8 years. Thank you. 

The School Health Team are offering virtual drop in sessions to parents/carers to discuss any health concerns they may have about their children. Click here for more information.

Please find below a letter from the Children Services department at Kingston Council.

Open Letter to Parents from Children Services at Kingston Council

Nursery places available at Burlington Infant & Nursery School to start in September 2021. Application deadline = 5 March 2021.

For more information, please visit our Admission web page:

Admissions web page

Kingston Libraries has launched a new monthly Chatterbooks Reading Club for children aged 6-8, on Wednesdays at 4pm via Zoom.

Find new recommended reads, chat about books, take quizzes and try your hand at creative writing and illustrating. This is a free club but must be booked in advance via Eventbrite - click here

Keep children fit and active by joining in with the Daily Mile Bingo challenge! Click below to download the bingo challenge card.

Daily Mile Bingo Challenge Card

See how many of the challenges they can complete before the half term! Once your child has completed all the challenges, print and complete a certificate to say well done! Click below to download the certificate.

Daily Mile Bingo Certificate

Dear Parents/Carers

Please read the attached letter regarding the live sessions we have planned for Year 1 & Year 2 children. 

Live Sessions Letter to Parents

Also attached is the protocol for the live sessions and a step by step guide to accessing them via Google Classroom. Please read these carefully. 

BIS Protocol for Live Sessions

How to Use Google Meet for Live Sessions - guidance for pupils and parents

Thank you and best wishes, 

Burlington Infant & Nursery School