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.

This is a really important workshop so please attend if you can. As we previously informed, we are now following a new reading scheme which we have been in the process of implementing this term. The workshop will explain more about how you can help your child with their reading at home. A little while ago we shared a video of Mrs Davies, our reading co-ordinator explaining the new scheme. If you missed it the first time, here it is again.

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

Parent Workshop presentation slides on Phonics and Early Reading

Video of Parent Workshop on Phonics and Early Reading Scheme

Little Wandle Resources for Parents

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. 

Tickets to visit Father Christmas in his grotto at the Christmas Fair are now on sale. Please visit www.pta-events.co.uk/bsa-pta to book and pay for a slot. 

* Final Call for Volunteers *

The PTA are still busy organising the Christmas fair and there are a wonderful team of volunteers working incredibly hard to get everything ready. But they still need more help! If you can give an hour or half an hour to help, please sign up here:
 
BSA Christmas Fair 2021 - Sign Up Genius

Thank you!

* PTA Non Uniform Day *

The next PTA non-uniform day in support of the Christmas fair will be on Friday 3rd December. On this day, children can wear their own non-uniform clothes and bring in either shop bought or home made cakes or savoury bakes for the cake stall at the Christmas Fair. Please make sure that cake tins/Tupperware are clearly labelled with your child's name and class if you would like them to be returned after the fair. 

* Winter Window Trail *
 
We are also still looking for homes to join in with our Winter Window Trail.  This is a really magical Christmas experience for the whole community, not just our school. If you think you can design a window and light it up every evening for a week in December, please sign up here. If you'd like more information, and to see some of the windows from last year's trail, please email info.burlingtonPTA@gmail.com

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

It is going to be another busy science filled half term! KS1 will be learning about materials, Reception will begin to learn about their 5 senses and our Nursery children will be planting bulbs and learning about farm animals. 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

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

We will be collecting for the Dons Local Action Group who give crucial support to local residents in need by providing weekly food boxes. You may have seen their collection points at the Tesco superstore in New Malden. 

We are asking for your help by donating a small item of food such as a tin of soup, packet of pasta, box of crackers or anything that is non-perishable. With Christmas in mind, you may also like to donate mince pies, Christmas puddings, selection boxes etc. The collection box will be under the shelter outside the door to the school office from Monday. Children and parents can drop their donations in it before or after school up until Friday morning when the Dons will come and collect it. 

Thank you so much in advance for your support. 

Year 1 & 2 Parents with children in the following groups are invited to come in and read a book with their child.  

Friday 10th December 8.50 - 9.10am

Year 1: Watermelons, and Bananas

Year 2: Mars, Neptune 

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. 

The children have already started rehearsing for their Christmas performances! Please see dates and times below. We are really pleased to be able to invite parents in to watch their child's performance but ask that a maximum of 2 people per child attend. Thank you. 

Nursery 
Orange, Green and Blue - Friday 10th December 8.45am
Purple, Yellow and Blue - Friday 10th December 2.15pm 
(Blue nursery parents can choose to attend either the morning or afternoon performance).

Reception 
Foxes - Tuesday 7th December 9.30am
Rabbits - Tuesday 7th December 2.30pm 
Hedgehogs - Wednesday 8th December 9.30am 
Squirrels - Wednesday 8th December 2.30pm 

Year 1 
Diamonds - Thursday 9th December 9.15am 
Rubies - Thursday 9th December 2.30pm 
Sapphires - Monday 13th December 9.15am
Emeralds - Monday 13th December 2.30pm 

Year 2 
Jupiter - Tuesday 14th December 9.15am
Mercury - Tuesday 14th December 2.30pm 
Saturn - Wednesday 15th December 9.15am
Venus - Wednesday 15th December 2.30pm

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.

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)

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.