Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to school! We hope that you had a relaxing half term break and enjoyed some quality time as a family. Don’t forget to check the blogs at the end of the newsletter to see what your child has been learning in class!
All year groups have begun learning about their new curriculum themes this week. Our themes change every half term and link together learning in different subjects such as History, Geography, Science and Art, all centred around a high quality book. Linking subjects together in this way helps the children remember what they have learnt and also apply this knowledge in different contexts. Lessons are interactive with lots of hands on experiences to look forward to. For example, Nursery are looking forward to welcoming ducklings later in the term!
Our curriculum overviews for each year group are below. These explain what your child will be learning in class and also contain ideas for how you can support their learning at home, as well as recommended reads.
Our curriculum themes for Spring 2 are:
| Nursery | On the Farm |
| Reception | A Bug’s Life |
| Year 1 | Into the Unknown |
| Year 2 | Superhuman! |
Nursery Spring 2 – On The Farm
Reception Spring 2 – A Bug’s Life
Year 1 Spring 2 – Into The Unknown
On Thursday 5th March we will be celebrating World Book Day. As you know, reading is very important to us and we want all of our children to grow a love of books.
Thursday 5th March will be a non-uniform day. Children are encouraged to wear their pyjamas to school and bring in a teddy and their favourite book so that we can “Get Cosy With a Book”. There will be lots of opportunities throughout the day for children to read and share their books with their friends and teachers.
We would also like to invite families into school to read with their children at the following times:
Morning Nursery – 10:45am
Afternoon Nursery – 2:45pm
Reception – please come into the classroom with your child at 8:50am
Years 1 and 2 – 2:30pm
We hope to see as many of you there as possible!
Here at Dorothy Barley, we are proud to offer the Junior Duke award for the second year. The award encourages independence, confidence, resilience and self-motivation. Each year group has a different level of the award and children complete a series of challenges, including first aid, ICT, eco awareness, music, sport and other life skills such as getting dressed quickly and independently, clearing the dinner table and washing up. Some challenges will be completed in school but most of the challenges will be completed outside of school with family and friends.
We had a fantastic uptake of the award last year with many children earning their badges and certificates. We are aiming for even more children to complete their award this year!
If you haven’t already done so, please make sure you return your consent form. The children are completing their first challenge in class and we want everyone to be able to participate.
Communication with families is very important to us here at Dorothy Barley as we know children are happy and achieve well when we work in partnership.
Our Spring term Parents Evenings on Wednesday 25th March and Thursday 26th March are a fantastic opportunity for teachers to share updates about your child’s attainment as progress, as well as for you to raise anything about your child that you would like to discuss.
Look out for a letter soon with further information.
Year 2 are off on their education visit to the National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday 18th March (Kingfisher class) and Wednesday 25th March (Woodpecker class). There is no charge for this trip but please ensure you have returned the consent form so that your child can attend.
Please make sure that all items of school uniform are labelled with your child’s name. As the weather gets warmer, the children are more likely to take their jumpers on and off, giving them more opportunities to be get lost! If all uniform is labelled, we can ensure that we return iems to the correct child.
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs S O’Hara
Head of School
This week in Nursery, we have been learning all about Spring. We have looked in the garden for signs of and found a beautiful blossom tree. We carefully drew and painted daffodils. We looks very closely at the blossom from the tree and we drew......
This week in Oak Class we have been exploring our new story by taking part in a sensory story. We learnt the different characters in the story Troll, Big Billy Goat, Medium Billy Goat and Small Billy Goat. The children played with the different characters......
This week, Reception have had a fantastic time exploring their curiosities and discovering the wonderful world around them. As the entry point to our new topic, ‘A Bug’s Life’, the children set off on an exciting mini beast hunt around the school playground and Reception......
In Science this week, Year 2 have been looking at different food groups. We sorted all the food into Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fruit and Vegetables....
Please note: If your child is absent you must inform the school on the morning of the absence. Please do this by phoning the school office on 0208 270 4655 or emailing us at office@dorothybarleyinfant.org.uk.
We aim for the best education for your children at Dorothy Barley Infant School. Full Attendance and Punctuality are essential for your child to make the maximum progress.
To reach the school target pupils must not have any more than 6 days off per academic year. If you need to make appointments for your child, please aim to make them out of school hours or during school holidays. Thank you.
Children with 100% attendance each half term will receive a certificate. Pupils with 100% attendance for the whole year will receive a special reward.
| Attendance during one school year | Equals this number of days absent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 19 days | ||
| 80% | 38 days | ||
| 70% | 57 days | ||
| Outstanding 100% | Good 96% – 99% | Requires Improvement 91%-95% | Inadequate (PA)Below 90% |
Do you know our Child Protection and Safeguarding Team?
Mrs Ratford
Assistant Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Lead
If you have a concern about a child, please see a member of our Safeguarding Team.
In an emergency call 999.
| Class | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reception | |||
| Ladybird | 84.1% | ||
| Bumblebee | 94.6% | ||
| Year 1 | |||
| Rabbit | 85.6% | ||
| Squirrel | 94% | ||
| Hedgehog | 93.8% | ||
| Year 2 | |||
| Kingfisher | 90.2% | ||
| Woodpecker | 96% | ||
The whole school attendance this week is: 91.1%