Message from Katie Haessly, Chair of Governors:

25.7.2024

Dear Parents/Carers

On behalf of the governing body, I would like to welcome you to Woodthorpe Infant School! It was lovely to see so many of you at the new parents’ evening and I hope that since then, you’ve had the opportunity to ask any questions you’ve got and get a feel for the school and community within it.

By now, the children will have had their settling in sessions and you’ll have had the chance to meet your child’s teacher. I hope the visits have gone well and that the children are as excited to be attending WIS as the school is to welcome them. The next year will be full of new experiences for them during which they’ll learn and grow so much.

I look forward to supporting you and your children as well as the school during this exciting time.

I wish you all a wonderful summer and we’ll see you in September!

Take care

Katie Haessly
Chair of Governors

Be Kind, Be Brave, Be Happy

14.7.24

At WIS we want everyone to BE KIND, BE BRAVE, BE HAPPY!  We are always talking to the children about our vision and children receive lots of praise and encouragement for displaying these characteristics.

Being brave is particularly important in our learning.  We want children to be brave and have a go whenever they are learning, and we recognise that everyone, children and adults alike, make mistakes.  We regularly explain to the children that making mistakes is important because this is how our brains grow.  The children quickly adopt this attitude and our current Foundation children will now confidently point out their mistakes and explain how their brains have grown, which is fantastic!  You can support us as parents by encouraging and modelling this attitude at home, however strange it may feel at first! 

Toilets

11.7.24

We want children starting school to be as confident as possible so we thought we'd share a little about our toilets in Foundation as we know there can be worries about this part of school life.  Each classroom has three toilets.  All children are reminded to wash their hands with soap and dry them well with paper towels which then go in the bin.

If your child has an accident, don’t worry - we have lots of spare clothes!  Please remind them to tell an adult or ask a friend to tell an adult, and we will come and help them.   Accidents are very common especially at the start of the year so please don’t worry if your child has an occasional accident, just reassure them that it’s fine and they must tell an adult if this does happen.  It’s also helpful if you can reinforce the message of “go to the toilet as soon as you need it” – we often have little ones who are so busy playing that they try and hold it until the last second! 

Summer Fair and 3^rd Visit to School

30.6.24

The children all did brilliantly at their transition sessions last week. We are looking forward to welcoming them into school again on Wednesday 3^rd July.

• Group 1: 9.10 – 10.40am
• Group 2: 10.20 – 11.50am

On Friday 5^th July, we have our school Summer Fair organised by the Friends of Woodthorpe (FOWI). Do come along if you can! There will be stalls, games and activities and each class will also have a 'stall'. It is happening in the main school playground from 3.30pm-5pm. Bring plenty of cash and loose change!

2nd Visit to School

21.6.24

We loved meeting you all last week at our stay and play sessions and hope you had an enjoyable picnic at the Helicopter Park and got to know others also starting school in September.  This week, we have our second visit to school planned on Monday morning where grown-ups will stay and settle their child before leaving them with us to play and collecting them later.

• Group 1: 9.10 – 10.10am
• Group 2: 10.30 – 11.30am

Virtual Call and 1st Visit to School (and picnic)

3.6.24

We are looking forward to meeting you this week during our virtual calls.  We are also excited as soon we get to meet you in person for your first visit into school.

On Thursday 20th June we will welcome Group 1 from 9.15 – 10.00am and Group 2 from 10.30-11.15am for a stay and play session.  You are invited to stay and play with your child for the whole session.

After these visits there will be a family picnic on the ‘Helicopter Park’.  FOWI (Friends of Woodthorpe Infants) will be there from 11.30am – 12.30pm.  Please bring your own picnic and get to know other families.  FOWI will have drinks available for the children and some second hand uniform available for donations.  Should it rain, the picnic will unfortunately be cancelled. If you are unsure on the day, please ring the school office.

Parent/Carer Information Evening

22.5.24

It was lovely to see so many of you on Monday evening and start to get to know you.  We have attached the PowerPoint that we used so that you can look back at it for future reference (see below).

Booking for 1:1 Teams Meetings

22.5.24

The booking link will be live from 9.30am on Friday 24^th May for you to book a 1:1 Teams meeting with your child's teacher.

Class 1 - Tuesday 4th June (10.00am -12.00pm) or Thursday 6th June (9.00am – 12.00pm)

Class 2 - Thursday 6th June (9.00am – 12.00pm) or Friday 7th June (10.00am -12.00pm)

Each appointment will last 10 minutes and will offer an opportunity for you and your child to meet your child's teacher and for you to share any concerns or questions you may have. It would be lovely to see something that is special to your child on the call. If they would like to share something with us, please ensure they have it ready to show at the time of the call. We are looking forward to meeting you!

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/ParentsEvening@arnoldwoodthorpe.notts.sch.uk/bookings/

Milk and Fruit

12.5.24

During the day, all children can have milk and fruit.

At the moment, milk is delivered in individual cartons, so it’s helpful if you can practise (maybe with cartons of fruit juice) – opening the straw wrapper and piercing the small hole at the top with the straw.  If children are struggling with this, we will encourage them to ask a friend or an adult for help. Milk is free for children up to the week of their 5th birthday, so please make a note for a couple of weeks before their birthday to pay for milk if you think they would like to continue having it.

All children will be offered a free piece of fruit every day. Throughout the week they will be offered a range of different fruit and vegetables.

We are looking forward to seeing you next week on Monday 20^th May at 6pm for our new starters meeting.

New Starters Meeting

08.05.24

Our new starter meeting will take place on Monday 20th May at 6pm.  It will be a chance for you to meet the Foundation team and hear more about the transition into Woodthorpe Infant School.  The meeting will take place in the school hall.  This is an information meeting for parents or carers only.  Letters will be handed out at this meeting with further details and dates for transition sessions in September.  If you are unable to attend, these will be sent out in the post.

The Foundation Stage Team

03.05.24

Thank you for completing the 'getting to know you' online form. The information you have supplied will help support the transition into school. Please remember to complete this form by Monday 6th May when the form will stop accepting responses. The paper forms you will have received are due back into school by Friday 10th May. We understand you won't be able to fill in your child's class on the forms - just leave this bit blank!

We are proud to have an amazing team working in the two foundation classes at Woodthorpe Infant School. In class 1, Miss Tyler will teach Monday and Tuesday and Mrs Burton will teach Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Mrs Hardy, our Foundation 2 Lead, will be the teacher for class 2.  Mrs Bucknall and Mrs Offord will be the teaching assistants working in Foundation 2.

Remember to check this page regularly for additional updates and helpful information regarding your child's transition into school.

Welcome to our 2024 children and families!

23.4.24

We are delighted to welcome our 2024 intake to Woodthorpe Infant School. We are looking forward to getting to know all of you, and we hope you enjoy being part of our school community. Information packs have been sent out to parents providing some details about us and requesting some from you. Please return these at your earliest convenience to allow us to start preparing for September. Please also follow this link to fill in our online new entrants information by 6th May. This will allow you to let us know a bit more about your child including who their friends are, which will help us to allocate them to their classes. 

Over the next few weeks we will be contacting your children's nurseries to find out a bit more about them, so please make sure that your child's nursery is aware that they will be moving to Woodthorpe Infant School.

A few dates for your diaries:

Monday 20th May - New Parents' Meeting at 6pm - Meet Mrs Bowler and the Foundation team. This will take place in the school hall. As this is an information meeting, this is for parents or carers only. 

During the week of 3rd June - The opportunity to have a 10 minute 1:1 Microsoft Teams meeting to meet your child's teacher. Your child is encouraged to be part of the call so they can meet the staff and perhaps show something that is special to them. This will help us get to know you and your child better.

Thursday 20th June AM - First visit to school - Parents/carers to stay with their child. Children will be given a time slot during the morning to attend.

Monday 24th June AM - Second visit to school - Parents/carers to bring their child into class, stay to settle and then leave the children if you/they feel comfortable. Again children will be given a time slot.

Wednesday 3rd July AM - Final visit to school - Parents/carers to bring their child in, settle them briefly and then leave the children. This will be an hour and a half slot and will give the children chance to meet all their classmates during the session.

We hope that all of these events will help you and your child to feel comfortable with their transition to school, and we look forward to working together to ensure that they have a wonderful start to their school experience. Please keep your eye on this page as we will be updating it over the next few weeks with information that will help you and your child to get to know a bit more about us.