Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to the summer term, I hope you all had a good Easter break. Welcome to our new starters in nursery, who are settling in wonderfully. Well we did it! Crofton Infants have proudly hatched and reared 5 chickens, they have grown enormously in a short period of time. They have caused devastation and mayhem at my house for the last two weeks and have fondly been named the spice girls by daughter and I. We definitely have a Scary Spice, Ginger Spice and a Baby Spice, the rest are yet to reveal their true selves! A huge thank you to Rivir Bradley’s mum for the kind donation of the indoor cage and to Ophelia Garland’s mum for the kind donation of the outdoor cage.
Summer term
Hopefully we will see the weather warm up over the next few weeks and the children will be spending more time outdoors. With this in mind please send your children in appropriate clothing. This may be hats for the sunshine but also a waterproof coat as the British weather can be unpredictable and we can get a rain shower at any time.
Year 1 Phonics Screening
This term year 1 do their phonics screening. A letter was sent out before Easter explaining how parents can support their children at home. Please also use the QR codes that are sent home each week from the Read Write Inc group to support your children with practising their sounds.
Nursery sponsored walk
Thank you to our nursery children’s families for sponsoring the children’s sponsored walk. Nursery has raised a staggering £737 which has been used to buy new home corner furniture for the children to enjoy in class. Thank you for your generosity and continued support.
Science Week
The 24th April is Science week, we have an action-packed week of activities for all children to enjoy from EYFS to Year 2. At the end of the week there will be a celebration assembly where the children will be able to showcase their work to the other classes and our governors. We would like parents to join us after school in the hall to see the amazing work their children have completed as part of Science week. We would like parents to join us in the hall at 3pm to see the amazing science work that has taken place during science week. Staff will be on hand to talk you through the work.
Mental Health Awareness week
Mental health awareness week will be the 15th-21st May, the focus this year will be on anxiety. I have added a link below for top tips on dealing with anxiety.
Beep Beep Day
Wednesday 26th April is a road safety day run by schools, nurseries, playgroups or childminders to teach important road safety basics to very young children (aged 2–7)
https://www.brake.org.uk/get-involved/for-professionals/teachers-and-youth-workers/beep-beep-days
The topics we will cover are;
- Holding hands with a grown up when walking near roads
- Crossing roads at safe places with a grown up
- Using a child seat when travelling by car.
Transition to Crofton Junior School
There will be 2 transition days for the Year 2 children to Crofton Junior School this year. These days give the children a chance to spend time with their Year 3 teacher in their new classes.
The days will be Tuesday 4th July and Thursday 13th July. There will be a meeting for new to Year 3 parents and carers at Crofton Junior School on Thursday 6th July at 6pm.
Uniform and Shoe Exchange Point
We have created a uniform clothing and shoe exchange point located inside the entrance to school. This is for everyone to use, please have a look if there is anything you need. If you have any uniform or shoes you no longer need, please leave any clean donations at the uniform and shoe exchange point.
Pickup
Crofton Infant School has a policy that under 16s cannot collect children. If on an occasion you are unable to collect your child and no adult is available, as a very last resort if you feel a teenage sibling is responsible enough please pre-request this from Mrs Holloway or Mrs Lindley who will review emergency requests on an individual basis.
Safeguarding
Please do not allow your children to urinate in the playground.
While we realise some parents like to come and see their children whilst dropping off siblings at afternoon nursery, this is distressing and disruptive to the children and the school day. In addition we cannot allow any adult to stand at the fence while children are playing out, this is to protect the children.
Smithy Close Parking 25th April
On Tuesday 25th April there will be a funeral procession on Smithy Close between 2pm and 2:30pm. We have been asked to request parents not to park on Smithy Close at this time, funeral Directors will move cars on.
Reading at Home
Thank you to all our parents and carers who are supporting children by reading at home, it makes a huge difference to progress in reading. Can you please ensure that reading books and reading records are brought to school every day. The school purchased new reading books last year and already many books are missing from the scheme, if you have any books at home please return them to school, thank you. We will be introducing “Reading Ambassadors for Year 2 more details of this will be in the reading newsletter.
Nut Allergy
Can we remind parents that we are a nut free school. We have children in school who have a nut allergy and it’s important we keep them safe. Do not send any food containing nuts in lunchboxes (this includes 30 hours children). Thank you.
Attendance and punctuality
We would like to remind parents and carers of the importance of reporting absences via the school office. As part of our safeguarding first response procedures, we may conduct a home visit should absence not be notified. Any unauthorised absence will be recorded as an ‘O’ code in the class register.
A polite reminder that the school day begins at 8:30am, doors close at 8:40 the gates will be locked shortly after with registers closing at 8:45. Arrivals between 8:45 and 8:55am will be recorded as late (L code) as we have closed the registers. Arrivals after 8.55am will be recorded as (U code).
We monitor attendance and punctuality closely. Upon reaching a cumulative threshold, we have a duty to report instances of unauthorised absence (O code) and lateness (U code) to Wakefield council who may issue a penalty notice (classed as an offence) under the 1996 Education Act (Section 444(1). For further information please see the attendance policy on our website under the policies section.
We are currently running a class incentive where the winning class with the highest attendance each week will get a reward the following Friday. In addition, the class will earn a star towards a movie afternoon for the winning class each half term.
We also offer a breakfast club which is open from 8am, the children can enjoy breakfast and play with their friends for £3.25 a day. You can book in advance if you are going to use the club on a regular basis. We can accommodate children on an ad hock basis to support parents should they need it however, we would prefer you to book as this enables our team to ensure that there is sufficient food. Thank you
May Bank Holiday
Monday 1st May 2023
An additional bank holiday has been agreed for May 8th this year for the Kings coronation.
Dates for your diary
| Science Week | W/C 24th April 2023 |
| Beep Beep – Road Safety Day | 26th April 2023 |
| Bank Holiday | Monday 1st May 2023 |
| Bank Holiday | Monday 8th May 2023 |
| Anxiety – Mental Health week (more details to follow on the Wellbeing Newsletter | W/C 15th May 2023 |
| Break Up for Half Term | Friday 26th May 3pm |
| Inset Day school closed | Monday 5th June |
| Open for Summer Half Term 2 | Tuesday 6th June 8:30am |
Thank you for your continued support
Mrs D Lindley