This Week's News
Friday 13th November
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been a wonderful week of celebrations and hands-on learning across the school.
We began the week by marking Diwali, which fell on Sunday. The children loved learning about why Hindus and Sikhs celebrate the festival, and Year 1 made some beautiful Diva lamps out of dough.
On Wednesday, we held a special assembly to observe Armistice Day. We talked about why we remember and the significance of the poppy. It was wonderful to see so many children wearing their Squirrels, Beavers, and Rainbows uniforms. They proudly led the school in a two-minute silence before parading around the hall. A big thank you to the School Council, who also did a fantastic job selling poppies earlier in the week.
Reception had a brilliant time during their very first Forest School experience since joining Oatlands. They were lucky enough to have crisp, dry, and sunny weather. Mrs Willemse was so impressed with their behaviour—and the fact that they were able to use saws! The children crafted lovely poppies from sawn branches, along with firework sticks and Diwali lanterns. Gathering around the fire to make s'mores was a definite highlight. Thank you so much to the parents who volunteered to help.
Reception also had an exciting visit from the fire brigade and loved exploring the fire engine in the playground—though it did prove to be a slight distraction for Year 1, who were trying to concentrate on their phonics!
Thank you to everyone who attended the Year 2 maths workshops this week. It was a fantastic turnout, and as always, the children loved working alongside you to solve tricky problems.
Finally, a huge thank you to Miss Lawford and Mr Copsey for delivering an informative session introducing Reception parents to early reading and writing. We were thrilled with the attendance, and the staff were very grateful for the warmth, enthusiasm, and thoughtful questions from everyone who joined us.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Tanya Mooney
Key Dates or Next 2 Weeks
| Wednesday 18th November | Year 1 & 2 Mini First Aid workshops |
| Thursday 19th November | 9.00-12.00 Whole school flu vaccinations |
| 9.00-12.00 Reception height & weight check | |
| Wednesday 25th November | 4.30-6.00 International Evening- All welcome |
| Thursday 26th November | Year 2 Fire Safety workshop |
Maths Workshops -All 9.15-10.00 |
|
| Tuesday 17th November | Butterfly Class |
| Wednesday 18th November | Ladybird Class |
| Thursday 19th November | Bumblebee Class |
Forest School |
|
| Monday 23rd November | Seahorse Class |
| Tuesday 24th November | Starfish Class |
| Thursday 26th November | Jellyfish Class |
You can also see a full list of key dates on the Term Dates & Calendar pages of the school website HERE
Parking across driveways
Please can we remind parents to be considerate when parking. Please do not park in private roads, on double yellow lines or across driveways, including Mr Norris, our Caretakers’ driveway. A parent made a very generous donation at the Spring Ball to be able to Park on Mr Norris’s driveway and has been blocked in or prevented from parking, several times.
Lost Property- Please collect by Friday 20th November
We have quite a mountain of unnamed school uniform, please do come and have a look through to see if you can identify any of it. Any items not collected by Friday 20th November, will be given to the PTA for the 2nd Hand Uniform Sale or given to charity.
Safeguarding Notice
If you have any concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing in the school or community, please speak to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL). DSL- Tanya Mooney, Head Teacher. DSL- Phil Copsey, Deputy Head Teacher or DSL-Kelly Grindle, Nurture Lead.
Website updates
The Uniform, Attendance & Allergy policies have been updated. You can view them HERE
Year 2 Autumn Curriculum has been updated HERE