Hilltop Infant School Newsletter Hill Avenue, Wickford. Essex. SS11 8LT Tel. No.: 01268 762531 Email: hilltopinf.admin@heartsacademy.uk Website: http://hearts-hilltopinf.uk

Thursday, 7th May 2020 Summer Term Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Diary Dates:

Please remember that the May Bank Holiday is now on Friday 8th May and not Monday of the same week

School Meals

Meal vouchers are now available for all children registered for Pupil Premium. Please see page 2

for more details.

Outdoor Learning We hope that you are all managing to get outside for a bit of

exercise. Don’t forget to enjoy the wonderful

world around you if you do.

It’s been a shorter week at Hilltop Infant School this week and lots of work has been produced by children at home and in the Hub. Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) commemorating the official end of the Second World War on 8th May 1945.

We would like to invite you all to wear red, white and blue and post pictures of you and your family having an afternoon tea. Please can you all take photos at 2pm, we can then all celebrate this historic event together whilst staying safe at home. Please send your photos to

your class teacher via Dojo on Monday 11th May. You can also join the Nation’s Toast to the Heroes at 3pm, from your home: “To those who gave so much, we thank you.”

To mark this historic event, Her Majesty The Queen will send a message to the nation at 9pm on BBC One, the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address in 1945. This will be followed by a national singalong of Dame Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and we hope you will open you doors and join in with this national moment of celebration.

We look forward to seeing photos of you and your families celebrating.

Mrs Robinson

National Home Learning Support Helpline for Parents

A national parent helpline has been set up, known as StarLine, and backed by the new virtual Oak Academy, as well as Star Academies, the Confederation of School Trusts, Triple P UK and a number of academy trusts. It is also staffed by Ofsted inspectors who have been redeployed alongside teachers to provide advice about home learning to parents. The helpline is designed to support parents and carers create regular routines and study habits, offering practical steps to take and access to resources, such as support with a specific topic or advice on how to structure the day, deal with difficult behaviour or manage the learning of several children. StarLine is open six days a week and covers all areas of the curriculum across all phases of education. The number to call is 0330 313 9162 (calls charged at local rate).

Kerry - Please do not hesitate to contact our wonderful school counsellor, Kerry, if you would like to talk in confidence. Kerry is here for our whole community at this difficult time. Kerry Westbrook Trust Counsellor 07544 750 390 counsellor@heartsacademy.uk Mon-Fri 8.30-4.00, Wednesday 8.30-12.00

Thursday 7th May, 2020 Summer Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Free School Meals All our families who are in receipt of Pupil Premium are entitled to free school meals for their child/children throughout the closure period. If your child is currently attending school, then they will be receiving their meal in school but if they are remaining at home and are in receipt of Pupil Premium they are also entitled to free school meal support. The Government has now introduced a voucher scheme and the Government confirmed that these vouchers can be used at Aldi stores. Families who are registered for Pupil Premium have already received information about the vouchers. If you have not received this, or are having trouble accessing the vouchers please let us know. If your circumstances change and you believe you may be now entitled to register your infant child for Pupil Premium, please let us know and we will do our best to help quickly. Your child may be eligible if you receive any of these benefits. Income Support income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance income-related Employment and Support Allowance support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 the guaranteed element of Pension Credit Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross

income of no more than £16,190) Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit Universal

Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

The Government are now temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have recourse to public funds (NRPF).

children of Zambrano carers children of families with no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private

and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights children of families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to

a no recourse to public funds restriction. Please contact the school office in you feel that you fall into any of these categories.

Isaac

Isaac, in Year 4 at Hilltop Junior School, is raising money for the NHS in memory of his wonderful mum, Sarah, who died last year. Sarah, herself, worked for the NHS. Isaac has been growing his hair for the last year and will be cutting it on 19th May to raise money for NHS Charities Together. Isaac has said that he hopes to make his mum proud. If you would like to sponsor Isaac please check out https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-the-nhs-in-memory-of-my-mum-sarah Everyone at Hilltop is very proud of you, Isaac, and we are sure that your mum would be very proud too!

Twitter

Do follow us on Twitter @HilltopInfant We have been tweeting information about our children's learning at home and at school throughout the week. Follow us or perhaps set up a Twitter account if you don't have one already.

Thursd 8th May, 2020 Summer Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Dear Children, Tomorrow marks a very special day, it is the 75th anniversary commemorating the end of the Second World War on 8th May 1945. Perhaps tomorrow you could dress up wearing red, white and/or blue and have an afternoon tea party. On the next page there is a flag for you to cut out and colour in. I would love to see some photos of you all dressed up waving your flags. Please ask your grown up to send any photos to your teacher on Monday on Class Dojo or Tapestry. You can also find at the end of our newsletter another project for you try at home. Can you grow some seeds using teabags?

Lots of love, Mrs Robinson

Thursd 8th May, 2020 Summer Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Thursday 7th May, 2020 Summer Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Hilltots

The Hilltots children have been very busy making nature faces this week, exploring in their garden and going on long walks to look for natural objects for their creations. There has also been lots of other artwork like a dinosaur made from cut out shapes, a tv made from an empty cardboard box and even some toilet roll families. It’s so lovely to see you all working hard and learning at home. Now let’s see what you all make or do in next week’s learning.

Reception

In Reception this week, the children have used their adapted Enormous Turnip plans they created last week to write amazing story openings, marvellous middles and exciting endings. We have had stories entitled 'The Massive Carrot', 'The Huge Potato' and 'The Giant Cucumber' to name but a few! In Maths, we have been halving shapes and numbers, becoming more familiar with odd and even numbers and using the part, part, whole method. We have also been enjoying drawing maps of a bus journey we would like to take, created bus tickets and some of us have even created our very own buses out of junk modelling. Lots of us have been going on wonderful walks, seeing new baby wildlife and learning to ride bikes too!

Learning at Hilltop Infant School this week

Children at home and at school have been working on the same learning packs this week. In their break times they have been exploring the great outdoors.

Thursday 7th May, 2020 Spring Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Year 2

This week in Year 2 we linked PE with English, as we planned wrote instructions for how to do a teddy bear roll. We recapped and improved our understanding on fractions, and how we find factions of a number during our Maths lessons. In History we revisited the famous palaeontologist, Mary Anning, before writing about why she is a significant woman in our history, and we depended our understanding on materials in Science by exploring items around the home.

Year 1

This week in Year 1, the children have been very busy writing instructions for how to complete a teddy bear roll safely using time adverbials, imperative verbs and conjunctions. In Maths, they have been finding a half and a quarter of a number and in History they have been learning facts about Mary Anning. In Science, the children have been looking for objects around the house and writing sentences to describe the materials they are made from. Another busy week for the Year 1 children.

Thursday 7th May, 2020 Summer Term Issue No. 26 Head of School: Mrs J Robinson

Using teabags to grow seedlings What you need:

Used teabags

Paper towel

Small plastic tray

Seeds

Instructions

Fold the paper towel and place it in the tray

Make the paper towel wet

Soak the used teabags and place them on the paper towel

Make a hole in each teabag and poke in a seed

Place the tray in a warm place but not in the sun

Make sure you keep the paper towel wet

When the seedling are about 2cm tall plant them in the teabag in the

garden.

Why?

Tealeaves are

dried leaves,

which contain

plant food

Did you know?

Tea bags will

just rot away

and add to

your compost