October
14th - Welcome to Nursery Parent Workshop 9am & 2.40pm Infant Hall
15th - Harvest Festival
17th - Diwali Celebration/Multicultural Morning 9-10am
17th - PTA Monster Ball 4.30-6pm or 6.30-8pm **UPDATED**
22nd - Parent Consultations 2pm to 5.30pm. SCHOOL CLOSES EARLY AT 1.45PM for YR, Y1 & Y2. Nursery open as usual
23rd - Parent Consultations 4pm to 7pm
24th - Wear it Pink (more details to follow)
24th - Spelling Workshop for Y1 & Y2 Parents 9-10am Infant Hall
27th - Half Term Break

November
3rd - TERM BEGINS
7th - Individual School Photos **CHANGE OF DATE**
14th - Children in Need (more details to follow)
21st - Literacy Morning - 9-10am in your child's class. All YR, Y1 & Y2 parents welcome
 28th - PTA Non-Uniform Day for Christmas Fair (more details to follow)

December
5th - PTA Non-Uniform Day (more details to follow) 
5th - PTA Christmas Fair TIME TBC
18th - Christmas Lunch Day
19th - SCHOOL CLOSES EARLY AT 1.45PM FOR THE CHRISTMAS BREAK (NO YELLOW OR PURPLE NURSERY)

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the school fund so far!

Our voluntary contribution is £75 per family - if you feel you are able to contribute, this can be paid online via your School Gateway account. There is also an option to pay in instalments or to pay more if you wish!

The money we raise from these contributions goes towards enriching experiences for the children such as Earthsong drumming, “Pretend Holiday” days, art workshops, Healthy Living Week Big Breakfast, school trips, multicultural picnic and classroom resources. 

You can read more about our School Fund by visiting the webpage: 

Voluntary Contribution web page

At Burlington, we are very proud of our diverse community. This Autumn term there will be many families celebrating special religious festivals such as Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Diwali, St Andrew's Day, Bodhi Day, Hanukkah and Christmas just to name a few.

We would love the children to share their news and personal experiences with their class. This could be anything from artefacts such as special story books, photos, special clothes, a piece of music/food and some helpful written notes of information about the artefacts/festival. Remember: Photos and videos can also be uploaded to share via Tapestry of which can then be shared in class or in my special festival assemblies. Don't forget to sign up for culture cat. Please talk to your class teacher to arrange a particular date.

*Diwali Celebration/Multicultural morning is on Friday 17th October from 9am-10am (Nursery times are 8.30-9.30am and 12.30-1.30pm). There are limited number of spaces per class so if you would like to do a multicultural activity with a small group of children, please sign up on sheet by the door. Thank you.

Miss Braithwaite, Religious Education (RE) Lead

Each Eco Council member has their own watering can. They are now responsible for watering their class plant pot. They are doing a great job!

Eco Council went litter picking in the local area. They collected 11 bags of rubbish! They worked hard to keep the environment clean!

A reminder that the deadline for booking parent consultations is Friday 17th October at 10pm.

Please visit https://burlington.schoolcloud.co.uk/ to book your appointments. 

Nursery Parent Consultations - please book directly with your class teacher/keyworker.

Individual School Photographs/Sibling Photographs
 
On Friday 7th November the children will be having their individual school photographs. 
 
We are offering parents who have more than 1 child at the Infant and Nursery School the opportunity to have a photograph taken with their siblings. The photographer will be available for these photographs before school from 8.00 a.m. - 8.45 a.m. Unfortunately, we are not able to extend this offer to siblings from the Junior School.
 
Sibling photographs are by appointment only.  If you would like your Infant and Nursery School siblings to be photographed together, please contact the Infant school office via telephone or come into the office.  Appointments will be available to book from this coming Monday 13th October. 

Most pharmacies in England are now providing the Pharmacy First service. This free NHS service allows you or your child to get quick access to healthcare advice for the following seven conditions:

Earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
Impetigo (aged 1 year and over)
Infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
Shingles (aged 18 years and over)
Sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
Sore throats (aged 5 years and over)
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women (aged 16 to 64 years)

If you or your child has symptoms that suggest you may have one of these conditions, you can walk into a pharmacy and be offered a consultation with a pharmacist in a private consultation room.

The pharmacist will provide advice and, if clinically necessary, a prescription medicine to treat the condition (the normal NHS prescription charge rules apply to people aged 16 and over).

Find out more by visiting nhs.uk/thinkpharmacyfirst

We would love to hear about any science related activities the children take part in at home! It can be anything from helping out in the garden, finding mini beasts, doing experiments or perhaps visiting a museum - please email your science selfie to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk and let us know if you would allow for it to be shared in the school newsletter and on our school website. We look forward to seeing your Science Selfies!

Here are some of the Science Selfies we've received!

Science Selfie Challenge Photos

Well done to the children who did the science homework this week. Why not give it a go - details below. Send us pictures of your brilliant creations!

Dr Bethan Stagg is a scientist who loves to look at plants and animals in their natural habitats. Bethan thinks that people do not notice plants as much as they notice animals.  Bethan knows about amazing plants from around the world - both wild plants and those grown in gardens.

Bethan would like the children at Burlington to learn about some of the amazing plants that can be found on our doorsteps!

Activities to do at home:

Go for a walk outside and see how many different types of plants you can find. Can you find any weeds in the cracks of pavements or other unexpected places?  Photograph or draw the plants you see and label the different parts.

Collect leaves and create pictures from them.

Take a Science Selfie and post your photo on Tapestry!  If you would like to have your photo included in our weekly school newsletter, please e-mail your photo to admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

We have just added lots of new items to our wishlist. Items are priced from as little as £4 so if you are able to help us we would really appreciate it! We have now added the areas where the resources will be going such as Opal, Nursery etc should you wish to donate towards a specific area of the school.

https://amzn.eu/983v2T9

If you are able to help, we would really appreciate it!

If you have not already downloaded the School Gateway App, please do this immediately. This is our communication and payment system for the school so it is really important that you have activated your account. We will use this system to send emergency text messages and all clubs, trips, Acorns, nursery fees etc can be paid using the app. If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask the school office. 

How to access School Gateway instructions for new users

If your child needs to use the toilet after pick-up, please walk back to your classroom door and ask for your child to go back through the classroom to use the toilet. Parents are not allowed in the toilets. This is to safeguard the other children we have on site after school in clubs and at Acorns. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

Just letting you know that Burlington Infant & Nursery School are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online.

Over 7,000 brands will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us.

It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment. You can find our easyfundraising page here.

Thank you so much!
 
All you need to do is:
 
1. Go to the fundraising page by clicking here and join for free.

2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.

3. After you’ve checked out, the brand will make a donation to Burlington Infant & Nursery School at no extra cost to you whatsoever!
 
There are no catches or hidden charges and we will be really grateful for your donations.
 
Thank you for your support.

Parentkind, a charity that supports school PTAs have teamed up with Asda, who is making millions of pounds available to donate to primary schools across the UK through their ‘Cashpot for Schools’ initiative. To support our school, all you have to do is opt-in through the Asda Rewards app, shop and scan in store or shop online at Asda.com.
 
Between 2nd September and 30th November 2024, every time you shop with Asda using your Asda Rewards app, Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to your chosen school. Also, every time somebody opts-in to support our school, Asda will give an additional £1 to the school Cashpot. Plus, it doesn’t stop there – Asda are also giving £50 to every school to get them started.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3
1. Download the Asda Rewards app, register and opt-in to Cashpot for Schools (make sure you have the latest version of the app installed)
2. Choose Burlington Infant & Nursery School by searching the name or postcode
3. Shop instore across Asda and George, or online at Asda.com and start filling your Cashpot as you shop
 
Asda does the rest, all money raised will be donated to schools to spend on the things they need the most.

Remember, anyone can sign up, so start spreading the news and raising funds for our school.

A reminder to all parents that the yellow zig-zag lines outside our school at both the front and back gates indicate the length of road where stopping or waiting is strictly prohibited. If you park on these clearly marked, yellow zig zag lines you are putting the safety of our children and their families at risk.

Cars should not be parked on the zig zag lines for any amount of time - even if it is just a minute or two to drop off children.

Thank you for helping us to keep our school community safe.

Please can we remind parents that children are not allowed to ride scooters on the school premises. Please use the scooter stands provided or carry your child's scooter once inside the school gates. We really appreciate your support.
Thank you

You can find all our policies on our Policies web page:

School Policies web page

We recommend parents read: 

Medical Conditions Policy
Attendance Policy
Parent & Visitor Code of Conduct
Behaviour & Anti-bullying 
Complaints policy
School Uniform

Thank you to everyone who attended the 'welcome to reception' workshop today. We hope you found it useful. Click below to see a copy of the presentation slides. 

Reception Parent Talk - Tapestry, Phonics and Reading in Reception

The children have been learning that everyone’s voice matters and that everyone has the right to be treated fairly. This includes having a say in things they like and don’t like – even when it comes to school lunches!

This week, School Council gathered the views of their classmates, finding out which school lunch meals were popular and which ones were less liked. They then shared this feedback with Nourish, our school caterers.

The School Council also had the exciting job of tasting some new food items from the upcoming menu. After trying them, they voted for their favourites – broccoli tots and cheese and carrot swirls were the winners! Look out for these tasty additions on the new menu soon!

To thank them for their hard work and thoughtful feedback, Nourish gave each School Council member a small gift.

Well done, School Council! Thank you for making sure everyone’s voice was heard!

As part of our continued efforts to support our school community, we are looking to once again offer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes for parents and carers.

These classes would be designed to help improve English speaking, reading, and writing skills in a welcoming and supportive environment. Whether you're a beginner or looking to strengthen your English, we want to hear from you!

If you are interested in ESOL classes, please complete the following Google Form:

https://forms.gle/7yhwi3zDLMG8Bm7r5

Giving Praise to our Children

Praise is a magic ingredient, it is a way to show our children that we are really pleased and grateful for their actions. It helps our children to feel good about themselves and when they are pleased with themselves, they will repeat the action that gets them praise.

When praising your child, please don't just say to them "well done", tell them what it is you are proud of so that they know you are really interested. If it is a piece of art work, talk about what your favourite bit is, ask them what bit they like the most. Please don't be tempted to say "well done, it's lovely, what is it?" If you are unsure, just ask them to tell you all about it and hopefully, during that conversation they will tell you what it is. When you are praising your child, give them your full attention so they know you are really listening. Praise does not have to be verbal, it can also be a thumbs up, a hug, a high five, a sticker on a chart, a marble in a jar - you all know your children and what works better for them.

Sometimes, you might find it really hard to find something that you can praise your child for. You might have had a really bad day with no visible good choices having been made by your child, but believe me, you can always find something, however small it may be. If you really really can't find that tiny good thing then try praise for 'being' instead of praise for 'doing'. Praise for being could be something such as "I love your shiny hair, I love your smiley face, I love the way that you hug me" -  anything that will make your child feel good about themselves.

One final comment, always praise your child before they go to sleep at night, it will make for a happier child and a happier you, however bad the day has been.

Our thought for the week is:

When you compliment your child, praise them for inner qualities such as honesty, kindness and perseverance so they will strive to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.

If you have a parenting concern, you can contact Mrs Easty via the school office - admin@burlingtoni.org.uk

HENRY’s free Healthy Families: Growing Up online programme is for parents and carers of primary-school age children – it will help you develop a healthier, happier lifestyle that the whole family can enjoy. For more information click here.

The Your Healthcare School Health Service offer support with children’s health and wellbeing to children and families who attend state funded Kingston Schools or are home educated and live in Kingston. Parent advice clinics are for parents of primary school aged children. They run weekly during term-time on different days of the week with appointments available between 9:15 and 11:30 am. For more information and to book an appointment, click here. 

Congratulations to the following children who were voted in to represent their class in our councils: 

School Council 
Sapphires - Gledis & Leana 
Rubies - Daisy & Arthur 
Diamonds - Lauren & Donovan 
Emeralds - Mateo & Faith 
Venus - Savannah & Ben
Mercury - Amelia & Keira 
Jupiter - Hattie & Hazel 
Saturn - Aline & Mina

Learning Council 
Sapphires - Rayan & Tolani 
Rubies - Jesse & Zohra
Diamonds - Albert & Kaiden 
Emeralds - Stevie & Caleb
Venus - Adam & Shreesha
Mercury - Madison & Clemencie
Jupiter - Maisie & Sally 
Saturn - Sasha & Hammad 

Eco Council
Sapphires - Servando & Yoora
Rubies - Josephine & Lily
Diamonds - Hazel & Robin  
Emeralds - Airah & Melita 
Venus - Celin & Pradhyun
Mercury - Robin & Saja
Jupiter - Florence & Noah 
Saturn - Isabella & Aylin

Please can we remind you that we are a ‘healthy school’ and we do not give out cakes and sweet treats for birthdays. Furthermore we have lots of children with allergies or food restrictions which makes it tricky for some when handing out cakes etc. If your child’s birthday is coming up, please speak to the office where you can purchase a ‘birthday book’ for £3 which will be presented to the class on your child’s birthday and read out on the day as a special story time. You can write a message inside the book so that children can keep enjoying the book throughout the year, and will remember that the book was given to the class on your child’s birthday. 

Alternatively you may bring in a fruit platter for your child's class to enjoy at snack time. Please make sure that fruit is in bite size pieces and grapes are cut in half. Thank you.  

Thank you to all the year 1 parents who attended the workshop last week. Please click below to see a copy of the slides.

Welcome to Year 1 presentation for parents 

Dear Year 1 Parents/Carers, 

Please find attached instructions on how to access Busy Things and J2E via your child's LGFL logins. 

Busy Things and J2E access for Year 1 parents

Thank you and best wishes, Year 1 Team

The Mental Health Support Team recommends the Parentalk Podcast which covers various topics on parenting primary aged children. You can find out more by clicking here. 

The CoolMilk scheme at Burlington Infant & Nursery allows children to receive free milk until the age of 5. 
 
If you wish for your child to continue receiving milk after they turn 5, you can register and pay for milk at http://www.coolmilk.com/register.  CoolMilk offer yearly, termly and half termly payment periods and a recurring payment option to give you one less thing to remember.

You can read more on our web page.

Thank you to everyone who attended the parent information morning on Friday 12 September. It was so lovely to see so many new faces and we hope you found it useful. 

If you were unable to attend, please click on the links below to see a copy of the slides. 

Everything You Need to Know about Burlington 
Supporting Children in the Digital Age - Online Safety

Thank you to all the year 2 parents who attended the talk last week. Click below for a copy of the slides from the presentation.

Welcome to Year 2 presentation to parents - Sept 2025

If you would like a copy of the 'common exception words' and 'handwriting' handouts, please speak to your class teacher.  

Do you have a little time to spare? We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to support our children as they grow into confident readers!

Whether you can commit weekly or just occasionally, we welcome your help. Training will be provided, so no prior experience is necessary. Best of all, timings are flexible to suit your schedule.

Please email the school office to express your interest. 

Dear Nursery and Reception Parents/Carers, 

Please find attached a letter from Mrs Yay-Walker regarding Eddie, our therapy/school dog.  Also attached is a list of rules which children will need to follow when Eddie is in school but please read the letter first which will explain more.

Eddie the Therapy Dog - letter to Parents Sept 2025

Eddie Rules

Thank you and best wishes, 

Burlington Infant & Nursery School

Welcome back to the new autumn term! We hope all the children had a relaxing summer break. We have loved seeing the children again and we look forward to a fun term ahead. 

A huge welcome to all our new reception and nursery families! We look forward to meeting you all over the coming weeks. Our weekly newsletter, featuring news, school information and important dates to remember goes out every Friday afternoon. 

If you would like to volunteer to read one to one with the children in our school, please come along to a training session on Monday 8th September at 2pm. Sign in at the school office.

Many thanks,

Mrs Davies, Reading Leader

Please click here for the brand new autumn term programme for Kingston children's centres with a variety of activities suitable for children aged 0-5.

This term is always such a special – and emotional – time as we get ready to say goodbye to our lovely Year 2 children. It’s hard to believe they’re already preparing to spread their wings and head off on their next big adventure.

In the last week of term, each class held their leavers’ assembly, filled with wonderful memories of their time in the infants. The children sang beautifully, and it’s safe to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the room – parents, staff, and children all felt the emotions of the moment. 

We are going to miss them so much, but we know they are more than ready for what lies ahead. We’re incredibly proud of everything they have achieved and how much they have grown during their time with us. The junior school is very lucky to be welcoming such a fantastic group of children in September.

We wish each and every one of them the very best of luck – we know they are going to shine!

We would like to say the fondest farewell to some of our staff who will be leaving us this summer...

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to our lovely teaching assistant Mrs Carney who will be leaving us at the end of this term after 8 years at Burlington. Mrs Carney has been an invaluable part of our school community - always going above and beyond to support our children with kindness, patience, and care. Mrs Carney is well loved by all the children and staff, she has such a calm presence and gentle approach which has brought comfort and confidence to so many children. We are really going to miss her warm smile and while we are sad to see her go, we are so excited to hear what she does next. Mrs Carney will be working towards returning to her original field of Neuroscience and we have no doubt that she will continue to do amazing things! We will miss you Mrs Carney and you will always be part of our Burlington family. 

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to a truly special member of our school community, Ms Hackett who is leaving us after 11 years. During her time with us, Ms Hackett has brought warmth, laughter, and boundless care into the lives of so many children and their families. Her sense of humour, compassionate nature, and unwavering dedication have made her a cherished part of our Early Years team. Ms Hackett will be so missed by us all and her genuine love for helping children grow has been an inspiration. While we are incredibly sad to see her go, we are also so proud of her next adventure which will be supporting older children in a youth centre. The young people she will be working with are going to be so lucky to have her. We wish you all the very best Ms Hackett in this exciting new chapter and you will always be part of our Burlington family.

As we come to the end of the term, we say a fond farewell to Cindy, one of our lunchtime supervisors, who is relocating outside of the area with her family. 

Although Cindy hasn’t been with us for long, her impact has been truly felt. With her warm smile, friendly nature, and genuine care for the children, she quickly became a much-loved and valuable part of our school community. Her dedication to ensuring our children felt safe, supported, and seen during lunchtime has not gone unnoticed.

We are so grateful for the time and care Cindy gave to our children, and we wish her and her family all the very best in the future. You will be missed and will always be part of our Burlington family. 

We would be most grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete our parent questionnaire for the Summer Term. We really appreciate your feedback and would like to know your thoughts so we can continually improve our school. 

To complete the survey, please click on the link below: 

https://forms.gle/sv1YGtPHciitupnJ7

If you would like to volunteer to read with children in your child's class please come along to the training on Monday 8th September at 2pm. Please let the office team know you are coming!

Many thanks, 

Mrs Davies, Reading Leader