Autumn Term 2026 – Newsletter 1

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope you all enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable summer break. Welcome to the first newsletter of the new term. There is plenty of important information to share, so please take some time to read through it carefully. Some reminders may be familiar from previous years and can also be found in the Parent Handbook.

One important date to note is Thursday 17th September – Parents’ Information Evening. This is a valuable opportunity to meet your child’s class teacher(s) and learn more about the year ahead. While the PowerPoint presentations will be made available on the school website after the event, they do not capture all of the information shared on the evening. We therefore encourage you to attend if possible. Following this, we are inviting all parents to our Open Coffee Morning at 9am on Wednesday 23^rd September. This will be a lovely opportunity to welcome you all back for the new academic year and to continue to build relationships between home and school

A particularly warm welcome goes to all the families who have recently joined our school community. It has been wonderful to see the children settling in so confidently!

In assemblies, we have focused on our School Values and the Oaklands Way. We have already been delighted to see so many children demonstrating these expectations across the school, from Marvellous Manners and Legendary Listening to Wonderful Walking. If you would like a reminder of the Oaklands Way – Character Rules, please see below.

Another exciting date coming up is the Year 2 Great Fire of London full day workshop on Wednesday 16^th September. We want to say a huge thank you to our wonderful PTA for their generous donation towards this workshop which has reduced the cost to our parents. Thank you also to all the parents who have sent payment already. Any parents yet to do so, please do this via WEDUC. This looks to be an exciting day for our Year 2 children where they will travel back to the 17^th Century and get a feel for what it would have been like to live through this historical event!

A quick reminder about naming belongings: please ensure that all items are clearly labelled. At the end of last term, our lost property collection contained a large number of unnamed items, many of which could not be reunited with their owners and had to be donated or disposed of. Labelling belongings makes a huge difference and helps us return items quickly when they are misplaced. Please order labels from Stikins using the code below as the school get money back for every order placed.

Oaklands Infant School
Fundraising Number 14773

Thank you for your continued support and for helping us make such a positive start to the new school year. We are looking forward to an exciting and successful year ahead.

Best wishes

Miss Davies and Mrs Shrieve

Oaklands Way – Character Rules

At Oaklands Infants we are committed to creating a positive learning environment with high expectations of behaviour which benefits both staff and pupils. We strive to ensure that all pupils at our school, have the right to feel safe; the right to learn; the right to be respected and to have fair treatment. The school’s core values are represented by six different characters and embody the behaviours the children are encouraged to develop. We encourage everyone in the school community, to adhere to these core values, whatever their role or involvement. Click here to read Oaklands Infants Behaviour Policy.
Goldie I will remember my Marvellous Manners I will listen to adults and other children. I will speak in a polite tone. I will be ready to learn and allow others to learn. I will knock before entering a room	Holly I will have a go I will try new things. I will have a go at tasks set by my teacher. I will try my best.	Solo I will try it on my own I will try to do tasks by myself before asking for help I will look after my own things. I will try to find a way to solve a problem myself. I will say ‘stop it, I don’t like it’ if a friend does something I don’t like.
Ivy I will challenge myself I will not give up when something is difficult. I will act on advice to improve my work. I will keep trying.	Laurie I will be proud of achievements I will show others that I am proud when they achieve something. I will take pride in all that I do.	Casey I will be caring I will be a good friend to others. I will look after our school. I will use kind hands and words. I will offer to help.

Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs)

To develop your child’s fluency and mental maths skills, we are introducing KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts). KIRFS are a way of helping your child to learn by heart, key facts and information which they need to have instant recall of.

KIRFs are designed to support the development of mental maths skills that underpin much of the maths work in our school. They are particularly useful when calculating, adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. They contain number facts such as number bonds and times tables that need constant practise and rehearsal, so children can recall them quickly and accurately. Instant recall of facts helps enormously with mental agility in maths lessons. When children move onto written calculations, knowing these key facts is very beneficial. For your child to become more efficient in recalling them easily, they need to be practised frequently and for short periods of time.

How can we access the KIRFs at home?

Each half term, children will focus on a set of Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRF) to practise and learn at home. Year 1 and 2 children should have brought a sheet home this week or they are available on the school website.

How do we practise the KIRFs?

They are not designed to be a time-consuming task and can be practised anywhere – in the car, walking to school, etc. Regular practice – little and often – helps children to retain these facts and keep their skills sharp.

How are the KIRFs developed in school?

Throughout the half term, the KIRFs will also be practised regularly and in short bursts in school. At the end of each half term, there will be an informal assessment and the children will share these with you.

We believe that – if the KIRFs are developed fully – children will be more confident when working with number, understand its relevance, and be able to access the curriculum more readily.

If you have any questions about how to support your child at home with our KIRFs, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or myself.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Davies

Maths Subject Lead

Key Information

• On Mondays, we have Celebration Assembly for Y1 and 2. Foundation Stage will have their own celebration assembly. This includes celebrating our school character awards, birthdays and achievements from outside of school. If children have received an award, they are welcome to share it in assembly and explain to the rest of the school why they received it. For example, this award could be related to a club such as football, swimming, dance etc.
• Reminders: Please could we just remind you that school drop-off is 8:40am-8:50am. At 8:50am the class doors will be shut and you will need to come through the school office, this is recorded as a late in the register.
• Reminders: Please do not drive onto the school grounds, especially at the beginning and end of the school day. It is also vitally important that the zigzag areas are left clear in the morning and afternoon during drop off and pick up times and that parents collecting their children in the afternoon leave their cars in order to escort their children across the road. The zig-zag lines provide a safe crossing for our families and particularly for those Junior School pupils crossing the road independently.
• When it is your child’s birthday, they have the option to wear their own clothes to school – please can they make sensible choices e.g. footwear. If their birthday falls during a school holiday or at a weekend, they can wear it on a Monday or Friday. As we have an increasing number of children with allergies, our policy is no sweets/cakes or snacks to be shared. Also as part of our PSHE curriculum, we promote healthy eating.
• No scooters or bikes are to be ridden on the school grounds, this is to ensure everyone is safe. Please dismount at the school gate.
• PLEASE, PLEASE make sure that there are no children on the school playground equipment at any time. It is only for use during school times, this is for health and safety reasons. This is school property and needs to be respected by our whole school community.

Extra Curricular Clubs – Autumn 2026 The following clubs are fee paying:

Mindful Minis	Tuesday’s 3:20 – 4:20pm	All age groups
Footlights	Tuesday’s 3:20 – 4:20pm	All age groups
Violin	Wednesday lunchtime	Year 2
Football: Just Play Sports	Wednesday’s 3.15 – 4.30pm	All age groups

Uniform

• We have noticed some children coming into school in trainers. Children should be wearing school shoes unless
  there is a valid reason for them not to do so which has been communicated to the class teacher.
• Long hair should be tied back, this is for health and safety reasons. Headbands with ears are not permitted as part of the school uniform.
• Please could you label all of your child’s clothing. If an item has been bought second hand please could you cross out the old name and re-write the new name. This ensures that we return all lost property to the right child.
• For the correct uniform please follow the link to the school website
  https://oaklandsinfants.org/school-uniform/