Dear Parents/Carers,

On Monday, joy filled the hall as we had our annual tree dressing assembly! We discussed with the children the meaning of Advent which derives from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming".  Last Sunday marked the first of four Sunday's as we count down to Christmas.  Our value of the month for December is 'Hope' as a reminder that when Jesus came into the world he brought light, hope, happiness and healing.

On Tuesday, Year 6 and the Choir set off to St Paul's Care Home to sing and bring Christmas joy to the residents. They enjoyed singing lots of songs and seeing everyone smile.  I was a very proud Headteacher to receive such a lovely message from the care home saying that our children were 'fantastic' and represented the school very well. As a Church school, service is really important to us and the children should be really proud of themselves for making all the residents day brighter and full of Christmas joy.

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us at Parent Café this morning. It was lovely to have Mrs Woodward back with us to play the piano. This evening, we will have our first FOGGS Disco of the year which the children are very excited about. Thank you to our FOGGS team who work tirelessly to provide such fun for the children and also raise invaluable funds for the school.

Have a good weekend.

With best wishes,

Mr M. Beach

Headteacher

Whole school attendance this week: 94.1%

Overall attendance so far this year: 94.9%

Weekly class attendance award: Well done to Year 3/4 for the highest class attendance this week!

All absences must be reported to the school either by leaving an absence message (Option 1) or emailing Mrs Redman (Pastoral Support/Attendance Lead) via absence@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

Please note: in line with the statutory guidance from the Department for Education which is reflected in our attendance policy, we are unable to authorise term time holiday.

Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance 

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Events taking place at St John the Baptist Church over Christmas (all families are warmly welcome to attend):

• 14th December Christmas Carol Service @5pm

• 21st December Parish Communion @11am

• 24th December - Crib Service @3pm

(Midnight Mass will take place at Little Gaddesden)

• 24th December - Crib Service @3pm

• 25th December Family Communion @11am

On Tuesday afternoon, Year 6 and the Choir went to St Paul's Care Home to sing a range of Christmas Carols to the residents. A great time was had by all and the residents smiled with joy and really enjoyed hearing the children sing. Well done to Year 6 and the Choir and for Mrs Cresswell and Mrs Lilley for accompanying the children and making this happen.

Our Maths learning has been focussed on shape over the last couple of weeks. We have looked at 2D and 3D shapes and their properties. The children have learned and used the vocabulary of edges, vertices and faces to describe 3D shapes and have been able to sort shapes using a variety of criteria. The Year 2 children were proud of the 3D shapes they had made using a variety of different nets. 

We have read the book ‘Astro Girl’ by Ken Wilson-Max, the children have thoroughly enjoyed the story! They have been making predictions about the story and asking questions. The children have used a wonderful range of adjectives and expanded noun phrases to describe in their writing. They have also written in role as the main character Astrid and written instructions on ‘How to be an Astronaut’. 

During our Geography lessons, we have been exploring maps and how to use an atlas. This week, the children identified the seven continents and five major oceans. Year 2 faced the challenge of piecing back together a map of the world and adding labels. Quite a tricky task! Year 1 tried to find all the countries they had visited and where the United Kingdom is located. See if you can explore the continents at home further with your families. Do you have family who live/lived in another country? 

Awards we are working towards

House Points

Rotary Shoebox Appeal

Please return any shoeboxes for the Rotary Shoebox Appeal to the School Office by or on the 15th Dec

Thank you 

Piano Tuition 

Mrs Seodi has two vacancies for Piano Tuition. The sessions take place during the school day on a Thursday and Friday morning. If you are interested in finding out more or booking your child onto lessons, please email Mrs Seodi directly. 

 📨ruthseodi@aol.com