Dear Parents/Carers,

We have had a lovely first full week back in school. 

On Monday, we had the 'Annual Blessing of the School' and it was a very peaceful and reflective start to the week as we asked for God's blessing, protection and support as we move through this upcoming academic year.

It has been great seeing the children come into school on their PE days wearing the new midlayer. If you have not ordered yours yet, you can order it by clicking the advert below. Please note - the back to school discount will end soon. Please ensure to name all items and check that your child has come home with the correct items as some have already gone missing. 

The first of the Meet the Teacher meetings took place on Thursday. Please be reassured that the slides, information and handouts will be shared with all parents via email if you are unable to make it. 

We have had an increase of parents contacting the office to book wrap around and we have had a lot of cancellation requests. Where possible, please can these be booked via the Parent Portal on Arbor and ideally sessions only booked that are needed. Bookings close 24hrs before the session so they need to please be made in advance. Please be aware that children arriving at any club that has not be prebooked, parents will be contacted by the office to collect. We have safer eating procedures to follow and statutory ratios which must be met at all times. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

Have a good weekend.

Kind regards,

Mr M. Beach

Headteacher

📩Communication sent out this week

• PGL Trip Update & Parent Webinar Invite

• PE days for each class

🗓️Things happening next week:

• Monday - EYFS Meet the Teacher Meeting @3:00pm (please sign in at the school office)

• Wednesday- Y1&2 Meet the Teacher Meeting @3:00pm & PGL Parent Webinar 4:30-5:00pm

• Thursday- EYFS Forest School (afternoon) - please can the children bring in Forest School clothes in a seperate bag  & Year 5&6 Meet the Teacher Meeting 3-3:30pm

Whole school attendance this week: 97%

Overall attendance so far this year: 97%

Well done to Hedgehog Class for the highest attendance this week with 100%

Number of late arrivals this week: 9

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

For appointments, we ask where possible that these are not during the school day. If this is not avoidable, please kindly share the relevant information for this appointment in order for us to be able to authorise this.

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. For safeguarding reasons, we must be notified in advance in writing if you plan to take your child out during term time.

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

Please see below who to contact for different queries:

• Dinners, Club/Trip Balances & Tax Free Child Care Payments - Ms Baltera (Finance Assistant) works in the school office on a Wednesday only. Therefore, Arbor balances, tax free child care etc will be reveiwed on this day.

📧finance@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

• SEND- Mrs Curtis is our SENDCo and works in school every Tuesday.

📧senco@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

• Pastoral Support, Attendance, Club Bookings, Medical Needs & General Enquiries: Mrs Redman (Office & Pastoral Manager) who is in the school office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

📧For general enquiries: admin@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

📧For absences: absence@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

• General Queries or Any Concerns 

Class teachers are available for quick messages at pick up and if you need to talk about something confidential or require a meeting, please contact the school office to arrange this.

Mr Beach (Headteacher) is on the gate most mornings and on the playground at the end of the day.  He can also be contacted via the school office or via email 

📧head@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

At Great Gaddesden, we have two Senior Teachers (one in each phase):

Upper School Senior Teacher (Year 3-6): Mrs Lilley (working days: Tuesday-Friday)

Lower School Senior Teacher (EYFS-Year 2): Miss Carty (working days: Monday-Wednesday)

• Safeguarding

At Great Gaddesden Safeguarding our children is everyone's responsibility.  As outlined below, we have three safeguarding leaders in school:

Designated Safeguarding Lead/DSP - Mr Beach (Headteacher)

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leaders- Mrs Redman (Office & Pastoral Manager) & Mrs Lilley (Upper School Senior Teacher)

📧admin@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk

📱01442 255734

Other than safeguarding concerns, we politely ask for at least 24-48 hours for a response to emails. To support the wellbeing of staff, we also politely ask that where possible emails are sent during usual working hours.

The school office is open 8:30-3:30pm Monday to Friday and during term time only. 

The children also have enjoyed meeting Henry the Hedgehog the class mascot! The children have really enjoyed disco dough which they do every morning as part of 'busy fingers' to strengthen the muscles in their fingers.  They have enjoyed exploring all areas of the outside environment too and had their first PE lesson. 

Well done to all of our Early Years children for making such a brilliant start to their journey at Great Gaddesden!

Next week is Week 3 of the menu below:

Star Learners

The following children were chosen for being persistent in their learning and working really hard:

• Hedgehog Class - Whole class!

• Squirrels -  Albie

• Badgers- Charlotte

• Owls - Lenny

Value Ambassadors

The following children were nominated for living out this month's value 'Responsibility':

• Hedgehog Class - Ike

• Squirrels -  Benji

• Badgers- Elijah

• Owls - George

Outside Achievments

Well done to Ellie for being awarded three swimming certificates! Ellie can now swim up to 50m and has achieve Stage 5!

For those of who who are new to our school, on a Thursday we have Celebration Assembly. The children are welcome to bring in achievments from outside of school to celebrate and share with us all.

Missions Ambassador

Well done to Molly for kind, thoughtful, observant and flexible in all that she does around the school.

Awards we are working towards

House Points

Our annual Harvest Service will be taking place on 22nd October at 2pm. This year we will be collecting for The Salvation Army's food bank. We politely ask for donations to come into school w.c 19th October. Below is a list of tems The Salvation Army are in need of. Thank you in advance for your support and generosity. 

SEND/Inclusion 

External Clubs

Year 6 Secondary School Visit Information