Dear Parents/Carers,

Yesterday, excitement filled the school as our Christmas tree arrived! The children have also completed their own decorations ready for our tree dressing assembly on Monday. Thank you to everyone who donated for the FOGGS Christmas Hampers and those of you who have booked for your child(ren) to attend the disco next week. Everything that FOGGS raise is invested back into the school and has helped us do so much over the last year. Thank you for supporting FOGGS who very generously give their time for the school.

You may have noticed this week that we have had some more roofing works take place and I am pleased to share that these have now been completed.  Over the last year, Early Years has had a complete renovation which aligns with our development plans and we are delighted with how much the provision has improved.  We have a few spaces left for our remaining prospective parents to tour our school looking for a Reception or Nursery place next year. If you know anyone who would be interested, please ask them to reach out. If you have a child already attending Great Gaddesden and plan for a sibling to join next year, you will still need to complete the online application form here by 15th January.

Also this week, Mrs De enjoyed attending a local Forest School Network this week and has some very exciting plans to make our Forest School even better! If you know of anyone that would be able to support us to develop the bark area with logs/natural seating, bark or wood chips, please let Mrs De know.

On a seperate note, we have had quite a number of children late to school this week. It is really important the children are in school by 8:45am as early morning learning activities and interventions begin as soon as the children arrive. Please also be mindful that as soon as registers close at 9:00am, the dinners are sent off to our off-site provider promptly to ensure meals are cooked and ready on time for lunch service. More information about attendance initiatives and support available is available further down in the newsletter.

Before we head into the last few busy weeks, Mrs Curtis has been busy arranging clubs for the Spring term and plans to share this with you hopefully by the end of next week.

Have a good weekend.

With best wishes,

Mr M. Beach

Headteacher

Whole school attendance this week: 95%

Overall attendance so far this year: 94.9%

Weekly class attendance award: Well done to Year 1/2 for the highest class attendance this week!

This week, we have introduced a weekly class attendance award to continue to raise the profile of attendance and is common practice in many schools.  As you are aware, attendance is one of our whole school priorities. The rationale behind this is our overall absence rates and number of persistent absentees (where a child attends below 90%), has not been in line with National Expectations set out by the Department for Education for the last few years. Please be reassured that whilst we are aiming for attendance to be higher, we fully recognise that children get unwell and sympathise with this. 

Since January 2025, Mrs Redman took on the role of Pastoral Lead and Attendance Champion to ensure we are providing as much help as possible to families where their child's attendance needs support. We have seen a term by term improvement over the last year but we do need to continue to work on this to bring us in line with National Expectations. It was explained to the children in celebration assembly that if they are unwell, it is important to rest and recover.

As you may be aware, attendance forms part of 7 inspection areas from Ofsted. To reach the expected standard in these areas, we do need to show improvements and we should be broadly in line with National Averages. If you have any worries or concerns about attendance, please reach out directly to either myself or Mrs Redman.

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.

We started Forest School today with a fire lighting demonstration and a safety talk about keeping safe around fires.  Year 1 and 2 then took part in a range of activities including den building, whittling, mud kitchen and making Christmas tree decorations made from sticks.  We all kept warm by having hot chocolate around the fire! The children were all very engaged in the activities and their behaviour was excellent. 

Awards we are working towards

House Points

Rotary Shoebox Appeal

It is that time of year, when the Rotary Shoebox Appeal is launched.

This appeal collects presents to bring a bit of happiness to seriously deprived children in orphanages in Romania and Moldova.

• Late November: Rotary drop off empty shoe boxes at schools.

• End of Term: Rotary collects shoeboxes from schools, which are then sent onto Romania and Moldova.

**Shoe boxes have arrived. These can be collected from the school office**

Thank you for your support.

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