Good afternoon,

Today you will have received a copy of your child(ren)'s end of year report. These have been sent out electronically and to access them, there are instructions on the email. If you have any issues accessing the report, please contact the school office. Thank you to the staff for their hard work writing the reports and also to the school office for seamlessly managing the change over to sending these out electronically. 

Year 6 have enjoyed their leavers trip to Chessington today. A great time was had by all and a big thank you to FOGGS for funding the transport for this trip.

In other news, we were very proud of our Year 5&6 children who hosted a cake sale (including baking the cakes with Mrs Slater) to raise funds for their Young Leaders Award Project for the School House Garden. They will be spending time next week visiting the garden centre and working on the area.  Thank you also to the parents who baked for the sale as well- your time and support is greatly appreciated.  Our Year 6 learners also made us very proud with excellent SATS results. A huge thank you to the Year 6 team for supporting the children to make excellent progress.

As next week is the last week of term, please can your child bring a named plastic bag in so everything can be sent home. Two of our classrooms and the hall are being decorated over the Summer so it is important these spaces are clear. Also, as the children will be coming into school in PE kits on PE days from September, if you are able to please dontate PE bags to Early Years, that would be most appreciated. They plan to use them for spare clothes and each class will have a bag with spare kit in.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Kind regards,

Mr M. Beach

Headteacher

📩Communication sent out this week

• Clubs for Autumn Term 

🗓️Things happening next week:

• Tuesday- Tea and Talk with the SENDCo 9-10am & Maypole and Country Dancing Display at 2:30pm (all parents/carers welcome)

• Wednesday-  Leavers Service 9:00am & Last Day of Term 1:30pm finish

Whole school attendance this week: 92%

Overall attendance so far this year: 95%

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 

From September 2026, the eligibility criteria for Free School Meals (FSM) will be changing. From the start of the new school year, all parents/carers who are in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for Free School Meals, regardless of the amount received.

Applying takes around 5 minutes, and you will need your National Insurance number. Applications can be made using the following link: Free school meals and other benefits | Hertfordshire County Council

There is no requirement for pupils who are already receiving Free School Meals to re-apply (unless your child is in currently in Year 2). Applications for the new school year can be made from 3rd June. We encourage you to apply even if you have previously been told you were not eligible. Not only will your child receive a hot, nutritious meal at lunchtime, but the school could also receive additional funding to support pupils.

If you require any further information or support with your application, please contact the office.

Following a successful bake sale on Monday, Year 5/6 have started work on the School House Garden. This was their chosen focus during the completion of the Young Leaders Award. Developing leadership skills is so important and supporting our children to become agents of change is a key part of our mission as a Church school. 

Myself and Mrs Lilley enjoyed accompanying Year 6 to Chessington for the day for their Leavers Trip. A great day was had by all!

 On Thursday, Year 1 and 2 enjoyed an exciting and fast paced live lesson with The Royal Ballet and Opera, exploring the story of 'The Magic Flute'. The children learned and performed several songs and used our bodies to express our thoughts and feelings throughout different parts of the story. For some of us it was our first experience of Opera so it was a really interesting lesson and it was great to see the children so engaged.

Thank you to Miss Bonney for organising this!

Outside Achievements

Well done to Charlotte for starring in the production of Hercules! She was awarded two certificates and is proud to have completed a whole year at stage school.

Priscilla and Ophelia have been working really hard in Karate and at a recent tournament won 3 medals between them! Well done!

Awards we are working towards

House Points

Well done to Beech House for earning the most house points this term! They will have a house reward next week decided by the House Captains.