I can't believe that we only have one week to go until half term! We are well and truly into the swing of things now and learning is racing ahead. We have had a busy half term full of learning and laughs and are looking forward to what comes next...Guardian Consultations; Celebrating Cultures Day; Discos and Christmas Festivities.
I am really happy and proud to announce the money that we raised from our Jeans for Genes day and our Macmillan Coffee Afternoon. We raised £124.80 for research into genetic conditions from children wearing jeans to school for the day. We also raised £159.46 for Macmillan from our coffee afternoon. We also had an incredible number of donations for our Harvest Festival in support of DENS. In addition to this, we raised £109.55 for Young Minds on Mental Health Awareness Day, by wearing yellow. Thank you to all of you who donated money, time, tins and cakes for the cause!
Swimming has started successfully this week, and we were so lucky to have a mini 'heatwave' for the first week. Children have enjoyed the lessons and some have described it as, 'the best day of my life'. We are looking forward to this continuing next week and the week after half term. The pool is lovely and warm and the changing rooms next door have been a huge success due to being closer to the pool, gender separated and heated.
We were lucky enough to have Darcy visit from the Dogs Trust last week. After a whole school assembly, Darcy visited the classes and worked with the children around dog safety and how to behave around dogs in order to keep themselves safe. We all had a wonderful time and thank Darcy for his time over the two days of visits.
Reception used Leafman for their book of the week. They ended their week by making their own Leafman - great teamwork Reception!
This year, we have introduced Class Dojo. A way of celebrating individuals and classes that are following our school rules of:
Be Kind.
Show Respect.
Aim High.
Children will be able to receive one or two points for these core values from any member of staff. We will keep an eye on which individuals, classes and house groups are being the kindest, most respectful and ambitious over the year. Below we have calculated the average points received by each House Group (this means that it is fair, even if a House Group has more children)!
Blue House
34.6
Green House
32.9
Red House
36.3
Yellow House
34.1
Nursery
83%
Reception
94.7%
Year 1
95.9%
Year 2
97.2%
Year 3
91.8%
Year 4
97.5%
Year 5
99%
Year 6
95.2%
Congratulations to Year 5 for aiming high with their attendance this week. The class will receive bonus Class Dojo points for Aiming High!
Learning of the Week
Every week, we celebrate extraordinary learning from two children in each class. It may be that they have pushed passed an obstacle in their learning; worked on their presentation; thought about how to help others amongst other things.
Our Learning of the Week for the last fortnight goes to:
Reception
Hollie for trying her best.
Aria-Jai for trying hard with mark making.
Year 1
Theo A has blown staff away with his attitude towards his reading. He has worked really hard on blending and segmenting.
Chloe has shown great determination towards all of her work especially in maths. She is always happy to contribute to discussions.
Theo D aimed high during a recent visit to Hudnel park, participating well and was also extremely kind, polite and helpful.
Evie wrote an amazing sentence about how a character from a book was feeling. She remembered her capital letter, full stop and even used the word because to extend her sentence.
Year 2
Cody has really impressed Mrs Miles with his attitude and participation in phonics and always considers Mr Cuthbert's questions carefully.
Millie aimed high in English this week. She used 'so' and 'and' to join three clauses: 'Tom packed flares so he could find his Dad and make a signal to get help.'
Jasmine has worked hard to include interesting vocabulary and adjectives in her writing.
Mia has shown an excellent attitude when working in phonics sessions and is using her skills in reading sessions too.
Year 3
Aaliyah was able to describe her setting using different adjectives and similes.
Rex showed great perseverance when adding 1s, 10s and 100s to different numbers.
Poppi has been great this week in English, reflecting on her work and editing to improve.
Mason has worked really hard in art this week, tracing and cutting his own leaf using cardboard and printing different designs with paint.
Year 4
Ellis has been aiming high in maths by adding four digit numbers and trying to work more independently.
Rhiannon tried really hard in our brass lesson this week, progressing her skills by listening to Mr Horton. She has also used a wide-range of descriptive vocabulary in her text and during class discussions.
Charlie has been aiming high in maths, adding and subtracting four-digit numbers independently. He has also levelled up on Reading Plus!
Tamsyn has made a fantastic composite painting in the style of L.S Lowery with lots of attention to detail.
Year 5
Amelia doesn't just work hard at school, she showed great initiative by creating a diagram of the solar system at home!
Elsa has worked hard this week to write a diary entry from Auggie's point of view. She included all of the different features and even use 'show not tell' for Auggie's emotions.
Xiamara has written a fantastic informal email trail between the characters in Wonder. She followed the structure and used all the features.
Riley has worked really hard in maths this week, multiplying and dividing numbers.
Year 6
Jessie always aims high and is so kind to her peers, always trying to support them when needed. This week, she wrote a great piece of descriptive writing: 'The remains of dilapidated paintings concealed the crumbly walls which surrounded me. Feeling uneasy, with my heart pounding, I crept towards the the eerie cloister. The revolting smell of damp filled my lungs. I noticed the remnants of what once was a pulpit. A black raven appeared and reminded me I was not alone.'
Adrian has been aiming high this week, he has engaged when learning about figurative language.
Hrehaan is a polite, confident member of our class and has fantastic ideas. This week he produced a fantastic piece of figurative writing. ' As I tentatively unlocked the dilapidated, ancient door an eerie silence fell beneath me.The scent of damp earth clogged my nostrils. As I crept through the decayed, crumbling corridor, a spiders web stuck to my sweaty face. Tap! '
Isabella has been amazing this half-term- She is a mature,helpful and polite member of the class.
Sunshine Room
Isla has been very restorative throughout this whole week. Isla listened to all instructions and is supporting her peers. We are all very proud of you Isla.
Polya, you are constantly trying your hardest in all learning. You work independently on your English and are beginning to proof read your work. We are so proud of you!
Well done to everyone who worked so hard this week, it is fantastic to see so many positive learning experiences!
Pupil Leadership
School Council
School Council met last week to discuss what would make the perfect school. Unfortunately, it wasn't about bouncy castles and unicorn riding lessons, but focussed on what makes a good and safe learning environement. They came up with some great ideas for how to make sure the school is the best learning environment that it can be.
Letters
Please find all of our latest letters here: https://www.micklem.herts.sch.uk/letters/ . If you have any questions regarding anything coming up, do not hesitate to ask.
PTA
We are pleased to announce that our new Bike and Scooter Shelter project will be commencing the first week of November!
Spooks & Sparkles Party is on Thursday 24th October - If your child wishes to attend, please pay on Arbor > School Shop by Monday 21st October.
Information on our Christmas fayre will be advertised soon.
Facebook page: Micklem Primary School PTA
4th November - 8th November - Swimming Lessons
6th November - Parents Evening
7th November - Parents Evening
11th November - Remembrance Day
14th November - Year 2 Tower of London Trip
15th November - Children in Need Day
15th November - Deadline for Parent Order of Christmas Cards
21st November - Kittle Individual Photos
22nd November - Celebrating Cultures Day
26th November - Year 6 Duxford Imperial War Museum Trip
26th November - Year 5 Dodgeball Tournament
27th November - No Pens Day
28th November - Flu Vaccinations
4th December - Care Home Christmas Party
12th December - Reception St. Albans Cathedral Trip
17th December - EYFS Christmas Performance
18th December - KS1 Christmas Performance x 2
20th December - Carols Around the Tree
20th December Christmas Dinner Day
20th December - Christmas Jumper Day
20th December - School closes at 1:30pm
23rd December - 3rd January - Christmas Holidays
Good Shepherd Club - to book spaces at After School Club, please visit
SEND and Family Support
Herts Parent Carer Involvement exists to represent the views of the parents and carers of children and young people with SEND in Hertfordshire. They are an independent parent-led organisation, who work alongside Hertfordshire health, education and social care services, to help focus the decision makers on improving services and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Herts Parent Carer Involvement have launched their 2024 annual survey, to find out more about what families in Hertfordshire are experiencing. They want to know what works and what doesn’t, so that they can make sure they are concentrating on the areas that matter most to families.
The survey is open until 3 November 2024 and the information they gain is vital. It will help them prioritise their work and importantly, give them more data to back up what they are saying to the education, health and social care systems that we engage with.
"The more families who take part in our survey, the more powerful our voices become. We don’t just want to hear from families with EHCPs or children with a formal diagnosis; we want to know how the system works for all families, at all stages in the process."
Click on the link to have your say. ---->
The Local Offer lets parents and young people know what special educational needs and disabilities services are available in Hertfordshire, and who can access them.
Over the next few newsletters we will be highlighting some of their different support pages. This week we are focusing on their Neurodiversity support. This includes:
the Neurodiversity support hub advice line
Courses, workshops and apps for children and young people
Practical strategies and resources for supporting neurodivergent young people
Support groups and networks
Courses and workshops for parents and carers, and activities for young people
Neurodiversity handbook and neurodiversity directory
Recorded webinars on Neurodiversity
<--- Click on the link to find out move about Neurodiversity support in Hertfordshire.