Sarratt School Newsletter
Dear Parents and Carers,
It's been a chilly start to Spring Term here at school! The icy temperatures have not stopped the enthusiasm for learning we have seen from the children. They are all getting stuck into their new topic areas and units of work. Our first Gold Books entries of 2022 have all made a great start to January - well done!
The term dates for next academic year 2022/23 have been finalised (see below). These will be published on the website from next week. We also have an additional Bank Holiday this year for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. As this falls in the half term holiday, schools have been asked to allocate the additional day off within term time. Therefore school will be closed on Friday 27th May. This is the Friday before the Summer Half Term break.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Warmest regards,
Nicola O'Hare
Head of School
Gold Book
Reception
This week we have three entries in our Gold Book for Reception...
Heidi
For completing her first week in Reception and learning our routines.
Marley
For always being enthusiastic and keen to learn.
Mark
For enjoying adult led tasks and recording more.
Year 1
We have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes, looking at their properties and recognising them in everyday items. We looked at repeating patterns and sorted shapes according to their properties and whether they would roll or not.
Lilah was our resident expert at using properties to describe a variety of 3D shapes. Fred enjoyed learning the mathematical vocabulary (orientation) associated with shape to describe position and used this word when discussing patterns. Well done to both of you.
Year 2
Harry is our gold book star this week! Harry has made the most tremendous progress with his handwriting and presentation skills. His work is now beautifully laid out and a pleasure to read. Well done Harry - this is a major achievement for you and you should be very proud.
Year 3
"And we're off!" Year 3 has sped into the new year with, if at all possible, even more enthusiasm than 2021. I have been astonished by their thoughtfulness for one another and our learning environment. Conscientiousness does not cover how observant Year 3 has already been this term. As for their learning, Year 3 has shown exceptional attention to detail for instruction writing: adding commas after adverbs of time and using imperative verbs for concise instructions. We've also been finding 3-digit numbers on a number line and researching the finely-balanced food chain of Yellowstone National Park. It's been a great start.
Our Gold Book entry is always tricky to choose with all of the class shining in their own ways. However, this week our first Gold Book Entry has to go to Orla. On an almost daily basis Orla will scamper into school, saying "I was bored last night, so...' and behold Orla is brandishing further work which Orla has conducted at home. Orla has written beautiful poetry; researched prominent scientists, such as Marie Curie; completed additional maths calculations; and found a variety of rocks! Orla is also on a 21 day streak for her Spanish Duolingo, which means practicing everyday. Orla has certainly helped us all with our pronunciation and learning new words, such as "una manzana" for an apple. Congratulations Orla, your enthusiasm is infectious, thank you.
Our Second Gold Book Entry this week goes to Florence for her beautiful reading. Florence is currently reading a very amusing story and Florence's tonality and pace when reading made every joke and punchline hit sweetly to her audience. Florence's voice and reading would be perfect for audiobook narration (Mum and Dad I would immediately get on the phone to Audible). I also thoroughly enjoyed how Florence is completely carried off into the magical world she is reading about, in her voice you can hear her imagining every scene and this is a joy to listen to. Thank you so much Florence for reading beautifully and keep it up. Enjoy finding new worlds of mystery and drama on every page you turn and please don't forget to tell us all about them.
Year 4
Already this term, Year 4 have been hard at work with their writing and maths, beginning their exploration of the digestive system and investigating the wonders of electricity. Whilst I am so very proud of the work Year 4 is doing, I would like to spotlight Flynn for his work this week. In addition to all the learning, he has been a wonderful professor of knowledge with regard to our science topics. He has also been a supportive learning partner, modelling our Sarrratt Way to everyone around him as he tries his best to be his best. Thank you, Flynn. Keep up the good work and keep us all learning!
Year 5
Our gold book entry this week goes to Eve for her enthusiasm and positive attitude towards her learning. She is so excited about our new topic exploring the Middle Ages, which creates buzz in the classroom and really helps us to bring our topic to life. However, we also benefit from the reading she does at home to continue her interest in different ages throughout history. That being said, we could be spared from some of the gruesome facts she finds in the Horrible Histories series!
Year 6
The first Gold Book entry for 2022 goes to Ria! Ria's enthusiasm and love of learning shines through in everything she does. Ria's interest in World War 2 outside of school has helped her dive into our new topic and share her understanding with others very clearly. She's a wonderful team member who we really couldn't do without!
Term Dates 2022/23
Thurs 1st September INSET Day (School Closed to Children)
Fri 2nd September INSET Day (School Closed to Children)
Mon 5th September Induction Day (School Open to YR Children Only)
Tues 6th September Autumn Term begins
Mon 3rd October Professional Development Day (School Closed to Children)
Mon 24th- Fri 28th October Half Term
Fri 16th December Autumn Term Ends 1.30pm
Tues 3rd January INSET Day (School Closed to Children)
Wed 4th January Professional Development Day (School Closed to Children)
Thurs 5th January Spring Term begins
Mon 13th – Fri 17th February Half Term
Fri 31st March Spring Term Ends 1.30pm
Mon 17th April INSET Day (School Closed to Children)
Tues 18th April Professional Development Day (School Closed to Children)
Mon 3rd May Bank Holiday (School Closed)
Mon 29th May – Fri 2nd June Half Term
Mon 5th June INSET Day (School Closed to Children)
Wed 19th July Summer Term Ends 1.30pm
Thurs 20th July Transition Day (School Closed to Children)
Fri 21st July Transition Day (School Closed to Children)
Covid - Important Information
Changes to Self-Isolation
From Monday 17 January, people who are self-isolating with COVID-19 will have the option to reduce their isolation period after 5 full days if they test negative with a lateral flow device (LFD) test on both day 5 and day 6 and they do not have a temperature. For example, if they test negative on the morning of day 5 and the morning of day 6, they can return to their education or childcare setting immediately on day 6.
The first test must be taken no earlier than day 5 of the self-isolation period, and the second must be taken the following day. All test results should be reported to NHS Test and Trace.
If the result of either of their tests is positive, they should continue to self-isolate until they get negative results from two LFD tests on consecutive days or until they have completed 10 full days of self-isolation, whichever is earliest.
Anyone who is unable to take LFD tests or anyone who continues to have a temperature will need to complete the full 10 day period of self-isolation.
Further information on self-isolation for those with COVID-19 is available.
Changes to Guidance on Testing
People who receive positive lateral flow device (LFD) test results for coronavirus (COVID-19) will be required to self-isolate immediately and won’t be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.
This is a temporary measure while COVID-19 rates remain high across the UK. Whilst levels of COVID-19 are high, the vast majority of people with positive LFD results can be confident that they have COVID-19.
Lateral flow tests are taken by people who do not have COVID-19 symptoms. Anyone who develops 1 of the 3 main COVID-19 symptoms should stay at home and self-isolate and take a PCR test. They must self-isolate if they get a positive test result, even if they have had a recent negative lateral flow test – these rules have not changed.
SPA News
Sarratt SPA Newsletter - Jan 22-2.pdfOnline Safety
hfl-online-safety-newsletter-for-parents-and-carers-2022.pdfPacked Lunch Policy
To keep packed lunches in line with the food based standards for school meals, packed lunches should not include:
· High fat, high salt/ high sugar snacks such as crisps* and sweet popcorn, or other high salt processed savoury snacks.
· Confectionery such as chocolate bars, chocolate-coated biscuits*, sweets and chewing gum.
· Chocolate spread, honey, jam or marmalade as a sandwich filling*.
· Fizzy / sugary drinks. This includes high sugar juices and soft drinks such as Capri Sun and Ribena.
Crisps, chocolate-coated biscuits and sweet sandwich fillings (no nuts) are allowed on a Friday only.
To read our Packed Lunch Policy, please visit our school website: https://sarratt.herts.sch.uk/parents/school-meals/
Church News
220116 Welcome Sheet.pdf
