Sarratt School Newsletter
Courage Compassion Creativity
Dear Families,
Happy Hanukkah! Today we learned a little more about the Jewish festival which celebrates the ancient miracle of the oil burning a candle for eight nights. We lit a special Menorah candle, which you can see in the photos carousel below, along with our first candle on our Advent Crown and our Diwali Diya as part of our Festival of Light Collective Worship. It's wonderful to embrace and share in all the festive celebrations at this time of year.
The festivities will be in full flow next week with so much to look forward to - performances, Christmas lunch, Christmas jumper day, Panto and the Walking Nativity! It all began last week at the Fair where your support and generosity enabled the SPA to raise over £2500!!! Thank you to everyone who gave their time and money to support - it is really appreciated.
Warmest regards,
Nicola O'Hare
Head of School
PS: Check out our new Instagram Account for Updates on the School and Individual Classes - more to come soon! https://www.instagram.com/sarrattprimary/
Spotted in Sarratt
Some snaps of the fair and more Christmas fun in and around Sarratt School!
After School Club Christmas Party
Our After School Club Christmas Party was a huge success - the children and adults all had a wonderful time decorating biscuits, Christmas crafting and watching a festive film! There will be more events running throughout the year to mark special events in the calendar.
Don't forget, our After School Club now allows for a certain number of Ad Hoc spaces everyday. Should you need emergency or one-off childcare, please give us a call to let us know the dates and we can check availability to confirm.
Special Mentions
Well done to Hattie, Beatrice and Bella who all took part in the Watford Santa Run last weekend.
An extra congratulations goes to Bella who won the best dressed and received her prize from the Watford Mayor and MP!
Another special mention goes out to Mrs Mac-Mahon Mills one of our fabulous team of Teaching Assistants. Mrs MacMahon-Mills will be retiring having been a part of the school since 2015. Mrs MacMahon-Mills will be very much missed by everyone who has worked with her. She is very valued by the whole school and her experience will be much missed. We wish her a very relaxing and restful well-deserved retirement.
Core Value Ambassadors
Our Core Value Ambassadors are continuing to spread the Christmas Cheer! This week their Advent messages of courage and compassion continue to arrive at each classroom, promoting the values we hold so dear as a school.
Dates
Mon 11th Dec
2.15pm Lower School Nativity Performance
Tue 12th Dec
9.15am Lower School Nativity Performance
2.15pm KS2 Christmas Performance
Wed 13th Dec
Christmas Jumper and Lunch Day
9.15am KS2 Christmas Performance
Thu 14th Dec
9am Christmas Service
PM School Panto Visit (Children return to school @4.30pm)
Fri 15th Dec
AM Children to visit Walking Nativity
1.30pm School Close
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
School Reopens to children at 8.40AM
Thursday 4th January 2024
Lunch News
Please make sure you book you lunch in advance on School Grid. Our lunches are prepared fresh on site by Zoe and Sam based on numbers each day.
Community News
Support our Campaign for Clean Air
Please do not leave your engine idling at drop off and pick up times. Exhaust fumes can cause significant health risks to our children and community.
Church News
The Walking Nativity
Holy Cross Church & Sarratt Primary School
Invite you to
0ur walking Nativity on
Friday 15th December & Saturday 16th December
9.30am to 3.30pm
Discover the characters of the Nativity around the village…
Hear the fantastic singing of our children...
Be sure not to wake the baby Jesus when you find Him in His manger and collect your Christmas goodies!
This year we are welcoming donations as you collect your map from the Sarratt Community Store
to raise funds for The Hospice of St Francis.
If you feel you can give, then thank you.
If you are not in a place to give right now, then please collect your maps and follow that trail.
Help 14th, 15th or 16th December – Walking Nativity
Could you spare an hour or so on any of the above dates. To help set up our walking nativity in Sarratt or man the ending place! Please contact us on either holycrossstpauls@outlook.com or 01923 264377 to find out more.
Community Support in the Dacorum Area
DSPL8 Parent/Carer Newsletter; Dacorum SEND courses, support & information for families
The latest ‘DSPL8 Parent/Carer Newsletter: Autumn Term’ & ‘Dacorum Parent/Carers courses and support' newsletters are available to download from our website via the following link:
https://dacorumdspl.org.uk/online-resources-for-parents-and-carers/
This fortnights newsletter includes:
Update DSPL8 Communications
Job opportunities to develop whole family SEND work in Hertfordshire
DSPL8 Dacorum Families SEND Information Fayre: 07.12.2023
ADD-vance Drop-in Consultations: 10.01.2024
SEND Surgery: 23.01.2024
DSPL7 & DSPL8 Emotional Based School Avoidance coffee mornings. For parents and carers with children (Year 7 - 11): 25.01.2024
DSPL8 EBSA Coffee Morning: 30.01.2024
Anxiety Unravelled Course by Bounce Forward: 28.02.2024-13.03.2024
Spring Term DSPL8 Parent/Carer Support
Dacorum Parent/Carer courses and support from various local providers:
Parenting Courses and Support in Dacorum Spring Term 2024
HAPpy Camps
SPACE Hertfordshire: December Activities
Potential Kids: December Activities
New Herts Haven Café for young people’s emotional wellbeing opens in Hemel Hempstead
Relationship Support for parents
Neurodiversity Support Hub
SEND Drop-in sessions
Please also follow our social media pages for the most recent updates:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dspldacorum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dspl_dacorum/
Kind Regards,
DSPL 8 Team –Ruth Mason & Ashley Fabray
Important Reminders
Make sure your child comes to school with a water bottle each day. Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are provided with a snack in the morning. Children in KS2 can bring a fruit or vegetable snack to school for playtime.
If your child needs additional medication, please fill in this form and drop it into the school office.
https://sarratt.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MED-1-Form.pdf
Please ensure your child has an outdoor jacket everyday. We always aim to have the children outside as much as possible during playtime and lunchtime.
The climbing frames are out of bounds before and after school.
Online Safety
Online Safety is an important part of keeping children safe from harm.
We have security measures in place in school, which are constantly reviewed, to help safeguard pupils from any potential dangers. Online Safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.
We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with you to ensure the e-safety message is consistent. Your help is needed to talk to your children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.
Children are accessing a greater amount of content online, than we were ever exposed to in our childhood. Children can accidently or deliberately be exposed to unwanted or unpleasant content or comments online and there are steps you can take at home to minimise this risk.
The NSPCC provide guidance on how to protect children online for parents including setting controls, talking to your child and how to report concerns.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Please click on the link below for the latest information from Herts CC for parents supporting online safety.
Communication
We have always prided ourselves on being an open and approachable school and believe that good communication with our families is important to the success of our school.
Class Whatsapp groups are a valuable platform for parents to share information, particularly for those families who are new to the school and have limited opportunities to interact in the playground. If you have any questions or concerns regarding any area of school life or would like to share important information regarding your child, we would ask you to speak to the school directly. There are very clear channels available for doing this, outlined on the parent information pages of our website. We are always here to listen and will endeavour to address any issues quickly and effectively.
Below is the link to the list of who to contact should you need any information about a specific area of school life. Should you wish to raise any questions or concerns directly regarding your child, the class teacher is always the first point of contact. If you have spoken to the class teacher but feel the issue is not resolved or should you require further information, then please make an appointment to see the Phase Leader – Mrs Whittaker for Reception and KS1 children and Mrs Serby for KS2 children.
Attendance
DFE advice:
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advice remains clear that children can continue to attend as normal unless they are unwell and have a high temperature. Further information on when a child is too ill for school or nursery is available. There is no requirement to be absent from school on a precautionary basis. School staff should continue to maintain their high expectations for face-to-face attendance.
Good attendance starts at primary school - children who have attendance of 97% or above achieve better outcomes in school and have the best opportunities in their adult life.
If your child misses school regularly, this will affect friendships as well as academic outcomes. It can be hard for a child who misses lots of school to form and maintain relationships with their classmates.
Being on time is also vital. Arriving late at school can be very disruptive for your child, their teacher and the other children in the class.
Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!
This festive season, why not bring the family to Leavesden Country Park to join us for a truly magical experience as you take on the Christmas Challenge Trail!
When: 21 November 2023 - 1 January 2024
Where: Leavesden Country Park, WD5 0NX
Knock on 10 Christmas door artworks spread across the North and South the of the park by scanning the QR codes as you walk. Completely free and designed for visitors of all ages to enjoy, the Christmas Challenge Trail is a unique way of celebrating the festive season outdoors. Wrap up warm and be transported into a winter fairy-tale as you meet the residents behind each door, with festive challenges for you to complete before you claim your prize! These include AR characters, selfie masks, puzzles, riddles, ebooks and more.
How to play: The trail works by utilising contactless QR codes, without the need for players to download or sign up to anything. The trail consists of 10 story-points with embedded QR codes.
To take part simply: Test the Augmented Reality on your Device: https://highstreetsafari.com/christmas Visit the 10 stops, in any order. By scanning their QR codes with your phone’s camera (or typing the URLs, printed under the QR codes, directly into your browser’s address bar) you’ll collect digital stamps. You’ll be presented with a fun challenge at each stop. You can then see the AR character or selfie scene. Once you’ve visited all of the stops you can take your prize badge selfie and download the free ebook.
Important: You must use the SAME browser on the SAME device for character collection. You must have browser cookies enabled and not clear them during the trail.
Visit threerivers.gov.uk for more info.
Do you have a business you would like to promote to the school community?
Put your advert here for £25 per term
Contact the school office for more details