Parish News October 2014

Great Gaddesden CoE (VA) School

The new school year has arrived! We welcome twenty new children to the school, primarily in Nursery and Reception, and hope that they will all be very happy in our village school. We also welcome Mrs Jessop as our Senior Teacher in the Year 3&4 classroom. There is a real buzz of excitement in the classroom and on the playground.

War Horse

The year started with a bang for children in Years 5&6 as they headed into London by train to see the acclaimed play ‘War Horse’. The trip supports the literacy work in the classroom, but is also consistent with our ambition to provide the children with inspiring experiences beyond the curriculum.

‘War Horse is an amazing show directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris; it stars Jack Loxton as Albert. It is based on the book written by Michael Morpurgo.

It is about Joey, the horse, and his magnificent journey through World War 1. You meet many different characters along the way: funny ones, weak ones, evil ones, serious ones, strong ones and all sorts of ones!’ By Henry (Year 6)

‘The storyline was about a horse; he was born and trained to be a racehorse, but after a farmer bought him, he became a farm horse, and learnt to plough the field. He was sold to the war for £100 and everyone on the farm was upset. Joey, the horse, got to experience both sides of the war.’ By Callum (Year 6)

‘Albert and Joey are the main characters. The horses moved slowly and carefully and all of the actors had good facial expressions and acted really well.‘ By Dylan (Year 5)

‘Joey and Albert build a friendship that can’t be broken by anything. They are special because they have a bigger bond than anyone else in the story.’ By Oscar (Year 6)

 ‘War Horse at the New London Theatre was brilliant! It’s full of humour, sadness and show stopping moments.’ By Kayleigh  (Year 6)

As a school, we were also delighted to receive the following message from a member of the public:

 

'I am sitting on a train with a dozen or so of your pupils and three of your staff en route to London.

This is just to say what an absolute pleasure it is to see such bright, cheerful and interested boys and girls, in full flow, yet with manners and due deference to their surroundings and others.

They are all a great credit to your school, and I hope they all go on to great things.’

New Curriculum

The staff have been working hard to make sure that the School is ready for the new, more challenging national curriculum. Our small staff numbers and mixed-age classes mean that each teacher is responsible for leading several curriculum areas and for planning the curriculum on a two-year-rolling basis. The plans look very exciting and inspiring: we hope that the children are inspired to love learning.

Clubs

Finally, I would like to mention the range of extra-curricular clubs that are on offer this term: Art, Cooking, Coding, Dance, Science, Gardening, Maths, Football and Knitting. This is quite a remarkable offering for such a small school. Our daily Breakfast Club is also very popular. We are extremely lucky to have such a dedicated staff who want to offer opportunities above and beyond the set curriculum.

 

Alison Wilkinson

Chair of Governors

Chairs' Network

Yesterday Gill Edwards and I attended the Chairs’ Network organized by the Hertfordshire Association of School Governors.

The Chairs’ Network is a termly event aimed at Governing Bodies from across Hertfordshire with guest speakers making presentations about current issues of concern and interest to Governing Bodies. 

This term’s meeting was focused on the New Curriculum. It was very interesting to gain a broader perspective on the changes that are taking place right through from Early Years to Year 13. There is going to be a renewed focus on raising attainment levels for pupils at every stage of their education; and the curriculum will be divided into Core (English, Maths, Science) and Non-Core. Schools will have strict guidance on how they teach Core subjects but will have more freedom in the Non-Core areas. 
 

GCSE grading is being changed to a numerical system, the future of AS levels in doubt, and there are plans to make Maths compulsory for all sixth form students. It certainly will be interesting times for teachers and students alike!

Miss Worsley and the teachers at Great Gaddesden School have already done a lot of work on how the new curriculum will be introduced in our school and are planning exciting schemes of work for the next academic year. Some of the requirements, such as foreign language teaching for all students in Key Stage 2, are already embedded in our curriculum. It’s going to be a very exciting year.

Post by Alison Wilkinson