KNITTING CLUB

                                                            KNITTING CLUB
For the first time Knitting Club did a display for the Open Day! Mrs Waites and the Knitters did a great job showing off the results of their hard work this year. We always start our beginners with finger knitting which made up the lettering of the display. We've made meters of this with multi colour yarns and different thicknesses. The final ritual for each knitter is to hang it over the staircase of the Year 6 classroom to see how long it is!
Learning how to knit with needles requires patience and this year our knitters have been stars. Long ago the little girls at Great Gaddesden School had to knit socks on four thin steel needles. Today's knitters, boy and girls, have much more fun. We have made owls, pussy cats, cave girls, snakes, cakes, a giant spider, a multi coloured penguin, a pod with peas in it, even a very lively can of baked beans.
Each knitter has used skill and patience and perseverance but we have also had a lot of fun and a lot of conversation. We could call it chat club but the subjects have covered much more than gossip - politics, books, music, philosophy, all human life has been at Knitting Club and I have really enjoyed the company and the conversation. May be we should call it Knit and Natter!!!!

Posted by Gill Edwards

Anyone for tennis?

On Monday we held the Great Gaddesden School Tennis Day to mark the start of Wimbledon fortnight.

I had the pleasure of teaching every child from Reception to Year 6 throughout the day. The children were split into year groups so that every child had the opportunity to play tennis on a real court, to hit lots of wonderful forehands and to take part in some competitions like ‘Champ of the Court’!

The children were incredibly well behaved; they listened carefully to instructions, tried very hard, and demonstrated good sportsmanship. They also had a lot of FUN!!

The traditional strawberries and cream went down very well too!

I hope that the children have been inspired to play tennis in the future. And who knows, maybe we have a budding Andy Murray or Heather Watson in our midst?

Post by Alison Wilkinson

June Parish News

There has been lots going on in May!

This term Nursery and Reception have been learning Karate and have been developing balance and co-ordination skills as well as learning how to strike, punch and kick. They were all awarded “Little Dragons” certificates at their last session. They have all really enjoyed learning something so new and exciting.

Year One and Two had an exciting trip to Pizza Express as part of their “We are Chefs” module which corresponds to both IT and Science.

Here is what Olivia in Year 1 had to say about the trip:
“We went to Pizza Express to make pizza. When we got there, the man told us about the different toppings you can put on a pizza. The dough was already made. We had to press it out. We put tomato sauce on. Next we put cheese on, then the man put it in the oven, and they were ready. We got to take them home. My pizza was really yummy and I felt like a real Pizza Chef!”

Great Gaddesden School Election
Years three to six have been busy this month as election fever hit the school. Pupils really got excited about the idea of a general election and a busy week of campaigning ensured. It was a very exciting module of work, but I’ll let the pupils tell you in their own words!
On Friday 15th May 2015 the juniors from Great Gaddesden School held a school election. Campaigning took place all week. Posters were placed up all over the school grounds to let everyone know about the different parties.

There were seven parties; they were called CWEP (Country Wide Environmental Protection), UK Life Care, Health Helpers, SET (Space Travel Environment & Transport), HEEP (Health, Environment, Education Party), Your World and Anti-Pollution. The year 6 were the party leaders, year 5 were the deputy leaders and year 3 and 4 were the campaigners.  

All groups produced a manifesto, a power point presentation, sent emails, wrote on the school blog and made posters and badges in an attempt to gain votes for their party. Issues covered were education, the environment, crime, pollution, transport, space travel, health and hunting.

HEEP (Health Education and Environment Party), who were protesting about (the theoretical threat) of turning the beloved school field into a car park, won. Governors, local residents, staff and pupils all voted. Questions were taken at the end such as, ‘Where will the money come from?’ and ‘How will you make this happen?’

The junior school pupils really enjoyed the election because they all got involved in the politics.  Krysta from year 5 stated, “I liked it because we learnt more about campaigning and it will help us when we are older and have to vote.”
 By Year 5

On 20th June the school will be holding the Great Gaddesden Summer Fayre in conjunctions with Friends of Great Gaddesden Church from 12-4pm. We hope to see you there.

Curriculum and Standards subcommittee Tuesday April 28th

Our last meeting covered a whole medley of topics, ranging from Special Educational Needs, through Curriculum developments, down to Cheerleading! Mrs Jessop came to talk us through the rapid development of SEN provision that has been taking place since she arrived at the school in the Autumn. We have had to write new policies and make new information available on the website for parents to see. Mrs Jessop has created provision maps, trained staff, and developed a whole system to ensure that all pupils get the education they need and deserve. She meets with teachers and teaching assistants and holds regular coffee mornings so that the parents of SEN children can meet and discuss issues in a relaxed environment. The views of both parents and children are canvassed and considered.

It is clear that all her hard work has resulted in improved achievement and progress.Our Spring Term Progress data shows that 85% of SEN pupils are making expected or accelerated progress in Reading, 92% in Writing and 85% in Maths. Accelerated progress can be seen in Reading (50%), and Maths (70%).

Of course Mrs Jessop is central to our provision but our children make progress because the teachers and teaching assistants are all involved in their SEN program. Some specialist provisions are made outside the classroom but SEN work is done on a more constant basis in the class. All staff are responsible for the day to day education and support needed to create confidence and success for those who need extra help.

As a school we hope that all children will achieve to their highest ability and be the best they can possibly be. SEN provision is an important part of this. We are fortunate to have Mrs Jessop to help us in this.

The new curriculum is very challenging, with its higher expectations of what the children should achieve. Mrs Comer is meeting with parents on Monday 11^th May to explain the coming changes.

Other exciting developments, possibly more exciting, are the planned trip to the Globe theatre, possible new IPads and of course, the Cheerleading! It is hoped that both boys and girls will enjoy this and give it a new twist.

Parish News May

The Easter holidays bestowed a much needed two week break upon pupils and staff at the school this month. However, it was an eggsciting end to the Spring term with lots of celebrations including an egg decorating competition, an Easter Egg hunt and our annual much anticipated Egg Rolling competition which is typically a little more competitive amongst the staff than it is amongst the pupils!

The spring term culminated in an Easter service in the church with a chance to retell the Easter story and celebrate the term passed.

Before the end of term, Nursery and Reception had some squirmy little squatters move in, taking the form of frogspawn which eventually turned into tadpoles and I’m now reliably informed that they have moved onto pastures new to start their froggy lives. However, the children very much enjoyed watching the frogspawn growing and changing which supported their learning immensely.

Years One and Two also got closer to nature with a very fun and muddy visit to College Lake in Tring where they were able to experience hands on science learning.

Year Three and Four worked very hard on their Easter Haiku poems, one of which is featured at the end of this article.

Years Five and Six triumphed by reaching the finals of the penalty shoot-out competition at Watford Football Ground amongst other schools. They must have had nerves of steel to be taking penalties in front of such a big crowd! There is much anticipation for the final now.

Moving forward to this term, thanks to funding received as a legacy to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, pupils are getting the chance to take part in “WOW” PE lessons, enjoying an activity they have perhaps not taken part in before. Nursery and Reception will be experiencing Martial Arts whilst Years One and Two will try out Cheerleading. Years Three and Four are travelling to Sportspace in Hemel for their PE lessons to enjoy the facilities at Sapphire Gymnastics. Years 5 and 6 took part in “WOW” PE last term.

This term Years One and Two are starting a new science topic focusing on Animals and Diet. They have been learning about which food and drink is good and not so good for humans and animals. Years Three and Four are focusing on light and shadow in Science, and have been having great fun seeing whether they could run away from their shadows on the playground. The pupils told me that there is no escaping from your shadow!!

Years Five and Six continue to work hard as SAT’s season is now gearing up. This cohort of year Two and year Six pupils will be the last to take formal SATs papers as the system changes from next year.

Some improvements have also been made to the school over the Easter holidays in the form of a new school hall floor. The governing body are driving forward the use of IT by introducing Office 365 accounts and email addresses for all staff and key stage two pupils, with the added bonus of a free Microsoft Office licence for each pupil for their home computer whilst they remain at the school.

At the end of last term, the school had an inspection from HMI (one level above Ofsted) who rated the school as “Good”, agreeing with the schools own self-evaluation. The school now awaits its next formal Ofsted Inspection in the Summer term. However, the HMI result is extremely good news for the school and a credit to the hard work put in by the staff and pupils over recent years, and we are hopeful of a positive result when Ofsted visit.

Finally, with places for Reception being announced this month, the school is always happy to offer tours to prospective parents for children seeking a place in Reception and the higher years. The children would love to show you their learning and our year Five and Six pupils are always keen to chaperone prospective parents around the school. Please contact the school office on 01442 255734 to book a tour.

I would like to end this month’s update by sharing one of the Easter Haiku Poems written by Kaia in Year 4.

Jesus helped the world

He raised people from the dead

The leaders were so angry

To the cross he went

People visited all day

He was crucified

Can you believe it?

He was nailed to the cross

He dies on the cross

King of Israel

Really was the son of God

Jesus is alive

You can keep up to date with the news and learning of all children at the school through our class blogs which are accessible through the school website.

Clare Rudd

Parent Governor

Parish News April

This month I am taking over the reins of writing for the Parish Newsletter from our Chair of Governors, Alison. For those of you who don’t know me, I have the privilege of being a Parent Governor at Great Gaddesden and have two children at the School.

As a Parent Governor, I am able to regularly see first-hand how much the pupils love coming to school each day and how excited they get about different events in the school calendar.

This month has been a busy one for the pupils at Great Gaddesden School as ever, with lots of learning happening inside the classroom and also outside in the village and surrounding areas.
Nursery and Reception enjoyed a day at Ledgemore Farm in Great Gaddesden to support their learning on growing and Spring. I’m told it was an exciting day as they got to see some baby lambs being born! They have also been thinking about how people grow – reflecting on how much they have grown since they were babies, and even enjoying a visit from a real life baby!

Years One and Two are focusing on measurements during their maths lessons and have been busy exploring the school to find things to measure. They are also learning about the concept of time, which is quite tricky when you are five, six and seven! This month the children also enjoyed an opportunity to visit the local church as part of their RE lessons and embarked upon a mud-filled Mini Beast Hunt around the local area which was lots of fun.

Years Three and Four have been working hard concentrating on “Bus Stop Division” during their Maths lessons, and writing Haiku poems and retelling fairy tales in Literacy. However, I’m sure they would all tell you that the absolute highlight of their month was an extremely exciting trip to Harry Potter World at Leavesden Studios to build on the work they are doing in class about non-chronological reports.  The children haven’t stopped talking about what an amazing time they had on the Studio Tour flying on broom sticks and casting spells!

Years Five and Six have been working on fractions this month. I was fortunate to sit in on one of their maths lessons and was very impressed at the pupils’ ability to convert fractions into percentages and decimal places using rapid recall in their heads - and without using a calculator!  In Literacy the pupils have been learning how to write sets of Instructions, which has coincidently involved some cake making in order to learn how to follow recipe instructions. To balance the cake eating, pupils also took part in an Athletics Tournament this month against other schools in Dacorum and won three of their events.

To celebrate World Book Day, the whole school participated in a week-long “Sponsored Read” in conjunction with Usborne Books. Each child had to record how long they had spent either reading, or listening to a story. The Sponsored Read, combined with a book sale during the same week raised £900 in new reading books for the school.

The children love to dress up for charity and so Comic Relief this month was a great opportunity to wear red and make their faces “funny for money”. There were some extremely funny faces on display and the day culminated in a cake sale organised by the School Council, with all funds going to Comic Relief.

Additionally, this month all classes have held their class sharing assembly, which is an opportunity for the children to share their learning with their families and friends.

I can’t let this month pass without mentioning a lovely evening which the full staff and governing body spent together at Alison Wilkinson’s home reflecting on the journey of the school during the past year and planning for the coming year as a whole team. The focus of the evening was “Getting to Outstanding” (in the eyes of Ofsted).

If you asked our pupils, they would tell you that they already think that Great Gaddesden is an outstanding school!!

You can keep up to date with the news and learning of all children at the school through our class blogs which are accessible through the school website.

Clare Rudd
Parent Governor

Parish News - March 2015

Great Gaddesden CoE VA School

For Pupils Aged 3-11

This month’s article has been written by pupils in Year 3 who were asked to write descriptively about our local area. I am sure you will agree that the writing is very atmospheric and also shows how much the children appreciate the beautiful location of our village school.

My walk to school through Great Gaddesden

The fields – My brother and I walk across every day to school… we have a green grassy, sometimes muddy fields to walk across and therefore have to wear our wellies. But when Jack Frost comes out the fields are very white and icy and makes crunchy noises under our feet, when we walk over it.

We have to cross a small, wooden bridge that can be very slippery in the winter time, which also has a small stream that runs under us when we walk on it. Many people use the fields to walk from the village to the other side to walk up through to the ‘Hoo woods’, which has many different flowers in spring time eg bluebells, daffodils etc.

I love walking across the fields especially in the summer time because I enjoy watching the different wildlife that comes down to the water with ducks, swans, duckling, we also see rabbits, foxes and heaps of mole hills that we jump on from time to time.

Also in the summer, the farmer puts cows in the fields. So therefore if cows are near the fence or in the part of the field we can’t walk through, because in the past we have been chased. So then we have to walk the long way around to school.

By Hayden

Great Gaddesden Moorland

It’s just a stone’s throw from the school. A staggering sight from a cold, crisp winter’s morning. The bright sun high in the sky against the low dense mist. We can just make out the shadows of grazing cows and the breath of local dog walkers.

White sheep in the distance like balls of cotton wool and the dark, winding trickling sound of the Gade (a river).

It’s a bit muddy under foot but a great way to start your day at Great Gaddesden.

By Nancy

The Park

It’s a small park with swings, a slide, a wobbly spring seat and a climbing frame. There’s a big frame and a small one. The big frame is for good climbers and the smaller one is for not so good climbers. The park is on the edge of the village. By the park there’s a secret base that I’m going to write about next.

Secret Base: The secret base is in a fun wood. You get in by going through a hole in the fence. Once you get through the fence you’re in the case and can roam around and climb trees. There’s a tree house, a zombie chamber, a tree club, climbing lesson and spooky tractor. If you sit on the tractor a fox will come and bite you and you will turn into a … spirit.

By Immy

For the next few months, Clare Rudd (one of our parent governors) will write the school’s Parish Newsletter. Many thanks to Clare for taking on this responsibility.

School life continues to be rich and varied.  Recent activities include:  tasting food from around the world, taking part in a half-time penalty shoot-out at a Watford FC home game, visiting the Sikh gurdwara in Hitchin and welcoming a local veterinary nurse to the school (with a dog, a cat, 2 guinea pigs and a 52-year old tortoise called Emily!). We believe that we can achieve outstanding academic results by exciting and enthusing the children about learning; creating a positive attitude to learning that will help our children as they move through education and indeed through life.

I am very proud of our School, and encourage you to visit us (either in person or via our website!).

Alison Wilkinson
Chair of Governors