October Parish News

Great Gaddesden CoE VA School

For Pupils Aged 3-11

Our pupils have been settling into school life this month as the Autumn term has moved into full swing. Our new Reception pupils have made a fantastic transition into being at school for the full day. Reece in Reception told me that his favourite thing about staying all day at school is that he gets to eat lunch with his friends and have delicious fish fingers!  

Nursery and Reception have also been very busy in class. This month they have been learning about pictograms and how to use a pictogram chart to represent data. Part of the children developing their knowledge in Reception is about learning through child-led activities.  When asked, Hannah in Reception said that her favourite activity to choose from is playing learning games on the IPads.

As part of the Literacy curriculum, “Big Writing” sessions which happen once a week provide all pupils with an opportunity to write at length about a chosen subject. The children enjoy some quiet time with some classical music playing and fairy lights scattered around the room to give them space to write and encourage their ideas to flow. Years One and Two have been writing about their favourite toy as part of their “Big Writing” this month. The children were able to bring their favourite toy into school which caused much excitement. Maddie in Year Two wrote about her favourite stuffed animal “Nutty” who is a much treasured toy. Years One and Two have also been studying the poem “Chocolate Cake” by Michael Rosen and got to write their own poems about Chocolate Cake whilst also sampling some at the same time!

Years Three and Four have been very enthused about their History Topic which for this term is The Romans. The class embarked on a school trip to St Albans Abbey and enjoyed a tour of the Abbey plus a visit to the Hypocaust to bring history to life. During the trip, children were able to dress in Roman costume and enjoyed creating a mosaic together.  Immy in Year Four reported that the trip was “interesting and really brilliant. I loved seeing the Roman ruins at the Hypocaust”.  This class has also been studying humorous poetry such as “At the end of School Assembly” by Simon Pitt which they have enjoyed very much.

In RE this term, Years Five and Six are studying Buddhism. They were grateful to be able to make the short trip to visit the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the local community to support their understanding of Buddhism. During the trip the pupils were able to find out about how monks and nuns live and learn more about their beliefs. Thanks to the Amaravati Monastery for welcoming our pupils for a visit.

Years Five and Six have also been working hard in Science, devising different experiments to test the different properties of materials. Tests took place on the strength of materials, the best material to keep something cold and whether insoluble materials can be separated from water. You can read more about this experiment on their class blog.

Elections for School Council have also taken place this month. Each class has a representative on the School Council who is able to present the views of their peers and give their thoughts and opinions on matters going on the school. Focuses for this month have been how to distribute E-Safety messages to the pupils and also considering a Fundraising Focus for money raised by the school PTA.

Stop Press – NEW Great Gaddesden Toddler Group - 1^ST Friday of Every Month

Great Gaddesden School are starting a new Community Toddler Group. The group will meet in the school hall from 9:15-11:30am on the first Friday of each month. The first meeting will be Friday 2nd October. The group is aimed at Parents and Carers with children aged 0-4 living in the local community and beyond. The group will be run by our new FOGGS Chair Amie Upton. For more information please contact us via email Nursery@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk  Please note that due to space constraints this group is not suitable for Childminders. All children must be supervised by a Parent/Carer at all times.

A message from Mrs Comer:

Last year, the school was extremely well-supported by members of our local community and I just wanted to write to say thank you to all parties!  Special Thanks go to Blains who are a local tyre company in Great Gaddesden, who have provided our Early Years Class with free tyres for their outside area. Also Roderick Wilson who is a fully qualified local tree surgeon and forestry contractor and supplied all of the wood chippings for the bark area making it safe for the children to use again. Additionally Jackie and Reg Cornthwaite welcomed our Nursery and Reception children to Ledgemore Farm to see the new lambs being born.  Sincere thanks to all – your supported is much appreciated!

Clare Rudd

Parent Governor

September Parish News

Great Gaddesden CoE VA School

For Pupils Aged 3-11

It was a busy end to the academic year for Great Gaddesden School in July with lots going on as usual.

A much anticipated performance of “The Lion King” which involved children in year’s three to six was enjoyed by all. You couldn’t walk into a classroom without hearing someone singing “Hakuna Matata” under their breath. Our older children put in some remarkable performances which will be remembered by their peers for years to come, especially comedy double-act Timon and Pumba, played by Oscar and Bradley, and a rather foreboding and sarcastic Scar Face played by Callum.  Kayley, who played Nala also impressed everyone with her beautiful solo singing.

The Leavers Service was an opportunity to bid a fond farewell to our eldest children, some of whom Mrs Comer decreed were definitely ready to leave as they had grown so tall that she now found herself having to look up to them!  It was also an opportunity to thank Staff for doing such a wonderful job and dedicating their time and energy to the pupils, and Mrs Comer for providing another year of fantastic leadership and dedication to the school.

SATS Results were also published in July and were the best that the school has seen in recent years. 100% of pupils reached Level 4 (the required level) in Maths and Literacy, with 60-70% of pupils also reaching Level 5 in Maths and Literacy. This is a fantastic achievement for pupils, staff and the school as a whole. Although SATs now no longer exist in their current format, we are confident that attainment in Year Six will continue on this trend in years to come.

After so much hard work, August meant a well-earned summer holiday for staff and pupils.

September has welcomed the start of a new school year and a new term. We have greeted new pupils and their families and we hope that they enjoy their time at the school. Our new Nursery and Reception class have been settling in well, as have all of our pupils, some of whom have been adapting to new classrooms and different teachers.

This term pupils continue to have the opportunity to participate in varied extra-curricular clubs outside traditional lesson times. Staff and Governors continue to provide a wide range of quality clubs in subjects such as Maths, Science, German, Knitting, Art, Creative and Football. Clubs change each term for each year.

In the next academic year, as well as maintaining the high standards we have set in English, Maths and Science, the school is going to have a focus on "The Arts". Staff have already begun thinking about projects they plan to undertake in Art, Design & Technology and Music as well as considering competitions and events which will nurture our children's creative juices!

Pupils are looking forward to the yearly Harvest Festival which takes place at the church and will be bringing donations of food and supplies to donate to those who need them.  Children learn about why we do this, and why it is essential to give back to their community. The children have also been practicing their singing for the Harvest Festival with gusto. “Autumn Days” seems to be a particular favourite which some may remember from their own school days alongside “Conkers”, a newer, very catchy song which celebrates the Autumn season.

To end our news this month, we are keen to recognise how greatly our pupils learning is benefitted and positively impacted by residents in the village and throughout the local community. We would like to extend a very big “Thank You” to those in the local community who have supported the school in such a wide variety of ways including:

·         Imparting expertise to pupils by acting as visiting speakers

·         Providing locations for school trips and curriculum learning

·         Providing materials for use in school

·         Helping with the upkeep of school areas

·         Volunteering time to listen to children read

·         Acting as impartial judges at school competitions

·         Helping at school and extra-curricular events

Thanks once again to all of those who have supported the school in recent years, it is very much appreciated! We are always keen to include members of the local community in school life where appropriate and so if you perhaps have a couple of hours to spare to volunteer at the school, or have a specialist subject, skill or knowledge area which you feel pupils or the school would benefit from, please contact Mrs Comer: head@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk, or telephone or pop into the school office.  Additionally, with our focus on the arts this year, if you, or someone you know, has a particular flair for Art, Drama or Music, please do contact the school if you would be willing to donate some time to help celebrate these areas. 

We appreciate help from community members but we are also keen for pupils to give back to the local community and its members. For example, our pupils very much enjoyed singing to local residents in the village last Christmas. If you have any suitable suggestions of how pupils help enrich the local community, then please feel free to get in touch with us also.

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