Friday 29^th November 2024

Mental Health award

This week, we had some good news. We were informed that we had achieved the advanced award for mental health in schools for children and staff. A big thank you to all the staff, but a special mention to Mr Miller and Mrs Watkins for their commitment and continual work in this area.

Curriculum Evening

It was great to see so many of you at the curriculum evening so that we can share with you everything we do as a school across the many subjects. It’s a great way to see the school informally and let your children show you around. Thank you for attending, and we look forward to doing this again next year.

Parent Support

We are seeing more children not wanting to attend school and school avoidance. Please speak to your child's teacher regarding this so that we can help put systems in place. We understand that all children have different needs; some may have more than others. However, regardless of this, we need parents to set boundaries and non-negotiables that they believe are important.

Please see a helpful guide to positive parenting that may support you in times of need Positive parenting

The Letchworth family support team also offers support regarding a training and support session if you would like to participate in this.  ‘Who’s in charge’ and positive parenting courses. https://letchworthfamilypartnership.org/

Nip in the Bud is a charity organisation that offers podcasts, film clips, and information about supporting and understanding the neuro diverse brain and ways to support your child.

Nip in the Bud | Child Mental Health Resources for Parents and Teachers I highly recommend this to help you understand more about children with neurodiversity.

Panto

Our Year 3 and 4 children have received an invitation from the Letchworth Garden City Church to watch their ‘Pantivity’ play, the Herald of Herod, on Wednesday, December 11th. The performance combines pantomime and nativity story-telling.

The performance will take place during the afternoon, beginning at 1:15 p.m., with us aiming to arrive at the church at 1 p.m. This means we will leave school around 12:30 p.m., during the children’s lunchtime, to ensure we arrive on time. We will be back at school for normal pick-up time, so there should be no disruption to the typical school day.

It is possible that we may need some parents' support on the trip, such as walking to the church and back and being with us while we are there. If this is something you could potentially do, please let us know on the slip below so that we can understand the numbers.

Equity and Equality

Nationally, we previously worked alongside the theory of equality- which is that all people should have the same; this is very much how children develop and if they see something someone else has, they may want it, regardless if they need it. Now, with a more open mind and true tolerance and respect, we work with the theory of equity in schools. 

The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognising that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and adjust to imbalances. The ongoing process requires us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers.

We try to provide all children with what they need in school to support them. However, like all mainstream schools, we have limited resources and finances and a lack of special provisions available in Hertfordshire. Please be mindful of this and be realistic about what we can provide.

Dates

• Monday 9th December - Year 6 SATs meeting for all parents, 5 pm-6 pm. Please bring your child, too.
• Wednesday 11^th December - Years 3 and 4 go to the  panto
• Tuesday 17th December - Christmas Dinner Day. On this day, Children can wear Christmas jumpers or school uniforms.
• Wednesday 18^th December - Year 4 Christmas production Wednesday 18^th December at 2 pm (separate letter being sent out to Year 4 parents)
• Thursday 19^th December - Christmas Panto at Hertford theatre (children can bring their snack- no nuts and a packed lunch will be needed)
• Friday 20^th December - Singing to parents at 1:00 pm
• Friday 20^th December 2024 -  School closes at 1:30 pm End of term
• Wednesday 8^th January 2025- Children return after the Christmas break