17th January 2025

Dear Parents 

We have had a lovely week in school with the Ladybird children going on their 2nd school trip to “Little City” running at Harpenden Methodist Church. We have approximately 80 trips over the course of a school year. First-hand experience is one of our curriculum drivers and I am proud to say that we do so much to help the children to educate their Hearts and Minds.

Still on the topic of educating Hearts and Minds we had a visit this week from our two school Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). They have been talking to the children around the area of cyber bullying, sending inappropriate messages to other children via WhatsApp, forwarding on inappropriate tik tok videos and general safeguarding. These are really important messages our young adults need to hear as they prepare for secondary school.

On Wednesday our parents were invited to a meeting at Crabtree school discussing “A Smart phone free childhood. This topic is really gathering momentum and the Harpenden Consortium heads will be publishing a letter to all parents shortly regarding this issue.

This week we saw the last of the new Reception parent tours as the deadline for Reception places was 15^th January 2025. It has been lovely showing so many parents around our school and they have all commented on how polite our children have been during the class tours. The parents are always amazed at the size of the Ladybird classroom and how the children are taught.

The Spring term is always one of new opportunities and excitement as we look towards World Book Day and Science week. So many of you have asked for the return of the Lovely Mark the science man and his evening of competition. I am discussing the return of Mark and hope to have some firm dates for parents’ diaries soon.

Little City, Reception Trip

A highlight of this week is the Ladybird's trip to 'Little City.' We had a fabulous morning playing in the different areas of the city. We became builders, hairdressers, police officers and even worked in the supermarket. Some of the children even became astronauts and went to the moon. Mrs Withers was treated to a new hair style and visited a café that served unlimited sandwiches! These experiences are so important for our youngest children to develop language and their social skills. It was great to see them using their own experiences of the real world in their play. A big thank you to Ali (a HA parent) for setting up these fantastic experience for the children. 

Parents' Evening

This term's Parents Evening letters will be coming out soon. We have listened to parents who have said that they would prefer more availability earlier in the evening. In order to accommodate this and my staff wellbeing we have decided to trial new timing this term. This term are timings will be 3.00pm- 7.00pm with the last appointment time being 6.50pm. In order to do this, we will be closing the school day at 2.30pm.

The children who ordinarily go to After School Club will go straight there from 2.30pm until you collect them at their normal time. We will not charge for this. For the parents who cannot collect their children at 2.30pm, they will be looked after by the TAs in school until normal pickup time of 3.20pm. This facility is really open to those working parents who cannot make the 2.30pm pick-up. If you can make the 2.30 pickup please do.

This is just a trial to see how this eases the demand for earlier appointments while also maintaining the wellbeing of my staff. Once the event is over we will be able to judge whether this is a worthwhile approach.

Trust Concert - Grove Theatre, Dunstable, Tuesday 11 March, 6.00pm, Choir and Orchestra

Please save the date. Tickets have not yet been released and we will shortly be sending out logistics via Operoo to the children participating in this event. 

Safer Internet Day, 11th February 2025

This year, Safer Internet Day is on the 11^th February and the theme is ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online'. Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety. Each year it covers an online issue or theme that speaks about the things young people are seeing and experiencing online. Created in consultation with young people across the UK, this year Safer Internet Day will be focusing on the issue of scams online and for young people, how to protect themselves and others, as well as what support is available to them. We will be recognising this in school with an assembly and activities in class. Below is a link to social media checklists which parents may find helpful.

Social Media Checklists | SWGfL

February Half Term Club - Traffic Light Creative & Performing Arts Club with Mrs Marchment

Save the Dates

• Saturday 8th February 2025 - Pub Quiz Night (replacing Comedy Night)
• Friday 18th April 2025 - Easter Egg Hunt 

Quiz and Chips Night, Saturday 8th February 2025, Tickets Now On Sale!

FoHA are delighted to announce tickets for the upcoming Quiz and Chips Night on Saturday 8th February are now LIVE - grab your tickets here:

https://www.foha.co.uk/fohashop/p/quiz-and-chips-night-february-2025

Happy birthday this week to: Sebastian (Year 5)

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