Latest News
For latest news, please check our Newsletter page. We also share regular updates through our main Facebook page and class Facebook pages. Please follow us on Facebook and request to join the private Facebook Page for your class to stay up to date.
On this page you will find our archived newsletters from previous years.
-
Newsletter - w/c 04/11/2019
Fri 25 Oct 2019Dear parent/carer,
Please find below the weekly newsletter containing important information.
Half Term - School Reopens on Monday 4th November 2019
We wish you and your child/ren a wonderful half term break together.
We have some exciting events planned for the first day back to school on Monday 4th November 2019:
- Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 - The children will have the option of having their face painted by a glitter artist, specifically with firework designs ready for Bonfire Night - please let your child's class teacher know if you would prefer your child/ren did not have their face painted;
- Years 3-6 - The children will get to roast marshmallows over a campfire; and,
- All children - On Monday, the children will start their artwork to form an installation for Remembrance Day. Every child needs to bring in two empty, clean 2 litre drinks bottles and if you have any black Styrofoam (usually used to hold packs of 4 pieces of fruit) then we would appreciate your child bringing these in also. The children will be making poppies out of these recycled materials and we'll be able to show you the finished piece on Monday 11th November 2019.
Children's Dental Hygiene
This term, we have had a worrying amount of children who have had to have both baby and adult teeth removed, as well as children who have had abscesses, causing them lots of pain as well as affecting their attendance at school. It's upsetting to see so many children in pain when this could be prevented by twice daily brushing of teeth and 6-monthly free visits to the dentist.
Please click here to watch a video with tips about brushing your child's teeth and please click here to find your nearest NHS dentist. Remember, dentistry in the UK is free for children and your child should be going for a check-up every 6 months.
Parent/Carer Survey 2019 - The Results
Please click here to view the results from the 2019 Parent and Carer Survey for which paper copies were provided at Parents and Carers' Evening.
Thank you very much to those parents/carers who completed it; we found the information very useful and it has already influenced some change in our school. For example, if you go onto the calendar on our school website, you will see we have already planned for meetings in July for parents/carers to meet their child's next class teacher and this meeting will include a presentation about the curriculum your child will study next year. Also, our teachers have begun a weekly post containing the homework your child has been given and a brief overview of what learning is happening in the following week. If you haven't already 'friended' your child's class page, please do!
Mrs Geggus (Assistant Headteacher) oversees our School Council and they were tasked last week with talking to their class about what after-school clubs they would like adding to our list. We will spend November/December organising some additional clubs ready for January. If any parent/carer knows of a person or organisation who run after-school clubs, please e-mail admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk with their information. Please note that we may only work with organisations who follow safer recruitment measures (e.g. Disclosure and Barring Service checks for all staff) and who arrange their own tax.
We will continue to update you over the coming weeks and months about changes that you parents and carers have affected in school based on the survey results.
There will be another survey in 2020.
Thank you.
School Uniform
Over the half term break, if needed, please make sure you purchase correct school uniform for your child - particularly smart black shoes instead of trainers. Please also ensure your child's uniform (and their coat and bag) are clearly labelled. We do try our best to reunite children with their clothes but it isn't always possible to police where all 390 children are keeping the jumpers, cardigans, coats etc. they have removed at some point in the day!
Breakfast Club - Final Reminder
If you haven't done so already, please ensure you have booked and paid for your child's November and December places at Breakfast Club. Starting Monday 4th November 2019, any child not on the list will not be permitted entry to Breakfast Club. For your information, currently, there are around 25 available spaces each day for the first week back to school and it costs £1 per child, per session.
Please be aware that you will need to book your child a place in Breakfast Club by 4:30 pm the day before you wish your child to attend as the registers are printed at this time every day.
If your child can not attend Breakfast Club for any reason, Please let the office know so they can amend the register and arrange a credit for your child to attend on another day.
Homework - Half Term
Teachers will be setting the usual homework to be completed over the half term - for children in Years 1-6, this includes a list of spellings to learn, a maths worksheet to complete and a book or books to read. As an additional piece of homework, please ensure you teach your child to tie shoe laces if they're unable to - we have a few children right up to Year 6 who cannot tie laces and it causes problems at school (e.g. tripping over untied laces).
Also, please visit the local library in Waltham Cross on Saturday 26th October 2019 at 11:00am both to borrow some new reading books and also attend their free Halloween Craft Day.
If you would like your child to complete some of our optional homework projects, click here and select your child's class to find the booklet with the information you need.
Bikeability Course – Monday 24th November 2019
We e-mailed a letter for our Bikeability course for children in years 5 & 6 starting on Monday 25th November 2019. If you would like your child to take part please either fill in the attached form or come into the office where we have spare copies.
Year 6 Parent/Carers
The deadline for all Year 6 secondary applications is Thursday 31st October 2019. Please do not forget to apply for your child’s place.
Dinner Money
Just a quick reminder that dinner money needs to be paid in advance on a Monday. Our preferred method of payment is on School Gateway. If you are unable to pay on the School Gateway, please come into the office with the correct money in an envelope. The weekly cost of school dinners is £13.00 for five meals.
If you receive a dinner debt letter, please make sure this is cleared straight away to avoid your child having to bring in a packed lunch until the debt is cleared. Unpaid dinner debts could result in the cost of the school dinner charge being increased in the future which would be unfair for those parents/carers who always pay on time.
Yours sincerely,
The School Office Team
Hurst Drive Primary School
01992 624099
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Newsletter - w/c 21/10/2019
Fri 18 Oct 2019Dear parent/carer,
Please find below the weekly newsletter containing important information.
Attendance
Our tough stance on attendance has worked - this term, our attendance is the highest it's been for many years. Still, parents and carers should be aware that we have sent a few notices to the local authority who will now issue fixed penalty notices to parents/carers of children who have 15 unauthorised absence sessions or more in this term or the previous term. These fixed penalty notices can take anything from a few weeks to a few months to arrive depending on the local authority's backlog of fines.
A school like ours needs the children in every day and on time - we can't do our important work if children miss lessons regularly; it affects children's confidence, friendships and achievement.
A big thank you to those parents/carers who always bring their children to school every day and on time, including those who may have to deal with some difficult behaviour in the home, on the walk/drive to school, and perhaps even in the school playground - we appreciate the effort you put in so thank you.
Attendance Raffle!
Would you and your child like to win some prizes? Prizes include games and a family ticket to Paradise Wildlife Park.
For each day your child attends, they will be given a ticket and their name placed in our prize draw. The more days they attend, the greater their chance of winning. We will announce the winning child on Friday 25th October 2019. Good luck!Breakfast Club - November/December Bookings
Please remember to use the School Gateway app from 4:45pm on Monday 21st October 2019 to book your child/ren's spaces for after half term (i.e. from Monday 4th November 2019 onward). There is a £1 per child, per day charge to help pay for additional staff and resources. We require all payment in advance via the School Gateway app.
For your information, there are 50 spaces per day which is more than we currently provide. Once the spaces are booked, we cannot accept more children. If spaces are being booked for a child but they are not attending, we will remove them from the register in line with our Wraparound Childcare Policy to give other families the chance to use the service.
If you have any difficulty booking, please speak to Mrs Chamberlain (Office Manager) as soon as possible.
Parents and Carers' Evening - Thursday 24th October 2019, 3:30-9:00pm
Please click here and follow the instructions to book an appointment to meet with your child's class teacher this Thursday. It is very important that an adult attends for every child so teachers may share children's successes as well as express any concerns about learning or behaviour so we may work together to get the best out of every child in our school.
If you have difficulty making an appointment, the administrative assistants in the school office can help you. Please be aware that the early appointments (i.e. 3:30-4:30pm) tend to get booked up fast!
The appointments for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are held in the children's classrooms. The appointments for Years 3-6 are held in the main hall. You will find your child's English and maths books outside their classroom or in the dining hall for children in Years 3-6.
Please also note that it is not necessary to bring your child to Parents and Carers' Evening. If you do make the choice to bring your child/ren, please ensure they behave well and do not disturb the other appointments taking place.
Some of our School Governors will be present at Parents and Carers' Evening, handing out paper copies of the results from our recent Parent/Carer Survey. We will also e-mail out the results electronically next Friday.
Halloween Dress-up Day - Friday 25th October 2019
If your child brings in £1 to raise money for the school, he/she may dress in Halloween-themed costume on Friday. If you do not celebrate this tradition, your child is welcome to attend in non-school uniform or school uniform if you prefer. There will be prizes for the most creatively-dressed child in the EYFS/KS1 and in KS2.
Sports News
In our effort to improve our performance at inter-school competitions, we made a change this year that some parents/carers may be unaware of. All our teachers have been timetabled to run an 8-week after-school sports clubs that ends with the children partaking in an inter-school festival, tournament or match. This was the right decision because just this week, our girls' tag rugby team won 4 out of the 6 games they played at a festival and our boys' football team beat Downfield Primary School 6-0. Of course, it is the taking part that counts, but we are so proud of the results! Hopefully we'll have more good news to report over the coming weeks and months. Go Team Hurst Drive!
Please ensure your child brings their PE kit to school on a Monday and returns it home on a Friday for cleaning. It is really hard for children to take part in PE wearing school uniform and school shoes!
Lockdown Procedure
Your child may have told you we practised our Lockdown Procedure on Wednesday. As with any of our emergency drills, the children and staff behaved exactly as they should and the whole practice was completed in under 4 minutes. We know us practising the procedure fills some parents/carers with worry as no one wants to imagine the very worst thing happening in a primary school; however, we believe it is important we prepare for every eventuality so we thank you for your support in the matter.
Year 6 Parent/Carers
The deadline for all Year 6 secondary applications is Thursday 31st October 2019. Please do not forget to apply for your child’s place.
Half Term
Please note, we are a state maintained primary school so we do not decide our own school holidays. We are very aware that our half term does not coincide with the half terms of some other primary and secondary schools. We are sorry if that has inconvenienced any families. Our school will be closed from Monday 28th October 2019 to Friday 1st November 2019. Children will return to school on Monday 4th November 2019 where we have some exciting things planned which we will detail in next week's e-mail...
Dinner Money
Just a quick reminder that dinner money needs to be paid in advance on a Monday. Our preferred method of payment is on School Gateway. If you are unable to pay on the School Gateway, please come into the office with the correct money in an envelope. The weekly cost of school dinners is £13.00 for five meals.
If you receive a dinner debt letter, please make sure this is cleared straight away to avoid your child having to bring in a packed lunch until the debt is cleared. Unpaid dinner debts could result in the cost of the school dinner charge being increased in the future which would be unfair for those parents/carers who always pay on time.
Yours sincerely,
The School Office Team
Hurst Drive Primary School
01992 624099
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Newsletter - w/c 14/10/2019
Mon 14 Oct 2019Dear parent/carer,
Please find below the weekly newsletter containing important information.
Computer Games, Mobile Phones and the Internet (!) - A Message from the Headteacher
This week, there have been several arguments among children at break- or lunchtime. From speaking to the children, we have discovered that these arguments start at home while the children are using live messaging when playing computer games such as Fifa 19 and Fortnite. Your children are sending each other abusive messages - either written ones or spoken ones during live gaming - that include swearing and racist language. The anger and upset they feel is then causing them to argue with one another in school.
Please be aware that many of the violent crimes we hear or read about in the news involving teenagers start on social media and on-line gaming and spill over into the real world.
You must make sure you are aware of what your child is experiencing (and who they are experiencing it with) when they are using on-line gaming and the internet.
We need parents and carers to support us by doing the following:
1) Check the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) rating on your child's game/s. These ratings have been decided by psychologists, scientists and gaming experts - if your child is playing games aimed at older children (or adults) you need to stop this right away as it is not good for their mental well-being. Your children should only be playing games rated 3 (for 3 years of age or older) and 7 (for 7 years of age and older). Some Year 6 children may be mature enough to play games rated PEGI 12 but this is a decision for a parent/carer to make based on the child.
2) Ask your children to tell you about the sites they like to visit and what they enjoy doing online. By showing you are interested, they are more likely to tell you when they see something that makes them uncomfortable.
3) Talk about things they, or their friends, have seen that made them feel uncomfortable. Be specific - What made you feel uncomfortable? Is it people or animals being hurt? Is it nasty comments about you or other people? Remind your child that you are there to keep them safe on-line and offline, and remember, if you act shocked or angry when you realise they have seen or done something wrong on-line, your child will stop telling you. Please remain calm and put in place appropriate consequences (e.g. set up parental controls).
4) Monitor their screen time - too many of our Years 5 and 6 children are using mobile phones in bed. We know this because we are shown conversations on Whatsapp and the time stamps are often beyond 11:00pm. Your child does not need their mobile phone at night.
5) Do you recognise any of the apps below?
a) HIP
b) Calculator+
c) Line
d) Voraa) HIP which stands for Hide it Pro. It looks as though it is a music app; users actually use it to hide images, videos and other documents they do not want others to see.
b) Calculator+ is another app used to hide apps, browser history etc.
c) Line is similar to Whatsapp but users decide how long the messages will be visible. This is particularly worrying for children and teenagers as it can be used for cyber-bullying as before the receiver has the chance to take a screenshot, the message is gone.
d) Vora is an app that encourages fasting (i.e. not eating). Of course, if a child or teenager is prone to an eating disorder, this can have devastating effects.
You must know that just because your child is sitting quietly on their smartphone, tablet or games console, it does not mean they are safe.
We care about your children and we know you do as well. Please work with us to encourage your children to behave safely and kindly on-line.
If you are concerned about your child's gaming or internet use, and you need our help, please talk to your child's teacher or any member of staff.
Breakfast Club
As you will know, our Breakfast Club is very popular. We have never had so many children wanting to attend! Because of this, we have had to hire a third staff member and so we will need to start charging £1 per day to cover the cost after the October half term.
On Monday 21st October 2019 at 4:45pm you will need to book your November and December places on the School Gateway app. You will need to pay in advance to secure your child's place. We have 50 spaces available each day. Once these spaces are booked, we cannot safely take more children. Parents/carers must bring their child to Breakfast Club between 7:45-8:20am. After 8:20am, we cannot accept children through the door.
If you already booked free places for November or December, you will need to book again on 21/10/19 at 4:45pm as we have reset the system to give everyone a fair chance to make a booking.
Individual & Sibling Photographs - Friday 18th October 2019
On Friday 18th October 2019, the children will have an individual photograph taken. We will also arrange for siblings to have a photograph together. If you have a baby, toddler or nursery-aged child, and you would like them to have a photograph with their older brother/s and/or sister/s, you should bring them to school at 8:45am and queue in the Dining Hall. Mrs Chamberlain (Office Manager) will oversee the process but please be patient as it can take some time (e.g. take a book or a toy to entertain any little ones).
Parents & Carers' Consultation Evening - Thursday 24th October 2019 3:30-9:00pm
It is very important that all children have a parent or carer who attends Parents and Carers' Consultation Evening. This is a chance for your child's teacher to tell you about how your child is progressing with their learning and their behaviour. You will make a 10-minute appointment. To make an appointment, you will need to use a booking system on our school website. The instructions are attached to this e-mail.
Please note, you will be able to book your appointment from 6:00pm on Monday 14th October 2019. Please be aware that the appointments between 3:30-4:30pm get booked up fast!
Dinner Money
Just a quick reminder that dinner money needs to be paid in advance on a Monday. Our preferred method of payment is on School Gateway. If you are unable to pay on the School Gateway, please come into the office with the correct money in an envelope. The weekly cost of school dinners is £13.00 for five meals.
If you receive a dinner debt letter, please make sure this is cleared straight away to avoid your child having to bring in a packed lunch until the debt is cleared. Unpaid dinner debts could result in the cost of the school dinner charge being increased in the future which would be unfair for those parents/carers who always pay on time.
Lost Bear
A toy bear was found on our playground at the beginning of this week!
If this bear is yours please come into the office where the bear is waiting for you on the front counter.
Yours sincerely,
The School Office Team
Hurst Drive Primary School
01992 624099
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Newsletter - w/c 07/10/2019
Mon 07 Oct 2019Dear parent/carer,
Please find below the weekly newsletter containing important information.
Parent/Carer Survey 2019
We really do value your thoughts and opinions - compliments help us to know we're doing the job right and suggestions help us to know how we may further improve the school to best serve your child and your whole family.
Please click the link below to complete our survey - it will take you about 5 minutes to complete. If you have more than one child in the school, please select your eldest child's year group when prompted.
https://forms.gle/qrN6N25PyKD2ny4a7
Our survey closes on Friday 11th October 2019. Parents and carers will receive a detailed report containing the findings of our survey on or around Parents and Carers' Evening.
Parents and Carers' Consultation Evening - Thursday 24th October 2019
On Thursday 24th October 2019, 3:30-9:00pm, you will be able to meet with your child's class teacher for a 10-minute appointment to discuss your child's progress in school. These meetings are very important, particularly as you'll get to find out what you could be doing in the home to help your child to do their very best in school.
From 6:00pm on Monday 14th October 2019 you will be able to book an appointment using an on-line booking system. Next week's e-mailed newsletter will contain instructions telling you how to do this.
Breakfast Club
We are very proud of our Breakfast Club - changes have been made to ensure it runs even more smoothly and it continues to be the cheapest school Breakfast Club around. We pride ourselves on being a school that supports working parents.
The £1 charge per session will be introduced from Monday 4th November 2019 to help us pay a third member of staff and to allow spaces for more children to attend. Please note, we will have to set up a new booking system on School Gateway in order to introduce this charge meaning that if you’ve booked sessions for November and December, you will need to re-book.
The new booking system for November and Decembers bookings will open on 21st October 2019 and you will be able to book from 3pm on this date. Remember, you must pay in advance in order to secure your booking.
Thank you to those parents and carers who always book and pay in advance - we truly appreciate your support.
After-School Clubs
We have spaces at the after-school clubs listed below. If you would like to book your child a place, please use the School Gateway app. If you experience any problems with this app, please speak to one of the administrative assistants in the School Office.
KS2 Dance Club – Mondays 3:15 to 4:15pm
Year 3 & 4 Times Table Rockstars – Mondays 3:15 to 4:15pm
KS1 Scootability – Thursdays 3:15 to 4:15pm (for which your child will need to bring a scooter to school)
Please note, there are no clubs in the final week of term which is the week commencing Monday 16th December 2019.
The School Photographer
The school photographer will be in school on Friday 18th October 2019 in the morning to take individual and family photographs.
If you have children aged under 5, such as a baby, toddler or child in nursery, the photographer is willing to include them in a group photo with their sibling/s who attend Hurst Drive Primary School. It is not possible to include children in secondary school as their schools will not authorise lateness.
The family groups with children not yet in school will be taken first at 9:00am in the hall. The school dining room will be available as a waiting room. Please keep your young children by you. All other children should go into school for registration as normal and they will then be brought to the dining hall to collect their siblings to have their photograph taken.
The school has a system in place to ensure siblings have their photograph taken together; therefore, no reply slip is required.
Your child should wear correct full school uniform on the day.
Dinner Money
Just a quick reminder that dinner money needs to be paid in advance on a Monday. Our preferred method of payment is on School Gateway. If you are unable to pay on the School Gateway, please come into the office with the correct money in an envelope. The weekly cost of school dinners is £13.00 for five meals.
If you receive a dinner debt letter, please make sure this is cleared straight away to avoid your child having to bring in a packed lunch until the debt is cleared. Unpaid dinner debts could result in the cost of the school dinner charge being increased in the future which would be unfair for those parents/carers who always pay on time.
Yours sincerely,
The School Office Team
Hurst Drive Primary School
01992 624099
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------