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.
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Newsletter - w/c 03/05/21
Thu 29 Apr 2021Dear Parent/Carer,
Please find below some important notices about school life:
A Message from Mrs Emma Kight (Chair of Governors)
Dear Parents and Carers,
On behalf of the Governors of Hurst Drive, I am delighted to be able to tell you that Mrs Forrest (Deputy Headteacher) will become our Acting Headteacher from September 2021.
This is a fantastic outcome for the school and I am sure you will join me in congratulating her.
Kind regards,
Emma Kight
Chair of Governors
May Bank Holiday - Monday 3 May 2021 - School Closed
School is closed on Monday 3 May 2021 due to it being the first May Bank Holiday. Children must return to school on Tuesday 4 May 2021.
Pleasingly, lots of the children whose parents/carers received an e-mail in March stating their child's attendance was red (serious concern) or amber (concern) are now rated green (no concern) because they have worked hard to arrive at school every day and on time. You will receive your next attendance e-mail at the end of May or the start of June and we are sure many of you will be pleased with the improvement in your child's attendance record.
Wear Red Day - Tuesday 4 May 2021
Every child in our school is assigned to one of our four House Teams, and each House Team has a local charity who they raise money for once a year. Eagle House is linked to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. To raise money for this charity, the children may come to school wearing red clothing on Tuesday 4 May 2021. We are asking for a donation of £1 (or whatever you may spare) per child.
Polling Day - Thursday 6 May 2021
On Thursday 6 May 2021, our School will be used as a polling station so local residents may cast a vote for the Police and Crime Commissioner as well as for their local council representatives. School will be open as usual and we will have systems in place to ensure our children are kept safe and separate from members of the public.
Local History Day - Friday 7 May 2021
Miss Tyler (Subject Leader for History) has organised a day's worth of events for the children across the school to learn about the history of Waltham Cross. This includes making activities and special visitors. Be sure to ask your child what they learned when they return home from school that day.
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Yours sincerely,
The Administration Team
admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk
01992 624099
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Newsletter - w/c 26/04/21
Thu 22 Apr 2021Dear Parent/Carer,
Please see below for some important notices about school life:
Relationships and Sex Education
Please click here to watch a webinar by Mr Short (Headteacher) and Mrs Geggus (Assistant Headteacher for KS2) regarding Relationships and Sex Education. This subject became compulsory in schools from September 2020. Our webinar explains what we teach to each year group and how parents/carers may ask questions about this important subject ahead of the lessons being taught in July.
Year 6 - Residential Trip
As you will remember, we sadly had to cancel the Year 6 residential trip. Thankfully, Mrs Pace (Office Administrator) has worked hard to organise two school trips, Go Ape in Alexandra Palace and the Herts Young Mariners' Base in Cheshunt, that will allow the children to complete many of the team-building activities they would have completed had we been able to take them on their residential trip to Gilwell Park. Parents and Carers will receive a letter today with all the information they need, including how to make payments.
For the other year groups, we will return to providing school trips from September 2021 as many venues are not currently taking bookings and so we do not want to make promises to you or the children that we will be unable to keep.
A-Life - Mental Health & Wellbeing Workshop - 29-30/04/21
Next Thursday and Friday, the children in Years 3-6 will have a workshop, including lots of practical activities, to teach them five evidence-based strategies to look after their mental wellbeing. Also, in the next few weeks, all children will have a mindfulness art workshop with an artist to create mandalas - a geometric configuration of symbols found in Buddhism and Hinduism - as well as working collaboratively across the school to paint a mural on the back playground. Be sure to check our Facebook pages to see the work in progress!
Reading at Home
We would just like to clarify how reading at home is arranged so parents/carers are aware:
- Reception - A child in Reception will take home three books each week: a sharing book for an adult to read to them, a Read Write Inc. Phonics book they can read to an adult, and a colour-banded book they can also read to an adult so they are being introduced to high-quality storybooks and information books.
- Years 1 & 2 - A child in Year 1 or Year 2 will take home two books each week: a Read Write Inc. Phonics book they can read to an adult, along with a colour-banded book they can also read to an adult (N.B. If your child is in Yellow Group for Phonics, starting next week, they will also take home a book from a lower level as this will help them to build fluency - speed when reading - and they need this to move up to Blue Group and then Grey Group before they finish the phonics programme)
- Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 - A child in Years 3-6 will take home one colour-banded book each week. Often the children in Key Stage 2 read chapter books and so may keep the same book for a few weeks and this is perfectly acceptable.
It is very important that all children have the opportunity to read aloud to an adult or older sibling at home, including those children who are academic and confident readers. Reading aloud helps children to develop their speaking skills, and it helps them to learn to read with expression (e.g. raising the pitch of their voice for a question, changing their voice to show different characters speaking etc.). We want all our children to enjoy reading as research shows that children who read for pleasure do better at school, college, university and beyond - we want success for all our children so we hope every parent/carer will set aside time each day to hear their child/ren read.
For your information, a child in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 should read for 10 minutes every day; a child in Year 3 or Year 4 should read for 15 minutes every day; and, a child in Year 5 or Year 6 should read for 20 minutes each day.
If you want advice about how to complete their reading record three times a week, please click here.
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Yours sincerely,
The Administration Team
admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk
01992 624099
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Newsletter - w/c - 19/04/21
Thu 15 Apr 2021Dear Parent/Carer,We have had a fantastic first week of the summer term, including a fun den-building day on the first day back which helped to ensure our attendance was just above 99% which is a tremendous achievement. Please see below for notices about school life:AttendanceIn line with our Attendance Policy, we have begun sending you a termly e-mail to let you know your child's attendance for the year so far. Some parents/carers have asked questions about these e-mails so we have listed the frequently asked questions and their answers below for your information:My child had one day off school because they were sick and you authorised this absence so why isn't their attendance 100%?Even if an absence is authorised, it still affects a child's attendance. There are 142 children in our school who have not missed a day of school and who have not arrived late to school - these children have 100% attendance. Remember, arriving late (i.e. signing in at the School Office) also affects your child's attendance.Any child with 100% attendance by the end of the school year will have their name entered into a prize draw to win a brand-new tablet and all these children will receive a certificate from Hertfordshire County Council to celebrate their achievement.Why is my child's attendance at 93% when they haven't had 7 days off school?To calculate a child's attendance, you divide the number of sessions they attended by the number of overall sessions and then multiply the answer by 100.There were 123 school days in the autumn and spring terms combined which equals 246 available sessions because each school day equals two sessions - the morning and the afternoon. If your child missed 5 school days (i.e. 10 sessions) and arrived late to school on 7 school days (i.e. 7 sessions) then they attended 229 sessions. If you divide 229 by 246 and then multiply by 100 you will find 93%.If a parent/carer wishes to see a copy of their child's attendance record, they may e-mail admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk or telephone 01992 624099 to request it.I didn't like receiving this e-mail and seeing my child's attendance was rated amber/red. It made me feel like I was a bad parent. Why did you send it?There is a strong link between attendance and attainment. Those children who have the highest attendance usually have the highest attainment. Due to the pandemic, no school has completed Year 6 standardised assessment tests (SATs) since 2019. However, in that year at our school, of the 20 children whose attendance was below 96%, only 55% of them passed the tests, and of the 39 children with attendance at or above 96%, 77% of them passed the tests - this is a big difference and it's not a coincidence!It is our job as a School to ensure as many children as possible leave primary school being ready for the challenges of secondary school. We never set out to upset parents/carers but we will not apologise for wanting as many children in school as possible because we know it will help them achieve success in school and beyond.My child's attendance was rated red. Will the school send me a fixed penalty notice now?If you read the Attendance Policy, you will find out that fixed penalty notices are raised by the local authority (and not the school). If a child has had 7.5 days (which equals 15 sessions) of unauthorised absence in this term or the previous term, the local authority will be made aware and they will award a fixed penalty notice to a child's parent or parents. If you do not wish to be fined, you just need to make sure you bring your child to school every day and on time to raise their attendance across the summer term.You should be aware that it can take months for the fixed penalty notice to arrive in the post.If you want to know how many unauthorised absences your child has, you are welcome to request a copy of your child's attendance record.Behaviour WebinarMrs Bye (Family Support Worker) has recorded a short video which you may watch here to explain the Hertfordshire Steps approach to supporting children's behaviour. This approach informs our School Behaviour Policy and has ideas you may use outside of school to ensure your children learn and practise pro-social behaviours.St Mary's Church of England High School - ToursPlease find below a message from St Mary's Church of England High School for the attention of parents/carers with children in Year 5 or Year 6 inviting you to tour their school in the summer term:St Mary’s are delighted to be able to offer short tours of the school during April and May 2021, on a pre-booked basis. These tours are approximately 45 minutes (9.00am start) and are aimed at Year 5 students who would like an opportunity to visit secondary schools ahead of the transition process in September 2022. They are also open to Year 6 families you may have been allocated St Mary’s for September 2021 but have not had an opportunity to view the school. The dates of our school in action tours are:- Tuesday 20th April
- Wednesday 21st April
- Wednesday 28th April
- Friday 30th April
- Tuesday 4th May
- Wednesday 5th May
- Wednesday 12th May
- Friday 14th May
- Tuesday 18th May
- Wednesday 19th May
- Wednesday 26th May
- Friday 28th May
If you would like to visit the school on one of these mornings, please contact the school on 01992 629134 or email Mrs Judith Bundock, PA to Head Teacher, via Judith.bundock@stmaryshigh.herts.sch.uk to reserve a place. Places on the tours will be limited so that small groups can safely move around the school and comply with Covid restrictions.A-Life Fitness Workshop - Thursday 22 April & Friday 23 April 2021Next week, A-Life will be returning to lead fitness workshops with the children. Please make sure your child brings their PE kit to school on a Monday and takes it home on a Friday for washing (if needed). We have too many children who attend school with no PE kit which makes it hard for them to access the learning but also makes them feel uncomfortable as they see that other children have a parent/carer who makes sure they come to school with the correct uniform and equipment. If you are having financial difficulty and need support to make sure your child/ren have correct PE kit, please speak to a member of staff you trust. Also, please make sure your child's clothing and kit bag are clearly labelled to help us reunite lost items with their rightful owner.In the week after next, A-Life will return to lead mental health and well-being workshops. The NHS have recorded a video which parents/carers may find helpful - it directs you to their microsite, Every Mind Matters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Yours sincerely,The Administration Teamadmin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk01992 624099