Giles Junior School “Achieving excellence through

Leadership”

Newsletter Autumn

Term

Friday 25th October

2019

Giles Junior School News

Half term here we come. It has been a productive 8 weeks and I know the children are ready for a well deserved rest. Thank you to all the parents who were able to take part in the OFSTED parent questionnaire, it was really helpful to put your views across to the inspector. Two days is a very short time to try and give one person a sense of everything at Giles Junior School. Of course, we used our habits at every point over the two days. We can share it was a fair inspection and we look forward to sharing the outcome with you in approximately 3 weeks. Miss Sommerfelt is getting married tomorrow! We are all looking forward to seeing the photos and will enjoy getting used to her new name Mrs Vary after the holidays. Congratulations from your Giles family. The children will be bringing home their delightful PE kits tonight! We look forward to them having a good wash and being brought back on the first day after half term. We have noticed a number of children are not bringing correct PE kit ready for their lessons. Mr Mendes and Miss Hipperson do put them through their paces during PE lessons so it is really important children have a kit to change in and out of for the lesson, not only so they are in comfortable clothes to suit physical activity, but to allow the sweat to remain on their PE kit and save families having to wash uniforms more than is needed. I would like to wish all our families a happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 4th November. Miss Whitby

Bonfire Night Special Lunch Menu - Tuesday 5th November

On the 5th November we will be having a special themed lunch for Bonfire Night. If your child would like a lunch on this day they would just need to order on the day as usual. Payment can be made on the day via The School Gateway or cash to the office in a clearly marked envelope. The cost of the meal is the usual £2.60. The Yellow option for this day will be a chicken wrap.

Secondary School Applications If you are applying for a secondary school place for September 2020, the application deadline is Thursday 31st October 2019.

You will need to apply online at:

www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

Poppies on sale after half term Poppies will be going on sale from Monday 4th November, after half term. If children could bring in some change to donate towards the British Legion in

exchange for a poppy. (Suggested donation of 50p-£1.00).

Collection after Clubs

From after half term any child that attends an after school club or Smiles at Giles must be collected by an adult. Lone walkers will NOT be allowed to go home on their own. This is due to the nights drawing in and it will be much darker much earlier.

Autumn Term Dates 2019 (These could be subject to change)

DESCRIPTION DATE TIME

Half Term - SCHOOL CLOSED 28 October - 1st November

New Lunch Menu Autumn 2019 to Spring 2020

A new lunch menu will be starting after half term. Please look out for a paper copy of the new menu which has gone out to every child today. There is also a copy of the menu on our website and a copy up in the reception area just by the school office. The new menu will start from Monday 4th November 2019.

Poppies on sale in school all this week Mon 4th Nov

Bonfire Theme Lunch Menu Tue 5th Nov Lunchtime

Flu spray sessions for the whole school (If you have given consent)

Wed 6th Nov all day

Year 5 & 6 Girls Table Tennis match @ Round Diamond Thur 7th Nov 15:15 - 16:45

Year 5 & 6 Girls Football match @ Giles Fri 8th Nov 15:15 - 16:45

Remembrance Assembly Mon 11th Nov 09:00 - 09:30

Open Morning Year 3 Tue 12th Nov 09:00 - 09:30

Open Morning Year 5 Wed 13th Nov 09:00 - 09:30

Open Morning Year 6 Thur 14th Nov 09:00 - 09:30

Open Morning Year 4 Fri 15th Nov 09:00 - 09:30

Parents Evening (5.00-7.30pm) Mon 18th Nov 17:00 - 19:30

Parents Evening (3.30pm-6.00pm) Wed 20th Nov 15:30 - 18:00

Mixed Table Tennis Tournament for Year 5 & 6 Wed 20th Nov TBC

Year 5 & 6 Mixed Tag Rugby match @ Giles Thur 21st Nov 15:15 - 16:45

Year 5 & 6 Boys Table Tennis match @ Giles Thur 28th Nov 15:15 - 16:30

Christmas Fayre Fri 29th Nov TBC

Rock Steady Concert Mon 2nd Dec 14:30 - 15:00

School nurse in for Weights and measures for Year 6 Tue 3rd Dec All day

Parent Drop in Session Wed 4th Dec 09:30 - 11:00

Year 5 & 6 Girls Table Tennis match@ Giles Thur 5th Dec 15:15 - 16:30

Occasional Day - SCHOOL CLOSED Fri 6th Dec all day

Year 4 Dress Rehearsal Mon 9th Dec 09:30 - 11:00

Year 4 Christmas Performance Wed 11th Dec 17:00 - 18:30

Year 3 & 4 Boys Football match @ Round Diamond Thur 12th Dec 15:15 - 16:45

House Reward Afternoon Mon 16th Dec all day

Year 4 Merit Assembly (Invitation only) Tue 17th Dec 09:00 - 09:30

Year 3 Merits (Invitation only) Wed 18th Dec 09:00 - 09:30

Christmas Lunch Day Wed 18th Dec Lunchtime

Mr Sapsed Dance & Drama Production Wed 18th Dec 17:00 - 18:00

Year 5 and 6 Merit Assembly (Invitation only) Thur 19th Dec 09:00 - 09:30

Year 3 Christmas Carol Concert Thur 19th Dec 14:15 - 15:00

Games Day Fri 20th Dec All day

Last day of term - Early finish Fri 20th Dec 14:00 finish

Sports Report

The football season is underway and both our Boys and Girls squads took part in the Autumn Trophy. They have done amazingly well with our girls being crowned champions and our boys only losing in the final, ending up as runners-up. With this, both squads qualified to play Division 1 in the upcoming league. Well done!

Open Classroom Mornings Open classroom sessions will be taking place on:

Tuesday 12th November – Year 3

Wednesday 13th November – Year 5

Thursday 14th November – Year 6

Friday 15th November – Year 4

All the open classroom sessions will be held from 9:00am to 9:30am in your child’s classroom.

Please drop your child off as usual and make your way in to the school through the main reception. Refreshments will be available in the dining room.

During the session there will be an opportunity to look at some of your child’s work books, talk to them about “Next Steps” marking, look at improvements in their handwriting and

presentation and their current targets. This will give you an opportunity to review your child’s work and bring any questions you may have to Parents’ Evening.

Parents Evenings

Parents’ Evening will be held on Monday 18th November from 5.00pm-7.30pm and Wednesday

20th November from 3.30pm-6.00pm. A letter with details on how to book appointments

will be sent out straight after half term.

There will be books on sale as The Travelling Book Fair will be there for both evenings.

Also, school lunch taster sessions in the Dining Hall with our School Cook will be taking place

on both evenings.

Year 6 Trip to the Imperial War Museum On Wednesday 16th October Year 6 travelled to Duxford to visit the Imperial War Museum as part of their World War II learning. The children enjoyed seeing all the tanks and planes and learning more about the war. A great day was had by all. Here are some pictures from our visit: