Newsletters

Newsletter 

Green Lanes School Newsletter

Issue 6: Friday 13th December 2024

Headteacher's update 

We are approaching the Christmas holidays with just one week to go. You will receive your child's Autumn term report next week, so you know exactly how your child is progressing. This report also includes attendance and lates. Remember we are here to help if you are having difficulties getting your child into school for any reason. If your child has absence below 90% we will ask you to come and see us to discuss how we can help.

Thank you for all the parents that came to see the children singing and signing their Christmas songs. It really made us feel ready for the holidays. Next week, Year 5 Monday 2:45pm and Year 6 Tuesday 2:45pm will complete the whole school having done this. 

I would like to remind all parents that some children cannot have photographs or be filmed for safeguarding reasons and no images should end up being shared on social media pages as this could inadvertently put them at risk. If there are reports of sharing images other than your own child, then unfortunately we will have to review this good will policy for future events. If any parent is sharing images please let me know and I would be happy to investigate.

Last week we had the Electric Umbrella group (charity group consisting of special needs adults and musicians) who did a singing workshop for Year 4. They will be joining other Year 4s and the Electric umbrella group to sing at St Albans Abbey in the Summer term. Staying with music, our Year 2s will also go on tour next week to take their Christmas songs to a local care home. Our school choir is also busy preparing for their Young Voices event at the O2!

Next Wednesday is our Christmas dinner and party day. Your child is invited to come in non-uniform in their party clothes or wearing their Christmas jumpers. Donations are welcome to our chosen charity of Isabel hospice and these can be made through Arbor school shop. In charity news can I share and thank you for your Christmas present donations to Great Ormond Street hospital and over 200 presents were donated and will make a young person's Christmas. Thank you for your generosity.

We would love you to sign up for a volunteer slot in our Big Help out. Even if you can only help out once in the year it would be great to grow our community of helpers. Our target is to get 50 helpers. Remember anyone can help out so talk to other family members or friends and get them to pledge too. Register your interest here. 

We are also looking for donations of Wellington Boots - we have lots of children that can't play with their friends as the field is so muddy they need Wellies to go on it. If you have any spare ones that your child has grown out of, please pop them in the Welly donation station outside Y3 Moore class on the infant playground. 

Next week we will sadly be saying goodbye to Mrs Tookey (Year 4). We hope you join us in wishing her all the very best the future. Next term, Mr Hoffman will be reducing his days in preparation for his big move! We will be welcoming two new teachers Miss Miner and Mrs Kaleli to our teaching team. 

Finally, just a reminder that we finish at 2:05-2:10pm Reception/Year 1 and 2:15pm for all other year groups next week Friday 20th December. We reopen on Tuesday 7th January.

Last Weeks for Clubs
All Day
From 09 Dec until 13 Dec
09
December
Christmas Songs (Year 5)
2:45pm – 3:05pm
16
December
Year 5 Hockney- Music Lesson
2:45pm – 3:05pm
16
December
Christmas Songs (Year 6)
2:45pm – 3:05pm
17
December
Christmas Lunch / Party Clothes Day
All Day
18
December
End of Term- School Closed Early
All Day
20
December

Foundation Stage

 

Thank you for coming to watch our Christmas songs on Monday, we were really proud of the children and their mature and sensible behaviour on stage and hope that you enjoyed it too. This week the children have been busy getting all 'Christmassy'! They have decorated the classrooms and started making Christmas cards and calendars to bring home. We have been talking about how we celebrate at home with our families and learning all about different festivals and traditions.

Year 1

 

Well done to all of the children for their fantastic singing on Tuesday. All of the Year 1 staff were very proud of you!

This week we have begun a new set of phase sounds. We will send home sound cards for everyone next week so they can practise the sounds over the Christmas holidays.

In Maths we have been exploring odd and even numbers.

The children have completed their D&T CUSP unit on Structures. The children have explored materials and experimented adding support to their structures to stop them toppling over. They have learned different ways of joining cardboard to add stability to their structures. 

Please remember our book change day for phonics reading books is Monday. Bring it in on Monday to make sure you have a new book to read over the holidays!

Year 2

 

Year 2 has had another busy week again.

In maths we have been looking at greater than and less than and equals to as well as ordering and comparing numbers. We have been using manipulatives and concrete resources to help us. 

In English we have finished writing our retelling of Where the Wild Things are. We are now writing formal invitations to the children of Green Lanes to invite them to the Christmas lunch next Wednesday.

In Geography we have been interested to learn about London and Nairobi and comparing the two countries. We were surprised to learn that Nairobi has lots of modern buildings! We are looking forward to starting our Christmas activities next week. 

Year 3

 

Year 3 have been enjoying our recent Art topic exploring printmaking. We have experimented with printing paints, patterns and rollers. We have created a range of artwork and tried different techniques and mark making.

In English we have just finished our Non-Chronological Report linked to our recent Science learning of Rocks.

We have also been continuing our work on metal addition within Maths and will be using our learning and think 10 or 100 as we move into mental subtraction.

Year 4

 

Year 4 have been learning about lines of latitude and longitude in our new geography unit and have found out about what lines of latitude and longitude tell us about what a location in the world is like.  

In English we have finished writing our adventure stories and the children have tried hard to use expanded noun phrases, inverted commas for character speech and fronted adverbials to add interest and detail into their extended writing. 

In our maths lessons we have rehearsed multiplication and division facts and have explored laws of divisibility. 

Next week we will be having fun with painting in our art topic. We will learn about tertiary colours, watercolour painting and look at the abstract work of Georgia O'Keefe and Matthew F Fisher. 

We hope you enjoyed coming to see the children sing their Christmas songs. This week was our final swimming lesson in Year 4. Please leave your swimming kit at home next Tuesday as we will be staying at school to start our new art topic. 

Year 5

 

In Year 5 for our Maths we have been focusing on how to calculate multiplication problems, looking at both short and long multiplication, as well as focusing on how to calculate short division.

In our English writing, we have been looking at how to write a balanced argument, thinking about how to be persuasive and support points using evidence. This week we have begun to write these around the argument of if we should ban single-use plastics.

Finally, in our topic sessions, for Science we finished looking at human life cycles as well as gestation periods for animals.

We have now moved onto Art where we are learning how to do reduction printing to create natural images.

 

Year 6 

 

It has been another busy couple of weeks in year 6!

In English, we have been writing explanatory texts based on the circulatory system and we have been very impressed with the presentation in the children's books and the effort that they put into this piece of work.

This week we also started a new art topic based around painting and collage. In the first piece the children got to experiment with making tones and tints with paint and in the second piece the children experimented with layering of tissue paper. Next week they will create a final collage using various different materials.

We are looking forward to a fun final week with Christmas lunch and various Christmas activities! Make sure that you come and watch our song performance on Tuesday too!

Banksy (Inclusion Team & Family Worker) 

 

Just a reminder that if you need any support for the Christmas period e.g. foodbank vouchers, please contact Mrs Panter mpanter@greenlanes.herts.sch.uk 

Potential Kids are hosting a Christmas Party for neurodivergent young people and siblings - details below. 

There are many parent courses and workshops running in the Spring Term. For more information on these, please visit the DSPL 5 website 

https://www.dspl5.co.uk/training-workshops-1/ 

Introduction to the Local Offer webinar (online)

Date: Tuesday, 14 January, 8:00pm

Location: Online

Price: Free event

About this event

The Local Offer website lets parents, young people and professionals know what special educational needs and disabilities services are available in Hertfordshire, and who can access them. There is so much more than that, too.

A friendly face from the Local Offer team will take you through what’s on the website and how you can use it to find the right services and support.

www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/localoffer

 For professionals AND parent carers - Wednesday 25 September, 8pm – 9pm.

To register, just use the link below. 

Register for this event

Once you've registered, you will be sent a joining link.  

A quick note: The Local Offer website is different to Short Breaks (SBLO). We won’t be going into detail about SBLO.

Charity Event - Christmas Lunch (non-uniform day - come dressed in party clothes or Christmas jumper) - Wednesday 18th December

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Changes to dinner payments (debts)

 

For pupils in Years 3 to 6 who are not eligible to receive Free School Meals.

We are writing to inform you of some important changes to the way we manage school dinner debts.

Hertfordshire Catering Limited, our provider, require payment in advance. However, as a school, we have not enforced this in the past and have been fair in allowing parents to pay after meals are taken.

Unfortunately, due to the rise in outstanding dinner money, we have made the decision to pass dinner debts over to our provider - this is the same process that all School Grid schools follow.

What does this mean?

This means that unless school meals are paid for in advance, you and the school will be unable to place a lunch order if there is no credit on the account. You will therefore be required to send your child in with a packed lunch.   

These changes will come into effect from Monday 24th February 2025. This will give you some time to settle any outstanding debt on your child's dinner account. If you wish to discuss your account with us, please contact the School Office. 

You may be eligible for Free School Meals if you meet certain criteria. To check your eligibility go to https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/at-school/free-school-meals/free-school-meals.aspx

Subscribe to the school calendar

 

You can now subscribe to the school calendar via our school website 

Step 2 Skills - short courses available for adults - Funded by the UK Government

 

GLSA News

 

 

 

Carols on the Hour - Saturday 14th December 

 

Carols on the Hour takes place tomorrow, Saturday 14th December, at St Albans Abbey from 11am until 5pm. This is a free event and is a fantastic opportunity to sing along to Christmas carols and to hear music from different St Albans choirs. It's a great festive break from Christmas shopping and a lovely way to get a taste of Christmas at the Cathedral.