Dear Parents,
This term has been a very busy one and the children are preparing for their class outcomes for you to enjoy, as well as practising for their Christmas performances.
Staffing Update
We will be saying a very fond farewell to Mrs McArdle next Friday when she leaves to take up a new position in another school. We will miss her and I am sure you join me in wishing Mrs McArdle all the best in her new job. We are currently recruiting for a new Teaching Assistant, with interviews planned for next week. We also welcome Miss Smith to our teaching team. Ms Shepherd, Larch class teacher, will be leaving to go on maternity leave in the New Year and Miss Smith will be covering this leave. Miss Smith started with us yesterday and will be working one day a week until Christmas, to ensure a smooth transition for Larch class.
Class Outcomes
As you will know from the Parentmail notification, we are excited to announce the dates for the class outcomes:
| Class | Date | Time |
| Reception | Wednesday 28th November | 2.45pm – 3.15pm |
| Year 1 | Thursday 6th December | 2.30pm – 3.15pm |
| Year 2 Oak | Thursday 6th December | 2.30pm – 3.15pm |
| Year 2 Hawthorn | Friday 7th December | 9.15am – 10.00am |
| Year 3 | Thursday 6th December | 2.15pm – 3.15pm |
| Year 4 | Friday 7th December | 9.15am – 10.00am |
| Year 5 | Friday 7th December | 2.30pm – 3.15pm |
| Year 6 | Wednesday 5th December | 2.00pm – 3.15pm |
Please do come along and find out about what your child has been learning this term in class. These are drop in sessions, so if you have more than one class to visit at a time there is plenty of time to do so.
Attendance
Well done to both Lilac and Oak classes for having the highest attendance for the last half term!
| ATTENDANCE | |||
| Lilac | 99.1% | Elm | 97.2% |
| Willow | 98.6% | Ash | 98.3% |
| Hazel | 97.6% | Larch | 98.5% |
| Birch | 98.5% | Pine | 98.6% |
| Hawthorn | 98.3% | Walnut | 98.4% |
| Oak | 99.1% | Maple
Year 6 |
97.0%
98.3% |
Sports Update from Mr Smith
On Wednesday this week there was an incredible football match in the Wix Cup quarter final vs William Ransom school. The A team beat William Ransom after a 1-1 draw and extra time, Jamie and Jim scored the decisive penalties in a 2-0 shootout win. Man of the match went to Frank for a tireless midfield performance. We now face the winner of the Highover vs Purwell match in the Semi Final.
I am very proud of the girls’ football team on reaching the final of the ESFA tournament at Wilshere Dacre school before half term losing 1-0; a fantastic achievement as they only started playing together as a team in September!
Also representing the school, the ‘A’ football team beat Our Lady’s school 3-0 before half term and the ‘B’ team lost 5-0 but showed great team effort and sportsmanship.
The cross country team travelled to Knights Templar to compete against 16 other schools in the North Herts district. All of our runners showed fantastic stamina, effort, determination and resilience and it was reflected in their final placings:
- Year 5 boys team = 2nd place
- Year 5 girls team = 4th place
- Year 6 boys team = 13th place
- Year 6 girls team = 6th place
A special mention to Frank (5th), Charlie (7th), Juliet (9th) and Elsa (10th) who all achieved top ten finishes.
This half term we look forward to the ‘A’ and girls team matches with Whitehill school. There will be a first football match for a Year 3/4 team vs Wilshere Dacre school and a Netball match at home to St.Ippolytts school.
The intra-house football tournaments were completed this week with the winners as follows:
Year 3 – MacArthur Year 4 – Simmonds Year 5/6 – MacArthur Overall – MacArthur
All of the children showed a fantastic range of skills whilst displaying excellent attitudes and sportsmanship following our recent Premier League Primary Stars assembly on respect and fair play.
This half term the children will be representing their houses in a variety of Sportshall athletics events.
Christmas Performances
Parents are welcome to join us in attending the following performances. Due to limited hall space we can only allocate 2 tickets per child. A letter with tickets will be sent home in a couple of weeks.
| Date | Class | Event | Time |
| Thus 13th December | Oak / Hazel | Christmas Play | 2.00pm |
| Fri 14th December | Reception | Christmas Concert | 9.30am |
| Tue 18th December | Birch / Hawthorn | Christmas Play | 9.30am |
| Tue 18th December | Yrs 3, 4, 5 & 6 | Carol Concert – Christ Church | 2.00pm |
Hitchin Partnership Christmas Community Team Hampers – Selection Box collection
As per last year we would like to collect 200 children’s chocolate selection boxes during the month of November, to send in to the Christmas Community Team for their hampers. These cost just approximately £1 each to buy and we would appreciate it if every family in the school donated one selection box for this appeal. A collection box for the selection boxes will be placed within the school office porch area during November. Thank you.
Parents’ Forum
I would like to thank all of the parents who took time in the last academic year to be the class representatives and who came along to the parent forum meetings held throughout the year. The objective of Samuel Lucas School Parent Forum is to facilitate positive and effective two way communication between parents and the school, providing a channel for communication, feedback and suggestions for improvement. Specifically to:-
- promote the partnership between school staff, its pupils and its parents/carers
- develop and engage in activities which support the education and welfare of the pupils
- identify and represent the views of the parents on matters affecting the education and welfare of the pupils
Items relating to specific pupils or any concerns regarding teaching and learning should be discussed one to one with the relevant teacher, Deputy Headteacher or Headteacher as appropriate.
Each class has two representatives. The meetings this academic year will be once every term. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 4th December at 2pm.
If you would like to be a class representative and would be able to make the meetings please can you contact the school office.
Any parent can email their class representative and ask them to put items forward for discussion. Email addresses are:
| RECEPTION – LILAC | lilac@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| RECEPTION – WILLOW | willow@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 1 – BIRCH | birch@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 1 – HAZEL | hazel@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 2 – HAWTHORN | hawthorn@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 2 – OAK | oak@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 3 – ASH | ash@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 3 – ELM | elm@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 4 – LARCH | larch@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 4 – PINE | pine@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 5 – WALNUT | walnut@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 5 – MAPLE | maple@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
| YEAR 6 | year6@samlucas.herts.sch.uk |
Payment Reminders for Kingswood & Isle of Wight Year 4 Kingswood Residential Journeys
Just a reminder from the school office that the next payment of £55 is due by 30th November for the Year 4 Kingswood trip and the £45 deposit for the Year 6 Isle of Wight trip is due by 12th November. Both are payable by Wisepay. Thank you!
Parentmail
Parentmail is now our main line of communication with parents. Please check that you are able to log in to your parentmail account. We will now also be sending out consent letters for trips etc. using Parentmail therefore it is imperative that you let the office know if you are having any issues with getting access to the system.
Message from the SLPA (Samuel Lucas Parents’ Association)
Xmas Tree Festival
Thank you for all the footprint penguins, they look fantastic. Completed penguins
can be left in the green box in the School Office porch. If you want to collect your
child’s decorations they will be in the porch at the end of term.
SLPA Events…
Film Night – Film Night will take place on Friday 16th November. We are showing the film ‘Sing’. We have had some troubles with the confirmation emails bouncing back, please bear with us. All slips handed in before 8th November have a ticket. The film times are 3:30-5:30 for Years 1 and 2, and 5:45-7:45 Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Years 1 and 2 will be taken straight in to the film from class at the end of the school day, there is no need to pick your child up at 3:15. Years 3-6, please drop your child at the Lilac classroom gate. All children are to be picked up outside Willow and Hazel classrooms.
For Years 3-6, please take coats home with you. There are some spare letters in the School Office on the SLPA cabinet and limited tickets left for the Years 1 and 2 film. Tickets for Yrs 3-6 are sold out!!
The ‘Dreaming of a GREEN Christmas’ Fayre – This will be held on Saturday 8th December from 11:30-2. Please look out for the letter that will be coming out this week with more information. Your generous support of your time and donations is what makes this event a success, so we thank you in advance. We desperately need 1 or 2 volunteers to be Santa!! Please be in touch if you can help.
Other…
Meetings:
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 13th November at the Angels on Bedford Road at 8pm. We are a mostly new SLPA team doing this for the first time, so please come along, we NEED YOU!
And Finally…
If you do have any feedback for us or want to know any information about us you can contact us on the following email address: enquiries.slpa@gmail.com.
The SLPA
School Uniform
Just a reminder that children may only wear boots to school if there is inclement weather and must bring a pair of school shoes to change into. Please make sure your child has a pair of trainers in school to wear at break times as we are encouraging the children to be active outside.
Don’t forget you can follow the school on Twitter – @SamlucasJMI
Look out for our poppy display in Hitchin town centre!
