https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-6 – Have a look at this website which recommends 50 books to read in Year 6.
Please find below this academic years archive of Parent Letters:
Leavers Hoodies and T-Shirts 2025
Nursery Visits for September 2025
As part of the school’s planning for emergencies, parents are reminded that incidents that necessitate school closure include such things as extreme weather and loss of essential electrical, water or heating services. Details of school closures will be texted to parents via Arbor. Please ensure we have your correct contact details.
They will also be displayed on the front page of the school website. On days when the weather conditions are poor but the school is open, parents are advised to walk to school if possible.
We hope you appreciate that the decision to close is never made lightly, as the safety and welfare of our children, school staff and parents/carers is of paramount importance, and no one would like to see this compromised.
In the event of closure due to snow, local radio stations will provide updated information on school closures. There will be information on the Hertfordshire County Council website after 7.45am. at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/ .
We will do our best to open unless travel is deemed to be unsafe.
We will be making the most of the snow if we have any, so make sure the children are wrapped up warm!
Please do not call the school office until you have checked all of the above. Unless we have stated otherwise school will be open.
Pupils in School Council and Year 6 have been discussing their understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development at Aycliffe Drive Primary School.
Please read their ideas shared below.
Breakfast club – Please click for more information
We currently offer the following clubs:
Mindfulness Exercise Club for KS2 – Tuesdays 3.00pm-4.15pm
KS1 Choir – Wednesdays 3.00pm-4.00pm.
Reception Dance Club – Wednesday 3.00pm-4.00pm.
If your child would like to join any of these clubs, please contact the school office. Please note, these clubs require payment.
The school is currently looking into the possibility of having an after school, wrap around care club. Parents will be asked to complete a survey to provide us with more information in regards to amount of interest. We will keep parents updated with this.
A cooked lunch or school packed lunch is available, prepared in our own kitchen, and we would certainly recommend that
your child take advantage of this facility. The children are offered good quality food which they will enjoy and which also reflects the national healthy eating agenda for the future. All menus are nutritionally analysed to help children make balanced meal choices. Care is taken to provide a choice each day to cater for all diets and tastes.
We have recently changed our dinner system to School Grid. Parents are able to log in and order meals for their child from the Herts Catering menu, online, in advance. There will be 3 choices of meals each day (usually a meat option, vegetarian option and a roll option). When a child starts the school, an email will be sent to the parent to sign up and make an account for School Grid. Parents must log in to order meals, otherwise children will be expected to have a home packed lunch with them. Meals can be ordered, weeks, terms or months in advance. Special menu days, e.g. Christmas Lunch must also be ordered through School Grid. It is also the parents responsibility to ensure meals are cancelled if their child is absent. If your child is in Key Stage 2 and not entitled to Free School Meals, credit must be on the account to be able to order meals (meals are charged at £3.30 per day). Please note, all meal payments are done on School Grid and we do not accept cash/cheques.
If your child has any allergies, please contact the school office as a special menu application will need to be made to Herts Catering. This menu will then be uploaded to School Grid so meals can be ordered.
Parents/ carers who think that they may be eligible for free meals should visit the Herts Direct website.
Our kitchen was given an overall rating of 5 which is very good for National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
Some parents/carers prefer their child to bring a packed lunch. Please note that we promote healthy eating – chocolate bars and fizzy drinks are not permitted in lunch boxes.
PLEASE NOTE – we are a nut free school. This means no children are allowed to bring any kind of nuts into school, including nut spreads, e.g. nutella, etc.
Please contact the school office for more information.
We know that a child’s attendance has a direct impact on their learning. Those children who are regularly absent from school and regularly attend school late do not achieve their potential and do fall behind in class and may struggle with friendships. Please support the school in this by ensuring that your child attends school regularly and arrives ready to learn at 8.30am.
Please read the Hertfordshire Parent Guide Herts-parent-guide-for-FPN.337168087
Total time in a typical week, including breaks, is 32.5 hours.
As you are all aware, Covid-19 has had a massive impact on pupil’s education across the country. With the effects that Covid-19 has had on children’s education and mental health, it is more important than ever that we try to improve attendance in our school. In order to close any gaps that children may have developed because of the pandemic we need every child in school learning.
We carry out First Day Response. This means that if your child is absent you need to contact the school on the first morning of absence. If no contact is made, then somebody from the office will telephone to request a reason for the absence. Please also inform the office if you know in advance that your child will be absent for medical appointments.
However, please do not send them in if they have an infectious illness, e.g. chickenpox. (Please take advice from your GP) If your child has had diarrhoea or been sick, they must be kept off school for 48 hours from the last incident. This is to ensure that the infection does not spread through the school. If you are unsure if your child can attend school, please contact the school office for further information on 01442 973174.
If your child is off from school, please confirm their absence in writing. Your Child’s absence will only be authorised once confirmation in writing has been received. If your child has below average attendance, you may be asked to provide medical evidence to ensure that the absence is authorised.
Regular attendance also means punctual attendance, it is important for you children to arrive on time; late arrival is disruptive to the class and upsetting for the children concerned. Please ensure that your child arrives in good time for registration.
We are actively encouraging children to attend school regularly through our attendance scheme where children receive certificates for 100% or high attendance and a movie afternoon at the end of the year. Every week an attendance cup is awarded to the class which has the highest attendance This year we have set an attendance target at 97% and we need to work really hard to meet this year’s target. If you have any issues or concerns that you feel may be impacting your child’s attendance please contact us on 01442 973174 or email admin@aycliffedrive.herts.sch.uk.
Children should not be taken out of school for holidays or days out during term time. However, if this is unavoidable, then a permission form needs to be obtained from the office. The head teacher will be unable to give permission if this coincides with your child’s SATs tests (year 6 only) which take place in May. Absence from school will only be authorised in extreme circumstances in line with Government guidelines.
If a holiday is taken without request or authorisation, a Penalty Notice Fine may be issued to the Parents/Carers on their return.
Make every school day count!!!
Aycliffe Drive is proud of its identity and children do wear the uniform when they move into the Reception class. We encourage the wearing of the uniform or at least the colours in the Nursery. Please check with your child’s class teacher if your child need a pair of indoor and outdoor shoes.
Our school uniform consists of:
Please note: the school uniform does not need to have our school logo on and plain uniform can be purchased from most supermarkets. If you wish to purchase uniform with the school logo on, please order from yourschooluniform.com
Second-hand uniform can be purchased at PTA events, such as the summer fair.
In addition for summer use:
Children in KS2 wear ties which can be purchased from the school office;
You can also purchase in the office:
Badges if lost:
We expect the children to look smart and conform to the uniform at all times. This includes the wearing of school badges and the tying back of long hair. Hair should not be dyed or cut with logos. Children should not come to school with nail varnish or tattoos.
Please mark EVERYTHING with the child’s name, as unmarked items are rarely returned to the owner.
The school reserves the right to decide whether or not clothing or other articles brought into school are appropriate for a place of education. e.g. shoes with laces must only be worn if the child can tie their own laces. If a child can not tie laces and brings shoes with laces to school, it becomes a health and safety risk.
The Governors have decided, for safety reasons, that jewellery and other items of value should not be brought into school. If your child has pierced ears, only small studs are permitted and must be covered by micropore tape. Discrete watches may be worn but we cannot accept responsibility if they are misplaced or broken.
Mobile phones are only permitted for Year 6 pupils who walk home on their own. The phones MUST be switched off as soon as the child enters the school premises. The child must hand their phone to their class teacher/teaching assistant when coming into class, the teacher/teaching assistant will then lock the phones away until the end of the day and return them to children on their way out of school. Due to restricted security facilities, the school cannot take responsibility for mobile phones.
Children do indoor PE in bare feet but will need plimsolls or trainers for outdoors. These should be kept in school at all times along with a pair of black shorts and a white polo shirt. These items can be stored in a shoe bag. These bags are available for sale in the school office at £2.20 each.
Our youngest children find it comforting to have a change of their clothing in school, in case of “accidents”.
Please follow the link below for this years Term Dates for the academic year.
Term Dates 2024-2025 (updated September 2024)
At Aycliffe Drive we wish for our pupils to be able to make a contribution to the school as a whole and have a forum to air their thoughts and suggestions. To this effect we have set up the school council. This group consists of two elected students from each class, one girl and one boy and led by Miss Johnson. There is a link Governor attached to the school council who also attends the meetings. The children meet once a month and are encouraged to put forward suggestions and ideas from their perspective. Minutes are taken and Miss Johnson then takes any necessary action. The student representatives then feed any outcomes back to pupils.
Some of the changes the school council has been able to make have been on recycling in school, ideas for charity events and feeding back to the children.
Birch – Eliana and Jude
Sycamore – Ace and Zoe
Chestnut – Noah and Olivia
Laurel – Ava and Dillon
Willow – Klaes and Arya
Hawthorn – Ellie and Ethan
Maple – Kae’Shaun and Jazmin
Oak – Olly and Sofia
Redwood – Frankie and Emily
Birch – Chester
Sycamore – Jeremiah
Chestnut – Tanisha
Laurel – Gabriella
Willow – Alyssa
Hawthorn – Austin
Maple – Adela
Oak – Lucas
Redwood – Lainey
