Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you are well and have had a good week in the late summer sunshine.

What a week it has been here at De Hav! I have to start by extending a massive thank you to our incredible staff and parents who came out for our Bingo Night on Wednesday. Together, we raised over £1,300 for our OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) programme, and, importantly, shared a brilliant evening as a community. The true unsung hero of the night is Miss Colyer, who worked relentlessly to organise everything and get everyone excited. She is easily one of the most humble people I know, and while I know she never looks for praise, I hope she’ll forgive me for shining the spotlight on her here. Since stepping into the OPAL lead role, she has momentum truly building. I know I speak for our whole school community when I share our appreciation for the endless time, passion, and energy both Miss Colyer and Miss Sorano have poured into transforming our lunchtimes for the children.

We kicked off the week with our annual 'Meet the Teacher' evenings, featuring presentations across Years 1 - 6 outlining what to expect in the year ahead. A sincere thank you to everyone who joined us! I particularly enjoyed speaking to some of our Year 6 parents to hear how the term has started and get an update on the secondary school transition process. If you were not able to make it, all presentations are being uploaded to the website. Please be sure to check your child's year group page for those key updates.

We have also had several visitors to the school. Firstly, on Tuesday, Key Stage Two welcomed Jenny from Herts Young Homeless into school for an informative assembly about the charity and the important work that they do within our community. The assembly allowed the children the opportunity to gain an understanding about the signs of youth homelessness and how mediation and communication can help to prevent this from occurring. Year Six then had the opportunity to get hands on in an anger management workshop, where disagreements were discussed and how best to deal with these in a way to prevent emotions from running high. As ever, we are grateful to have had the opportunity to form a partnership with a local support service. 

On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield, who led an inspiring 'Building Futures' assembly for our Key Stage Two children. The visit was all about raising aspirations and shaping future careers, completely free of party politics. He left hugely impressed by the children's behaviour and thoughtful, curious questions. A special mention goes to our Learner Voice Council, who did a fantastic job leading a dedicated Q&A session with him afterwards. We look forward to our next Building Futures assembly with an Arctic explorer in a few weeks' time. 

I wish you all a very pleasant weekend,

Mr Bostock

Headteacher