Issue 24 - 22nd March 2024
Dear Families,
Spring has sprung! It has been lovely to see some sunshine this week and I wanted to share a picture of some of the daffodils we have on our grounds. Hopefully they put a smile on your face as they did mine!
With the end of term fast approaching, I wanted to give parents some advance warning of diary dates for the summer term.
Relationship and Health Education – Parent Meetings April 2024
Year 4, 5 and 6 will be teaching RHE in the summer term. It is part of our policy to offer parents the opportunity to ask questions and view the resources that will be used in lessons, the vast majority of which is statutory. These meetings will be held online via Teams and links will be sent to parents closer to the dates.
Monday 15th April - Year 4 - 4.00pm - 4.30pm.
Tuesday 16th April - Year 5 - 4.00pm - 4.30pm.
Wednesday 17th April - Year 6 - 4.00pm - 4.30pm.
Year 6 SATS
Monday 13th- Thursday 16th May
Year 4 Multiplication check (2 week window)
From Monday 3rd June
Sports Day (exact times TBC but likely to be 9.00-11.00)
Thursday 6th June – Lower School
Thursday 13th June – Upper School
Therapeutic Behaviour Workshop for Parents – led by Mrs Burgess
Tuesday 11th June – 2.00-3.00pm in school and 6.30-7.30pm online
See below for more information on therapeutic thinking.
Year 6 Graduation Events – 2.00-4.00pm
Monday 15th July - 6S
Tuesday 16th July – 6B
Wednesday 17th July - 6C
We will also be planning a reading event for parents for next term. Watch this space.
Please remember, all clubs have now finished for this term. The last day of term is on Thursday 28th March and we finish at 12.30pm. Please note, there will be cold lunch options only on this day (cheese and ham). Please help us by clearing any dinner money debt by the end of term. Thank you.
Have a good weekend.
Emma Fordham
Headteacher
Key Messages
Sponsored read – over £1000!
A HUGE thank you to everyone who took part in the sponsored read. I am delighted to tell you we raised over £1000! This money will be spent on new books for our school.
Litter Pick
Along with Stevenage Borough Council’s Environment team, children from Almond Hill, Mrs Fordham, Mr Browne, Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Osborne (who had popped along to say hello to 4O) supported Keep Britain’s Tidy’s national campaign 'The Great British Spring Clean’ this week by participating in a litter pick in our local community.
Make up
We have noticed that some children in the upper school have been wearing make up to school. Please note, this is not allowed.
School Photos
Your school photo images are now live and ready to view/purchase.
THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: WEDNESDAY 27TH MARCH 2024
Any orders placed after the set deadline will be subject to postage and packaging charges with delivery direct to your home address. For any issue regarding Online Ordering Access Codes, please contact the school office who will have this information available on their systems and will be able to assist you. Should anyone have trouble in placing an order, they can contact DSP directly via email dspenquiries@gmail.com
Therapeutic Thinking
Therapeutic Thinking is a behaviour management approach which focuses on all behaviour being a form of communication. The basis is that we need to 'analyse' children's behaviour for what they are not saying and put into place support for them in order that they can thrive and develop not only academically but socially & emotionally too. The ethos is that we teach kids to read, do maths, swim and we also need to 'teach' them what positive behaviour looks like. It has to be explicitly taught so we can't bribe with extrinsic rewards as we want children to be able to make good choices for themselves (intrinsic) even when we are not there.
When children feel negative, it is harder to make good choices. It's like when we're tired, hungry, stressed we are not the best versions of ourselves. So in order for some children to be able to make better choices we need to help them feel better about themselves by giving them more positive, pro-social experiences.
The theory is underpinned by ACES (Adverse childhood experiences), attachment and being Trauma aware and how all these things can impact on children. Research shows for it to work, it has to be a whole school approach and needs to be embedded in policy. Consistency is key so children get the same experiences from all staff which makes them feel safe and secure at school.
Everyone makes mistakes and when children get it wrong we focus on repair, reflect, restore strategies such as reflection & restorative conversations to help them make a better choice next time.
Attendance
Year 3 94.61%
Year 4 94.81%
Year 5 96.56%
Year 6 90.9%
Class Winners - 5P 97.2%
All Students 94.32%
The government expectation for attendance is 96%
Almond Hill Achievements
Click the button below to see all the wonderful things our children have achieved outside of school.
Upcoming FOAH Events
FOAH Movie Night – Wonka
Inspired by the Oscars and with Easter fast approaching, Friends of Almond Hill have arranged a movie night for Year 3 and 4 students on Tuesday 16th April and Year 5 and 6 students on Tuesday 23rd April. Screening Wonka, the origin story of Roald Dahl’s quirky chocolatier, children will be treated to movie goers’ firm favourite of popcorn and a drink. Tickets are £5 per person and must be purchased in advance on School Gateway by 27th March. There can be no exceptions as we have to write risk assessments based on attendees so please do prioritise getting a ticket if this is important to your child. It may seem a long way in the future but two weeks of that is Easter holidays when staff won’t be available. Please note this film is classified PG and teaching staff will be present throughout the film. Children should be collected at 5.15pm from the school hall on screening days.
In Other News
Rocksteady
A huge well done to our Rocksteady bands for a wonderful performance on Tuesday.
Please take a look at the flyer below to find out more information about Rocksteady who offer fun and inclusive in-school rock and pop band lessons. Children can choose to play the guitar, drums, bass or keyboard or they can even be on vocals!
Rocksteady Flyer
Handball
Our Year 5 Handball team showed great enthusiasm and teamwork during their tournament on Wednesday last week. The team could not have tried harder to win a match and were determined throughout. The goals that both Dylan (5P) and Dylan (5S) scored were down to great passing and a real team effort in defence, as well as in attack. It was wonderful to see some pupils representing Almond Hill for the first time and show such a great attitude. Some huge goalkeeping efforts from Ronnie, Daisy and Dylan (5P).
Players' Player: Ronnie
Coach's Player: Daisy
Well done to the whole team!
Bags of Character
Year 5 were lucky enough to attend a workshop run by Premier called Bags of Character on Wednesday. The children worked on their social and resilience skills. They were skipping as a group, trying to get on a mat that kept getting smaller and smaller and directing each other whilst one of them was wearing a blind fold. The children showed great determination, communicated clearly with one another and persevered.
Bird Boxes
In our ongoing efforts to support our local wildlife, Mr Browne has kindly put some bird boxes up around the school grounds - fingers crossed we might get some birds nesting soon🤞ECO Committee.
Purple Day
On Tuesday, 26th March we will be supporting ‘Purple Day’. Children are welcome to wear one item of purple clothing/accessory to school on this day. This is not a non-uniform day. If they choose to wear a purple top for example, the remainder of their outfit should be school uniform. There is no need to bring money in for the event, we would like to raise awareness about epilepsy. To find out more about the campaign, please take a look at the following website: https://www.purpleday.org/
On Tuesday, 26th March we will be supporting ‘Purple Day’. Children are welcome to wear one item of purple clothing/accessory to school on this day. This is not a non-uniform day. If they choose to wear a purple top for example, the remainder of their outfit should be school uniform. There is no need to bring money in for the event, we would like to raise awareness about epilepsy. To find out more about the campaign, please take a look at the following website: https://www.purpleday.org/
