Please be reminded that the sports days that were due to take place this week have been postponed. 

The new dates for our sports days will be in the morning on the following dates: 
 
Upper School - Friday 13th June 9.00am-12.00pm 
Lower School – Friday 27th June 9.00am-12.00pm 

With a backup date of Thursday 17th July should either date need to be cancelled again. If this date is needed, the sports day will take place in the morning unless both have been cancelled where we will use both the morning and afternoon. 

Although we have allowed 9.00am-12.00pm for the sports days, they may finish earlier than this (but not later) especially if the races are over quickly! Parents can come round to the field after drop off. The gates closest to St Nicholas Church will remain closed but unlocked during sports day for anyone who will be arriving after 9.00am. All children must go to class first to register as normal and then will be brought out to the school field for sports day. We know that not all parents are able to attend in school events so we will be taking some photos which will be uploaded to Seesaw.  

A reminder of your child’s house colour has been sent via email. Ideally, children will participate in their house teams so please can they wear a t-shirt in their house colour if possible.  Please do not worry if your child does not have an item of clothing in their house colour. We do not expect parents to purchase anything. We have bibs for anyone who hasn't got a top in their colour. 

School will be selling light refreshments and baseball caps so please bring cash with you. Please make sure your child has their water bottle with them. 

Toilets will be signposted - for safeguarding reasons, please ensure you follow the signs to our 'visitor' toilets. 

Feedback from last year’s sports day: 
Last year, we asked parents for their feedback on the sports day and I wanted to come back to that this year. It was mentioned that the marathon was too long for some children. The marathon will be kept to 2 laps again this year but this event is aimed at long distance runners and any child participating knows how far they will be running. Some people asked if they could provide their own seating – particularly for those with disabilities. We do bring the biggest chairs we have available but appreciate these aren’t aimed at adults. Parents are welcome to bring their own chairs but we would ask that these are put at the back or to the side of our seating. Please do not rearrange the seating we have provided. We would also politely request that spectators remain seated to allow those at the back to watch the events. Please can I also ask that gazebos are not brought into school for the sports days. Last year, we borrowed a PA system from a local school and unfortunately this did not work. We have another one this year and are hopeful you will be able to hear us this year! 

Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be hosting this workshop to give parents the opportunity to discuss any worries or concerns they have around online safety (and mobile phones in particular). Like you, we are not experts but it is a good opportunity for us to look at these issues together and come up with some ideas to help support each other. This will take place from 3.30 until 4.30pm on Tuesday 1st July. Children are not permitted to attend this session so we will be offering a creche.

We have seen an increase in requests for absence during term time. We are ambitious for all our children and give the same level of attention to attendance as to other matters concerning wellbeing and achievement in school. Any child whose absence falls below 96% will be monitored and parents may receive a letter from the school inviting you to discuss ways in which we can support families and children to develop better attendance. Of course, we appreciate and understand that sometimes absence is out of parents' control and there may be times where children are not in school because they are too ill to attend. However, if any child is regularly absent through repeated illness then parents may be asked to provide medical evidence to support this. This absence will be recorded as an unauthorised absence should such medical evidence not be provided and not all medical evidence may be accepted. 

A reminder of the changes:  

• The new national threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered.  

• The new rules mean you are no longer able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.  

• There was an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued. 

• If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.  

• If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them 

For more information, please look at the information on our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Attendance+%28including+absence+request+forms%29&pid=225  

As previously mentioned, will be starting a small scale share box which will contain some food items and household necessities (such as toilet rolls/soap/washing up liquid) next week. There will be a labelled box in the quadrant on Tuesdays and Fridays at drop off. Please give generously and feel able to take from it - no judgement.  Please leave non-perishables in it such as baked beans/tuna and be mindful of allergies/unsafe items such as bleach. As always, nut products are not allowed in school. The children will be reminded not to touch. It is only for adults to use.  

The Department for Education recently announced that, from 1 April 2025, the rule protecting pupils’ free school meal entitlement will end for some.  

That means Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) will regularly check pupils’ eligibility to ensure they can still get free school meals. If a pupil is no longer eligible, their free school meals will end from this point. 

Applications approved before 1 April 2025 will remain eligible until the pupil finishes their current phase of schooling – that is:  

• end of Year 6 (when primary ends)  
• end of Year 11 (when secondary ends).  

Once a pupil moves to their new school phase, HCC will regularly check that the pupil is still eligible for free school meals. The checks will start this summer for all children moving from years 6 and 11, plus all applications made after 1 April 2025. HCC will write to you if your child is no longer eligible.  

If you’re experiencing financial difficulty and are seeking support, visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/householdsupportfund or contact www.citizensadvice.org.uk. As always, HCC will run a renewals process during the summer and update schools of continued entitlement. Note - Parents with pupils currently in year 2 moving to year 3 will need to reapply for the new academic year.  

To make an application visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals 

Please ensure you have read the email sent to parents regarding the year 6 graduation events. Tickets are available on the Arbor School Shop now. I am so pleased that so many of you have already ‘ordered’ your tickets. Please be reminded, the deadline is Friday 27th June.  
Monday 14th July - 6S  
Tuesday 15th July – 6B 
Wednesday 16th July - 6C  

As you will have noticed, we have started to use Arbor School Shop for payments.  All payments will now be done through Arbor except for those that are ongoing on School Gateway (i.e Legoland and Crucial Crew for year 6 and Shuttleworth for year 4). 

Please note that when using the school shop, you won't be sent an email or confirmation of your purchase, but you can see which items you've been invoiced for. 
 
A guide is available if you need help with purchasing from the school shop: https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/5068444710813-Purchasing-School-Shop-items-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App