At Almond Hill we believe in the all round development of the children and aim to provide a wide range of activities to encourage this. Many clubs are organised by teachers, parents and through our links with the Sporting Futures Team after school and at lunchtime. Sometimes, clubs are arranged through external providers.
Most after school clubs finish at 4:15pm. A register is taken at the start of each club and children should inform the club teacher if they are going to be absent. For children in school teams, matches are arranged after school. Details of clubs will be published to parents and children at the start of each term.
The staff at Almond Hill provide a wide range of extra curricular clubs that run at either lunchtime or after school. Most of of our clubs are organised by teachers and teaching assistants. We try to organise clubs in response to the children's interests resulting in a wide variety ranging from early morning sport to a home learning club.
We also have clubs that are run by Premier Sports and these take place at lunch time and after school and are paid for by the school.
Lindsey Pollard Dance School runs cheerleading on a Wednesday morning (8.00-8.45am) and street dance on a Wednesday after school and is available for all year groups. Please book directly using the following website: www.lindseypollarddance.com
Dance with Dani is delivered by Dani, Miss Simmons's daughter who lives and breathes dance! In addition to her experience teaching Year 7 dancers, she has Dance A-Levels and every year she choreographs the year 6 dance performances for the graduation video Dance with Dani is held on Tuesdays in the school hall. The morning class (8:00 - 8:45) is for children in Year 3 - Year 6. Here children will learn 'Gym and Dance' routines to upbeat and fun music. This class is for all abilities and while focused on dance is also very much about fun and fitness. Boys and girls welcome! The after school club is also on Tuesdays from 3:15 - 4:15 and is an 'Advanced Dance' club for Year 5/6 children only. In this class we will learn new dances to a range of genres including jazz, lyrical, street dance and modern. You do not have to be 'an amazing' dancer but if you love to dance, like to learn new things and perform to great music, this is the class for you. Boys and girls both welcome. Dani is working with the children on a dance for the upcoming Christmas talent show! Very exciting!
Each class is only £5 and payable half termly through the 'classmanager' website. Link: https://my.classmanager.com/dance-with-dani
Football is run by Will and his team. Year 3 and 4 is on Mondays and Year 5 and 6 is on Tuesdays after school. Sessions are £7 each.
If you are interested in organising a club, please contact the school office. Running a school club is subject to DBS clearance and suitable qualifications.
Day outings to places of interest are arranged to support studies in the classroom.
School journey is regarded as an important feature in a child’s development. In Year 6, children are offered the opportunity to stay at Grafham Water for three days of outdoor and adventurous activities.
For those who wish to take up an instrument to further their learning, lessons are available for which a charge is made. These lessons may include: guitar and violin and RockSteady. All music lessons at Almond Hill combine learning with enjoyment. Music features regularly in weekly assembly, and special music concerts which are held to celebrate the children’s achievements. Parents pay for music lessons unless they are exempt (see remissions) and are expected to make a commitment of at least a year’s tuition.
Our wrap around care is provided by Premier Education who provide a premium Ofsted-registered wraparound care facility. They are passionate about offering high quality out-of-school-hours care for primary school children, to create an outstanding service for busy parents. Details of the courses available are published on the school website.
Only children attending Almond Hill Junior School are eligible to attend the before and after school. Provision can be booked online before 12pm on the day of the booking.
The school are unable to book sessions for you, they should be booked directly through the Premier website: www.premier-education.com/parents
Page last checked: October 2025
It's a new school year and that means new classes, teachers and students! Join us as we have a spooky issue coming up! In this newspaper we have: extraordinary matching halloween costume ideas for solos, duos and trios; fun and delicious recipes for some tasty treats and a detailed KPop description! Read on to see more...
From the new editor, Emelia :)
Our Young Carers enjoyed decorating biscuits at our most recent club.
Dear Readers,
We are at our final term of the year and very soon, Year 6 will move on to Year 7. We have a
seasonal poll to discover your favorite drink to keep cool during these sweltering times. In
this issue, we have elephants, diversity and summer crafts. This will be my final editorial piece
for journalism club as I am leaving Almond Hill shortly. I hope that the next generation of Year
6s can follow a great legacy!
Always, Finn
As our netball season comes to end an end, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come to a training session or played a game for us. We have learnt a lot from being in the league and played some excellent games. I know the scores have not always been in our favour but we have not let our heads drop and have been driven to improve. Thank you for your commitment and passion and also, thank you to all the adults who have supported us. A special shout out to our Year 6's who I hope will go on to continue to play at their new schools. - From Miss Wase
On Wednesday, Mrs Goddard and Mrs Cleaves accompanied the choir to the Gordon Craig Theatre for a day's rehearsal for the upcoming Stevenage School Festival that evening. Mrs Fordham joined Mrs Cleaves for the evening performance, which was a highly entertaining medley of pop favourites, orchestral pieces, a few upbeat tunes from Sing Up and some audience participation activities. Well done to the children whose behaviour was excellent as they represented Almond Hill proudly. Also, a huge ‘thank you’ to Mrs Cleaves for supporting the children in this extra-curricular opportunity – not to mention the numerous rehearsals at lunchtime to ensure the children were concert ready.
Our talented Year 3 children proudly showcased the artwork they created during Art Club. We were delighted to welcome their grown-ups to view the impressive masterpieces on display. Each week, the children explored new artistic mediums—many for the very first time—and their growing confidence shines through in every piece.
ECO club has got off to a great start this term and the committee members have been working hard to promote a greener, more sustainable planet. Our first campaign was 'Walk to School Week' and the children raised awareness by making posters and creating a video to share with the wider school. We have also been busy growing our very own tomato plants - observing the process from sowing the tiny seeds to feeding our little plants to keep them strong and healthy. To encourage biodiversity in our school grounds, we have also made bird feeders and have been topping these up regularly for our local bird community!
The journalists have made me very proud this week. They are a really hardworking, reliable bunch who turn up every Wednesday lunchtime crafting their articles. This is them in the newsroom this week working hard together. It's been extra tough this half term as time has been so limited but we are still hoping to get Volume 4 Issue 5 out before the deadline. Keep an eye out next week!
On Wednesday Mrs Fordham and journalist club were lucky enough to attend an online zoom call with a real reporter called Lin Taylor. We were given the chance to submit our questions in advance and she talked us through some of her experiences as a journalist that focuses on human rights and inequalities. She gave advice to our budding journalists; look out for Volume 4 Issue 5 at half term of our school newspaper, 'Too Cool for School' where Lily in Year 4 will be revealing all.
Miss Wase and Mrs Small have loved running this club for an enthusiastic and passionate set of netballers. The development we have seen across the weeks has shown how well they have listened and applied everything they have learnt. It has been particularly great to have our first set of boys attend (and see some play their first competitive match); the boys bring another brilliant dynamic to the netball court.
French Club with Madame Pridmore
Week 1 – Introduction
French club expectations and rules.
Everyone has their own scrap book that they will be allowed to take home when the club finishes.
We talked about anything anyone might like to learn.
We made a collage into the shape of the French map.
Week 2 – Cuisine francaise – French Food
The children loved our tasting session and decorating some sponge cakes to look like the French flag.
Week 3 – Les numbres – numbers
One of our French club members asked if we could count to 100.
We also played French bingo!
Week 4 – Les couleurs – colours.
The children drew around their hands and started to paint and label some colours in French.
Week 5 – Geography
We looked at all the different French speaking countries around the world (francophones)and labelled a world map.
Week 6 – Les animaux (animals)
We looked at 10 different pets.
Week 7- La Culture
Today we used the Ipads to research famous French people and made posters.
We then watched The Polar Express and talked about some French Vocabulary.
Week 8 – Festivals
Today we looked at what French might be like in France and made some French Christmas cards.
Year 4 are loving the Tuesday cooking club!
They've made pizzas, cornflake crispies and fruit crumbles so far! They're learning about food hygiene, to measure, chop, peel, mix and about seasonality. They're also trying things like some vegetables that they may not have tried before.
We have now painted our ornaments. We used acrylic paints and gold to highlight the leaf design.
We have also made 'nature frames'.
We used card and Sellotape to create a sticky frame and arranged leaves, berries and flowers to build a picture. You can pre-make one of these frames before going for a walk and collect items to display on the way.
What a lovely first art club with members of Year 3 and 4. They used flowers and leaves to create an imprint into clay. Next week these will be painted to create beautiful ornaments.
During the summer term, our school choir took part in World Sing Up Day. We spent a few weeks learning this year's song, 'I Belong.' To be part of the world digichoir, we had to send in a recording of us performing the song. The final production of the song was released on YouTube this week. Choirs from all over the world are in the video and the Almond Hill Choir is there too! We are very proud to be included in something so amazing.
Read the blog post and watch the video here:
https://www.singup.org/blog/article/1473-the-sing-up-day-2024-digichoir-is-here/
Dear Readers,
Another half term is ending, and a lot has happened. In this issue we will cover PANCAKE DAY, animals, violin facts and more. Are you a Harry Potter fan? Because we are covering a lot of the Wizarding World in this issue – this includes facts, quizzes and spells!
Many thanks,
Editor in Chief
Hana
