Newsletters

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Issue 11 - 21st November 2025

Published 20/11/25

Dear Families,

It is election time at Almond Hill! Each year, our children vote to elect a Prime Minister and government. Year 6 pupils are invited to form their own ‘parties’ and campaign for votes across the school. As part of the process, every party creates a set of pledges which they commit to promoting throughout the year.

Our Year 6 parties did a fantastic job canvassing for votes and speaking confidently in assembly about their promises. I am delighted to announce that this year’s winners are the Flippin’ Frogs (who will be unveiling a slightly revised name next week for obvious reasons!).

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Our Other Party Posters...

Kindness of the week - Mrs Fordham couldn’t locate the 'kindness jar!' This has now been found so this will be reinstated next week!

Key Messages

The Anxious Generation: Why I Think This Is an Important Read for Parents

I’d love to recommend a book that has really stayed with me: The Anxious Generation by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Many of us have noticed how different childhood feels today compared with even a decade ago, and Haidt explores this shift with clarity, compassion and solid research.

The book looks at the rise of smartphones, social media, and the increasing pressure on children to stay safe at all times—and how these changes may be affecting young people’s confidence, wellbeing and ability to navigate the world. Instead of the active, playful, social childhoods many of us remember, today’s children are growing up in a digital-first environment that can quietly shape how they think, feel and relate to others.

What I appreciated most is that Haidt doesn’t lecture or blame parents. Instead, he gives practical, realistic ideas for helping children thrive—both online and offline. He encourages us to reflect on the role of technology, consider steps like limiting smartphones in school, and think creatively about how we can give children more freedom, play, and real-world connection.

I want to be clear: this isn’t about telling anyone how to parent. But as someone raising teenagers myself, I found the book eye-opening. I honestly wish I had discovered it when my children were younger. If you’ve ever wondered why so many young people seem more anxious these days—or if you’re simply looking for guidance in a tech-heavy world—this book is well worth your time.

I hope some of you will find it as thought-provoking and reassuring as I did.

Expert by Experience

On Tuesday 11th November, year 5 and 6 welcomed Emma, an 'expert by experience', who gave an assembly on her experiences of going through primary and secondary school with autism, scoliosis, learning disabilities and social anxiety. She spoke to the children about what makes her different and the pros and cons of this. She spoke about her positive and negative experiences at school and how her role now is to help other children with special educational needs and disabilities to have a more positive schooling experience. The children listened really respectfully and asked some interesting questions at the end. A massive thank you to Emma for coming in and speaking to our pupils and teaching us lots of new information as well as reminding us that it's okay to be different. 

Miss Porter

Reverse Advent Calendar

Thank you to our families who have already begun supporting our 'Reverse Advent Calendar' project which is being led by year 5. Just as a reminder, for the rest of this month we are accepting donations which we will pass on to Foodshed who are a local food bank that support people in need in our community. If you are able, please send your child into school with donations such as: dried goods (pasta, rice, instant noodles etc.), tinned goods (vegetables, fruit, beans, custard, rice pudding etc.), hygiene products (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, nappies etc.), sweet treats for the festive period (chocolate, biscuits, mince pies) or small presents (colouring pencils, books, card games). Please ensure all food donations have a long enough shelf life to last until the end of December. Thank you so much for supporting this fantastic cause.

Miss Porter 

Dance with Dani at Almond Hill!

Looking for a dance club that’s full of energy, fun and fantastic moves? There are still spaces - so book now for this term! Dance with Dani is taught by none other than Dani, Miss Simmons’ daughter, who lives and breathes dance! With Dance A-Levels, experience teaching Year 7 dancers and the creator behind the amazing Year 6 graduation video performances each year, Dani brings passion, skill and tons of enthusiasm to every session.
🌟 Morning Club: Gym & Dance (Year 3– Year 6) Tuesdays - 8:00–8:45am
Start the day with a burst of energy! In this upbeat, high-fun class, children will learn exciting ‘Gym and Dance’ routines to lively music. Perfect for all abilities, this club blends fitness, creativity, and pure enjoyment. Boys and girls welcome!
💫 After-School Club: Advanced Dance (Year 5 – Year 6) Tuesdays - 3:15–4:15pm
Designed for children who love to dance and want to explore new styles! From jazz and lyrical to street and modern, dancers will learn a range of genres and build confidence with every session. You don’t have to be an expert — just enthusiastic and ready to move! Boys and girls welcome!

Dates for this term:
Tuesday November 25th
Thursdsay 4th December
Tuesday December 9th

What some of our children have said about the clubs:

'I like dancing with Dani because she teaches us a certain routine step by step and makes it really fun and exciting.'

'Dani's dance club is a lot of fun and I really enjoy it. She makes the dances fun and easy and tries to add moves kids like.'

'Dani's dance club is my favourite club of the week (and I do a lot of clubs!) I love the creative dances she creates. We are even doing a showcase!'

'It is really fun! You get to have fun with your friends but also learn some cool dance moves. Dani is really fun and kind, I would recommend it!'

'I really like Dance with Dani because it is advanced so it looks really cool. Also it is really fun and Dani has an energetic way of showing the moves!'

Each class is only £5 and payable half termly through the 'class manager' website.

Link: https://my.classmanager.com/dance-with-dani

Athlete Visit Friday 28th November– Information about Sponsorship

We’re excited to be welcoming a top GB athlete to the school soon with Great Athletes! All pupils will take part in a sponsored fitness circuit led by the athlete, and come home with some important and inspiring lessons learned during a motivational assembly and Q&A session. Not only will the visit connect the pupils with an extraordinary athlete role model but will also help to raise money for new sports equipment that will improve levels of physical activity in our school! You can sponsor your child by visiting: https://sportal.greatathletes.org/events/landing. Alternatively, you can scan the QR code to go directly to the online sponsorship page.

As a thank you, pupils will receive the following thank-you gifts for meeting these milestones:

Raise anything: A5 sheet of motivational stickers

Raise £5 or more: sheet of stickers, plus a blue Great Athletes wristband

Raise £15 or more: all of the above, plus a red wristband with the athlete’s signature

Raise £30 or more: all of the above, plus a signed athlete poster

Please also make sure that your children come to school on the event day with their PE Kits! Thank you in anticipation of creating a terrific and memorable event. Please note: we are not able to take cash sponsorship at school so please use the link or QR code above to sponsor your child.

Please ensure that the sponsorship is completed 1 week after the event has taken place. The QR code will take you to a page where you can set up a fundraising form for your child. When you have set up the parent login, you can use your child’s initials only if you wish on the fundraising form, rather than their full name.

Year 3 Christmas Play - Lights, Camel, Action!

Year 3 have been working hard on their Christmas musical, and we’re excited to share it with you. This is always a very popular event and space in the hall is limited, so we do have some guidelines on tickets:

Tickets

Each family may book 2 tickets for ONE evening performance and 2 tickets for the afternoon performance.

Siblings count as ticket holders and must have their own seat.

Please do not book more than 2 tickets across the evening shows. Extra bookings will be removed to ensure fairness.

Only book what you will use so other families don’t miss out.

Please do not attend without a booked ticket, as we must follow fire and safety regulations.

Tickets are free on the Arbor School Shop and will be available until Monday 24th November at 9.30am.

If tickets remain after this date, we will reopen bookings for extra tickets (first come, first served).

Performance Dates

Wednesday 3rd December: 6.00–7.00pm

Thursday 4th December: 1.30–2.30pm

Thursday 4th December: 6.00–7.00pm

Costumes

Teachers will let children know their part and suggest simple costume ideas.

No one is expected to buy a costume. Anything simple from home is fine – even a Christmas jumper or school clothes.

All children are expected to attend every performance, even if their family does not have tickets for that showing. The musical includes Christian themes. If you prefer your child not to take part, please email the Year 3 team as soon as possible so they are not given a speaking role. Email: year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

For the evening performances, children will need to be dropped back to the year 3 classroom doors at 5.40pm and collected from the classroom doors at the end of the performance.

Christmas Events Additional Information

Please note, as this is advance notice, the dates and times are subject to change but we will of course only do this if it is unavoidable.

FOAH Christmas Present Room - Tuesday 2nd December

Our FOAH present room will open its doors on Tuesday 2nd December. Online orders will close at midnight on Monday 24th November. All gifts cost £2.50 and there is no limit to the number of gifts purchased. A big thank you to FOAH for organising this event.

Non Uniform Day – Friday 5th December

In exchange for donations for our Christmas Fayre, FOAH have arranged a non-uniform day on Friday 5th December. More information on donation ideas to follow.

Christmas Dinner and Class Parties w/c 8th December

I hope children are looking forward to their Christmas dinner and class party days! This will start w/c 8th December with each year group having their own day! Children can wear Christmas jumpers and/or Christmas accessories on their year group’s day if they would like to. Please don’t feel you need to buy anything for this! If you don’t have anything Christmassy at home (or your child doesn’t want to dress up) non uniform or school clothes is absolutely fine! Please do help our cook to prepare for this very popular event by pre ordering your child’s lunch in advance via SchoolGrid.

Monday 8th December - Year 3
Tuesday 9th December - Year 4
Wednesday 10th December - Year 5
Friday 11th December - Year 6

FOAH Christmas Fayre - Thursday 11th December

Our FOAH parent volunteers have been busy organising a fun and festive fayre for our school community and we can’t wait! This will be hosted after school (3.15-5.00pm) on Thursday 11th December and there will be lots of stalls in Oak House for you to have a look at. More information on this exciting event to follow...

Carols in the Quad - Thursday 11th December

All families are invited to join us for Christmas Carols on the evening of Thursday 11th December starting at 5.00pm straight after the Christmas Fayre. This will take place outside in the quadrant with Mrs Cleaves leading the vocals. As this is outside, there is no need to book a place just turn up, wrap up warm, enjoy a festive treat and sing some carols. A bucket for volunteer donations will be present. Year 4 and 5 will have practised some songs at school.

Year 6 Carol Service at St Nicholas Church - Tuesday 16th December

Year 6 children and our school choir will go to St Nicholas’ church on Tuesday 16th December for their carol service which is one of our favourite Almond Hill traditions. It is always a lovely service and a real pleasure to be a part of. If you are attending, please remember, space in the church only allows for two parents per child. Please don’t arrive until 1.30pm to allow children to arrive and get organised first. We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave first and return to school and collect them from the school in the usual way. They will need to be signed out but may be collected slightly earlier depending on the finish time. Siblings??

Talent Shows - Thursday 18th December

We end the final week with another Almond Hill tradition – our talent shows will take place during the school day on Thursday 18th December. Teachers will be running auditions for children who want to take part and they will be informed by their class teacher if they have been successful. They may bring special props or chosen outfits for their performance. Children in the upper school will perform in the morning and the lower school in the afternoon.

Issue 10 - 14th November 2025
Published 14/11/25

Dear Families,

Our Open Evening was absolutely fantastic! It was wonderful to see the school come alive with visitors, laughter and excitement. The event was a great opportunity to showcase to the community what a fantastic school we are and to share the pride we have in everything we do.

The classrooms looked amazing and each subject area was beautifully presented, highlighting the creativity, hard work and enthusiasm of both staff and students. It truly was a celebration of our school community at its best!

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our Year 6 ambassadors for volunteering their time at our Open Evening last night. They represented our school with great pride and the feedback from visiting parents was overwhelmingly positive. It’s always wonderful to hear kind words about our pupils but it is especially rewarding when those comments come from members of the wider community. Our tour guides this year were truly outstanding – confident, capable and engaging with the many families who visited the school.

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Open Evening 2025

Key Messages

Our Art in the Community

Our art club are taking part in this year’s Stevenage Creative Network art trail in Westgate Shopping Centre. Children have transformed a box into a 3D Christmas present. There are 8 schools taking part including Almond Hill and the boxes will be hidden amongst 8 shop windows. A trail sheet will lead people around the shopping centre to find the presents and collect the letters to win a prize. If you’re in town, why don’t you have a go at the trail and see if you can spot our Christmas present!

Grafham Meeting on Wednesday 19th November 5:30-6:30pm

We would like ALL year 5 parents to attend if possible especially if undecided about their child attending next year. We will be sharing lots of important information including details of payments and deadlines. The meeting will be held online via Microsoft Teams. The meeting will be recorded and shared with parents after.

Microsoft Teams Need help?

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 381 005 266 433 1

Passcode: dK72yR7P

Reading Morning

Once again, I would like to thank parents for attending the reading morning last week. If you would like to provide any feedback for the morning, please do so below. All feedback gratefully received.

School Photos Deadline Reminder

These are now live and ready for you to order. Proof cards have been dispatched to school and will be given out as soon as possible but digital proofs can be viewed online using the codes given out on school photo day.

THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: TUESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2025

Should anyone have trouble in placing an order, they can contact DSP directly via email dsp.enquiries@gmail.com

Flu Vaccinations

For anyone who missed their flu vaccination in school, there is a further clinic scheduled on 29th November 2025 (10:00 – 14:00) and sessions can be booked online.

Location : St Nicholas Community Centre, 59 Canterbury Way, Stevenage SG1 4LJ

Christmas Events

Please note, as this is advanced notice, the dates and times are subject to change but we will of course only do this if it is unavoidable. Further information to follow.

Read More
Issue 9 - 7th November 2025
Published 06/11/25

Dear Families,

This has been a truly wonderful week with lots of opportunities for parental engagement, chances for children to try new things, learn from other people’s experiences and get involved. I cannot thank parents enough for getting behind our Diversity Day on Wednesday. It was wonderful to see such a range of visitors in school talking about race, disability, culture, heritage and all the wonderful things that makes us different. Some children even learnt some sign language. This is what we mean when we talk about diversity at Almond Hill – a way to celebrate and explore our differences. A big thank you to everyone who came along we are extremely grateful.

I was also delighted to see parents at our reading workshop. I hope you found it useful and picked up some tips to help with reading at home. Reading underpins everything in school so we want to ensure children are able to make good progress to help with all of their other learning.

I would also like to congratulate the children who have been swimming in the pop-up pool as many have already made good progress. I hope you have enjoyed your lessons. Please do remember to bring your swimming kit every day as the main reason for success in the pop-up pool is by the intensive lessons they are able to have by swimming daily.

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Hold the door open on 5 different occasions for an adult/child/visitor.

Kindness of the Week

Key Messages

Online Safety

Last year Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews held a drop-in session for parents on the topic of online safety. Although the session was not very well attended (we know parents are busy) they had prepared lots of really useful resources to support parents with a range of online safety issues. There are a significant number of online parental guides available to help families navigate what can be a confusing and risky online world. There are many more for aspects such as broadband and search engines as well as many more resources for different gaming sites, social media platforms and a range of devices. Please take a look at the following website or speak to Mrs Lyons in person if you need any assistance.

https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/?paged=1

Pupil Survey

We carried out a whole school pupil survey in the summer term. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) have reviewed all of the results and made plans for whole school and individual responses. Whilst we are never complacent and there is always work to be done, we were pleased overall with the results where I believe our work in recent years, particularly on diversity and mental health, can be seen to be having a positive impact on the children.

Please do take a moment to look at the results:

Pupil Survey - Summer 2025

Top of the Hill

I know most parents are pretty clued up these days about what Top of the Hill is all about however some have been asking for further information and it can be quite tricky to explain exactly what you need to gain that all important badge because it is all about being the best person you can be and this is slightly different for everyone. I thought it would be a good idea to share with you what we teach the children so you can understand and support your children on their journey. It is truly possible and valuable for all children achieve the Top of the Hill status if they work hard enough at it.

Cut Your Carbon

November is the beginning of Cut Your Carbon month! – a free carbon-cutting challenge, which takes place across November. Last year, 2431 schools and nurseries completed over 200,000 carbon-cutting actions. Together, they saved more than 500,000 kg of CO2E — the equivalent of driving over 2m miles in an average family car! This year, learners can help cut even more carbon by taking the challenge and completing six simple actions at home with their friends and families.

There will be certificates for the children who bring back their completed checklist at the end of this month and we will also be able to calculate, celebrate and action our carbon emissions as a school! Let’s do this Almond Hill Team Eco!

Visitor Feedback

On Tuesday, we had a visit from local Councillor Doug Bainbridge. He was having a look at our school and all the wonderful things we do here. I am really proud to share his feedback with you. It is always brilliant when external visitors can see how fantastic the school and our children are.

‘Thank you allowing me to come in today. It was truly very humbling for me to see those wonderful children and listening to their hopes, dreams and aspirations. I was nearly in tears on more than one occasion. I would love to be a school friend and help in any way I can. Thank you for the best couple of hours I have spent in months’

Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

Our open evening for prospective parents will be on Thursday 13th November where we will welcome lots of families to look at our wonderful school. This is supported by Year 6 children who act as ambassadors for the school and show families round. We always receive positive feedback about this event and are really looking forward to this year’s open evening.

Flu Vaccinations – 2nd Visit

The vaccination team will be in school for a ‘mop up’ visit in the afternoon on Wednesday 12th November. If your child didn’t have their vaccine on the first visit and you haven’t given consent (or declined) click here Vaccination UK Immunisation. The form is available in 10 languages— select yours when it opens.

Reverse Advert Calendar

Year 5 are leading our 'reverse advent calendar' this year again where we collect food to donate to a food bank (Foodshed). A foodbank is for people in need that need food and other items. They need things like canned food, dried food and food that lasts a long time. Some people are amazing because they give food to the homeless and those in need. Please bring in food to your classroom during November to help those in need. Bring in tinned fruit and vegetables, pasta, rice, toilet roll, toothpaste, chocolate, presents like books or pencils and even small toys. Thank you.

Written by Miss Porter and Joey in 5P

CGP Books

If you missed the CGP deadline which was on Monday 3rd Novemebr, you can still order these yourself directly from the supplier https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/ or via Amazon, Waterstones or World of Books.

If you need to check whether we have received your order you can see this on School Shop under ‘Payments’ and then ‘Invoices’. Books will be ordered and sent home to families within the next two weeks.

School Photos

These are now live and ready for you to order. Proof cards have been dispatched to school and will be given out as soon as possible but digital proofs can be viewed online using the codes given out on school photo day.

THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: TUESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2025

Should anyone have trouble in placing an order, they can contact DSP directly via email dsp.enquiries@gmail.com

Advance Notice – Christmas Events

Please note, as this is advanced notice, the dates and times are subject to change but we will of course only do this if it is unavoidable. Further information to follow.

Read More

Issue 8 - 24th October 2025

Published 23/10/25

Dear Families,

WOW! Last night’s discos were fantastic! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I would like to say a big heartfelt thank you to our dedicated FOAH committee for organising yet another lovely event for the children!

I can’t quite believe we have reached the end of the first half term. I am sure children are looking forward to a well earned rest over half term after working hard the last few weeks. When we return from half term, we have a packed schedule ahead, including school trips, sporting activities, festive celebrations and more exciting events from FOAH.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Kindness of the week - Smile at 5 people who you would not normally smile at.

Key Messages

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 31st OCTOBER 2025

Moving on 2026 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2026 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Jungle Gym

We’ve noticed that some children have been playing on the jungle gym and in the wooded area before and after school. While it’s lovely to see everyone enjoying the space and catching up with friends, we do ask that children are closely supervised during these times. Please do not go on the jungle gym when it is wet.

There have been a few occasions where children have reported minor injuries or incidents the following day. To help keep everyone safe, please ensure that your child stays with you and avoids using play equipment before the start of the school day and after school has finished. Thank you so much for your understanding and support in keeping our school community safe and happy!

Mobile Phones

Children should not have phones on or be using them in the school grounds. It is a privilege to bring them to school and children who are using them on the grounds and upsetting others will be required to hand them into and collect from the office.

Amazon Wishlist

We have been really touched by the generosity shown by our families this term. Many of you have been kind enough to buy us items from our wishlist and they are so gratefully received. If you would like to have a look at our wishlist (and maybe make a purchase), the link can be found below. We will be updating this regularly.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3MLS898Q5Y5ML/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

Flu Vaccinations – 2nd Visit

The vaccination team will be in school for a ‘mop up’ visit in the afternoon on Wednesday 12th November. If your child didn’t have their vaccine on the first visit and you haven’t given consent (or declined) click here Vaccination UK Immunisation. The form is available in 10 languages— select yours when it opens.

Reverse Advert Calendar

Year 5 are leading our 'reverse advent calendar' this year again where we collect food to donate to a food bank (Foodshed). A foodbank is for people in need that need food and other items. They need things like canned food, dried food and food that lasts a long time. Some people are amazing because they give food to the homeless and those in need. Please bring in food to your classroom during November to help those in need. Bring in tinned fruit and vegetables, pasta, rice, toilet roll, toothpaste, chocolate, presents like books or pencils and even small toys. Thank you.

Written by Miss Porter and Joey in 5P

Poppy Sales for The Royal British Legion

We will be offering poppies for a donation the week after half term to raise money for The Royal British Legion. The poppies for children are stick on but we do have some with pins. The pin on poppies will not be offered to children but parents are welcome to come and get them from the office if they would like.

External Clubs After Half Term

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

New dates for Autumn 2
Tuesday November 18th
Tuesday November 25th
Tuesday December 2nd
Tuesday December 9th

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

We agreed for external clubs to use our space with the proviso that there were some (limited) funded spaces available for our children. If you feel that cost is a barrier for your child accessing this clubs, please email admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk FAO Mrs Fordham. All emails will be treated confidentially. We have some spaces to offer for Dani’s gym and dance class.

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. Please use the following link to book: https://coaching-wb.classforkids.io/term/3

Dates to Remember After Half Term

CGP Books

Please be reminded, the deadline to order the CGP books is 9.00am on Monday 3rd November. These are available to purchase on the Arbor School Shop.

Diversity Day – Tuesday 4th November

On Tuesday 4th November, Almond Hill will be having a Diversity Day! On this day, children will share and learn lots about all the different things that make them special and diverse and celebrate how wonderful this is. They will learn about many different parts of diversity and make a classroom display too. As part of this, we would love to invite parents/carers/family members of our children in to speak to their child's class about something special about them. We have already had a few volunteers for this so thank you very much! We would love more though! If you are unable to come in yourself, perhaps you could write a few notes for your child to share instead? We're really keen to hear from a diverse range of families.

If you would be free to help us out, please contact the teachers in your child's year group using one of the following emails:

Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

Thank you in advance!

Outdoor Learning Day – Thursday 6th November

On the 6th November, Almond Hill will be taking part in a nationwide Outside Classroom Day initiative. We believe that children should spend more time in the natural environment and use this space to enhance their knowledge and understanding. Children will be spending part of the day outside and will therefore need to be dressed appropriately as the weather turns colder and wetter.

Reading Workshop for Parents – Friday 7th November 9.00-10.30am

On Friday 7th November, we would like to invite you to a 'Reading Workshop' where we will outline our aims and expectations for reading at Almond Hill. During the workshop, we will share the ways in which we teach reading and comprehension, the additional provision that we provide to further develop the children and the information and resources that are available for you to support at home.

The workshop is aimed at all parents of children in Year 3 and 4 and parents of children in Year 5 and 6 whose child is not yet at ‘age related’ in reading.

The workshop will be held in the hall on Friday 7th November 9.00-10.30am and there will be an opportunity to visit some classrooms to see reading lessons in action.

Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

Our open evening for prospective parents will be on Thursday 13th November where we will welcome lots of families to look at our wonderful school. This is supported by Year 6 children who act as ambassadors for the school and show families round. We always receive positive feedback about this event and are really looking forward to this year’s open evening. Look out for more information in the coming weeks.

Advance Notice - Christmas Events

Issue 7 - 17th October 2025

Published 17/10/25

Dear Families,

This Week at Almond Hill
Our Year 5 and 6 children were lucky enough to be invited to Barclay Academy to watch their fantastic production of Annie. A big thank you to Barclay for the invitation and well done to everyone involved in such a wonderful show! Some of our Year 6 children also took part in a Table Tennis competition on Wednesday, and this morning our Year 6s set off for their exciting trip to Grafham.

Looking Ahead to Next Week
All parents are invited to attend a Therapeutic Thinking Workshop to find out more about how we manage behaviour at Almond Hill. We’d love to see as many of you as possible at one of the two sessions – one in person and one online to make this as easy as possible. Please see below for more information.

Children will have their school photos taken on Tuesday. A reminder to our Year 6 pupils that this one will be used for the Yearbook! Our monthly book sale will take place on Wednesday, with lots of great books to choose from at just 50p each – it’s definitely worth a look. Miss Simmons’ Parent Forum will also be held on Wednesday at 6pm via Microsoft Teams. This is a fantastic opportunity to share your views and help influence change at your child’s school, so please do come along if you can.

Finally, the much-anticipated Halloween School Disco is nearly here! We can’t wait to see lots of brilliant costumes and smiling faces on Thursday. Please remember that children will only be admitted if they have a ticket (the deadline to purchase was Wednesday). A huge thank you in advance to the FOAH for organising what’s sure to be a lovely event for the children.

Have a good weekend,

Emma Fordham
Headteacher

Kindness of the week: If someone is hurt, help them.

Dates to Remember After Half Term

CGP Books

Please be reminded, the deadline to order the CGP books is 9.00am on Monday 3rd November. These are available to purchase on the Arbor School Shop.

Diversity Day – Tuesday 4th November

If you would be free to help us out, please contact the teachers in your child's year group using one of the following emails:

Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

Thank you in advance!

Outdoor Learning Day – Thursday 6th November

Reading Workshop for Parents – Friday 7th November 9.00-10.30am

The workshop is aimed at all parents of children in Year 3 and 4 and parents of children in Year 5 and 6 whose child is not yet at ‘age related’ in reading.

The workshop will be held in the hall on Friday 7th November 9.00-10.30am and there will be an opportunity to visit some classrooms to see reading lessons in action.

Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

Advance Notice - Christmas Events

Click to expand

Key Messages

Applying for a Secondary School Place - Deadline: 31st October 2025

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer
Moving on 2026 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2026 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Therapeutic Thinking Parent Workshops

Mrs Burgess and Mrs Wright, our Pastoral Leads, will be running workshops for all parents on Therapeutic Thinking. This is an opportunity for parents to gain an insight into the school's behaviour management approach and how we consider what a child's behaviour might be trying to tell us. They will be hosting 2 sessions.

The first will take place online (via Microsoft Teams) at 6.00pm on Monday 20th October.

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 343 587 956 536 6

Passcode: jn3rU6Vq

The second session will be in the hall at 2.00pm on Tuesday 21st October. Both sessions will last approximately 1 hour.

Please visit our website for more information on Therapeutic Thinking: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Behaviour&pid=177

These are really useful sessions and I would urge parents to join us if they can. We hope to see as many parents there as possible.

Thank you for your generosity

Thank you so much to those parents / carers who have generously donated items on our gift list for our outdoor relaxation space. Plans are afoot and we really appreciate your support.

School Photos

Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 21st October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day. Please ensure your child is in full uniform (ideally with jumper/cardigan). If your child’s class usually has PE on a Tuesday, please can they come to school in school uniform and bring their PE kit to change into.

School Improvement Plan Parent Summary

2024 - 2025 Summary of Objectives

Objectives 2024-25 based on school self- evaluation: July 2024 Yr3-6 assessment outcomes, evaluation of school improvement actions 23/24, consultation with staff and governors, feedback from pupils and parents, May 2021 Ofsted, Attendance data 2023-2024, External visits from HfL HIP and TLAs

Objective		Link to Ofsted RAG rated summary
1.	To support vulnerable learners/disadvantaged groups to ensure progress and achievement including those with SEND and in receipt of PPG with a focus on attendance and provision.	Leadership and Management/Overall Effectiveness Achievement of targets related to attendance for vulnerable groups were extremely strong. Targets related to progress of pupils with SEND, inclusion of PPG and well being have also been achieved in the main.
2.	To develop and improve oracy and writing across the school to ensure children can articulate themselves effectively both verbally and in writing	Quality of Education/Leadership and Management There has been progress in the development of oracy across the school; it is now seen as a subject and strategy featuring in the English profile and action plan objectives have been met. Although writing attainment remains the same the staff have developed a long term plan, sequence for learning and teaching and assessment frameworks for writing in each year group to ensure consistency. There has been some external support with this to check for coverage and heed has been taken of the writing framework released in July 2025 by government. Oracy and writing objectives will be extended into school improvement plan for next year.
3.	Continue to develop the foundation curriculum and subject leadership to ensure a broad, balanced, progressive, well planned, delivered and assessed curriculum that meets the needs of the pupils at our school	Leadership and Management/Behaviour and Attitudes/Personal Development/Overall Effectiveness Progress has been made towards targets related to knowledge organisers, retrieval and assessment practices. Diversity targets continue to be addressed and outdoor learning has been embedded into the well being accreditation action plan. All will continue to be extended into the school improvement plan for next year,

2025-2026 Summary of Objectives

Objectives 2025-26 based on school self- evaluation: July 2025 Yr3-6 assessment outcomes, evaluation of school improvement actions 24/25, consultation with staff and governors, feedback from pupils and parents, May 2021 Ofsted, Attendance data 2024-2025, External visits from HfL SEA and TLAs.

Key Priority		Objectives
1.	To support vulnerable learners/disadvantaged groups to ensure progress and achievement including those with SEND and in receipt of PPG with a focus on attendance and provision.	To improve attendance with a focus on those pupils in receipt of PPG Scaffolding for inclusion as part of a wider focus on metacognition ‘Saplings’ alternative provision for children who are not yet ready for the Year 3 curriculum Develop provision for older readers (upper school Years 5 and 6) for whom phonics has not worked
2.	To develop and improve oracy and writing across the school to ensure children can articulate themselves effectively both verbally and in writing	Develop ‘Oracy’ further as part of the planned and delivered curriculum To improve writing attainment across the school through the development and embedding of a rigorous and progressive bespoke scheme
3.	Focus on personal and social skills to ensure children have the skills and knowledge to access learning and develop personal skills for success and happiness and citizenship skills to contribute to their community	‘Let’s grow’ project to develop independence and resilience To acquire the wellbeing accreditation and ensure full range of areas for development have been addressed Outdoor learning to be embedded into planned curriculum and provisions Social time provision to ensure children enjoy and develop play and problem-solving skills and are ready to learn in lessons
4.	Continue to develop the foundation curriculum and subject leadership to ensure a broad, balanced, progressive, well planned, delivered and assessed curriculum that meets the needs of the pupils at our school	Ensure curriculum is well planned and progressive Ensure curriculum is remembered and transferable Ensure curriculum is supplemented and enriched Introduce and develop the use of AI to increase effectiveness of staff

Issue 6 - 10th October 2025

Published 10/10/25

Dear Families,

It was lovely to see so many of you at Parents' Evening this week. Thank you for taking the time speak with your child’s class teacher. We believe these conversations are vital for school and home to support each other so every child thrives. If you have not yet had the chance to attend a Parents’ Evening (Year 4, 5 and 6), we will be in touch to ensure you are able to have one.

Our Voices of Hertfordshire representatives had their first meeting of the academic year at Longmeadow this week and our footballers proudly took part in their first tournament of the season. Well done to everyone involved!

Next week brings an exciting milestone for many of our Year 6 children - The Grafham Water residential! We hope it will be a fantastic experience full of fun and lasting memories. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped organise the trip and to those who are accompanying the children next weekend.

We’re also wishing some of our Year 6 children the best of luck in their upcoming Tennis event. We look forward to hearing how you get on!

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Kindness of the week – ask a child who looks lonely if they want to play or sit with someone at lunch if they are alone.

Key Messages

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Online Safety – WhatsApp Groups

We’re receiving increasing reports of children using phones inappropriately. While we know phones can be helpful, they also carry risks, especially when children are added to WhatsApp or other group chats without parental knowledge. These platforms can impact children’s mental health and expose them to unsafe content.

We understand the peer pressure around phone use – for children and parents – but urge families to work together to set clear boundaries. Parents are best placed to decide when and how phones are used.

Last year’s online safety workshop had low attendance, so we’re now planning to share key resources along the pedestrian entrance near the drop-off zone. Please take a moment to look through them and continue the conversation at home. Working together, we can help keep our children safe. They have QR codes to resources to support parents to navigate the online world safely with children.

Save the Date – Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

School Photos - Tuesday 21st October

Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 21st October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day. Please ensure your child is in full uniform (with jumper/cardigan). If your child’s class usually has PE on a Tuesday, please can they come to school in school uniform and bring their PE kit to change into.

CGP Books - Order Deadline: Monday 3rd November.

A quick reminder that we no longer use School Gateway. The CGP books are available to purchase on the Arbor School Shop. This will close at 9.00am on Monday 3rd November.

Proof of Medical Appointments

To help speed up authorisation, please include any available medical evidence (such as letters, text messages, or photos of prescribed medication) with your request for time off for medical appointments. This saves our admin team from needing to follow up for additional information and all families will be expected to provide this where possible.

Fundraising Update

Every year children in year 6 form a government. They make pledges and the whole school votes for which team they would like to be the school government. The Cold Capybaras were voted in last year. One of our pledges was to raise money for Stevenage Community Trust. One of our events was a break the rules day. There was a total of 9 rules to break, each one making a sum of money. This event was very successful and we raised a total of £571.50. Everyone had a really good day. Written by Finn a former Almond Hill pupil.

Young Carers Club

At Almond Hill we currently offer a club to support our Young Carers however we currently haven’t got many Year 3 children recorded as one. If you feel like your child fits this criteria, please get in contact with our pastoral team, Mrs Burgess or Mrs Wright.

A young carer is anyone under the age of 18 who provides care and support to a family member usually because of; illness, disability, addiction or mental health issues. Young carers often take on practical or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. You can also find a wealth of knowledge, access support and formally register your child as a young carer at https://www.carersinherts.org.uk/young-carers/

Here are some photos taken at our most recent Young Carers club.

Therapeutic Thinking Parent Workshops – Year 3
Monday 20th October 6.00-7.00pm
Tuesday 21st October 2.00-3.00pm

Mrs Burgess and Mrs Wright, our Pastoral Leads, will be running workshops for Year 3 parents on Therapeutic Thinking. This is an opportunity for parents to gain an insight into the school's behaviour management approach and how we consider what a child's behaviour might be trying to tell us. They will be hosting 2 sessions.

The first will take place online (via Microsoft Teams) at 6.00pm on Monday 20th October.

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 343 587 956 536 6

Passcode: jn3rU6Vq

The second session will be in the hall at 2.00pm on Tuesday 21st October. Both sessions will last approximately 1 hour.

Please visit our website for more information on Therapeutic Thinking: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Behaviour&pid=177

These are really useful sessions and I would urge parents to join us if they can. We hope to see as many parents there as possible.

Cinema Trips – Year 5 and 6 - November

I am pleased to be able to tell you that children in Years 5 and 6 will be going on a school trip to the cinema in November! The trips will take place during the school day and at no charge to parents. On the day of their trip, children will come to school as normal to be registered and then walk to the Leisure Park to watch the film before walking back to school around lunch. Please note, if your child has not been given consent to watch PG films, we will be in contact to discuss this with you.

6S - Wednesday 12th November – FLOW - 10:00 - 11:40

6C and 6W - Friday 14th November BAD GUYS 2 - 10:00 - 12:00

Year 5 - Wednesday 26th November – DEEP SKY (Documentary) - 10:00 - 11:00

As a school with high expectations for behaviour and learning where hard work is greatly valued, we believe taking advantage of occasional opportunities like trips to the cinema where there is no cost involved. We are also aware that for some children, trips to the cinema happen very rarely or not at all. A huge thank you to Miss Simmons who has organised this FREE enrichment event for the children.

In order for this trip to go ahead, we really do need some parent volunteers to accompany the children to the cinema and back. Teachers have also shared a request through Seesaw but if you are able to help on any of the dates mentioned, please contact your child’s year group as soon as possible.

Year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

Health and safety is of the utmost importance so without enough adult support, we will unfortunately have to cancel the trip.

Year 5 and 6 Trip to Barclay Academy - Tuesday 14th October (afternoon)

Year 5 and 6 have been invited to Barclay Academy to watch a production on Tuesday 14th October (afternoon).

Pupils will walk there and back with school staff after lunch and will return to school in time for the end of the day.

Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and brings a water bottle. Please let us know ASAP if your child has an appointment planned for the afternoon on this day. As this is a local visit, separate consent is not required. Permission for such trips was provided upon admission.

Important Safeguarding Notice: Children’s “Spy” Books

We want to make you aware of a recent issue affecting some popular children’s books by Andrew Cope, including the Spy Dogs, Spy Cats, and Spy Pups series. Some editions of these books include a printed web address at the back. This link used to go to the author’s website, but the domain is no longer under his control. It has since been taken over by another party and now leads to inappropriate adult content.

The publisher, Puffin, has paused sales and distribution of the books and is working with schools, libraries, and retailers to remove copies from circulation. They have stressed that the website has no connection to the author or publisher.

What this means for you:

If your child has any Spy Dog, Spy Cat or Spy Pups books at home, please check the back for website links and make sure they do not try to visit the site.

It is safe for children to continue reading the stories themselves — the concern is only with the outdated link.

We recommend talking with your child about the importance of not following web addresses in books without checking with an adult first.

Issue 5 - 3rd October 2025

Published 03/10/25

Dear Families,

Things are starting to get busy now that we are fully settled back into school life. Over the next few weeks, there is lots to look forward to. FOAH have organised a Silent Halloween Disco for each year group which I know the children really enjoy. Please do remember to buy your tickets as we cannot allow entry without one (more information can be found below). We also have a range of exciting sporting events coming up. Our Year 6 children will soon be heading off on their residential trip to Grafham, which we know will be a fantastic experience.

Next week, we will also be hosting our Parents’ Evenings. Our teachers are looking forward to meeting with you and sharing your child’s progress so far this year.

I would also like to thank the parents who attended our SEND and Pastoral Coffee Morning this week. It was our largest number of guests so far and it is wonderful to see.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Kindness of the week – ask a child who is new to the school if they are okay and ask if they’d like to play.

Key Messages

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Flu Vaccinations - Wednesday 8th October

Flu has had a serious impact on the health of England’s population over the past two winters. Vaccinating your child helps reduce the risk of serious illness and plays an important role in protecting vulnerable individuals in your community, friends and family.

The team will be visiting our school soon to offer the flu vaccine. You can choose between the quick, painless nasal spray or a pork gelatine-free injection.

For further information about the vaccines, please follow the attached link Vaccination UK Immunisation. The form is available in 10 languages— select yours when it opens. If you do not want your child to be vaccinated, please submit a decline via the same link. Note: School aged children cannot receive this vaccination with their GP unless they are clinically vulnerable. https://bed.schoolvaccination.uk/flu/2025/hertfordshire

Please ensure your child has had breakfast on the morning of the vaccinations.

Parents’ Evenings

Our Parents’ Evenings (PTI’s) for the Autumn Term will be held on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th October for Years 4-6 only. Year 3 meetings will take place in January to allow more time for the class teachers to get to know the children and for our regular assessments to take place.

Please visit https://almondhill.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointment. A short guide on how to add appointments is available on the school website.

Save the Date – Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

Bounce Resilience

We use Bounce Resilience resources as a key part of our Year 5 curriculum and have funded parents to attend similar courses in the past. They tell us these were really good. Although we don’t fund this anymore, these free places offer an opportunity to support parents in this very worthwhile way.

Information Leaflet

Signing up for Events

We work really hard to take part in so many events and we really try to ensure that all children have the opportunity to take part (if they want to). When you are sent the invite for your child, it will provide the information of event, date, times, location etc along with a deadline to respond to provide your consent. If the deadline passes without consent/communication, the place will be passed on to someone else. Please check with your child that they want to take part before signing them up. If they don’t, that's absolutely fine but please ensure you have let us know they will not be attending by replying to the invite email. These events are planned by Stevenage Sporting Futures with a minimum/maximum participation requirement that we need to meet in order to attend.

Issue 3 - 19th September 2025

Published 19/09/25

Dear Families,

A big thank you to everyone who was able to attend our parent information meetings this week. As promised, for those who were unable to come, we have copies of the PowerPoint presentations that were shared attached below.

Year 3 - Parent Information Meeting - PowerPoint
Year 4 and 5 - Parent Information Meeting - PowerPoint
Year 6 - Parent Information Meeting - PowerPoint

A reminder for those who have signed up for clubs. The clubs run by school and Dance with Dani will start next week. Please do let us know if your child no longer wants a place in a club as we have a long waiting list of children hoping for an opportunity to join so do not want to waste the places.

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Key Messages

Important Message from Mrs Burgess

It is with a very heavy heart I am sharing the news that I will be leaving Almond Hill at October half term as I am returning to Social Work. This was always my plan when both my children joined Secondary school. I have been at Almond Hill for 8 years and started as a one-to-one TA. My role here has grown and I was lucky enough to become part of the Pastoral Team and I then had the opportunity to head this up and help shape it to the needs of Almond Hill as the school grew. I know I am biased but the Pastoral Team here is amazing and last year saw over a third of our children have an additional provision with our aim for this academic year for even more children to have additional input. I am very happy to be handing over the baton to Hannah who has come from Woolgrove in Letchworth and who some of you may already have met or spoken to. She looks forward to taking on the role and supporting all the wonderful families at Almond Hill. For the next few weeks, I will be working very closely with Mrs (Hannah) Wright to provide a hopefully seamless handover so that parents and children are affected as little as possible.

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Transition Survey for New Families

We hope you have settled well into life at Almond Hill. We are always looking to better our processes and have been working on improving how we manage 'in year' transition to Almond Hill. As a family who has recently joined us, we are really keen to gather your feedback to help us continue to improve so would really appreciate it if you would complete the quick survey (linked below) to share your views. 

https://forms.office.com/e/FTXz5WTeHB

Flu Vaccinations

The team will be visiting school soon to offer the flu vaccine. You can choose between the quick, painless nasal spray or a pork gelatine-free injection.

For further information about the vaccines, please read the attached E-consent letter (below) . Alternatively, click here Vaccination UK Immunisation. The form is available in 10 languages— select yours when it opens. If you do not want your child to be vaccinated, please submit a decline via the same link. Note: School aged children cannot receive this vaccination with their GP unless they are clinically vulnerable. https://bed.schoolvaccination.uk/flu/2025/hertfordshire

E-CONSENT LETTEr

Almond Hill Sharing Box

To help families, we have a small scale ‘share box’ which will contain some food items and household necessities (such as toilet rolls/soap/washing up liquid). 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.

New Menu

There will be a new menu after half term. Please see attached for more information:

Click here to download the new lunch menu

Lost Property - Glasses and Watches

We have a number of lost property items at the office. Please check the photos below to see if any of these belong to your child. Items can be collected from the office. Any unclaimed items left at half-term will be recycled.

Issue 2 - 12th September 2025

Published 12/09/25

Dear Families,

Well done everyone for settling into the routines of your new year group during our first full week back at school!

We believe that in order for children to fully benefit from their experiences at school—both in learning and in wider opportunities—it is vital that parents and carers are kept fully informed about what is happening and why.

For this reason, we strongly encourage you to attend our Year Group Parent Information Meetings. At these meetings, teachers will share important information about exciting school events, curriculum plans (long and medium-term), and how you can support your child at home. We will also be discussing swimming, school trips, The Climb, and our new ‘Let Grow’ initiative.

For Year 6 families, we will also provide details about Grafham and SATs.

The meetings will be held in the school hall, which can be accessed via the hall doors through the quadrant. Children and siblings are welcome to attend and creche will be available for those who wish to use it, and this will be clearly signposted from the hall.

Dates and times:

Tuesday 16th September – Year 3 – 3.30–4.30pm

Wednesday 17th September – Year 6 – 4.30–5.30pm (Please note: this time has been amended due to a change in staff commitments)

Thursday 18th September – Years 4 & 5 – 3.30–4.30pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Key Messages

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

September and October	Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory)
31 October 2025	Deadline for applications
2 December 2025	Last date to: • submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘on time’ • notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day Please refer to the online admission pages for more detail about these processes.
30 January 2026	Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
2 March 2026	Allocation Day. School places are offered.

Grafham

A quick reminder for those who haven't already, please can you complete the short form (linked below). The deadline to complete this is today.

https://forms.office.com/e/AFJSDphYSq

If there is anything else you wish to inform us of, please email year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

The deadline for final payments is on Thursday 18th September. Payments are now made on Arbor.

Operation Encompass

We wanted to make our new parents aware (and remind parents) of Operation Encompass which is a system in place between schools and the Police to support families. Operation Encompass is the notification to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, of incidents where and when a child or young person has experienced or been exposed to any domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass allows the Police to liaise with a trained member of school staff (DSL) so they can use the information that has been shared in confidence whilst also ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have experienced a domestic abuse incident. We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.

New Families - Transition Survey

https://forms.office.com/e/FTXz5WTeHB

Clubs

At Almond Hill, we believe in the all-round development of the children and aim to provide a wide range of clubs to encourage this. Most of our clubs are either facilitated by staff who volunteer their time or run by external providers. We already run the following clubs at lunchtime.

Mrs. Cleaves runs a well-established choir for children in years 5 and 6.

We have a journalist club where children create the ‘2 Cool 4 School’ newspaper supported by Mrs. Fordham and Mrs Jones for children in Years 4, 5 and 6. If your child wishes to join, please remind them to come along. This is a half termly commitment as an edition of the school newspaper is published half termly. Children are reminded of this in assemblies.

Mrs Burgess runs a young carer’s club at lunchtime on the first Tuesday of every month.

Miss Wase and Miss Simmons run the netball and football teams. These are offered to Years 5 and 6 and are mixed gender teams however, they are both competitive and so it is more likely that the older children will be picked for these but not definitive. Trials are held in school and parents will be informed directly if their child has been chosen for the team.

The following clubs are externally provided and therefore are chargeable. These clubs are booked directly with the provider following the links below:

WB Football on Mondays and Tuesdays: https://coaching-wb.classforkids.io/term/1

Dance and Street dance with Lindsey Pollard on Wednesdays: Children's Classes - Lindsey Pollard Dance

All clubs run from 3:15 until 4:15 unless specifically stated otherwise.

More clubs will be added over the course of the term.

Please sign your child up for a place on the Arbor Parent Portal. This will open at 9.00am on Saturday 13th September. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please talk to your child about whether they wish to do the club before signing them up. We expect children to attend clubs regularly and we keep an attendance register. Please inform the school office if your child is unable to attend for any reason. We will follow up with parents whose child has not attended.

A ‘how to’ guide for using clubs in Arbor can be found by following this link;

https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008179494-Signing-my-child-up-for-a-Club-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App#h_01HEMP7ZEEFNQB7NY2606XH8K1

Clubs are extremely popular and therefore go very quickly. If you find you are unable to register for a club, it is likely that it is full. Please let the office know and we will add you to a waiting list.

For children in Years 5 and 6, please add your consent to Arbor (under notices) if your child is permitted to walk home independently after clubs. If this has not been completed, children will wait at school until collected. We expect all children in Year 3 and 4 to be collected promptly at 4:15pm.

All school run clubs will run from week commencing Monday 22nd September to Friday 28th November (except for those linked to teams). Clubs do not run during half term week and French club and Stop Animation will not run w/c 7th October due to Parents’ Evening.

Please log into your Arbor Parent Portal to ensure you have access before bookings open.

Issue 1 - 5th September
Published 05/09/25

Dear Parents/Carers,

A big welcome back to you all and I hope you enjoyed the summer holidays. I trust our new families in Year 3 and across the school are settling in well and we wish you a warm welcome to our school.

Our value for September is friendship. Children can always help others by offering to play with everyone and not leaving others out. We have a friendship bench on our lower school playground where children can go if they are struggling to find someone to play with. We also have a friendship room which is for children who may find social times particularly hard. This is run by our pastoral team and they offer a range of activities for children to do to ensure they enjoy their lunch times.

Please take the time to read our newsletter as this is our main method of sharing information with you at home. For those of you who don’t know, the newsletter is on our website and is shared with families via email on a Friday afternoon. We often get emails/phone calls requesting information that has been on our newsletter. After feedback from you, we limited the amount of emails that were sent to parents and therefore much more information has been added to our newsletters which remains a more reliable source of information (as opposed to WhatsApp groups so I am told 😊).

Have a good weekend.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Key Messages

Attendance

Please be reminded, gates close at 8.55am and if you arrive after this time, you will need to come via the main office to be signed in. This is to ensure the site is secure and it is imperative children don’t ‘squeeze in’ at the last second as they could get missed if their class has left to go to the hall for example.

Parents will receive a letter in the next few weeks reminding them of the expectations and the new national regulations with regards to school attendance. I would urge you all to take the time to read the information. With the cost of living crisis and more pressure on families, we continued to see an increase in the number of holidays taken in term time last year. I would like to remind parents that I cannot authorise time off during term time unless for exceptional circumstances. I understand parents may feel that the time off will not affect their child significantly negatively however the overall education of the class is affected if the teacher has to repeatedly catch up those who have missed prior learning.

Apps

We use Seesaw across the school to share and celebrate the children’s work. Parents tell us they love these updates. New parents will receive an invitation to join the app but only once consent has been given. This has been sent to you via the Arbor Parent Portal. Please allow us some time to get this set up. For more information, follow the link below: www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/Seesaw

Facebook
For those of you who don’t know, we have a school Facebook page. We already have 217 of you following but would love to see many more of you including our new families! Please follow the link to follow our page: https://www.facebook.com/121almondhill

Other Key Apps
Parents of children who have joined us this term, you will need access to the Arbor Parent Portal. Many of you have already logged in which is fantastic but if you haven’t and need help with this, please contact our office.

Contacting the School

There will be times, as parents, where you need to contact the school and general enquiries can be made via the school office by phone or email. You are also very welcome to email the year group email addresses to contact your child’s year group. Please only use the year group email for NON urgent queries/questions as they are not monitored during the day

Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

If you have any questions regarding your child, please make an appointment after school to see the class teacher initially as in most cases they will have the most up to date information on your child. If at this point you still feel you would like to speak to someone at our school, please first contact Miss Simmons, our Deputy Head (admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk) or if your child has special educational needs or disabilities, Mrs Birchall our SENCo (iep@almondhill.herts.sch.uk). If the issue is of a pastoral nature, Mrs Burgess our pastoral lead can be contacted at burgess@almondhill.herts.sch.uk The Designated Teacher with overall responsibility for Child Protection is Mrs Fordham, with Mrs Birchall, Mrs Burgess, Mrs Barker, Mrs Wright and Miss Simmons as deputies. The deputies (especially Mrs Burgess) deal with day-to-day safeguarding issues but all cases are shared with the whole safeguarding team. Mrs Fordham can be contacted using the admin email address and will respond accordingly. However, depending on the nature of your email, it may be passed on to a more appropriate member of staff for a response. Mrs Fordham is often unavailable at short notice and an effective and more efficient response is often achieved by speaking to someone else on the team. That being said, Mrs Fordham will always make the time to speak to parents if all other avenues have been exhausted, the matter is extremely urgent or parents have a specific reason why they believe she is the only person who can deal with the matter.

Reporting Absences

You can report on the day absence in the following ways:
by phone (01438 233660 option 1)
by completing the form on our website
by submitting on to the Arbor Parent Portal (How to Guide)

Please do not use the year group emails for this or admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. The year group emails are not regularly monitored and there are so many emails coming into admin and with only one person managing this box, they may be missed. You will still be contacted by the office team to check absence if you have emailed one of these as it may not have been passed on and we have a duty to check children’s attendance.

We also reinstated the online form for requests for time off in term time. If you are requesting time off in term time for holidays, a religious festival or other events, please submit the form on our website. You will also find a form here to inform us of medical appointments. Please be advised that the government does not consider holidays to be an exceptional circumstance. These are highly unlikely to be authorised and may incur a fine.

Changes to collection – on the day

Please do not email these changes in. As you can imagine, the school email address gets lots of email daily and it is monitored by one person. This means that some requests/emails may not be seen straight away so it is important that if there is a change to collection, you call the school office. These changes need to be called through by 2.45pm to ensure they are delivered to your child’s class teacher in time for the end of the school day. We cannot guarantee messages will get through to the class teacher before the end of the day otherwise. Please note, we do not use a password system for collection.

Coming to School/Mobile Phones

School policy allows for children in years 5 and 6 to bring a mobile phone to school for safety reasons if they travel to and from school independently. Mobile phones must be switched off whilst on school premises and not be used during the school day. There is no need for parents to inform the class teacher/office if their child is walking home independently. I would ask that children do not however bring their phones on school trips or after school events. Please can I remind parents, especially those in year 5 and 6, unaccompanied children should not arrive at school before 8.45am. I appreciate some children are keen to get to school but the school grounds are not supervised before this time and accidents can happen.

Dropping off at the Start of the School Day

We would expect children in Year 3 and 4 to be brought to the classroom doors by an adult in the mornings and not expected to navigate the car park on their own. We know it is busy but keeping the children safe is always our main priority.

Collection at the end of the School Day

Children in Years 3 and 4 need to be collected by an adult unless we have written permission for children to go home with older siblings. Please confirm this with teaching staff via the year group email. There are no laws about this as such as it relates to the level of the child's competency however we feel that most children in Years 3 and 4 do not have the experience to make safe choices when circumstances are not as they have expected. It is also sometimes not possible for an older sibling to keep a younger sibling safe. Ultimately it is the parents' decision however we are responsible for the safeguarding of the children so will want some dialogue if children younger than Year 5 are not being collected by an adult. As the school has become larger and access routes (both pedestrian and vehicle) have become busier, this becomes increasingly important.

Children in Year 5 and 6 are allowed to leave school independently. Teachers will walk them up to the gate at the end of the school day but will not monitor collection. If your child is due to meet you from school, please ensure they know where they are going. It is also important to remind children to return to school if they find the person who is meeting them is not where they were expecting them to be.

Drop off Zone

There are over 300 children arriving and leaving our school every day. In the interests of the safety of all our children, we expect you to observe the parking restrictions when dropping off or collecting your child in a car. Please can you make your child aware that the raised area outside of the school is not a pedestrian crossing.

If you park in the ‘drop off’ zone it must be in one of the marked bays. You may not park on the access roadway around these spaces. Adults who park in one of the allocated parking spaces at the end of the day need to get out of their cars and walk to collect their child. The ‘drop off’ area is for vehicle entrance/exit only NOT for pedestrian use. I am sure like me; you wish to keep our children as safe as possible. I hope the guidelines are clear enough for all parents/carers to follow. If you have any queries or concerns about the use of the drop off, please contact me.

If you are driving to school, please park safely and in line with restrictions. Please also show respect to our neighbours in adjacent roads so their access is not restricted by inconsiderate parking.

Please supervise younger children in and around the school entrances and if you are waiting outside of classrooms. The main gates are automatic. Sometimes younger children are not supervised and are allowed to climb onto the gates and handrails and run around near the vehicle entrance. KEEP CLEAR OF THESE GATES AND ENSURE YOUNG CHILDREN STAY CLOSE TO PARENTS AND ARE PROPERLY SUPERVISED.

Breakfast Club Drop off (either nurture or Premier)

If your child attends breakfast club, please ensure that you walk them to the door. It is not appropriate to let them walk unaccompanied from the main entrance.

Read More
Issue 37th - 18th July 2025
Published 18/07/25

Dear Families,

As we come to the end of another school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that we’ve achieved together and look ahead to the exciting journeys still to come.

To our wonderful Year 6 children – we are so proud of you. You have shown resilience, maturity and kindness and you leave our school as confident, capable young people, ready for the next chapter of your lives. We will miss your energy, your leadership and your laughter but we know you’ll go on to do amazing things.

To our new families who are joining us – welcome! We are so excited to have you with us and can’t wait to get to know you. You are joining a school that values kindness, curiosity and community and we look forward to learning and growing together.

This year has been full of achievements. Whether it’s been in the classroom, on the sports field or through acts of kindness and community spirit, every child has contributed something special. We are proud of every step you’ve taken, every challenge you’ve faced and every success – big or small – that you've celebrated.

Thank you to our staff for their dedication and care and to our families for your continued support and trust.

Please take the time to read the message below regarding the arrangements for the early finish on Tuesday.

Wishing you all a restful, joyful summer holiday. We look forward to welcoming you back in September for another exciting year of learning. Our first day back is on Thursday 4th September.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Key Messages

Arrangements for the last day of term

The final day of the academic year is fast approaching. School will finish at 12.30pm on this day – Tuesday 22nd July. We understand Letchmore do not finish until the Wednesday.

As always, I do not want to put unnecessary pressure on families with children in both schools so we will finish early as planned on Tuesday (12.30pm) but for those parents who really need it, school will remain open until 3.15pm. Children will be invited to watch a film in the hall and will be supervised by support staff.

Please note, this is not expected to be a ‘staggered finish’. We would expect children to either be collected at 12.30pm or 3.15pm.

We have requested consent to leave early on Arbor. Please log in to the parent portal and let us know if your child is allowed to leave early on the last day of term.

If you decline or do not respond, your child will be expected to stay until 3.15pm unless they are collected by a parent.

This is for all year groups including Years 5 and 6 who can normally leave independently as it is an earlier finish. Safety is always my priority so I will not allow any child to leave without parental consent.

Year 6 Graduation

Wow – what a week! I hope you all enjoyed the graduations this week. I am sure parents would join me in thanking the Year 6 team for their time and effort in organising this and all the other leavers’ events for the children. We would really appreciate your feedback so we can continue to improve on these lovely events for the children. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below to give your feedback.

https://forms.office.com/e/b03aFJJY2v

Sports Day Feedback

We used different technology this year and we are hoping that parents were able to hear us. Please could you give your feedback below.

Read More

Newsletters

Page 1

Issue 13 - 5th December 2025

Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy

Almond Hill and the Tesco In-Store Vote

Athlete Visit – Today is the last day for sponsorship

Linsdey Pollard Dance School - Book Now for the Spring Term

Royal British Legion

Christmas Lights

Heating Grants

FOAH Beanie Hats

Christmas Events Additional Information

Christmas Dinner and Christmas Fun w/c 8th December

FOAH Christmas Fair - Thursday 11th December - 3.15-5.00pm

Carols in the Quad - Thursday 11th December - 5.00-6.00pm

Year 6 Carol Service at St Nicholas Church - Tuesday 16th December

Talent Shows - Thursday 18th December

Issue 12 - 28th November 2025

Key Messages

Requests for School to Complete Forms

Grafham Water Deposit

Reverse Advent

Amazon Wishlist

Athlete Visit – Information about Sponsorship

Christmas Events...

FOAH Christmas Present Room - Tuesday 2nd December

Year 3 Christmas Play and Additional Tickets

If you are unable to proceed with a booking, it means that the showing is full.

Non Uniform Day – Friday 5th December

Christmas Dinner and Christmas Fun w/c 8th December

FOAH Christmas Fair - Thursday 11th December

FOAH Christmas Fair - Thursday 11th December

Carols in the Quad - Thursday 11th December

Year 6 Carol Service at St Nicholas Church - Tuesday 16th December

Talent Shows - Thursday 18th December

Last Day of Term

We will finish at 1:00pm on the last day of term.

Issue 11 - 21st November 2025

Our Other Party Posters...

Key Messages

The Anxious Generation: Why I Think This Is an Important Read for Parents

Expert by Experience

Reverse Advent Calendar

Dance with Dani at Almond Hill!

Athlete Visit Friday 28th November– Information about Sponsorship

Year 3 Christmas Play - Lights, Camel, Action!

Christmas Events Additional Information

FOAH Christmas Present Room - Tuesday 2nd December

Non Uniform Day – Friday 5th December

Christmas Dinner and Class Parties w/c 8th December

FOAH Christmas Fayre - Thursday 11th December

Carols in the Quad - Thursday 11th December

Year 6 Carol Service at St Nicholas Church - Tuesday 16th December

Talent Shows - Thursday 18th December

Issue 10 - 14th November 2025

Open Evening 2025

Key Messages

Our Art in the Community

Grafham Meeting on Wednesday 19th November 5:30-6:30pm

Reading Morning

School Photos Deadline Reminder

THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: TUESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2025

Flu Vaccinations

Christmas Events

Issue 9 - 7th November 2025

Key Messages

Online Safety

Pupil Survey

Top of the Hill

Cut Your Carbon

Visitor Feedback

Open Evening – Thursday 13th November 5.30-7.00pm

Flu Vaccinations – 2nd Visit

Reverse Advert Calendar

CGP Books

School Photos

THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: TUESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2025

Advance Notice – Christmas Events

Issue 8 - 24th October 2025

Key Messages

Therapeutic Thinking Parent Workshops – Year 3
Monday 20th October 6.00-7.00pm
Tuesday 21st October 2.00-3.00pm