I am delighted to see that so many of you are reading our weekly newsletter. We know that communication from schools can feel overwhelming at times—especially if you have children in more than one school—so we have tried to streamline things as much as possible by using the newsletter as our main way of sharing information. 

We feel it is important (and much easier for families) to have all key updates in one place, so you can refer back to them whenever you need to. We regularly review how we communicate and are always open to feedback and suggestions from parents and carers. We know that what works well for some may not work as well for others, and finding the right balance can sometimes be a challenge but your thoughts and ideas really help us continue improving. Our parent forum is a great way to share your ideas. Look out for details on our next meeting which is planned for Wednesday 25th March.  

We are beginning to plan the clubs we hope to offer in the summer term. We are really proud of the range of opportunities we provide, especially as all clubs run by school staff are completely free. We are also fortunate to work with a number of external providers who offer fantastic additional activities for the children and we have negotiated some funded places so all children can be involved.  

As we prepare for next term, I do want to gently remind families that our free, school‑led clubs should not be seen as childcare. Many of the sports are run by Miss Harris and due to the nature of her role as our PE coach, she is often required to attend sporting events. These events can extend beyond the school day. This then results in her after school club having to be cancelled. 

We pay to be a part of Stevenage Sporting Futures, which gives our pupils access to a wide variety of competitions and festivals—something we feel is important to take part in. However, the dates for these events are often released at very short notice, meaning that club cancellations can sometimes be unavoidable. We appreciate that this can be frustrating and thank you in advance for your understanding. 

We are beginning to prepare for November’s swimming sessions, which will take place in the popup pool. Although the pool will not be on site until November, we need to gather consent now so that we can plan ahead. Please complete the consent request on Arbor even if you have done so previously. 

Consent received this year will remain in place until your child leaves Almond Hill. You are welcome to amend your consent at any time by contacting the school office. 

We continue to collect information about children’s swimming progress outside of school. If your child attends swimming lessons, please let us know when they achieve any new stages so we can update our records. This is a huge help when planning sessions and writing reports. Please email any updates to admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. 

If you would like some more information about the pop-up pool, you can look on our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Swimming+at+Almond+Hill&pid=231 Please note that some of the information may be adjusted slightly when we agree final arrangements.  

Thank you for your support. 

As of 1st April 2026, the price of a school meal will increase from £3.45 to £3.55. 

Our Parents’ Evenings (PTI’s) for the Spring Term will be held on Tuesday 10^th and Thursday 12^th March. Miss Porter will be conducting appointments on 4^th and 10^th March.

We will be again using a hybrid system for these appointments, whereby it is parental choice whether the appointment is face to face or online. All online appointments will take place in a ‘block’ at the start of one evening (3 appointments) and a ‘block’ at the end of the other (5 appointments). Appointment lengths are timed and teachers will need to keep to these strict timings.

Appointments can be made from 6pm on Thursday 26^th February and the booking system will close at 12pm on Monday 2^nd March. Should you wish to make any changes after this date, please contact the school office. For those classes with a shared teacher, your appointment will be with one or both of the teachers. Please be mindful that appointments do fill up quickly. If you have a strong desire for a particular day, time or type of meeting, I would urge you to secure your appointment early.

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. Please log in with the following information: your child’s first name, surname and date of birth. It is vital that you use the same information held by the school as any discrepancies will prevent you from accessing the system. Please log into the parent portal on Arbor to double check the information we hold for you and your child to ensure you are inputting the correct information.

Face to Face Appointments

If your child is in the upper school, please go straight to Acorn House. You will be able to look at your child’s books in the classroom and meetings will be in offices (Year 5 downstairs and Year 6 upstairs).

If your child is in the lower school, please go straight to Oak House. You will be able to look at your child’s books in the classroom and meetings will be in offices within Oak House.

I am pleased to be able to offer a free crèche which will be available in the Den for all in person PTI meetings on the 10^th and 12^th March. This room can be accessed from the quadrant.

Online Appointments

If you choose an online meeting, please see the below link for a guide on using the system. Please read this carefully as it tells you how to check that your technology will work correctly for the meeting. You will be sent a link for the meeting and you will need to ensure you are prompt to start. The meetings follow back to back so your time cannot be adjusted. The meetings will be timed to 9 minutes and will cut out after this time. There will be a clock on screen as an indicator for both you and the teacher that the meeting is coming to an end.

https://support.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/article/801-video-parents-how-to-attend-appointments-over-video-call

We must ask parents to comply with our remote learning policy to ensure safeguarding in the meetings. In attending the meeting, parents must be appropriately dressed, they should be in a neutral, quiet, downstairs area of the home. Parents should be aware of any backgrounds that could be seen by teachers - e.g. personal photographs of family and background noise.

All meetings are subject to technology working and we ask you to be supportive if things do not go quite to plan. Please be assured that if there is a technical hitch at the time of the meeting then your child’s teacher will contact you to rearrange.

After school activities

Premier will be running their wraparound care as usual, as well as our external football and dance clubs.

As previously confirmed, all Booster clubs will not be running. Due to staff availability, there will also be some clubs that will not run during the week commencing 9^th March. This will be confirmed in a separate email.

Thank you to all the parents who completed our recent parent survey, as well as those who took the time to respond to the Ofsted Parent View survey. We were very pleased with the positive feedback received and particularly encouraged by the significant improvements shown between the 2021 and 2026 Ofsted Parent View surveys. We will continue to work closely with parents and carers and greatly value your feedback, as it helps us to reflect and improve further. The small number of parents who requested a follow-up will be contacted before half term, if they have not been already.

Ofsted survey graphs: https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result-print/12698/17

Parent survey graphs: 

We are delighted to invite Year 3 parents and carers to lunch on the following dates:

Wednesday 25th February – 3L (Mrs Lyons)
Menu: Roast Chicken with Sage & Onion Stuffing
Plant Based Shepherd's Pie (Ve)
Deadline for orders: 12.30pm Wednesday 11th February

Wednesday 4th March – 3B (Miss Bonfield and Mrs Geer)
Menu: Roast Beef with Gravy
Roast Quorn Fillet with Sage & Onion Stuffing (Ve)
Deadline for orders: 12.30pm Wednesday 11th February

Wednesday 11th March – 3W (Mrs. Ward)
Menu: Roast Chicken with Sage & Onion Stuffing
Plant Sausages with Gravy (Ve)
Deadline for orders: 12.30pm Wednesday 11th February

This is a wonderful opportunity to sample the HCL menu and experience the tasty meals available to the children. However, we understand that some children may prefer to bring a packed lunch and we still want them to enjoy having their parents join them. So, if you'd like to come in and have lunch with your child, you're more than welcome.

There is a charge for adults eating lunch of £4.20 which can be paid via Arbor School Shop. As with child meals, adult meals will need to be preordered. If you have not preordered, we will not be able to provide a meal on the day as the portions will be ordered in advance. When you log onto Arbor you will have the options available. You can then select which you would like and make payment – this books your place. For dietary information, please follow the link: https://www.hcl.co.uk/_files/ugd/de81f6_247b7b14a8324b3e895a2b94cc64e1f0.pdf

Please note that due to space in the dining room, we can only accommodate one parent per child. As our dining room is not very big, it is difficult to accommodate prams and buggies (and there is a flight of stairs to access the dining room). Parents should be aware babies would need to sit on their parent’s lap. 

Please pre-order your child’s meal in the usual way on School Grid. All children's meals are payable unless the child is entitled to free school meals.

On the day of the lunch, please come to school via the main entrance gate and wait in the hall. Please do not arrive before 12.10pm as the dining room will be used until then. Lunch will take approximately 45 minutes and your child will take you to the main entrance when you finish lunch before they then go out to play. Children who do not have an adult who is able to come will have their lunch as normal with the rest of their year group.

Arbor School Shop guide: https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/5068444710813-Purchasing-School-Shop-items-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App

We have seen an increase in calls from parents in the upper school checking whether their child has arrived safely at school. While we are always happy to check this for you, we wanted to remind parents that attendance can also be checked directly on Arbor after 9.00am, once the register has closed, which may help put your mind at ease.

To do this:

• Log in to the Arbor app
• Tap the three lines at the bottom of the screen
• Select Attendance, then by date

Here you will be able to view your child’s attendance marks.

Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI for Safer Internet Day 2026 | Childnet

Safer Internet Day 2026 will take place on the 10th of February 2026, with celebrations and learning based around the theme ‘Smart tech, safe choices – Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI’.

Everyone’s talking about AI, and with many children and young people hearing about and using AI online, it’s important they have the skills and confidence to make safe choices when they are using smart technology.

This Safer Internet Day we are exploring the impact of AI on all of our lives, looking at how AI can be used for good, and giving advice and guidance that empowers people to use AI safely and responsibly.

As you may remember from our previous newsletters, our application to Tesco Stronger Starts was successfully selected for the customer vote in Tesco stores.  Voting has commenced in store and will run until the end of March 2026. We applied to help with payments towards the deficit of the pop up pool.  
The project with the highest number of votes across our region will receive up to £1,500, the second placed project up to £1,000 and the third placed project £500.   

Stores which will vote on our project: 

• 2202 Broadwater Stevenage Superstore SG2 8DT 
• 3213 Stevenage Extra SG1 1ES 
• 4775 Woolmer Green Express SG3 6FP 
• 6131 Old Stevenage Express SG1 3EF 
• 6546 Stevenage Chells Express SG2 0LU 
• 6565 Hitchin Station Lyon Express SG4 9SP 

To vote, you will need to make a purchase of any value within store. You will receive one token per transaction. It is not necessary to purchase a carrier bag to receive a token. 

As you may remember from our previous newsletters, our application to Tesco Stronger Starts was successfully selected for the customer vote in Tesco stores.  Voting has commenced in store and will run until the end of March 2026. We applied to help with payments towards the deficit of the pop up pool.   
  
The project with the highest number of votes across our region will receive up to £1,500, the second placed project up to £1,000 and the third placed project £500.    

Stores which will vote on our project:  

• 2202 Broadwater Stevenage Superstore SG2 8DT  

• 3213 Stevenage Extra SG1 1ES  

• 4775 Woolmer Green Express SG3 6FP  

• 6131 Old Stevenage Express SG1 3EF  

• 6546 Stevenage Chells Express SG2 0LU  

• 6565 Hitchin Station Lyon Express SG4 9SP  

To vote, you will need to make a purchase of any value within store. You will receive one token per transaction. It is not necessary to purchase a carrier bag to receive a token.  

https://www.thecomet.net/news/25777844.almond-hill-junior-school-welcomes-in-year-applications/  

We understand that with the current cost of living crisis, many of our parents are facing challenges or finding things more difficult than usual. We are committed to ensuring that no child misses out on school experiences due to financial difficulties. To help ease the burden, we offer preloved uniform sales, book sales and we also fund or subsidise events ourselves. 

We thought it would be helpful to provide parents with advance notice of some of the planned events for the year to assist with budgeting and planning. Below, you’ll find a table of events organised by year group. Additional fundraising events may be arranged throughout the year by our school government (once elected), FOAH, or charities, but participation in these will always be optional. 4

If cost ever becomes a barrier for your child to take part in school events, please don't hesitate to contact Mrs. Wright, who will be happy to explore available support in strict confidence. 

We would like to warmly invite you to join us for a parent session focused on Maths and Times Tables, where you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about how we support your child in school and how you can help at home. 

As the children will have completed their second Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) during the week commencing 19th January, this is a great time to find out more about what the MTC involves and how it supports their learning. 

During the session, we will: 

• Explain what the MTC is and what it means for your child 

• Share information about Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) and ways parents can support practice at home 

• Show TTRS in action and demonstrate how it’s used in school 

• Give parents the chance to watch their child take part in an arena battle 

• Offer the opportunity (for those who wish!) to try a practice MTC alongside your child 

• Introduce some exciting new initiatives launching this Spring Term, including our new ‘Gone Green’ approach and badge system 

We hope the sessions will be both informative and enjoyable and we would love for you to come along and take part. 

9.00-10.30 – Monday 2nd February - 4A 
9.00-10.30 - Thursday 5th February - 4W 
9.00-10.30 - Friday 6th February - 4C   

All sessions will take place in the hall. Please come to the hall doors in the quadrant after drop off. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Does your child get bored during half term? Do they enjoy staying busy and trying something exciting? 

We’re delighted to invite students from all year groups to our Half Term Fun Day at school!  Join Dani and Miss Simmons for a morning packed full of energy, creativity, and fun. 

Date: Tuesday 17th February 
Time: 10:00am – 1:00pm 

What’s planned? 
The main idea is Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! 
Children will take part in dancing, acting, team challenges and indoor games! 

What to wear: 
Please wear something comfy with trainers – definitely not school uniform. 

What to bring: 
A water bottle, a snack and a packed lunch 

Cost:  £20 

How to book and pay: 
Please book online via the link below: 
https://my.classmanager.com/dance-with-dani  

We look forward to a fantastic half-term day full of laughter and activity! 

Thank you for your attendance and engagement on Tuesday evening. It was great to meet you all and to share further insight into our wraparound care offer. Please find attached the slides that were presented, along with our updated Parent Information Pack. This provides further detail on all aspects of our service. 

 For families who requested more information on how to sign up and make bookings, please visit our Knowledge Hub Help Centre which includes step-by-step guidance on how to register. We hope to welcome you to the provision soon. We value your feedback and would really appreciate you taking a few moments to complete our short survey: Click here to complete the parent feedback survey 

We hope you have a fantastic weekend and look forward to supporting your families in the future. 

As you know, we are always looking for ways to improve our school and your feedback is invaluable in helping us do this. If you haven't already, please take a few moments to complete the survey below and share your thoughts on various aspects of school life. We genuinely use your feedback to shape our decisions so it is absolutely worth completing if you would like to influence how things are done at your child’s school. 

There is a section where you can add your child’s name if you would like a response from the school. Please only fill this in if you are expecting to hear from me, as previously some parents received phone calls they weren’t anticipating. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/survey/?pid=166&form=70 

We sometimes have parents call through to the office to request a same day call back. Please note, often this is not possible. Teachers are teaching throughout the day and members of the pastoral team are with children. Unless the reason for your call is of a safeguarding nature, please expect a call back the next day. 

Please remember, to record your child’s ‘on the day’ absence, you can use the following methods: 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. 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.  Any emails regarding absence will not receive a response unless further information is required.  You can check your child’s absence on Arbor after the absence has taken place.

The way inspections are carried out and what inspectors are focussing on has changed and this link is information for parents provided by Ofsted: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofsted    

We would like to remind all parents and carers to take extra care when driving around the school. A recent incident (a very near miss) highlighted how quickly accidents can happen, even when children are using the designated pedestrian areas. Please ensure that you drive slowly, remain fully aware of your surroundings and check carefully before reversing or moving off. Our pupils can be hard to see and may not always anticipate vehicle movements. The safety of our children is our highest priority and we appreciate your cooperation in helping us keep everyone safe. Thank you for your continued support.  

Whilst it was not possible to record the recent reading workshop, for those who were unable to attend, we have shared the PowerPoint below along with an example of a phonics intervention.  

We are delighted to inform you that our application to Tesco Stronger Starts has been successfully selected for the customer vote in Tesco stores.  Voting will commence in store from mid-January 2026 until the end of March 2026. 
We applied to help with payments towards the deficit of the pop up pool.  
 
The project with the highest number of votes across our region will receive up to £1,500, the second placed project up to £1,000 and the third placed project £500.   

What happens next? 
Stores which will vote on our project: 

• 2202 Broadwater Stevenage Superstore SG2 8DT 

• 3213 Stevenage Extra SG1 1ES 

• 4775 Woolmer Green Express SG3 6FP 

• 6131 Old Stevenage Express SG1 3EF 

• 6546 Stevenage Chells Express SG2 0LU 

• 6565 Hitchin Station Lyon Express SG4 9SP 

To vote, you will need to make a purchase of any value within store. You will receive one token per transaction. It is not necessary to purchase a carrier bag to receive a token. 

Bookings for January 2026 are open This is a very popular club so we would advise booking early to avoid disappointment. https://www.lindseypollarddance.com/classtimetable/childrensclasses

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. We expect the service to last for approximately 1 hour. If you are attending, 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. 

We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave the church first and return to school and collect them from the school in the usual way. 

They will need to be signed out but children in Year 6 and the choir can leave early on this day (providing they are collected) but we are not able to release siblings early. If children are leaving independently, they will need to wait until 3.15pm. If your child is in Year 6, please collect from the bottom of Acorn House and if your child is in Year 4 or 5, you can collect from their classroom door. 

The drop off zone will be open for parents to use but please note, there is only room for 13 cars and this will not be manned so please drive carefully. 

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. 

We will finish at 1:00pm on the last day of term. Please note there will be no childcare available on this day. As we are finishing on the same day as Letchmore, there will not be the option to stay for the remainder of the day, unlike when our finish dates differ. We kindly ask that all children are collected promptly at 1:00pm on Friday 19th December. Thank you. 

We understand that often parents need us to complete forms to access external services and we are usually the professionals that know the children best. However I must request a standard timeframe of 10 working days for the completion of these as we often work in teams to ensure accuracy and a full picture. The exact turnaround will depend on the length of the form and the number of staff required to contribute. Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

Following another successful Year 6 trip to the Grafham Water Centre this year, I am writing to let you know that we have now booked this venue for next year. 

It will take place from Friday 16th October until Sunday 18th October 2026. 

The centre offers full accommodation and activities on site, which may include an indoor climbing wall, archery, cycling and water sports. We anticipate the costs involved will be in the region of £246 per child, but we will confirm this once we know the numbers of children wishing to attend. To secure the booking we would need to ask for a £30.00 non-returnable deposit. Please make your payment on Arbor (under trips) by 3:15pm on Friday 5th December 2025 to secure your child's place. 

We appreciate that residential trips are expensive, so therefore you can make payments in monthly instalments over five months. This will be £54 each month due on 1st February, 1st March, 1st April and the final balance due 1st May 2026. This will be confirmed in December 2025. 

We find that almost all children benefit and want to be involved. This can be tricky to organise and fund at the last minute. Please contact Mis Simmons, Mrs Fordham, Miss Birchall or Mrs Wright if you would like to discuss any barriers to your child attending. 

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this year’s Reverse Advent. It is always heartwarming to see the generosity of our families to causes such as this. We collected a huge amount for the Food Shed who are extremely grateful. 

Thank you so much to the families who have already donated using our Amazon Wishlist. We are regularly adding items and if want to and are able, we are always incredibly grateful for donations. https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3MLS898Q5Y5ML/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex  

Some parents have reported problems with payments. We have contacted Great Athletes who responded with the following:  People are tending to find that if they log on via a Computer/PC and not a telephone it works well.  I believe it is something to do with the extra security in place over the internet. 

Please ensure that the sponsorship is completed by Friday 5th December. The link 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.  

Our FOAH present room will open its doors on Tuesday 2nd December. Online orders have now closed but cash will be accepted on the day. 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.  

Lights, Camel, Action! 
Year 3 have been working hard on their Christmas musical, and we’re excited to share it with you. 

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.  

We are pleased that so many families have booked tickets to see the children’s wonderful play next week. Now that tickets have been allocated, we do have some spaces left that we can release for parents to book. 

Please note: 

• There are 7 tickets available for Wednesday evening (6.00-7.00pm) 
• 5 tickets for Thursday lunchtime (1.30-2.30pm) 
• 31 tickets for Thursday evening (6.00-7.00pm) 

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

These additional tickets will be added to the Arbor School Shop and made available to parents on a first come, first served basis. Booking will open at 4:00pm today and will close at 4.00pm on Monday 1st December. 

Friends of Almond Hill (FOAH) are holding a non-uniform day next Friday, 5^th December, to collect donations for the school Christmas Fair.

Children can come to school in their own choice of clothes – no uniform required!  In return, please send them in with a donation of a tombola or raffle prize.

Items should be new or in as new condition and something you or your child would be pleased to win.

• Examples of donations for the children’s tombola are toys, party bag fillers, nut free sweets and chocolates, stationary, games.
• Examples of donations for the adults’ tombola are toiletry sets, luxury treats, novelty gifts, or a nice bottle of something!

Any donation, big or small, will make a difference – and the more the merrier, so please feel free to donate as many prizes as you like!

Thank you for helping make our Christmas Fair a success.  

I hope children are looking forward to their Christmas dinner and class Christmas fun 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 12th December – Year 6 

If it is not your child’s Christmas dinner day, the kitchen will be offering a cold lunch option.  

FOAH Christmas Fair - Thursday 11th December 

Our FOAH parent volunteers have been busy organising a fun and festive fair 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.  

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 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. We expect the service to last for approximately 1 hour. If you are attending, 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. 

We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave the church first and return to school and collect them from the school in the usual way. 

They will need to be signed out but children in Year 6 and the choir can leave early on this day (providing they are collected) but we are not able to release siblings early. If children are leaving independently, they will need to wait until 3.15pm. If your child is in Year 6, please collect from the bottom of Acorn House and if your child is in Year 5, you can collect from their classroom door. 

The drop off zone will be open for parents to use but please note, there is only room for 13 cars and this will not be manned so please drive carefully. 

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. 

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

Please note there will be no childcare available on this day. As we are finishing on the same day as Letchmore, there will not be the option to stay for the remainder of the day, unlike when our finish dates differ. We kindly ask that all children are collected promptly at 1:00pm on Friday 19th December. Thank you.

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!

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  

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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.

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

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 

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.

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! 

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.

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 

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. 

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 

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.  

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

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. 

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. 

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.  

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. 

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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. 

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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.    

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 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. 

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. 

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.   

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. 

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 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 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  

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. 

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.