Mrs Barhey 
The time has come for me to move on to a new chapter in my teaching and learning journey at the end of this term. It has been a real privilege to teach 5S since January and to be part of such a supportive and caring school community. I will truly miss the children and staff whose enthusiasm, curiosity and kindness have made my time at Almond Hill a very special one. Thank you for all your support towards your children and to me. As A.A. Milne once wrote, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." I leave with many fond memories and wish you all the very best for the future. 

Mrs Ogilvie 
I have really enjoyed my time here at Almond Hill and will be sad to leave the children and the friends I have made.  Thank you to everyone for being so welcoming when I first arrived.  

From September, we will no longer be using Premier for sports during the day. This does not affect our wrap around care facility – they will continue to be our provider. This does mean that unfortunately, we will be losing Mr Miah at the end of term. I am sure parents will want to wish him all the best in his next school. He has been a wonderful addition to Almond Hill and has worked incredibly hard across the school delivering a brilliant sporting provision. Thank you and good luck Mr Miah!  

That being said, I am pleased to tell parents we have appointed a dedicated Sports Coach. Miss Harris will take on that role in September working alongside Mrs Bond (PE Subject Lead and Physical and Mental Well-Being Lead) to continue to improve the sporting provision for our children.  

Congratulations to Mrs Hanmore and Miss Hunter who have both been appointed as Pastoral TAs. They are joining our expanding pastoral team and will work alongside Mrs Burgess and Mrs Barker delivering specialist interventions and pastoral provisions for the children.  

Miss Paszek is joining the cover supervisor team and will provide lesson cover for teachers when needed. Congratulations on your new role, Miss Paszek. 

Some parents may already have noticed we have a new member of staff in our office. Miss Powell has joined the office team as the Finance Assistant. She will arrange trips, visits, clubs and sporting events for the children.  

Mr Jennings – Class Teacher 
I am thrilled to be joining the team at Almond Hill this July. Over the past three years, I have been training to fulfil my passion for becoming a Primary Teacher, and I’m incredibly excited to begin this new chapter. During my training, I had the pleasure of completing a placement at Almond Hill, and ever since, I have secretly hoped for the opportunity to return. I feel very fortunate to now be part of this wonderful school community. I am really looking forward to meeting your children and working closely with you to support their learning and development. I strongly believe in creating a safe and nurturing environment where children can grow academically, socially and emotionally into well-rounded individuals. Outside of teaching, I have a keen interest in technology, and I enjoy keeping active, particularly at the gym. I look forward to meeting you and your children. 

Mrs Mitchell - Teaching Assistant  
I’m delighted to be joining Almond Hill as a teaching assistant in September. I come to this role from a large primary school in Stevenage. I have also previously spent time helping at a smaller school, in the village where I live. I have two children, who will be in years 7 and 9 in September.  Before having children, I worked at a professional advisory company, advising local authorities on large scale development and regeneration projects. Outside of work, I love gardening and playing tennis.  I am very much looking forward to getting to know your children and supporting their individual growth and learning in the months ahead. 

Mrs Wright – Pastoral Team
Hello, I’m MrsWright and looking forward to joining the pastoral team in September. I have 17 years experience working in special schools. For the last 4 years I have been a pastoral support worker; running interventions, being part of the behaviour response team, being a Therapeutic Thinking Tutor and a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. I work closely with pupils, their families and outside agencies to offer them the best pastoral support possible. I am also mum to 3 teenage daughters and love music - I can’t wait to meet all the Almond Hill pupils and families soon. 

Mr Tuck - Teaching Assistant
Hello everyone. I am Mr Tuck and I am excited to be joining Almond Hill in September as a teaching assistant. I enjoy many different sports and have a keen interest in football. I support Liverpool FC.  

Please remember to monitor your child’s phone (if they have one) as there have been unkind anonymous text messages recently joking about knife crime circulating. We would always suggest parents report any threats of violence to police.  

It was a pleasure to chat with parents at the Navigating the Online World Safely information session after school this week.  There were some signposts to helpful parent guides under the following categories: entertainment & search engines, social media, broadband & mobile networks, devices and gaming.  Needless to say, there are many more parental settings required than on a device setup.    

https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/page/2/ 

Helpful and interesting information regarding mobile phone options was also available: 

https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/alternatives  

We would encourage all parents to download the Arbor app for a user-friendly experience.  You will receive notifications when we send you in-app messages. . 

Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arboreducation.parentapp&hl=en_GB&pli=1  

App store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/arbor-parent-app/id1448707412  

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

We are streamlining the apps we use to make it easier for parents and going forward, we will use SchoolGrid for lunches, SchoolCloud for parents' evening and Arbor for everything else.  

Please see below a letter from the Director of Public Health regarding immunisations. 

Recently, our cook found gum stuck to the bottom of one the plates in the dining room. Please can parents remind children they are not allowed to bring chewing gum to school.