Issue 35 - 4th July 2025
Dear Families,
Next Thursday is Transition Day. As a school, we have been working on making this process as easy as possible for families. Following parent feedback, we will be announcing new teachers via email to parents on Monday 7th July in preparation for Transition Day on Thursday 10th.
Children in current Years 3, 4 and 5 will spend the day in their new classes and Year 6 will spend the day in their new secondary school. Year 6 parents, please ensure you know the details for your child’s transition as we often have children arrive at school as normal on this day but they should be registered at the school they will start in in September. Please read on for further information including staff changes for September.
Emma Fordham,
Headteacher
Key Messages
Staff who are leaving Almond Hill at the end of term
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.
Changes to current staffing at Almond Hill
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.
Staff who are joining Almond Hill in September
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.
Online Safety
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.
Navigating the Online World Safely with Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews
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:
Arbor App
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.
Changes to Immunisation
Please see below a letter from the Director of Public Health regarding immunisations.
Chewing Gum
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.
Diary Dates
Click the months below to open our calendar.
Did you know, you can subscribe to our calendar to keep up to date with the events going on within the school?
Follow the link below, select 'subscribe' and follow the instructions for your device.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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04/07/2025 - 2:30pm – 3:30pmFOAH Ice Cream Friday
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08/07/2025 - All DayY6 Regeneration Tour
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08/07/2025 - 2:00pm – 5:00pmSFT year 6 rounders
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08/07/2025 - 2:00pm – 2:30pmGuitar concert
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09/07/2025 - 2:15pm – 3:15pmRocksteady concert for parents
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09/07/2025 - 5:30pm – 6:30pmParent Forum Meeting (online)
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10/07/2025 - All DayTransition Day
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11/07/2025 - All DayYear 6 LEGOLAND
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11/07/2025 - 2:30pm – 3:30pmFOAH Ice Cream Friday
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14/07/2025 - 2:00pm – 4:00pm6S Graduation
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15/07/2025 - 2:00pm – 4:00pm6B Graduation
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16/07/2025 - 2:00pm – 4:00pm6C Graduation
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17/07/2025 - 9:00am – 3:00pmBackup date for sports day
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18/07/2025 - 9:00am – 1:30pmY6 trip to Fairlands and shirt signing
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18/07/2025 - 2:30pm – 3:30pmFOAH Ice Cream Friday
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22/07/2025 - All DayLast day of term
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23/07/2025 - All DayINSET Day
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24/07/2025 – 02/09/2025 - All DaySummer Holidays
Uniform and Book Sales
Our monthly preloved sales will recommence in the next academic year.
We would be grateful for any donations of coats, uniform (especially fleeces), shoes, swimming costumes and Christmas jumpers.
Parent Forum
Our next parent forum will take place online via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 9th July 5.30-6.30pm.
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 353 322 891 291 1
Passcode: eQ74gC2N
Clubs
|
Club |
Lead |
Year group |
Location |
Collection point |
Monday
|
Year 3 and 4 football FINISHES ON 14TH JULY |
Will Bryson |
3 and 4 |
Field |
St Nicholas Church gate |
Tuesday
|
Year 5 and 6 football FINISHES ON 15TH JULY |
Will Bryson |
5 and 6 |
Field |
St Nicholas Church gate |
Wednesday
|
Cheerleading FINISHES ON 9TH JULY |
Lindsey Pollard |
All |
Hall |
n/a |
Wednesday
|
Street Dance FINISHES ON 9TH JULY |
Lindsey Pollard |
All |
Hall |
Hall doors (quadrant) |
Please remember, all other clubs have now finished.
Attendance
Year 3 94.43%
Year 4 97.5%
Year 5 95.45%
Year 6 94.8%
All Students 95.57%
Class Winners
4C 99.58%
5P 98.33%
Almond Hill Achievements
Click the button below to see all the wonderful things our children have achieved outside of school.
House Points

FOAH Update...
Frozen Fridays are back!
FOAH will be hosting Frozen Fridays every Friday in July! Children can enjoy a cool treat for £1 each (one per child).
You can pre-order on Arbor school shop now– the deadline each week is Monday at 9:00am to give us time to buy the lollies. Cash will also be accepted on the day but pre-ordering is really helpful. This is always a big hit (especially when it’s hot!) but if we have any extras, we’ll be selling them after school in the Quadrant.
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Friday 11th July (deadline 9.00am Monday 8th July
-
Friday 18th July (deadline 9.00am Monday 14th July) Year 6?
Lots of orders have already been placed so thank you! Please note, if you want your child to have an ice lolly each week, you need to purchase one for each day. Please note, you can only purchase for your own child/ren. So as much as it is a lovely idea, please don't bring cash in for others.
Thanks for your support – here's to a cool July!
Frozen Fridays - Year 6
As some of you may have noticed, Year 6 will be enjoying themselves at Legoland on 11th July which is the same day as one of the Frozen Fridays. So that Year 6 do not miss out on this, children who wish to, can purchase an ice lolly for this day and we will give them out to children on Monday 14th instead (they will be kept in the freezer!)
We can see many parents have not ordered for the 11th July but please do go back on and order one if you would like your child to have an ice lolly on the 14th.
This is for Year 6 only - the rest of the school will go ahead on the 11th as planned.
In Other News...
Break the Rules Day
Our school government, the Cold Capybaras, have organised BREAK THE RULES DAY on Monday 21st July.
You can break the rules on this day by doing any of the following:
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Come to school in non-uniform/pyjamas
-
Have temporary dyed hair
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Pokémon cards (or other trading cards) are allowed in school
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Fizzy drinks and juice are allowed (no cans – only bottles) and you can have snacks in class (one only)
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You can wear jewellery (not hooped earrings)
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Have 30 minute break with lunchtime equipment during the morning
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Bringing toys to school (no phones or electronics)
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Hats and sunglasses allowed inside
-
Wear make-up and face paint
This is set up on Arbor in the school shop. You pay 50p for each rule your child wishes to break for the day. Please add the quantity to your basket (based on how many rules are being broken) and then make your payment.
As always. if your child is bringing snacks to school they must be NUT FREE. This is to protect children in school with severe nut allergies.
If your child would like to bring trading cards to school or any items from home, this is at their own risk, The school cannot take responsibility for them.
We are raising money for Stevenage Community Trust. Arbor will only allow you to add 9 ‘payments’ to the basket at one time so if you would like to give more to this charity, you will need to do a separate transaction for anything more than £4.50.
5&6 Athletics at Ridlins
Mrs Goddard and Mrs Hewitt, took a group of Year 6 and Year 5s to Ridlins on 17th June, to compete in an athletics competition. There were 20 schools there and many field and track events were scheduled. It was a very hot day but we managed to stay in the shade and keep hydrated. All the children tried their best and we were both pro…
Clean Air Day
The Almond Hill ECO Committee have been discussing 'Clean Air Day' over the last few weeks - the UK's biggest campaign against air pollution. They learnt that pollution in the air can affect your whole body and when you breathe in pollutants, they can pass through your lungs, into your bloodstream and to other organs in t…
DT at Thomas Alleyne Academy
On Friday 26th of June, Year 5 went on a really fun DT trip. There were 3 stations that everyone got to try. First, we all gathered in the art hall but then we went our separate ways. There was food technology, where we got to make ‘no-bake oat balls.’ There was art where we built an abstract face out of cardboard. Finall…