Issue 4 - 26th September 2025
Dear Families,
Lots of information has been sent to parents already this term and I would ask that you take the time to read what has been sent as often information provided in our letters answers most questions. We do try to keep as much information as possible on our newsletter but this isn’t always possible or appropriate.
Parents of children in Year 4, 5 and 6 will have received information about our pop up pool which will be back at school in November. I am pleased to see parents have already started to complete the online consent form. If your child had swimming lessons last year and achieved their 25m, there is no need for them to swim again this year. We will be in touch with those parents.
Have a good weekend.
Emma Fordham,
Headteacher
Kindness of the week – Cheer someone on when they do well – be happy for them.
Key Messages
Value of the Month
Friendship has been our value for the month and in assembly on Monday with Mrs Fordham, we listed what makes a good friend or not. Please take the time to discuss these ideas with your children if they have any worries about friendships.
| Pupil Voice | |
| What makes a good friend? | What doesn’t make a good friend? |
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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.
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September and October |
Secondary and upper schools hold their open events (Details available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory) |
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31 October 2025 |
Deadline for applications |
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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. |
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30 January 2026 |
Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day. |
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2 March 2026 |
Allocation Day. School places are offered. |
Flu Vaccinations
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.
Our 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 the E-consent letter: 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
Parents’ Evening
Our Parents’ Evenings (PTI’s) for the Autumn Term will be held on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th October for Years 4-6 only. Following the confirmation last week that the Year 3 classes will be mixed, it would not be appropriate to meet with the class teachers at this time. Therefore, 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.
Appointments can be made now. The system will close at 6pm on Tuesday 30th September. 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.
Further information can be found in the email sent to parents on Wednesday.
Diversity Day!
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 would ask you to stay after drop off and speak to the class at the beginning of the day (or another time if this suits you better) and to allow some time for questions- I'm sure there will be plenty! You could speak about the religion you follow, your heritage or culture, your family history or a disability or special ability you have. We would love for every class to have at least one visitor to listen to and learn from. 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!
Miss Porter
Year 5 Parent Volunteers
We are looking for some Year 5 parent volunteers to accompany us to Barclay to watch a production in the afternoon of 14th October. If you are able to attend or would like more information, please email year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk Thank you!
New Relaxation Area - Coming Soon
Following our pupil voice survey and lots of lovely designs crafted by the children, we are going to renovate our quadrant area into a Relaxation Area. This coincides with our focus on pupil wellbeing and trying to utilise our outdoor spaces more to promote this. We would be hugely grateful for any donations of outdoor cushions, blankets, outdoor rugs, board games, floor puzzles and garden games. We also need log slices and rocks for painting or, if you are crafty, some homemade bunting, wind chimes and dream catchers.
Alternatively, if you are in a position and feeling generous, we have an Amazon wish list:https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3MLS898Q5Y5ML/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
Watch this space for updates on the transformation...
Heating Grants
Please note, for those who are facing financial difficulty, we are able to help apply for a heating grant. If you feel this would benefit you, please email Hannah at Wrighth@almondhill.herts.sch.uk.
Diary Dates
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.
Book Sales
Our preloved book sales take place during the school day. Children can bring cash to school for these. Books cost 50p each.
Wednesday 22nd October
Wednesday 26th November
Pre-Loved Uniform Sales
These take place from 3.00-3.30pm in the school hall. Families can purchase preloved uniform for a suggested donation of 50p per item.
Thursday 2nd October
Thursday 6th November
Thursday 4th December
We would be grateful for any donations of coats, especially fleeces, shoes, swimming costumes and Christmas jumpers for our sales this year.
SEND and Pastoral – Save the Dates
Coffee morning: Thursday 2nd October at 8:45
Afternoon tea: Monday 8th December at 2:30
We welcome all parents to attend (whether your child has a diagnosis or not) if they feel they would benefit from speaking to our SENCo and/or our pastoral team. In our experience, almost all children benefit from pastoral support during their journey at school. Examples of where this has been supportive in the past are when friendship issues arise, loss of a pet, online issues outside of school, family break up and bereavement. We are always delighted when more parents join us.
Almond Hill Achievements
We would love to hear from you!
At Almond Hill, we love to share and celebrate your successes. If you would like your child featured in our weekly newsletter, please complete the form on our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/form/?pid=130&form=483
Autumn 2025
Cricket
Freddie plays village cricket for Reed and he has been put forward to do trials for county Cricket- young Antlers. He is doing amazing and trials have started so we will know in the summer if he has managed to get a place in the Herts County cricket team. Freddie has also been put forwar…
Attendance
Year 3 96.79%
Year 4 98.33%
Year 5 93.96%
Year 6 96.05%
All Students 96.25%
Class Winners
4A 99.31%
5P 98%
Class of the Week
House Points
FOAH News...
Friends of Almond Hill Halloween Disco - 23rd October
If you have some monster moves bursting to get out, then our Halloween Disco is the place for you!
We will be running 4 Halloween discos (one for each year group) on Thursday 23rd October. Tickets are £6, include pizza and a drink, and must be purchased on Arbor (in the school shop) by 12.30pm on 15th October for catering and risk assessment purposes.
This will be a silent disco allowing our ghoulish guests to select the tunes (and volume) of their choice.
So polish your pumpkins and break out your broomsticks and book your tickets now!
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Please do not leave/bring your child if you have not purchased a ticket. Unfortunately we cannot allow entry without one and we would hate to cause any upset on the day.
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Risk assessments are completed before the disco to ensure we are meeting health and safety requirements. These are shared with all volunteers in advance, so everyone involved has the necessary time to read and understand them.
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FOAH order refreshments (taking dietary needs into account) and arrange headsets ahead of the event.
Because of this, deadlines must be strictly followed. We are unable to make exceptions.
Children in Year 3 can stay at school at 3.15pm and their teacher will escort them to the disco. If your child is staying here, please ensure they have their costume or change of clothes with them. They will have time to change in class before the disco starts. In the past, we have had parents arrive at the end of the school day to dress their children in elaborate and intricate outfits which takes a lot of time and therefore children miss out on what is a relatively short time at the disco. Children can bring their costumes to school and teachers will give them plenty of time to get ready at the end of the day before the disco begins. Please allow them to bring their costume to school to enable them to do this and make the most of the disco. Please also note that as this is a silent disco, children will be wearing headphones so head pieces are not necessary and could get lost so you may want to leave those at home. Children will not be able to apply face paint before the disco as they often paint each other and some children are allergic but don't worry - the hall is dark so the children won't see!
Children in Years 4-6 must be dropped to the hall doors by the main office via the main office gate which will be open. If your child is booked to go to Premier after school club, they can bring a change of clothes with them and will be taken to the disco by an adult. All children must be collected (from the quadrant) by an adult. As it may be dark when your child is being collected, we will see the children out individually to ensure everybody’s safety. Please form an orderly queue! Please remember, staff and parents volunteer their time for these events so would appreciate a prompt collection at the end of the disco. Phones are not allowed at the disco so please make sure these are left at home.
In Other News...
Cross Country Success at Fairlands Valley!
On Wednesday, we took part in the first cross country event of the year at Fairlands Valley. There was a fantastic turnout from local schools, with each race packed full of runners!
Every single one of our participants showed brilliant determination and effort as they tackled the challenging, hilly course. A special con…
500 Words is open for entries! Make sure you submit your stories before 9pm, Friday 7 November.
The 500 Words competition is back! It’s designed to inspire a love of writing and Mr Jennings would love as many Almond Hill children as possible to take part. Do you enjoy creating stories? Then this could be the competition for you!
This is an optional task with very few rules: children are simply asked to write a story they would love to read themselves.
How to enter:
- Upload your child’s finished story to the BBS Welcome (link below),
- or bring it to Mr Jennings, who will be happy to upload it for you.
Who can take part:
- Open to all ages and abilities across the primary setting.
- Two age categories: 5–7 and 8–11 years old.
- Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked – it’s all about creativity!
Prizes:
- Winners will take home a bundle of books.
- Gold winners will also win 500 books for their school library.
- Plus, there’s the exciting chance to visit Buckingham Palace, meet celebrities, and have their story read aloud!
Deadline:
Friday 7th November, 9pm
More information: The ultimate guide to 500 Words 2025/26 - BBC Teach
All 500 Words stories must:
- Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number)
- Be written by an individual and not a group
- Be a child’s own original idea
- Be prose, not rap or poem
Stories must not:
- Give any personal details of the child, including their name
- Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration)
- Be created, written or developed by AI
In every 500 Words competition, all stories are judged on the following criteria:
- Characterisation
- Plot
- Originality
- Language
- Enjoyment
Additional Information for Families...
Children’s Clothes Bank
The photos are of the three rooms where the clothes are set out. There is also another large room which has chairs for adults and toys and colouring for the children. Along with a huge screen which they play a Disney film on. Refreshments are provided for everyone who comes.