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. 

Join the meeting now 

Meeting ID: 343 587 956 536 6 

Passcode: jn3rU6Vq 

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

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

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

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.