Issue 3 - 21st September 2022

Dear Parents/Carers,

At Almond Hill, we believe ‘Learning Behaviours’ help prepare our children with the skills to help them adapt to the future challenges they will face in an ever-changing world. Children who are inspired learners have the confidence to recognise that by working hard and focusing on learning these skills, they can achieve success. The way we describe our learning behaviours changes as the children progress from the lower school to the upper school. However, the behaviours stay the same. Our learning behaviours are outlined below along with the key attributes we ask the children to consider within their learning. We actively promote the learning behaviours within the school and encourage you to do so at home and whilst in the wider community. More information on our learning behaviours can be found below.

Learning Behaviours

	Lower School	Upper School
Have a go	Marvellous mistakes – it’s okay to make mistakes and have another go Try on my own but know where to find help.	Making mistakes means I’m learning Use my own initiative to find a range of resources.
Being curious	Ask questions to learn more Try things out in a different way.	Ask questions to extend my learning Experiment with different ideas and choose the best one.
Enjoy learning	Show you are interested by sharing your ideas Find out more about things that interest you Be happy to join in.	Always be an active learner, Ask to do more Be happy to join in and encourage others.
Ready to learn	Show you can listen to adults and other children Have all the equipment you need for the task Focus on your own learning.	Show you can listen and respond Have everything you need for the school day Manage distractions independently.
Working together	Work with a learning partner and in different small groups Follow class rules and routines.	Work in a range of groups taking on different roles Follow class rules and routines with adults.
Aiming high	Feel OK to take on a challenge Know that feedback will help me improve Remember what I have learned before and link it to new learning.	Look for ways to challenge yourself Use previous feedback to help in future tasks Make connections between different subjects and transfer to a wide range of situations.

On Thursday 6^th October, we would like to invite you to a 'Reading and Phonics Workshop' where we will outline our aims and expectations for reading and phonics 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 on our school website for you to support at home.

To ensure that you don't miss out on this opportunity, we are holding three workshops on this day. There will be two in school, the first from 1.45pm-2.45pm, the second from 4pm-5pm and one online from 6pm-7pm. We do hope that one of these times will be convenient for you and look forward to seeing you.

We will be holding the online meeting on TEAMS and the link for the meeting can be accessed here.

Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 323 423 924 767
Passcode: uG3UUe
Download Teams | Join on the web

We are really grateful to those parents who completed the parent survey in the summer and as promised, I will be providing feedback over the coming weeks. We had 46 parents complete the survey which is great but we would love to hear from more parents on the next survey. We were pleased to see lots of positives from the survey which can be seen from the charts below.

Parent Survey Bar Charts

This year, we have trialled offering swimming lessons to those children whose parents felt needed swimming lessons rather than the whole year group. Children that did not have swimming lessons had double PE with the Premier Sports coach.

I am so glad to see that parents appreciate and enjoy Seesaw and take on board the feedback that this is used in some classes more than others. In response to this, all Teaching Assistants will be receiving training this term to allow more people to have access to Seesaw and create posts.

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

News and Events

Diary Dates

Friday 30^th September
Wonderdome for year 5 (in school)
Monday 3^rd October
Year 6 – Grafham parent meeting (6:00 - 6:30pm)
Tuesday 4^th October
Flu vaccinations
Thursday 6^th October
Rail safety assemblies
Thursday 6^th October
Phonics and reading parent meeting
Tuesday 11^th & Wednesday 12^th October
NSPCC Speak Out. Stay Safe workshops (yr. 5 & 6)

Friday 14^th – Sunday 16^th October
Year 6 residential trip
Tuesday 18^th October
Virtual parents’ evening 4-6.30pm
Thursday 20^th October
Face-to-face parents’ evening
4.00-7.30pm
Monday 24^th- Friday 28^th October
Half term
Monday 31^st October
Secondary school application deadline
Thursday 10^th November
Year 6 Cinema trip
Thursday 10^th November
Open Evening

Cultural Calendar

Tuesday 4^th October
Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)
Monday 24th October
Diwali (Hindu)
Monday 19th December
Hanukkah (Jewish)
Sunday 25th December
Christmas Day
Sunday 1st January
New year

Attendance

Year 3 – 96.85% Year 4 – 93.83%
Year 5 – 96.19% Year 6 – 94.88%
All students – 95.39%
Class winners – 6S - 99.26%

School Dinners

Next week, we will be on week 1 of our menu. Please pay for your dinners in advance using app.schoolgrid.co.uk. Don’t forget to preorder!

Our Tribute to The Queen

We have added a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II alongside our wonderful Jubilee display.

Image Consent

A big thank you to the parents who have already completed the image consent form sent home last week. We have received a response from 1/3 of parents so far. If you haven’t already completed the form, please do so by following the link below. Year 3 parents do not need to complete the form.

This must be completed by Friday 30th September.

Consent form

The Extraordinary Life of Queen Elizabeth II

Almond Hill Achievements

Congratulations Mark in year 4 for successfully completing the Herts Libraries Summer Reading Challenge.

Anna in year 6 has been attending Stagecoach since she was 4 and has just been given her 6 year award. She goes for 3 hours every Saturday and it really is her favourite thing to do!

She has just completed her third performance on the stage at The Gordon Craig Theatre in her biggest role so far! She played Maizie La Bird in the production of Seussical Junior. Congratulations, Anna!

Rail Safety Assemblies

A Network Rail Community Safety Manager will visit us on Thursday 6^th October to deliver rail safety sessions in an assembly. The Stevenage area is one of their hotspot locations for child and young person incidents, such as trespassing and they will be speaking about this with the children.

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)

Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement. It is the most sacred and solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur is a day to reflect on the past year and ask God's forgiveness for any sins. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/znwhfg8/articles/z4vvjhv

The times table of the week is 5 x 6 = 30

On the right there are some learning resources to help wth this.

Secondary School Applications

‘Moving On 2023’

School open events and key dates for secondary transfer - leaflet

Information for parents with children in year 6.

Further information about moving to secondary or upper school in September 2023 is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

House Points Weekly Total

Last year, we introduced house points for P.E. All children have been allocated a team colour (Red, Blue, Green or Yellow. They will remain in this house colour for the duration of their Almond Hill journey through the school. Siblings have been placed in the same team colours. Ask your child about their colour. We wish to celebrate success at Almond Hill so throughout the year, children can earn house points for their team colour for their ENGAGEMENT, ENJOYMENT and ACHIEVEMENT in P.E. This means that even those children who do not perceive themselves as ‘sporty’ can also achieve in P.E. through their engagement and enjoyment.

Parking

Please be considerate when parking in the local area to drop off and collect children. We have received images of examples of unsafe parking since we have returned to school. Parking on the kerbs means that children may need to walk on the road to get by which is not safe. We have also seen cars parking on the corners which obstructs the view of other road users/children crossing.

Almond Hill Junior School