Over the last 2 weeks I have shared the graphs from last July’s parent survey. In the next few weeks, I will be responding in more detail to specific comments made by parents.

In response to ‘Do you feel you receive adequate communication regarding what is happening at school?’ the vast majority of parents responded positively. However some parents raised queries that we feel we will be able to accommodate to make our practice even better. It was requested that dates related to clubs could be added to the school calendar and this is something the admin team are looking into. However we are aware that adding too much information to the calendar can make it hard to read so we will monitor this.

Some parents requested greater clarity regarding transition at the end of the year. It is likely that classes will continue to be mixed at the end of Years 3,4 and 5 as it has proven to be successful the last 2 years. We agree class mix arrangements could be communicated more clearly and intend to improve on this next year.

Parents thought that a PA system would be useful for sports day and we are looking to borrow one from a local secondary school this year.

Finally, some parents would like parents’ evening slots to be longer. We have found that 10 minutes is sufficient for many families, however please do contact the class teacher via the year group email if you feel you need a longer or an additional meeting in order to discuss your child’s needs in enough detail. Teachers will always be happy to accommodate this.

We are planning Parents’ Evenings on Tuesday 10th and Thursday 12th October. We are aware that these are the same dates as meetings at Letchmore, and we hope this helps working parents who may need to book time off work to attend.

Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Richardson will be holding their meetings after half term as Mrs. Campbell will be having an operation before half term and will not be at school for two weeks.  We would like 3C parents to have the opportunity to meet both teachers together and so their meetings will be on Wednesday 1st and Friday 3rd November. 

In response to feedback from parents last term, we will be trialling a hybrid system for these appointments, whereby it is parental choice whether the appointment is face to face or online for all times offered.  Appointment lengths are ten minutes and teachers will need to keep to strict timings.

Our booking system opened at 7.00am on Monday 25th September and the booking system will close at 9.00am on Friday 6th October.  Should you wish to make any changes after this date, please contact the school office.

The system we use for booking these meetings is the same as we recently used for clubs.  Please visit https://almondhill.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointment.  Please log in with the following information: your child’s first name, surname and date of birth.

Please see the email sent to parents on Friday 22^nd September for additional information.

Year 3 parents are invited to have a school lunch with their child so that you can both sample our delicious meals.  Each class will be invited in for lunch to be served at 12.15pm on separate days:-

Wednesday 4th October – 3C (Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Richardson)
Deadline for orders Wednesday 27th September 

Wednesday 11th October – 3A (Miss. Andrews)
Deadline for orders Wednesday 4th October

Wednesday 18th October – 3W (Mrs. Ward)
Deadline for orders Wednesday 11th October

Please see the email sent to parents on Friday 22^nd September for additional information.

The parent lunch is an opportunity to sample the food served by Herts Catering at lunchtime. Children who usually have packed lunch are welcome to have a school dinner on this day but if not, they will eat their packed lunch with the rest of the year group. Children in Years 4, 5 and 6 will be eating lunch in their classrooms on this day and the options will remain the same.

As some parents will know, we have begun rolling out Arbor Parent Portal to our Year 3 families. The Arbor Parent Portal gives families access to their child’s attendance information and personal record. Once logged in, parents can request changes such as email addresses, phone numbers of emergency contacts and postal address. You are also able to update medical and dietary requirements as necessary. We use Arbor to store parental consent and parents will receive an alert should they need to give consent for any specific events. We will now begin rolling this out to other year groups starting with Year 6 this week. Once you receive your ‘welcome to Arbor email,’ please log on and check the details held are accurate.