Issue 6 - 11th October 2023
Dear Parents/Carers,
It has been lovely to see so many Year 3 families join us for lunch. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as the children have! We are looking forward to welcoming families from 3W next Wednesday. Please remember, the deadline to order lunch for next week is today.
Next week, FOAH are hosting our Halloween (silent) disco! Please note, there will be NO clubs after school on this day. This does not impact Premier our wrap around care provider.
The times for the disco are as follow:
Year 3 - 3.30-4.30pm Year 4 - 4.15-5.15pm
Year 5 - 5.00-6.00pm Year 6 - 5.45-6.45pm
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 at 3.30pm. 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.
Have a good week.
Emma Fordham
Headteacher
Key Messages
Parent Survey Feedback
Do you feel that the school promotes and informs you about up to date online safety matters?
Many parents feel that although we provide information about online safety, this is an area they would like further support with. We currently have an online safety group with pupils, staff and governor representation headed up with Mrs Lyons. In November, like many schools across the town, we will be holding a 'Feeling Good Week' and we have decided to focus in on online safety and how technology can help or hinder our wellbeing. We are hoping to end that week with an exciting visitor... more news to follow! I am also currently investigating booking a speaker for parents about this very important topic. This is likely to be in the spring term.
Autumn Parents’ Evenings
Yesterday was the first of our parents’ evenings and as requested by you, we have been trialling a new way of offering appointments. I hope it has worked well for families and will look to gather feedback once the final evening has been held in November. Please make sure you have read the email (sent 09/10/23) from the office before attending as this details everything you need to know on the night.
How do parents join the video call?
A link should automatically be sent to parents via the system 1 hour before their video call but we understand that this may not have happened for all parents on Tuesday. Please check your spam/junk box in case this has been sent here but parents simply access the system on the day of their appointments and press the Join Video Appointments button at the top of their screen. There's also a link sent to parents in the email confirmation to join the video call.
Booster and Tutoring
We will soon be inviting some children in Year 4, 5 and 6 to attend different booster/tutoring sessions. In the past, we have had parents query why their children have not been asked to attend. These sessions are built to meet the needs of particular individuals with specific support requirements. If your child has not been invited, it may be that these sessions are not beneficial to them. If you feel your child needs additional support, please speak to their class teacher.
Secondary School Applications
Please be reminded that the deadline for secondary school applications is on Tuesday 31st October.
If you haven't already done so, please follow the link below to apply for your child's place.
Diary Dates
Click here to open the diary dates for next week.
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11/10/2023 – 12/10/2023 - All DayYear 6 Lancaster Model Health Questionnaire
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11/10/2023 - 12:15pm – 1:00pm3A Parent Lunch
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11/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 4 Stop Frame Animation
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12/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 5 Bench Ball
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12/10/2023 - 4:00pm – 7:00pmParents' Evening (except for 3C)
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13/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 6 Football Club
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16/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 3 Multi Sports Club
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17/10/2023 - 1:30pm – 2:45pmY5 Visit to Barclay (non swimmers)
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17/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 4 Hockey Club
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18/10/2023 - 12:15pm – 1:00pm3W Parent Lunch
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18/10/2023 - 1:15pm – 2:30pmBook Sale
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18/10/2023 - 3:30pm – 6:45pmFOAH Halloween Disco
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19/10/2023 - 3:15pm – 4:15pmYear 5 Bench Ball
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20/10/2023 – 22/10/2023 - All DayYear 6 Residential Trip to Grafham
Attendance
Year 3 – 93%
Year 4 –93%
Year 5 –95%
Year 6 –92%
All students – 93.4%
Class winners 3W – 99%
The government expectation for attendance is 96%
School Dinners
Don't forget to preorder your child's lunches!
Follow the link below to order.
http://app.schoolgrid.co.uk
You can pre-order from home for the day, week, month or even the term.
Almond Hill Achievements
Click the button below to see all the wonderful things our children have achieved outside of school.
Upcoming Friends of Almond Hill Events
A member of the FOAH committee joined us for assembly on Monday to talk to the children about being ‘FOAH reps’. This will involve representing the views of their fellow classmates regarding future events and how the money raised should be spent as well as helping out at the events where appropriate. Your child has been asked to tell their class teacher if they are interested in this role.
Halloween Disco – FOAH will be hosting our Halloween disco on Wednesday 18th October.
Halloween Treat Jar - Join in the fun!
Each class has a jar of treats. How many treats? This is the challenge...
Next week, guess how many treats in the jar, 50p for a guess (cash in class to your class teacher please). The winner will be announced on 20th October and will get to take the jar filled treats home for the half term. Please note that all the sweets are vegan except the chocolates which will need to be rescued if necessary for dietary reasons.
Happy guessing!!
Christmas Present Room - Friday 8th December
Christmas sweet jars – details to follow.
In Other News...
Football Update
On Wednesday, our football team had their first outing at Shephalbury School and took part in a tournament with five other Stevenage teams. The boys and girls were a credit to their coach Miss Simmons and Almond Hill. Their work ethic and team spirit saw them go on to do really well. Below is a report from our team captain Alex...
Yesterday, me, Teddy, Dawson, Mollie, Deniz, Cleo, Oliver G, Charlie, George and Keiyan all went to a football tournament to determine what league we were placed in. Luckily, the first game pressure paid off as we won 1-0. These games were very intense as they were 8 minutes long and one way. We had to play with 3 subs and there were 5 games. Together as a team, not one of us moaned and we all participated and didn’t argue with any refs. Luckily, we came in the top two so we will be playing soon again in the final. Our resilience and style of play showed how good we can be as a team and as a school.
Harry G was not able to come to this event and Teddy had to leave half way. Great goalkeeping from Ollie and well done to our player of the week, George!
Rag Bag Recycling
Rag Bag will be collecting ‘donations’ on Wednesday 18th October. The 'Rag Bag' recycling scheme increases awareness about textile recycling and by increasing recycling rates, we can help the environment by ensuring less material goes to landfill. Almond Hill get paid for every kg collected.
They can accept the following items:
- Wearable Clothing
- Paired Shoes
- Handbags
- Belts
Please bring your items (bagged) to school on the morning of Wednesday 18th October as we do not have space to store items before then. If the weather is dry, we will ask you to leave them under the covered walkway in the quadrant and if it is wet, in the computer room where children get their bagels from.