Issue 7 - 18th October 2023
Issue number: 7 Date: 18th October 2023
Dear Parents/Carers,
This week, we hosted the last of our parent lunches for Year 3. I hope families enjoyed this opportunity to come in to school. It was lovely to see you all!
Many children in Year 6 will be setting off for their residential trip to Grafham on Friday. We hope the children thoroughly enjoy themselves and make lots of memories with their friends. A big thank you must be given to Mrs Patterson for organising the trip and to all the members of staff who are accompanying the children this weekend. Have fun!
We have lots to look forward to when we return from half term including our Open Evening on the 9th November for new parents where we are hoping Year 6 pupils will continue the tradition as acting as tour guides (letters will be sent out in due course), Feeling Good Week, a Year 5 trip to the Space Centre and the Year 4 and 5 DT afternoon. Keep a look out for more information on our newsletters.
Have a good week.
Emma Fordham,
Headteacher
Key Messages
Parent Survey Feedback
Each year, the SLT and Governors develop the School Improvement Plan, what would you hope to see on it?
Some parents told us they would like regular updates about the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and how this is implemented. I agree that this has not been very regular and will endevour to keep parents updated termly regarding the SIP and how this is moving forward. The summary for this year will be shared with parents soon. A small number of you also said you would like better communication between your child’s class teacher and home aside from the use of Seesaw. Parents are offered two PTIs per year and are given an end of year report. As well as this, parents are really welcome to utilise the year group email boxes to arrange adhoc meetings with the class teacher if needed in between. We aim to keep the channels of communication open and strive for engagement with families.
Some parents commented on our offering of after school clubs and have suggested a wider selection. We completely understand why parents would want this to happen but must stress that many of our clubs are run by staff who volunteer their time and skills to run these clubs. As a school, we have started funding clubs from Premier but as I am sure you will appreciate, we have budgets we must adhere to. Therefore, although we would love to offer even more clubs, we are limited by cost and time. We would welcome parent volunteers to run after school clubs so If there are any parents with specific skills who wish to offer their time to run a club, we would be delighted!
Arbor Parent Portal
The portal has now been opened to all families across the year groups. I am really pleased that over 75% of parents have logged on at least once. If you are struggling with this, please pop into the office where the team will be happy to help you. When you first log on, you will need to use a web browser (i.e. Chrome/Edge) to set up your account – not through the app itself.
Click Here for Upcoming Events
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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
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23/10/2023 – 27/10/2023 - All DayHalf Term
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01/11/2023 - 3:00pm – 3:30pmUniform Sale
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01/11/2023 - 3:30pm – 4:00pmNetball match -v- Ashtree (home)
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01/11/2023 - 4:00pm – 7:00pm3C Parents' Evening
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03/11/2023 - 3:30pm – 6:00pm3C Parents' Evening
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.
Attendance
Year 3 – 94%
Year 4 –94%
Year 5 –94%
Year 6 –95%
All students – 93.4%
Class winners 3W – 99%
The government expectation for attendance is 96%
Well done Year 6. This is more like it!
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
Halloween Treat Jar - Join 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!!
Please note, the jars are glass so please take care if you win. If you are the winner, it would be great if the jars could be sent back to school to be recycled.
Christmas Present Room - Friday 8th December
Christmas sweet jars – details to follow.
In Other News…
Year 5 Trip to Barclay to Watch Oliver
On 17th October some year 5 children went to Barclay Academy to watch their performance of Oliver Twist. We collected some quotes from children who went to see it:
'The performance was very energetic!'
'My favourite characters were Oliver and The Artful Dodger!'
Overall, the show was spectacular. The children were brilliant! Almond Hill hopes to get invited to more performances and shows in the future.
By Layla and Albert in 5P
Friendship Room Donations
Our friendship room is open every lunchtime for children to drop in and have a chat or resolve friendship issues. Activities are available for children to play, draw and build inter year group relationships. Some children struggle at social times and the friendship room is pivotal for them to enjoy their time with a small group of people with adult support. We would love some donations to keep this room interesting. Any donations of games, colouring pens/pencils, play dough, Lego etc would be gratefully received. Card games are also really popular with UNO and Top Trumps being particularly popular. If you are able to donate anything, please give them to your child’s class teacher for the attention of the friendship room. Thank you as always for your support.
Heating Grants
For those who need, there are heating grants available. Applications are open between 1st October 2023 and 31st March 2024.
Beneficiaries must be in financial hardship through low-income employment or state benefits. Applicants do not need to be in receipt of state benefits to qualify. Working families on a low income or people in receipt of a pension will be considered for a grant.
Successful applicants will be awarded a £300 heating grant which will be paid directly to their energy provider. Payment details must be provided.
If you feel you meet this criteria, please contact Mrs Burgess who will be able to assist you with this.
Herts Catering Theme Days
