Children are invited to dress up for World Book Day on Thursday 7th March.  Please note this is not a non-school uniform/pyjama day. If they wish to dress up, children should dress us as their favourite book character. Parents in the parents' forum had communicated they would really like to do this which is why I have reintroduced it this year but I don't want to detract from the purpose of the day, which is to celebrate books and reading, so any special activities will be linked to that. Children will be given the opportunity to 'parade' their character in class and explain who they are and which book they come from. However, those children who don't want to dress up will not be expected to. I anticipate a greater take up in the younger classes and would prefer parents didn't have to go to any extra expense - although I fully appreciate when my children were in primary school, my sewing and creative skills weren't up to it so a quick trip to a supermarket made my life easier! If your child usually has PE on Thursdays and they are dressing up, please send them in with their usual PE kit so they can change for their lesson (3C, 4H, 4L, 5P and 6B). 

We will also be doing a ‘sponsored read’ from Friday 8th March – Friday 15th March to raise money for books for our class libraries. Children were told about this in assembly on Wednesday and will have been given a sponsorship form and a reading log to bring home. For more information, please see the email that was sent to families on Wednesday. 

Some selected children from Year 6 will be invited to go to Letchmore to read with younger children. This is as a reward/positive consequence for their contribution to the school, e.g. Reading Mentors and Headteacher Assistants. The children will be told in person by Mrs Fordham.  

To recognise British Science Week, we will be inviting parents into school on Thursday 14th March to take part in some exciting science activities. Following feedback from parents, this will take place in the morning. Parents will be asked to join us at drop off and the activities will be completed by 10.15am. I hope with some advance notice many of you will be able to come along.  There will be refreshments in the hall from 8.45am. This can be accessed from the quadrant. Guides from Year 6 will ensure parents can visit all/any classrooms. Gates will be locked at 9.00am but parents can sign in and enter via the office after 9.00am. The ‘event’ will run from 9.15-10.15am.

In April, we will begin using a local provider to supply our uniform. We will continue to use our current provider ‘My Clothing’ for a short period of time whilst we transition over but wanted to give parents the heads up in case they wanted to wait before purchasing new items. Please don’t worry, the uniform is staying the same and there is no need to change the uniform you already have.  We will send you further information when items are ready to be purchased. 

We are planning Parents’ Evenings for the Spring Term on Thursday 21st and Tuesday 26th March. We would like 4O parents to have the opportunity to meet both Mrs Barham and Mrs Geer together and so their meetings will be on Thursday 7th and Thursday 21st March.   

We will be again using a hybrid system for these appointments, whereby it is parental choice whether the appointment is face to face or online.  However, following feedback from both parents and teachers, all online appointments will take place in a ‘block’ at the start of one evening and a ‘block’ at the end of the other.  We have also increased the number of in-person appointments available to parents as this was the overwhelming feedback last term.  Appointment lengths are ten minutes and teachers will need to keep to strict timings. 

The booking system will close at 1.00pm on Wednesday 13th March.  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 use for clubs.  Please visit https://almondhill.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointment. A short guide on how to add appointments is available on the school website. Please log in with the following information: your child’s first name, surname and date of birth. 

Given how the time spent with the class teacher at parents’ evening is finite, we thought it would be beneficial for families to receive their PTI forms before parents’ evening to allow you to digest the information and plan for any questions you may have. Parents of children in 4O will receive their forms on Monday as their parents' evenings start next week. For all other classes, the forms will come home on Monday 18th March. These will come home with your children in an envelope. 

As we are all acutely aware, parking around the school site at drop off and pick up is a significant problem. We are in conversation with a local councillor to try and come up with some strategies to help improve this but this will be an ongoing project. When the school was built, there were far fewer houses and less cars on the road than there are now and the infrastructure was not built for the increased congestion. We have had a look at our demographic and thought it would interest you to see how far and wide our families come, many of whom will need to drive to school not only for the distance but to enable them to go off to work from drop off. However, there are also many families who live in the local vicinity who could absolutely benefit from walking, scooting or riding to school. We will keep you updated on any progress we make.