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  • Issue 37th - 18th July 2025

    Published 18/07/25

     

    Dear Families, 

    As we come to the end of another school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that we’ve achieved together and look ahead to the exciting journeys still to come. 

    To our wonderful Year 6 children – we are so proud of you. You have shown resilience, maturity and kindness and you leave our school as confident, capable young people, ready for the next chapter of your lives. We will miss your energy, your leadership, and your laughter but we know you’ll go on to do amazing things.  

    To our new families who are joining us – welcome! We are so excited to have you with us and can’t wait to get to know you. You are joining a school that values kindness, curiosity and community and we look forward to learning and growing together. 

    This year has been full of achievements. Whether it’s been in the classroom, on the sports field or through acts of kindness and community spirit, every child has contributed something special. We are proud of every step you’ve taken, every challenge you’ve faced and every success – big or small – that you've celebrated. 

    Thank you to our staff for their dedication and care and to our families for your continued support and trust. 

    Please take the time to read the message below regarding the arrangements for the early finish on Tuesday. 

    Wishing you all a restful, joyful summer holiday. We look forward to welcoming you back in September for another exciting year of learning. Our first day back is on Thursday 4th September.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Arrangements for the last day of term 

     

     

    The final day of the academic year is fast approaching. School will finish at 12.30pm on this day – Tuesday 22nd July. We understand Letchmore do not finish until the Wednesday.  

    As always, I do not want to put unnecessary pressure on families with children in both schools so we will finish early as planned on Tuesday (12.30pm) but for those parents who really need it, school will remain open until 3.15pm. Children will be invited to watch a film in the hall and will be supervised by support staff.  

    Please note, this is not expected to be a ‘staggered finish’. We would expect children to either be collected at 12.30pm or 3.15pm. 

    We have requested consent to leave early on Arbor. Please log in to the parent portal and let us know if your child is allowed to leave early on the last day of term.  

    If you decline or do not respond, your child will be expected to stay until 3.15pm unless they are collected by a parent. 

    This is for all year groups including Years 5 and 6 who can normally leave independently as it is an earlier finish. Safety is always my priority so I will not allow any child to leave without parental consent.  

    Year 6 Graduation

    Wow – what a week! I hope you all enjoyed the graduations this week. I am sure parents would join me in thanking the Year 6 team for their time and effort in organising this and all the other leavers’ events for the children. We would really appreciate your feedback so we can continue to improve on these lovely events for the children. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below to give your feedback. 
     
    https://forms.office.com/e/b03aFJJY2v 

    Sports Day Feedback 

    We used different technology this year and we are hoping that parents were able to hear us. Please could you give your feedback below.  

     

    Read More

  • Issue 36 - 11th July 2025

    Published 11/07/25

     

    Dear Families, 

    Arrangements for the last day of term 

    The final day of the academic year is fast approaching. School will finish at 12.30pm on this day – Tuesday 22nd July. We understand Letchmore do not finish until the Wednesday.  

    As always, I do not want to put unnecessary pressure on families with children in both schools so we will finish early as planned on Tuesday (12.30pm) but for those parents who really need it, school will remain open until 3.15pm. Children will be invited to watch a film in the hall and will be supervised by support staff.  

    Please note, this is not expected to be a ‘staggered finish’. We would expect children to either be collected at 12.30pm or 3.15pm. 

    We have requested consent to leave early on Arbor. Please log in to the parent portal and let us know if your child is allowed to leave early on the last day of term.  

    If you decline or do not respond, your child will be expected to stay until 3.15pm unless they are collected by a parent. 

    This is for all year groups, including Years 5 and 6, who can normally leave independently as it is an earlier finish. Safety is always my priority so I will not allow any child to leave without parental consent.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Kindness of the week: say thank you when someone does something kind for you 

    Key Messages

    Is your child moving to a new school in September? 

    We hope to see you all back with us in September but we know some people do in year transfers during the summer due to house moves etc. Please let us know as soon as possible us if your child will be moving to another school in September so we can arrange for the necessary paperwork to be completed. 

    If your child is in Year 6, we would appreciate if any monies owed could be cleared before the end of term.  

    Kindness Ambassador School 

    I am incredibly proud to tell parents that because of the hard work from Mrs Bond (Physical and Mental Well-Being Lead), our school kindness ambassadors and the rest of the school, we have been accredited as a kindness ambassador school.  

    School Games Mark - GOLD!!

    We are delighted to announce that we, Almond Hill, have achieved the School Games GOLD Mark Award for the 2024/25 academic year.
     
    The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.
     
    As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.
     
    A special thanks to Mrs Bond our Mental and Physical Wellbeing Lead for all her hard work organising sporting activities and events for the children.
     
    We look forward to applying once again in 2026!

    Sports Day  

    I do hope parents and children enjoyed the recent sports days. A lot of time and effort goes into planning these events and watching the children having fun makes it all worth it.  

    I am pleased to announce the winners...  

    The winners of the upper school sports day and earning themselves 25 house points are BLUE! Well done green team. The JOINT winners of the lower school sports day and earning themselves 25 house points each are RED and GREEN! Well done!  

    Read More

  • Issue 35 - 4th July 2025

    Published 04/07/25

     

    Dear Families, 

    Next Thursday is Transition Day. As a school, we have been working on making this process as easy as possible for families. Following parent feedback, we will be announcing new teachers via email to parents on Monday 7th July in preparation for Transition Day on Thursday 10th.  

    Children in current Years 3, 4 and 5 will spend the day in their new classes and Year 6 will spend the day in their new secondary school. Year 6 parents, please ensure you know the details for your child’s transition as we often have children arrive at school as normal on this day but they should be registered at the school they will start in in September. Please read on for further information including staff changes for September.   

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Staff who are leaving Almond Hill at the end of term 

    Mrs Barhey 
    The time has come for me to move on to a new chapter in my teaching and learning journey at the end of this term. It has been a real privilege to teach 5S since January and to be part of such a supportive and caring school community. I will truly miss the children and staff whose enthusiasm, curiosity and kindness have made my time at Almond Hill a very special one. Thank you for all your support towards your children and to me. As A.A. Milne once wrote, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." I leave with many fond memories and wish you all the very best for the future. 

    Mrs Ogilvie 
    I have really enjoyed my time here at Almond Hill and will be sad to leave the children and the friends I have made.  Thank you to everyone for being so welcoming when I first arrived.  

    Changes to current staffing at Almond Hill 

    From September, we will no longer be using Premier for sports during the day. This does not affect our wrap around care facility – they will continue to be our provider. This does mean that unfortunately, we will be losing Mr Miah at the end of term. I am sure parents will want to wish him all the best in his next school. He has been a wonderful addition to Almond Hill and has worked incredibly hard across the school delivering a brilliant sporting provision. Thank you and good luck Mr Miah!  

    That being said, I am pleased to tell parents we have appointed a dedicated Sports Coach. Miss Harris will take on that role in September working alongside Mrs Bond (PE Subject Lead and Physical and Mental Well-Being Lead) to continue to improve the sporting provision for our children.  

    Congratulations to Mrs Hanmore and Miss Hunter who have both been appointed as Pastoral TAs. They are joining our expanding pastoral team and will work alongside Mrs Burgess and Mrs Barker delivering specialist interventions and pastoral provisions for the children.  

    Miss Paszek is joining the cover supervisor team and will provide lesson cover for teachers when needed. Congratulations on your new role, Miss Paszek. 

    Some parents may already have noticed we have a new member of staff in our office. Miss Powell has joined the office team as the Finance Assistant. She will arrange trips, visits, clubs and sporting events for the children.  

    Staff who are joining Almond Hill in September 

    Mr Jennings – Class Teacher 
    I am thrilled to be joining the team at Almond Hill this July. Over the past three years, I have been training to fulfil my passion for becoming a Primary Teacher, and I’m incredibly excited to begin this new chapter. During my training, I had the pleasure of completing a placement at Almond Hill, and ever since, I have secretly hoped for the opportunity to return. I feel very fortunate to now be part of this wonderful school community. I am really looking forward to meeting your children and working closely with you to support their learning and development. I strongly believe in creating a safe and nurturing environment where children can grow academically, socially and emotionally into well-rounded individuals. Outside of teaching, I have a keen interest in technology, and I enjoy keeping active, particularly at the gym. I look forward to meeting you and your children. 

    Mrs Mitchell - Teaching Assistant  
    I’m delighted to be joining Almond Hill as a teaching assistant in September. I come to this role from a large primary school in Stevenage. I have also previously spent time helping at a smaller school, in the village where I live. I have two children, who will be in years 7 and 9 in September.  Before having children, I worked at a professional advisory company, advising local authorities on large scale development and regeneration projects. Outside of work, I love gardening and playing tennis.  I am very much looking forward to getting to know your children and supporting their individual growth and learning in the months ahead. 

    Mrs Wright – Pastoral Team
    Hello, I’m MrsWright and looking forward to joining the pastoral team in September. I have 17 years experience working in special schools. For the last 4 years I have been a pastoral support worker; running interventions, being part of the behaviour response team, being a Therapeutic Thinking Tutor and a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. I work closely with pupils, their families and outside agencies to offer them the best pastoral support possible. I am also mum to 3 teenage daughters and love music - I can’t wait to meet all the Almond Hill pupils and families soon. 

    Mr Tuck - Teaching Assistant
    Hello everyone. I am Mr Tuck and I am excited to be joining Almond Hill in September as a teaching assistant. I enjoy many different sports and have a keen interest in football. I support Liverpool FC.  

    Online Safety 

    Please remember to monitor your child’s phone (if they have one) as there have been unkind anonymous text messages recently joking about knife crime circulating. We would always suggest parents report any threats of violence to police.  

    Navigating the Online World Safely with Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews 

    It was a pleasure to chat with parents at the Navigating the Online World Safely information session after school this week.  There were some signposts to helpful parent guides under the following categories: entertainment & search engines, social media, broadband & mobile networks, devices and gaming.  Needless to say, there are many more parental settings required than on a device setup.    

    https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/page/2/ 

    Helpful and interesting information regarding mobile phone options was also available: 

    https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/alternatives  

    Arbor App  

    We would encourage all parents to download the Arbor app for a user-friendly experience.  You will receive notifications when we send you in-app messages. . 

    Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arboreducation.parentapp&hl=en_GB&pli=1  

    App store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/arbor-parent-app/id1448707412  

    As you will have noticed, we have started to use Arbor School Shop for payments. Please note that when using the school shop, you won't be sent an email or confirmation of your purchase, but you can see which items you've been invoiced for.  
     
    A guide is available if you need help with purchasing from the school shop: https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/5068444710813-Purchasing-School-Shop-items-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App   

    We are streamlining the apps we use to make it easier for parents and going forward, we will use SchoolGrid for lunches, SchoolCloud for parents' evening and Arbor for everything else.  

    Changes to Immunisation  

    Please see below a letter from the Director of Public Health regarding immunisations. 

    Changes to immunisation  letter to parents

    Chewing Gum

    Recently, our cook found gum stuck to the bottom of one the plates in the dining room. Please can parents remind children they are not allowed to bring chewing gum to school.  

    Read More

  • Issue 34 - 27th June 2025

    Published 27/06/25

     

    Dear Families, 

    It is a long newsletter this week but there are lots of lovely news stories about the events that have taken place over the last 2 weeks which I hope families will enjoy reading.  

    Hertfordshire’s transition day is on Thursday 10th July. Children in Year 6 will spend the day at their new secondary school, Year 3, 4 and 5 will move up and spend the day in their new classes and our new Year 3 intake for September 2025 will spend the day at Almond Hill so it is a very busy day for all.  

    We know some parents/children find the transition and change of teacher/classes daunting and so as promised, we will ‘announce’ the new class teachers for 2025/26 during that week and before transition day. Families who are joining us from Letchmore will know who their teachers are prior to this date due to additional transition visits taking place.   

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Admin Email Monitoring – July and Going Forward 
    Please be aware that from 3rd to 11th July, the admin email inbox will not be regularly monitored. If you need to contact the school during this time, please use the appropriate channels listed in the email sent to parents this week. 

     

    Weather Warnings 

    It is predicted to be particularly warm on various days next week however which days tends to change! Please feel free to allow your child to wear their PE kit on the days you feel necessary (not non uniform/home clothes). Please ensure they wear sun cream, have a water bottle and a hat with them every day. Talk to them about listening to their bodies and slowing down when it is warmer. We will put into place adaptations such as shorter times outside, reminders to drink and take shade and changes to planned activities where necessary. Working together will help alleviate some of the discomfort and allow us to enjoy the summer term. Although whatever we do, it will still be hot!  

    Save the Date - Navigating and Managing Online Safety Workshop for Parents 

    Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be hosting this workshop to give parents the opportunity to discuss any worries or concerns they have around online safety (and mobile phones in particular). Like you, we are not experts but it is a good opportunity for us to look at these issues together and come up with some ideas to help support each other. This will take place from 3.30 until 4.30pm on Tuesday 1st July. Children are not permitted to attend this session so we will be offering a creche.

    Regeneration – Changes  

    Please note, there have been some changes to our planned regeneration tours. Year 5 will still be visiting the local area but Year 6 will now be staying at school for this. However the date for Year 5 may change as the weather is predicted to be very warm next Tuesday.  

    Changes to the Holiday Food Voucher Scheme for benefits related Free School Meal Children. 

    We would like to inform you of some upcoming changes to the Holiday Food Voucher Scheme for children eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals. 

    Since December 2020, food vouchers have been provided to families through funding from the government, most recently via the Household Support Fund from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This funding has supported the distribution of vouchers during school holidays to help with the cost of living. 

    From April 2025 to March 2026, Hertfordshire County Council has received 12% less funding in its latest allocation of the Household Support Fund. As a result, the council has reviewed all schemes supported by this funding to ensure continued support can be delivered in the most effective way possible. 

    As part of these changes, the Holiday Food Voucher Scheme has been revised. Moving forward, vouchers will only be issued during the main school holiday periods and will no longer be provided for the October and February half terms. 

    The updated voucher distribution schedule is as follows: 

    • Easter 2025 – £30 per eligible pupil 

    • May Half Term 2025 – £15 per eligible pupil 

    • Summer 2025 – £60 per eligible pupil 

    • Christmas 2025 – £30 per eligible pupil 

    We understand this change may have an impact on families, particularly as the scheme has been in place for the past three years. If you or someone you know requires additional support, we encourage you to visit the ‘Support with the Cost of Living’ pages on the Hertfordshire County Council website, where further resources and advice are available. 

    Sharing Box

    Please be reminded that we have started a small scale share box which will contain some food items and household necessities (such as toilet rolls/soap/washing up liquid). There is a labelled box in the quadrant in the mornings. Please give generously and feel able to take from it - no judgement.  Please leave non-perishables in it such as baked beans/tuna and be mindful of allergies/unsafe items such as bleach. As always, nut products are not allowed in school. The children will be reminded not to touch. It is only for adults to use.    

    Year 6 Water Fight 

    As an end of year treat for good behaviour, children in Year 6 are invited to take part in a water fight in the afternoon on Tuesday 1st July. This has proved very popular in the past!  Children will need additional clothes for the water fight as well as towels and a named water gun if they have one. Children have asked if they can bring water bombs and this has been agreed as long as they clear up the mess at the end! Please do not go to any extra expense as it may be cancelled at short notice.   

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  • Issue 33 - 13th June 2025

    Published 13/06/25

     

    Dear Families, 

    What a treat to see the sun shining this week—it made for a lovely morning at the Upper School Sports Day! I hope everyone who joined us had a great time. Fingers crossed the sunshine sticks around so we can go ahead with the Lower School Sports Day as planned in a couple of weeks. 

    It’s been another busy week here at school. Some of our Year 6 children took part in a cricket event, while 5S visited Barclay for a PE lesson. Year 6 also attended their Crucial Crew visit. Our football team wrapped up their season with a presentation and a fun parent vs. children match. FOAH treated the children to a fantastic Father’s Day present room—thank you so much to the team for organising it! Year 3 took part in their regeneration workshop and of course, we had our Upper School Sports Day. 

    Looking ahead to next week, there’s lots more going on! Year 6 will be visited by the Money Van on Monday, the Dogs Trust will be coming in to see Years 3 and 4 and some children in Years 5 and 6 will be taking part in the Ridlins athletics event. 

    Just a reminder: school will be closed next Friday and the following Monday for INSET and Occasional Days. 

    Wishing you all a lovely weekend! 

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Act of kindness for the week – try to make a new friend - show interest in someone you don't know so well. Maybe talk to someone in a different class. 

    Key Messages

    Lower School Sports Day 

    The new date for our lower school sports day is Friday 27th June 9.00am-12.00pm 

    With a backup date of Thursday 17th July should the lower school date need to be cancelled again. If this date is needed, the sports day will take place in the morning. 

    Although we have allowed 9.00am-12.00pm for the sports days, they may finish earlier than this (but not later) especially if the races are over quickly! Parents can come round to the field after drop off. The gates closest to St Nicholas Church will remain closed but unlocked during sports day for anyone who will be arriving after 9.00am. All children must go to class first to register as normal and then will be brought out to the school field for sports day. We know that not all parents are able to attend in school events so we will be taking some photos which will be uploaded to Seesaw.  

    A reminder of your child’s house colour has been sent via email. Ideally, children will participate in their house teams so please can they wear a t-shirt in their house colour if possible.  Please do not worry if your child does not have an item of clothing in their house colour. We do not expect parents to purchase anything. We have bibs for anyone who hasn't got a top in their colour. 

    School will be selling light refreshments and baseball caps so please bring cash with you. Please make sure your child has their water bottle with them. 

    Toilets will be signposted - for safeguarding reasons, please ensure you follow the signs to our 'visitor' toilets. 

    The drop off car park will be left open to reduce parking outside. For safeguarding, all internal gates will be locked during the event so the drop off zone cannot be accessed through the quadrant. Parents will need to leave the school via the St Nicholas Church gate and walk down to the drop off zone from there. If the gates are not open for any reason when you need to access your car, please speak to the office.  

    Feedback from last year’s sports day: 
    Last year, we asked parents for their feedback on the sports day and I wanted to come back to that this year. It was mentioned that the marathon was too long for some children. The marathon will be kept to 2 laps again this year but this event is aimed at long distance runners and any child participating knows how far they will be running. Some people asked if they could provide their own seating – particularly for those with disabilities. We do bring the biggest chairs we have available but appreciate these aren’t aimed at adults. Parents are welcome to bring their own chairs but we would ask that these are put at the back or to the side of our seating. Please do not rearrange the seating we have provided. We would also politely request that spectators remain seated to allow those at the back to watch the events. Please can I also ask that gazebos are not brought into school for the sports days. Last year, we borrowed a PA system from a local school and unfortunately this did not work. We have another one this year and are hopeful you will be able to hear us this year! 

    Sports Day Feedback Request

    We used different technology this year and we are hoping that parents were able to hear us. Please could you feedback below. We do have a plan B for next time if needed.  

     

    Save the Date - Navigating and Managing Online Safety Workshop for Parents 

    Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be hosting this workshop to give parents the opportunity to discuss any worries or concerns they have around online safety (and mobile phones in particular). Like you, we are not experts but it is a good opportunity for us to look at these issues together and come up with some ideas to help support each other. This will take place from 3.30 until 4.30pm on Tuesday 1st July. Children are not permitted to attend this session so we will be offering a creche.  

    Plea to Parents

    We are struggling to find enough adults to support trips and visits. By their nature, trips and visits require higher staffing/adult ratios than regular lessons. Due to financial restrictions for increasing staffing and competing demands for time of teaching assistants, we are increasingly finding it difficult to find enough adults for sports trips, smaller groupings when visitors come into school and local trips such as the regeneration visits in the local area. We are really committed to keeping costs down whilst keeping these supplementary activities going but need any help families can offer. If we are not able to increase the number of volunteers over the next few weeks, we may have to take the decision to cancel some events and certainly will have to be mindful of what we plan for next year. I know many parents work and are not able to support school events in this way but if you do have the time and we make a request for parental/family support, please consider it as we wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary to keep them going.  

    Summer Reading Challenge – ‘Read, Shoot, Score’ 

    We are excited to announce the summer reading challenge! All children are encouraged to participate. At the bottom of the newsletter, you will find the instructions and sheets that children will need in order to take part in the challenge. The ‘Reading Challenge sheet’ is split into 4 sections. The bottom 3 sections are ‘pass’ sections and the top one is a ‘shoot’ section. Children must play 3 passes (one from each section) and then take a shot (a reading challenge from the top shoot section). A goal is scored once all 4 challenges have been completed and then children can ask their teacher for a football sticker which is then placed in the goal on the back of the sheet.  

    Every child in the class that scores the most goals will be allowed to choose a book to be bought and presented to the class library of their next class. If it is a Year 6 class, then they will be allowed to spend some time with our Year 3 children and will find out what books they would have liked to see in the Year 3 class libraries and they will be invited to donate their books to the next Year 3 children. At Almond Hill in Year 6, our behaviour curriculum is all about community spirit and giving back – what a great legacy to leave to the next cohort of children to join our school. In addition to this, the team (class) who score the most goals in total will be invited to suggest a small team reward they would really enjoy for example a picnic or games afternoon 

    The reading challenge will start on the 16th June and continue throughout the summer term and will officially end on Friday 11th July.  

    Regeneration Activities 

    Over the last few weeks of the summer term, every year group will be taking part in activities/tours linking to the regeneration of Stevenage. We have been working with the Regeneration Team at Stevenage Borough Council for the last year. We are going to be building on the activities that the children took part in last year. 
    Year 4 will be going for a tour of the New Town and looking at some of the completed projects as well as ones that are due to/have just started. They will be looking at the timeline of Stevenage town and will be completing an activity there. Year 5 and 6 will be going on a tour of the Old Town to look at/compare some of the old buildings with those that they saw last year. They will be acknowledging the importance of history within the town and looking at different pieces of art throughout. They will be completing activities based on a mix of geography, history and art. 

    The dates are: 
    Year 4 = Tuesday 24th June 
    Year 5 = Tuesday 1st July 
    Year 6 = Tuesday 8th July  

    Free School Meals Update 

    Since the update on last week’s newsletter regarding the changes to free school meals entitlement "The DFE has just announced that free school meals (FSM) transitional protection will now continue until September 2026 (when FSM eligibility will be extended to all families receiving Universal Credit). This means that changes recently communicated will not go ahead. All families remain protected and eligible until the end of the 2025/26 academic year." 

     

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  • Issue 32 - 6th June 2025

    Published 06/06/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    I hope you all enjoyed the half term break.  

    A BIG thank you to for FOAH for organising the film nights the last of which was on Tuesday. The children had a great time. Thank you to parents for supporting the event. Their next event is the Father’s Day Present Room which will take place in school on Thursday next week. Thank you to all the parents who have preordered their gifts – this is very helpful. If you didn’t preorder, your child can bring cash on the day but FOAH are unable to accept IOUs.  

    This term we will be running a whole school reading challenge - ‘Read, Shoot, Score’ which has been set up to encourage children enjoy reading, read more and to score ‘goals’. Look out for more information next week. This challenge will start on the 16th June and continue throughout the summer term and will officially end on Friday 11th July. 

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham 
    Headteacher

     

    Key Messages

    Sports Day

    Please be reminded that the sports days that were due to take place this week have been postponed. 

    The new dates for our sports days will be in the morning on the following dates: 
     
    Upper School - Friday 13th June 9.00am-12.00pm 
    Lower School – Friday 27th June 9.00am-12.00pm 

    With a backup date of Thursday 17th July should either date need to be cancelled again. If this date is needed, the sports day will take place in the morning unless both have been cancelled where we will use both the morning and afternoon. 

    Although we have allowed 9.00am-12.00pm for the sports days, they may finish earlier than this (but not later) especially if the races are over quickly! Parents can come round to the field after drop off. The gates closest to St Nicholas Church will remain closed but unlocked during sports day for anyone who will be arriving after 9.00am. All children must go to class first to register as normal and then will be brought out to the school field for sports day. We know that not all parents are able to attend in school events so we will be taking some photos which will be uploaded to Seesaw.  

    A reminder of your child’s house colour has been sent via email. Ideally, children will participate in their house teams so please can they wear a t-shirt in their house colour if possible.  Please do not worry if your child does not have an item of clothing in their house colour. We do not expect parents to purchase anything. We have bibs for anyone who hasn't got a top in their colour. 

    School will be selling light refreshments and baseball caps so please bring cash with you. Please make sure your child has their water bottle with them. 

    Toilets will be signposted - for safeguarding reasons, please ensure you follow the signs to our 'visitor' toilets. 

    Feedback from last year’s sports day: 
    Last year, we asked parents for their feedback on the sports day and I wanted to come back to that this year. It was mentioned that the marathon was too long for some children. The marathon will be kept to 2 laps again this year but this event is aimed at long distance runners and any child participating knows how far they will be running. Some people asked if they could provide their own seating – particularly for those with disabilities. We do bring the biggest chairs we have available but appreciate these aren’t aimed at adults. Parents are welcome to bring their own chairs but we would ask that these are put at the back or to the side of our seating. Please do not rearrange the seating we have provided. We would also politely request that spectators remain seated to allow those at the back to watch the events. Please can I also ask that gazebos are not brought into school for the sports days. Last year, we borrowed a PA system from a local school and unfortunately this did not work. We have another one this year and are hopeful you will be able to hear us this year! 

    Save the Date - Navigating and Managing Online Safety Workshop for Parents

    Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be hosting this workshop to give parents the opportunity to discuss any worries or concerns they have around online safety (and mobile phones in particular). Like you, we are not experts but it is a good opportunity for us to look at these issues together and come up with some ideas to help support each other. This will take place from 3.30 until 4.30pm on Tuesday 1st July. Children are not permitted to attend this session so we will be offering a creche.

    Absence During Term Time

    We have seen an increase in requests for absence during term time. We are ambitious for all our children and give the same level of attention to attendance as to other matters concerning wellbeing and achievement in school. Any child whose absence falls below 96% will be monitored and parents may receive a letter from the school inviting you to discuss ways in which we can support families and children to develop better attendance. Of course, we appreciate and understand that sometimes absence is out of parents' control and there may be times where children are not in school because they are too ill to attend. However, if any child is regularly absent through repeated illness then parents may be asked to provide medical evidence to support this. This absence will be recorded as an unauthorised absence should such medical evidence not be provided and not all medical evidence may be accepted. 

    A reminder of the changes:  

    • The new national threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered.  

    • The new rules mean you are no longer able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.  

    • There was an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued. 

    • If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.  

    • If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them 

    For more information, please look at the information on our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Attendance+%28including+absence+request+forms%29&pid=225  

    Almond Hill Sharing Box 

    As previously mentioned, will be starting a small scale share box which will contain some food items and household necessities (such as toilet rolls/soap/washing up liquid) next week. There will be a labelled box in the quadrant on Tuesdays and Fridays at drop off. Please give generously and feel able to take from it - no judgement.  Please leave non-perishables in it such as baked beans/tuna and be mindful of allergies/unsafe items such as bleach. As always, nut products are not allowed in school. The children will be reminded not to touch. It is only for adults to use.  

    Changes to Free School Meals Entitlement

    The Department for Education recently announced that, from 1 April 2025, the rule protecting pupils’ free school meal entitlement will end for some.  

    That means Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) will regularly check pupils’ eligibility to ensure they can still get free school meals. If a pupil is no longer eligible, their free school meals will end from this point. 

    Applications approved before 1 April 2025 will remain eligible until the pupil finishes their current phase of schooling – that is:  

    • end of Year 6 (when primary ends)  
    • end of Year 11 (when secondary ends).  

    Once a pupil moves to their new school phase, HCC will regularly check that the pupil is still eligible for free school meals. The checks will start this summer for all children moving from years 6 and 11, plus all applications made after 1 April 2025. HCC will write to you if your child is no longer eligible.  

    If you’re experiencing financial difficulty and are seeking support, visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/householdsupportfund or contact www.citizensadvice.org.uk. As always, HCC will run a renewals process during the summer and update schools of continued entitlement. Note - Parents with pupils currently in year 2 moving to year 3 will need to reapply for the new academic year.  

    To make an application visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals 

    Year 6 Graduation Events 

    Please ensure you have read the email sent to parents regarding the year 6 graduation events. Tickets are available on the Arbor School Shop now. I am so pleased that so many of you have already ‘ordered’ your tickets. Please be reminded, the deadline is Friday 27th June.  
    Monday 14th July - 6S  
    Tuesday 15th July – 6B 
    Wednesday 16th July - 6C  

    Moving over to Arbor for Payments

    As you will have noticed, we have started to use Arbor School Shop for payments.  All payments will now be done through Arbor except for those that are ongoing on School Gateway (i.e Legoland and Crucial Crew for year 6 and Shuttleworth for year 4). 

    Please note that when using the school shop, you won't be sent an email or confirmation of your purchase, but you can see which items you've been invoiced for. 
     
    A guide is available if you need help with purchasing from the school shop: https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/5068444710813-Purchasing-School-Shop-items-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App  

    Read More

  • Issue 31 - 23rd May 2025

    Published 23/05/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    This has been a particularly busy week with lots going on. Our netball and football teams played their last matches of the season, the representatives of Voices of Hertfordshire visited Fairlands for their meeting and some children participated in sporting events as well as visitors to the school and the Year 3 bags of character sessions on Wednesday. 

    FOAH also hosted the film night for Years 3 and 4 and I would like to extend my thanks to volunteers (parents and staff) without which these events would not be possible and we know just how much the children enjoy them.  

    We hope you have a lovely half term break and we look forward to welcoming you back for another busy term on Monday 2nd June.  

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Act of kindness for the week – ask four different people how their weekend or evening was or how their day is. 

    Key Messages 

    Whole School Dodgeball Event 

    This week the school field was bouncing with energy (and dodgeballs) as students faced off in one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Thanks to the amazing leadership of our student government The Cold Capybaras. While players were ducking and diving, our student government was behind the scenes making it all happen. From organising teams to keeping the energy high, they delivered afternoons of fun, laughter, and school spirit. Great job to everyone who played - and an even bigger shoutout to the leaders who made it happen!   

    Sweets and Treats for Birthdays 

    Following direct guidance from the local authority, we have decided it is right to end the tradition of children bringing sweets or treats into school to give out to classmates to celebrate their birthdays. 

    We have an increasing number of children in school with severe allergies or other dietary needs and it is an unnecessary burden on staff to be checking for allergens every time treats come in from home. In contrast, when we are making and tasting food at school as part of the curriculum, we are able to carefully ensure that all allergies and other dietary or cultural needs are catered for appropriately when purchasing food and risk assessments are written and shared before any event to ensure all members of staff are aware of any specific needs and to limit risks. 

    We appreciate that some will be disappointed by this decision and others will be very pleased. We can assure you that if your child wants their birthday to be celebrated at school, we will still do this through singing to them and through other class-based traditions. 

    Sports Days

    With sports day fast approaching, I wanted to give a quick reminder of the plan. Our sports days will be held on the following dates:  

    Year 3 and 4 - Thursday 5th June 
    Year 5 and 6 – Friday 6th June      

    Although we have allowed 9.00am-12.00pm for the sports days, they may finish earlier than this (but not later) especially if the races are over quickly! Parents can come round to the field after drop off. All children must go to class first to register as normal and then will be brought out to the school field for sports day. We know that not all parents are able to attend in school events so we will be taking some photos which will be uploaded to Seesaw.  

    A reminder of your child’s house colour has been sent via email but another will be sent after half term. Ideally, children will participate in their house teams so please can they wear a t-shirt in their house colour if possible.  Please do not worry if your child does not have an item of clothing in their house colour. We do not expect parents to purchase anything. We have bibs for anyone who hasn't got a top in their colour. 

    School will be selling light refreshments and baseball caps so please bring cash with you. Please make sure your child has their water bottle with them. 

    Toilets will be signposted - for safeguarding reasons, please ensure you follow the signs to our 'visitor' toilets. 

    Half Term Home Learning Wellbeing Projects 

    This week, we have been celebrating ‘Walk to School Week’, by making as many active journeys to school as possible. Your challenge over the May holidays is to continue this ECO-tastic work, by making even more journeys by foot or wheels! Remember - catching a bus or train are also great ways to travel alongside others. We challenge YOU to make an active journey every day of the May holidays! Record your active journeys however you like – you could create a diary, make a poster or take photographs to share with us in school! 

    This week for Healthy Eating Week, we have been comparing foods and discussing how/when we can make healthier choices. During the half term, we would like Year 3 and 4 to name as many different fruits and vegetables as you can using the letters of the alphabet. You can present in a way of your choice. Children in Year 5 and 6 can do this too OR you can choose to create a glossary of any key words you have learnt this week and write a sentence for each. 

    Every term, we try to do something to promote kindness in our school, community and nationally. Our kindness ambassadors would love you to write poem about kindness that the school could learn in the last half term. If you see yourself as a budding poet, this could be the task for you!  

    We are so lucky at Almond Hill to have lovely school grounds and outdoor spaces to enjoy. We have the field, playgrounds and the jungle gym for playing games but we want to use the Quad to create a space where you can relax and feel calm. We need your help! Your home learning project is to design a relaxation space for all children to enjoy!  

    Save the Date - Navigating and Managing Online Safety Workshop for Parents 

    Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be hosting this workshop to give parents the opportunity to discuss any worries or concerns they have around online safety (and mobile phones in particular). Like you, we are not experts but it is a good opportunity for us to look at these issues together and come up with some ideas to help support each other. This will take place from 3.30 until 4.30pm on Tuesday 1st July. Ideally, children will not attend this session so we may offer a creche if this helps parents attend.  

    Year 6 Graduation Events 

    Please ensure you have read the email sent to parents on Wednesday regarding the year 6 graduation events. Tickets are available on the Arbor School Shop now.  
    Monday 14th July - 6S  
    Tuesday 15th July – 6B  
    Wednesday 16th July - 6C  

    Reporting Absences  

    In October, we communicated that we had changed the way we would like parents to report absences. Previously, we asked parents to phone the school office on the day or to email.   

    Now, you can report on the day absence in the following ways:   
    by phone (01438 233660 option 1)    
    by completing the form on our website   
    by submitting on to the Arbor Parent Portal (How to Guide)   

    Please do not use the year group emails for this or admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. The year group emails are not regularly monitored and there are so many emails coming into admin and with only one person managing this box,  they may be missed. You will still be contacted by the office team to check absence if you have emailed one of these as it may not have been passed on and we have a duty to check children’s attendance.   

    We also reinstated the online form for requests for time off in term time. If you are requesting time off in term time for holidays, a religious festival or other events, please submit the form on our website. You will also find a form here to inform us of medical appointments.  Please be advised that the government does not consider holidays to be an exceptional circumstance. These are highly unlikely to be authorised and may incur a fine.   

    Please do not send communication through School Gateway as this is not regularly checked and although you are able to message us, we are unable to reply.  

    Changes to collection – on the day   
    As previously requested, please do not email these changes in. As you can imagine, the school email address gets lots of email daily and it is monitored by one person. This means that some requests/emails may not be seen straight away so it is important that if there is a change to collection, you call the school office. These changes need to be called through by 2.45pm to ensure they are delivered to your child’s class teacher in time for the end of the school day. We cannot guarantee messages will get through to the class teacher before the end of the day otherwise.  

    Year Group Emails  
    The year group email addresses are a way to communicate with the class teachers for non-urgent queries. They should not be used to report absence or for anything that requires an immediate response as they are not monitored daily. 

    Moving over to Arbor for Payments 

    As you will have noticed, we have started to use Arbor School Shop for payments.  After half term, all payments will be done through Arbor except for those that are ongoing on School Gateway (i.e Legoland and Crucial Crew for year 6, Grafham for year 5 and Shuttleworth for year 4). 

    Please note that when using the school shop, you won't be sent an email or confirmation of your purchase, but you can see which items you've been invoiced for. 
     
    A guide is available if you need help with purchasing from the school shop: https://support.arbor-education.com/hc/en-us/articles/5068444710813-Purchasing-School-Shop-items-on-the-Parent-Portal-or-Parent-App  

    Read More

  • Issue 30 - 16th May 2025

    Published 14/05/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Wow! I am so impressed with how well the children have behaved this week whilst the Year 6 children have completed their SATs tests. A big congratulations to Year 6 – you have worked so hard and should be really proud of yourselves. 

    We have an exciting and busy week ahead! Next week is Healthy Eating and Walk to School Week, and there's a lot to look forward to. Our school government has organised a school-wide dodgeball tournament on Monday and Tuesday, along with a variety of sporting events throughout the week. Year 3 and 4 will enjoy their film night on Tuesday and don’t forget — our 50p book sale is happening on Wednesday! 

    A special shoutout goes to our Year 6 football team, who have had an incredible season. They’ll be playing in the Junior Wix Final on Tuesday — a fantastic achievement. Good luck, team!  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Act of Kindness for the Week – nothing new this week as we didn't have an assembly due to SATs.  

    Key Messages 

    Whole School Dodgeball Event 

    Our school government have organised a dodgeball event for next week. Children will need to wear their PE kit on the days below. This is one of the government pledges from their election. Participation is voluntary. Anyone who doesn't want to take part can watch and support their team.  

     

    Arbor Payments 

    Some parents have asked us how they can access their invoices on Arbor. You can see what you have paid for by following these instructions:  

    1. Log in to the Parent Portal 

    1. Click the 3 lines (bottom left) 

    1. Scroll down to ‘payments’ 

    1. Expand to see ‘invoices’  

    Once you are in this section, you will see a list of the payments you have made.  

    Year 6 Graduation Events 

    Some parents in Year 6 will have had children who have already come up through the school and moved onto secondary school but for others, this may be your first child who has reached Year 6 at Almond Hill.  We believe it is important to recognise the hard work, achievements and memories that are made in the time children are here which is why we hold ‘graduations’ for all children in Year 6. It is a wonderful opportunity to really celebrate with families and would love for as many parents to attend as possible. Due to space limitations in the hall, we can allow up to 3 guests per child. The graduation will run from 2pm-4pm on the day so where possible, please arrange alternative collection for younger siblings. We like to keep as much of the event a surprise where we can but can assure you, you won’t want to miss it! We do understand the timing can be challenging for some parents and we did discuss changing it but we are not able to make it earlier due to the nature or arrangements (we don’t want to give too much away here!) and the only other option is to make it shorter and cut some out which we wanted to avoid as feedback  received each year tells us parents really enjoy it all.  

    Monday 14th July - 6S  
    Tuesday 15th July – 6B  
    Wednesday 16th July - 6C   

    Hot Weather 

    It has been lovely to see the sunshine this week. Please note however that children are not allowed to bring handheld/neck fans to school. It is important they dress appropriately for the weather and have plenty of water.

    Read More

  • Issue 29 - 9th May 2025

    Published 09/05/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Next week, children in Year 6 will sit their SATs. It is essential children come to school and on time otherwise they may not be able to sit the tests.  It is important to ensure children have plenty of rest the night before to set them up for the day ahead. We have engaged in lots of practice tests so they are well versed in the process and this should reduce undue anxiety. We see the tests as an opportunity to show what children can do and there should be no pressure or worries. The tests are sent away to be marked externally and the teachers share the outcomes with the children on the day their reports come out. This is done on a one to one basis so children can ask questions and be supported whatever the outcome.  

    Year 6 children only are invited to come to school at 8.30am on all four days of SATs week where breakfast will be provided and they will have the chance to not feel rushed before they start each day. They will be met on the playground by their teachers at this time.  

    It would really help our Year 6 children, if parents across the school could make a concerted effort to ensure their children are on time for school this week. Some children will be taking their SATs in rooms across the school and late arrivals can cause disruption to these children. Children behaved impeccably during our mock SATs week and I look forward to seeing the same behaviours demonstrated next week. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Act of Kindness for the Week - comfort a teammate who loses, misses a shot or who is out.

    Key Messages

    Swimming – Pop up Pool and School Reports  

    A reminder that for Years 5 and 6 swimming will be added to the school reports. The expectation as per the National Curriculum is that all children can swim 25 metres by the time they leave KS2 so your child’s school report will now state whether or not they can swim the required 25 metres. We have the data for children who were assessed in the pop up pool but there were parents who told us their child could swim due to external lessons. If this is the case for your child, please send evidence in (i.e their most recent swimming certificate) so we can add this to our information.  You can email a photo to admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. Please do this by Friday 30th May as reports will be written in June. 

    TTRockstars Badges

    I am pleased to be able to tell you that we will no longer be charging for the TTRockstars badges. We want to ensure this reward is inclusive and that all children are able to have their badges when they are earned. It will also mean that the process will be more efficient than before as we know it could sometimes take a while before children were given their badges. Miss Simmons will be giving the badges out during celebration assembly on a Friday. Please note, as with the Top of the Hill badges, if a badge needs to be replaced due to being lost or damaged, this will be chargeable.  

    Packed Lunches and Food Waste 

    A reminder for parents that new regulations came into effect recently which means we need to recycle food waste (at a cost to us).  Therefore we will be asking children to take home all food waste and packaging in their lunch boxes.   

    Consent for Trips and Events on Arbor

    We are really lucky to be able to offer our children a variety of extracurricular activities like the choir, sporting events and matches as well as local visits. When we invite your child to specific events, it is really important you respond to the consent within the timelines specified on the invite. We know that Arbor does not allow you to decline an invitation (we have suggested this as a change) so would appreciate it if you could respond to the email invite and let us know if your child cannot or does not want to participate to give us time to invite another child.  

    Arbor

    Looking at our Arbor, we can see that many of our parents have not logged in for some time. We will be moving over to making payments in Arbor instead of School Gateway over the coming weeks and so it is important you are able to gain access. Not only that, Arbor allows you to make changes to your emergency contact details and child profile. Please can I ask all parents to login.  

    If you haven’t logged in for more than 30 days, you will need to use the URL below and open that on an internet page before gaining access to the app.  

    https://almond-hill-junior-school.uk.arbor.sc 

    Do we have any gardeners in our school community?

    We would be very grateful for any help maintaining our wonderful allotments. If you are interested and can spare some time to volunteer, please get in contact. We would love to hear from you!

    admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk   

    Donation Request

    Our pastoral team are looking for donations of any unused/unwanted picnic blankets. If you have any at home that you'd be willing to donate, please give them to your child's class teacher. Thank you.

    Read More

  • Issue 28 - 2nd May 2025

    Published 30/04/25

     

    Dear Families,

    I’m sure Year 6 parents will hear a big sigh of relief from their children today as they have reached the end of mock SATs week. A big well done to everyone for working so hard and for the rest of the school for being respectful of their peers during their mocks.  

    You will have seen on Monday you were sent a ‘dates and deadlines’ email from the office. In response to feedback from the parent forum, we will be sending this weekly to help families keep on top of what we know is a very busy school schedule. We aim to send this before school starts on the Monday morning which means this email will be scheduled.  

    I hope you have all enjoyed the wonderful weather this week. Please can I remind parents that for the summer term, children can bring suncream to school. This should be clearly labelled with their name and must not be shared with other children in case of allergies. Please ensure children have a hat and water bottle with them each day. Whilst the weather is particularly warm, it is important children understand not to exert themselves by running around or staying in the sun too much at break and lunch. Adults are on the playground to supervise but please encourage your children to take a break in the shade if they are getting too hot

    Have a lovely long weekend. 

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Act of Kindness for the Week - Wish someone on the other team, ' good luck', 'nice try' or 'well done'. 

    Key Messages

    Parent Survey re Later Finish for Year 5 and 6 

    I have liaised with teaching and premises staff who tell me that the later finish for upper school has not helped reduce congestion at pick at times and parents agree with 64% of you saying it hasn’t helped. 58% of you would prefer to return to the same finish time for all and 58% of you say this has not been a positive change. Therefore we will go back to 3.15pm finish time for all from Tuesday. I would continue to urge parents to park and queue respectfully to minimise disruption to our neighbours and keep children safe. 

    WhatsApp and Snapchat

    We often hear about issues outside of school relating to WhatsApp/Snapchat. Given that WhatsApp has an age restriction of 13+, my first suggestion would be to not allow children to have the app. You will probably have seen about the potential damages of social media in the news so at the very least I would urge you to monitor your child’s usage and educate them on how to use it safely and responsibly. Mrs Lyons and Miss Andrews will be providing more support regarding online safety and phone use before the end of term. 

    What Parents & Educators Need to Know about WhatsApp

    Attendance  

    I would like to draw your attention to the importance of regular attendance in this final term. Learning for the year is consolidated in this term and many one-off events are planned that your child will miss if they are not here. Absence affects not only the child/children that are not in school but also the rest of the class when the adults have to revisit missed learning to help them catch up. This has an impact on all of the children in the class. Of course, we understand that some absence such as illness cannot be avoided. We want children in school safe, happy and learning for as much time as possible. Contact Mrs Burgess on burgess@almondhill.herts.sch.uk if you need to discuss a barrier to attendance.

    Parent Forum  

    In our last parent forum, we discussed how we might 'promote' parents and the jobs they do more and at the same time, network with businesses we might be able to link with through parents. Working with parents in this way will strengthen our community and provide valuable services to the school which in turn, encourages our children to make progress. Whilst more thought will go into this over the coming term, we wondered if we might make a start by asking if there are any parents/carers who work in the communications industry and who have a sound understanding of tech and more specifically mobile phones. Miss Andrews and Mrs Lyons arel ooking at supporting parents in keeping children safe on their phones and on social media sites and apps. If you can spare 30 mins as a one-off to discuss some ideas with them it would be very much appreciated. Please contact year 4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk and mark email FAO Miss Andrews - thank you. 

    Injuries requiring a sling/crutches 

    If your child has been injured and is coming into school with a cast/sling or crutches, please have a conversation with the teaching or admin staff about what they can and cannot do before/at the point of them returning to school. This is to ensure they are kept safe and everyone knows what they need to do. A risk assessment may also be required depending on the injury.  

    Swimming – Pop up Pool and School Reports  

    A reminder that for Years 5 and 6 swimming will be added to the school reports. The expectation as per the National Curriculum is that all children can swim 25 metres so your child’s school report will now state whether or not they can swim the required 25 metres. We have the data for children who were assessed in the pop up pool but there were parents who told us their child could swim due to external lessons. If this is the case for your child, please send evidence in (i.e their most recent swimming certificate) so we can add this to our information.  You can email a photo to admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. Please do this by Friday 30th May as reports will be written in June. 

     

    Read More

  • Issue 27 - 25th April 2025

    Published 25/04/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Welcome back to the summer term! We hope you had a lovely Easter break and enjoyed the sunshine. We have lots of things to look forward to this term. Please take a look at our diary dates for a heads up on key events – including the much-anticipated graduation and leavers’ events for Year 6. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Kindness School- encourage someone else when they try something hard. 

    Diary Dates for the Summer Term 

    You can subscribe to our calendar to keep up to date with the events going on within the school?

    Follow the link below, select 'subscribe' and follow the instructions for your device.

    Click here to view the school calendar

    Please click here to expand the diary dates

    Date 
    Event 
    Times  
    Additional information  

    28/04/2025 

    FOAH Meeting  

    1800-1830 

    Microsoft Teams 
    Join the meeting now 
    Meeting ID: 363 444 974 405 
    Passcode: PX36yg2R 

    28/04/2025 

    Y5 SRE Parent Meeting 

    1600-1630 

    Microsoft Teams   
    Join the meeting now  
    Meeting ID: 335 871 739 079  
    Passcode: Wq6J2NK2  

    28/04/2025 

    Mock SATs Week 

     

    28/04/2025- 02/05/2025 

    Year 5 Bikeability 

     

    If your child is taking part, they will need their bicycle, their helmet and a lock for their bike. Children should lock their bicycle in the bike shed when arriving at school and go to class as normal. They should wear suitable clothes for cycling and for the weather. If it is likely to rain, it would be advisable to send your child in with a change of clothes.  

    29/04/2025 

    Y6 - SRE Parent Meeting  

    1600-1630 

    Microsoft Teams   
    Join the meeting now  
    Meeting ID: 368 617 677 257  
    Passcode: Zo729Ew9  

    30/04/2025 

    Y4 - SRE Parent Meeting  

    1600-1630 

    Microsoft Teams   
    Join the meeting now  
    Meeting ID: 320 745 136 14  
    Passcode: 5sh9EF23  

    05/05/2025 

    Bank Holiday 

     

    12/05/2025-15/05/2025 

    SATs Week 

     

    20/05/2025 

    FOAH Film Night - 

     

    Details TBC.

    20/05/2025 

    Y4 Golf  

    1530-1730 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    22/05/2025 

    Voices of Hertfordshire - at Fairlands 

    1000-1130 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    22/05/2025 

    Y6 Frisbee  

    1300-1500 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    22/05/2025 

    Y6 Cricket  

    1000-1500 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    26/05/2025-30/05/2025 

    Half Term  

     

    03/06/2025 

    FOAH Film Night  

     

    Details TBC.

    04/06/2025 

    Class photos 

    900-1200 

    Please ensure children are in correct uniform. If your child’s class usually has PE on Wednesdays, please can they bring their PE kit into school to change into.  

    05/06/2025 

    Lower school sports day  

    900-1200 

    Parents should make their way to the school field after drop off. More details to follow. 

    06/06/2025 

    Upper school sports day 

    900-1200 

    Parents should make their way to the school field after drop off. More details to follow. 

    11/06/2025 

    Y6 Crucial Crew 

    900-1200 

    We will leave school at 9am and return in time for lunch. 

    11/06/2025 

    Father's Day Present Room 

     

    Details TBC.

    13/06/2025 

    Y4 Girls Euros  

     

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    17/06/2025 

    Y4/5/6 RIdlins Athletics  

    900-1500 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    20/06/2025 

    INSET Day 

     

    23/06/2025 

    Occasional Day 

     

    24/06/2025 

    Y5 Science trip to Barclay (1st visit) 

    1300-1500 

      

    25/06/2025 

    Year 3 Wise Up Resilience Day 

    900-1500 

      

    25/06/2025 

    Stevenage Festival (choir) 

     

    Details TBC.

    25/06/2025 

    Y5/6 Netball Festival 

    1500-1730 

    We will contact you directly if your child has been chosen to take part in this event. 

    02/07/2025 

    Year 4 Shuttleworth trip 

     

    We will leave school at 9:15am and return before the end of the school day. 

    Children should wear their school uniform and bring a packed lunch and a drink with them (no glass bottles or fizzy drinks please). If your child is entitled to free school meals and you wish to order one for that day, please do so at the office by Wednesday 25th June. 

    03/07/2025 

    Y5 Science trip to Barclay (2nd visit) 

    1300-1500 

      

    04/07/2025 

    FOAH Ice Cream Friday 

    1430-1530 

      

    04/07/2025 

    Y6 Water Fight 

    1400-1500 

      

    09/07/2025 

    Rocksteady concert for parents 

    1415-1515 

      

    10/07/2025 

    Transition Day  

     

      

    11/07/2025 

    Year 6 LEGOLAND 

     

    We intend to make the most of the day by leaving school at 8.30am and returning at approximately 6pm. Children will therefore need a packed lunch and a snack tea on the day. If your child is entitled to Free School Meals and you require a school packed lunch for the day, please let us know by Thursday 3rd July. 

    14/07/2025 

    6S Graduation  

     

    Times TBC (pm).

    15/07/2025 

    6B Graduation  

     

    		 Times TBC (pm).

    16/07/2025 

    6C Graduation  

     

    		 Times TBC (pm).

    18/07/2025 

    Y6 trip to Fairlands 

     

    Details TBC.

    22/07/2025 

    Last day of term  

     

    School finishes at 1pm.

    23/07/2025 

    INSET Day 

     

    Club Dates 

    Please click here to expand the club information

    Please remember that the internally run clubs will ALL start next week. Clubs will run for 8 weeks to 23rd June (excluding bank holidays and half term). 

    For children in Years 5 and 6, please add your consent to Arbor (under notices) if your child is permitted to walk home independently after clubs. We expect all children in Year 3 and 4 to be collected promptly at 4:15pm. 

    We expect children to attend clubs regularly and we keep an attendance register. Please inform the school office if your child is unable to attend for any reason. We will follow up with parents whose child has not attended. 

     
    Club 
    Lead 
    Year group 
    Location 
    Collection point 

    Monday 3.15 -4.15 

    Debating 

    Miss Bonfield 

    Years 5 and 6 

    3B 

    3B Classroom 

    Monday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Netball team/club continues 

    Miss Wase  
    Miss Harris 

    Year 5 and 6 

    Netball courts  

    St Nicholas Church Gate 

    Monday 3.15-4.15 

    Year 3 and 4 football 

    Will Bryson 

    3 and 4 

    Field  

    St Nicholas Church gate  

    Tuesday 3.15-4.15 

    Year 5 and 6 football 

    Will Bryson 

    5 and 6 

    Field  

    St Nicholas Church gate  

    Tuesday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Eco 

    Mrs Waldrom  
    Miss Porter 

    Years 3 - 6 

    4W 

    4W Classroom 

    Tuesday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Play 

    Miss Andrews 
    Miss Clarke 
    Mrs Salam-Khan 
    Miss Harris 

    Years 3 - 6 

    Playground  

    4A Classroom  

    Wednesday 8.00-8.45 

    Cheerleading 

    Lindsey Pollard 

    All 

    Hall  

    n/a 

    Wednesday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Street dance  

    Lindsey Pollard 

    All  

    Hall  

    Hall doors (quadrant) 

    Wednesday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Art 

    Mrs Nicholls 

    Year 3 

    Computing room 

    Computing room door 

    Thursday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Rounders 

    Premier 

    Years 5 and 6 

    Field  

    St Nicholas Church gate  

    Thursday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Outdoor activities 

    Miss Harris 

    Years 3 and 4 

      

    Year 5 Classrooms 

    Friday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Cricket 

    Premier 

    Years 3 and 4 

    Field  

    St Nicholas Church gate  

    Friday 3.15 - 4.15 

    Outdoor activities 

    Miss Harris 

    Years 5 and 6 

      

    Year 5 Classrooms 

    Clubs start w/c 28th April – 23rd June inclusive (8 weeks) not those linked to teams 

    Key Messages

    Relationship and Health Education – Parent Meetings April 2025

    Year 4, 5 and 6 will be teaching RHE in the summer term. It is part of our policy to offer parents the opportunity to ask questions and view the resources that will be used in lessons, the vast majority of which is statutory. These meetings will be held online via Teams and links for these are in the list of dates above.

    Parent Survey re Later Finish for Year 5 and 6 

    Thank you to those parents who completed the survey before Easter. We had approximately 45 responses but the feedback is roughly 50/50 for each answer. This is not enough for us to make a decision on how to move forward so would really appreciate some more feedback. If you haven’t already submitted the form below, please do so this week.  

    Swimming - Pop-up Pool and School Reports  

    Thank you for everyone who made contributions towards their child’s lessons in the pop up pool. I can confirm that a total of £2,111.50 was paid. We are very grateful for all contributions but we are left with a deficit of £9,293.50 which will need to be taken out of the school’s budget. As I have previously mentioned, swimming must be taught as part of the National Curriculum and therefore we must prioritise this over extracurricular activities. We will continue to use this service and aim to continue to improve how we operate when we begin again in the Autumn term and will send information out nearer to the time.  

    For years 5 and 6 swimming will be added to the school reports. The expectation as per the National Curriculum is that all children can swim 25 metres so if applicable, your child’s school report will now state whether or not they can swim the required 25 metres. We have the data for children who were assessed in the pop up pool but there were parents who told us their child could swim due to external lessons. If this is the case for your child, please send evidence in (i.e their most recent swimming certificate) so we can add this to our information.  You can email a photo to admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. Please do this by Friday 30th May as reports will be written in June. 

     

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  • Issue 26 - 4th April 2025

    Published 02/04/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Thank you to all the families who joined us this week for the maths morning and the Rocksteady concert – it was lovely to see so many of you here!  

    We have reached the end of the spring term and the sun is shining! When we return from the Easter break, the summer term will be in full swing! We have lots of events to look forward to including a variety of sporting competitions, exciting school trips and visitors to the school. Our Year 6 children will be in their final preparations for their SATs tests in May before they enjoy the fabulous leavers’ events that have been planned for them this year.  

    I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 22nd April. 

    Emma Fordham,
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Relationship and Health Education – Parent Meetings April 2024

    Year 4, 5 and 6 will be teaching RHE in the summer term. It is part of our policy to offer parents the opportunity to ask questions and view the resources that will be used in lessons, the vast majority of which is statutory. These meetings will be held online via Teams and links for these are below. 

    Year 5  

    Year 6  

    Year 4 

    Monday 28th April
    4.00-4.30pm 
     
    Microsoft Teams  
    Join the meeting now 
    Meeting ID: 335 871 739 079 
    Passcode: Wq6J2NK2 

    Tuesday 29th April
    4.00-4.30pm 
     
    Microsoft Teams  
    Join the meeting now 
    Meeting ID: 368 617 677 257 
    Passcode: Zo729Ew9 

    Wednesday 30th April
    4.00-4.30pm 
     
    Microsoft Teams  
    Join the meeting now 
    Meeting ID: 320 745 136 14 
    Passcode: 5sh9EF23 

     

     New Lunch Menu – UPDATED 

    Please note, there was an error in the menu sent to us by HCL so please see below for the new menu. 

    This can also be downloaded at the bottom of the page. 

    Packed lunches - new regulations came into effect this week which means we need to recycle food waste (at a cost to us).  Therefore we will be asking children to take home all food waste and packaging in their lunch boxes. 

    Hayfever Medication

    We know lots of children suffer with hayfever when the weather changes so to save lots of calls home requesting medication, please can parents consider giving hayfever medication at home, before school, if you feel your child needs it. 

    School Of Kindness

    Almond Hill have joined an online community called '52 Lives - School of Kindness' with the aim of promoting kindness in our school community and beyond. 

    We have selected Kindness Ambassadors from each class and we meet to discuss ideas and the Kindness initiatives that we are going to implement in class, the wider school, local and national community. Every half term, the Year 6 Ambassadors attend a Zoom call with the other schools involved nationally to brainstorm ideas and celebrate achievements. We now have a 'Kindness Challenge of the week' which is selected in Monday morning assembly. This week's Kindness Challenge has been 'Cheer someone on when they do well and be happy for them' and we have seen lots of children supporting and encouraging their peers to do their best. 

    Parent Survey re Later Finish for Year 5 and 6 

    As you know, this term, we have trialled letting children in Year 5 and 6 leave at 3.20pm at the end of the school day in a hope it will reduce congestion outside of school at pick up time. Now it is time to give your feedback about the change of times and to let us know if this has been beneficial or not. School leaders will also be discussing this along with their observations and feedback.  

    Sign up for Football Club with Will  

    Please follow the link to register your child for the football club next term.  

    https://wbcoaching.classforkids.io/term/13 

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  • Issue 25 - 28th March 2025

    Published 28/03/25

    Dear Families,  

    What a lovely week we’ve had. The sun has been shining and we’ve enjoyed some great events. Our choir performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, our ECO committee took part in a community litter pick on Monday and the FOAH hosted our Mother’s Day Present Room on Wednesday.  We held our monthly book sale which raised £39.80 for the school and we’ve participated in 2 football matches and a netball match this week!  

    Next week, we have invited parents in for our maths morning on Tuesday and our Rocksteady bands will be performing to their families on Wednesday. We look forward to hearing all about that next week. For those who need to top up their uniform, our next uniform sale will take place 3.00-3.30pm on Thursday in the hall which can be accessed via the quadrant. 

    Have a lovely weekend.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Goodbye to Mrs Patterson 

    After almost 20 years, Mrs Patterson will be leaving Almond Hill at the end of this term. Mrs Patterson started off as a Teaching Assistant working in the classroom before moving into the office where she has organised lots of wonderful trips, events, sporting activities, writing days, interesting visitors to school and the very much loved Grafham trip. She has played a key role in helping to create fantastic memories for the children and I am sure you will all join me in wishing her the very best of luck for the future.  

    Maths Morning – Parents Invited – 1st April  

    On Tuesday, we are inviting parents in to take part in a fun, interactive maths lesson with their children. The plan is to meet with Miss Simmons in the hall at drop off (8:45am) for a very quick chat about maths at Almond Hill. The hall can be accessed via the quadrant. This will be followed by a maths lesson (short, fun activities which use a range of maths skills) from 9.00 -10.00am in your child's classroom. It will be an opportunity for children to experience learning with you and maybe even for you to brush off those maths skills and support your children in the classroom. These types of events have always been very successful and children love having you in the classroom sharing their learning experiences. We look forward to seeing you then! As ever, you will be able to move between classes if you have children across the school.  

    As with previous events, we will be using a QR code to sign parents in and out. Please ensure you have done this (there will be a paper sign in for those who are unable to scan in). QR codes will be available in the hall, the main office and outside by the drop off zone.  Parents can leave their cars in the drop off zone as this will remain open but the pedestrian gates will be locked at the normal time to ensure the school is secure. All parents will need to leave via the office and sign out using the QR code. If you parked in the drop off zone, turn right out of the reception gates and enter the drop off via the vehicle gate.  

    Some parents have asked if younger siblings can attend the maths morning. You are very welcome to bring them but they remain the full responsibility of the adult they are with. Buggies can be accommodated in the building but will need to be left outside of classrooms most likely as there won't be room for the class, parents and buggies too. 

    We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday. 

    Food Bank at Almond Hill

    Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey. It does seem there may be some families that would benefit from this provision so we will set this up after Easter. Please keep a look out for more information.  

    'Absenteeism hits children's future earnings'

    Government research has found that each day a child is absent from school results in a loss of £750 in future earnings. Currently, 150,000 pupils are classified as "persistently absent," meaning they miss at least one day every fortnight, a significant rise from under 800,000 before the pandemic. The report from the Department for Education said that children in Year 11 who have missed ten days of school each year were half as likely to achieve a grade 5 in their English and maths GCSEs, and that persistently absent pupils in secondary school will earn £10,000 less at age 28 than pupils with almost perfect attendance. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has described the current situation as an "epidemic of school absence". New data released today is expected to show an increase in "severely absent" children, with around 150,000 missing school more than half the time. Phillipson said: "The case for tackling the epidemic of school absence could not be clearer: improved grades, higher wages, better life chances... the evidence clearly shows a link between not attending school and future earnings." 
    The Times   London Evening Standard 

    I thought this was an interesting and thought-provoking article which is why I wanted to share it with parents. Generally, whole school attendance has been a bit better this year. We had really good attendance on Wednesday last week (97.5%) although this may be because we had a school trip! Two classes in the upper school have had 100% attendance in the last two weeks which is fantastic and improved attendance in Year 6 will really help children to prepare and be ready for their SATs in May.  It is the job of school leaders to analyse trends in attendance data. In our school, children with SEND have improved their attendance rates over the last couple of years but the group that has the lowest average attendance is those entitled to free school meals. If your child has been absent, parents will know that I am quite quick to get in touch even when the absence may not seem to be a big issue however there is a body of data that suggests that even a small amount of absence can be a barrier to attainment and if attainment is negatively affected in junior school, very often this hinders progress at secondary school and their future prospects.  

    Sometimes, it is necessary for me to write to families regarding their child’s absence. These letters are bespoke and take some time to write and I wanted to assure parents that the offer of support in these letters is genuine. I want all children in school and for them to be successful and happy both now and in the future. 

     

    New Lunch Menu

    Please be reminded that from 1st April the new price for meals will be £3.45.    

     

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  • Almond Hill Newsletter Logo

    Issue 24 - 21st March 2025

    Published 21/03/25

     

    Dear Families,  
     
    Spring has finally sprung, and the school grounds are starting to bloom!  
    We've had a fantastic week filled with exciting events: Year 4 enjoyed a memorable trip to the temple, our netball and football teams gave it their all in their matches, and the SEND/pastoral afternoon tea was a lovely success. Year 4 also showed off their creativity at the sewing event — well done to everyone involved! 

    Looking ahead to next week, we have more to look forward to: 

    • Some children will be taking part in a litter pick to help keep our community tidy. 

    • FOAH will be hosting the Mother’s Day Present Room on Wednesday — a great chance for children to find something special. 

    • Our monthly book sale is also happening on Wednesday — don’t forget to bring some pocket money! 

    • Our netball and football teams are back in action next week with another match each — good luck, teams! 

    Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead! 

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Maths Morning – Parents Invited – 1st April  - updated

    On 1st April, we are inviting parents in to take part in a fun, interactive maths lesson with their children. The plan is to meet with Miss Simmons in the hall at drop off (8:45am) for a very quick chat about maths at Almond Hill. The hall can be accessed via the quadrant. This will be followed by a maths lesson (short, fun activities which use a range of maths skills) from 9.00 -10.00am in your child's classroom. It will be an opportunity for children to experience learning with you and maybe even for you to brush off those maths skills and support your children in the classroom. These types of events have always been very successful and children love having you in the classroom sharing their learning experiences. We look forward to seeing you then! As ever, you will be able to move between classes if you have children across the school.  

    As with previous events, we will be using a QR code to sign parents in and out. Please ensure you have done this (there will be a paper sign in for those who are unable to scan in). QR codes will be available in the hall, the main office and outside by the drop off zone.  Parents can leave their cars in the drop off zone as this will remain open but the pedestrian gates will be locked at the normal time to ensure the school is secure. All parents will need to leave via the office and sign out using the QR code. If you parked in the drop off zone, turn right out of the reception gates and enter the drop off via the vehicle gate.  

    Food Bank at Almond Hill 

    Thank you to those who completed the food bank survey last week. I have kept this open this week to give more parents the opportunity to respond. So far, it looks like many parents are willing to donate to the food bank but not many feel they would use it. This doesn’t necessarily mean we wouldn’t have a small food bank at Almond Hill though as we want to help as many parents as possible where we can. Please note, there would be no need to speak to a member of staff to collect items from the food bank so no one need know you have used this facility once it is in place. Items will be placed in a box in the quadrant for parents to add/remove as they wish.

    Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel 

    We have some exciting news for you! We are taking part in Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge. The challenge runs from 24 March- 4 April 2025. It’s free to take part and we would love everyone to be involved. 
    What do you need to do?  
    Encourage your child(ren) to walk, use a wheelchair, scoot or cycle to school on as many days as possible during the event.  
    Including everyone 
    We want to make sure that everyone can get involved in Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel. 
    We know it may be more difficult for some pupils to take part than others. If you want to discuss more about your child(ren)’s specific needs, please contact Miss Waldrom and we will make sure to look into how your child(ren) can take part. 
    Why we are taking part?
    Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel is a great way to build physical activity in children’s daily routine which is important for their physical health and mental wellbeing.  Active school runs also help to reduce congestion and air pollution outside the school gate. A 2021 YouGov study showed nearly half of UK children worry about air pollution near their school and that children thought active travel was the best away to bring down these pollution levels. Plus, there are some great prizes to be won every day if we get enough children taking part! 
    Useful resources 
    To help you prepare, Sustrans has developed a handy free guide to walking, cycling or scooting to school. It is packed with advice to help you have a hassle-free journey to school.  
    Download your free family guide using this link: Sign up to receive your free school run guide - Sustrans.org.uk 

    For more information about the event go to www.bigwalkandwheel.org.uk . Enjoy the challenge! 

    Grafham Parent Meeting 

    Thank you to everyone who joined us the Grafham information meeting yesterday. For those who were unable to attend, the slides from the meeting have been added to our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Grafham+Water&pid=182&action=saved  

     

    Parent Forum/volunteers 

    Please see below for a copy of the minutes from our most recent Parent Forum. 

    Click here to view the minutes

    Thank you to everyone who attended. It is so useful to hear your thoughts on various matters relating to school life. If you haven’t attended one of our forums and would be interested in attending, please contact Miss Simmons. This is just one of the ways you can engage with school. We are also always keen for volunteers to accompany the children on school trips, help with in school events (such as those run by FOAH) and with running clubs. Please contact your child’s year group email if this is something you would be interested in. 

    Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk  
    Year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 
    Year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 
    Year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 

    As part of our parent forum, we discussed how we currently communicate with parents and asked if there were ways we could change it to make it better/easier for parents to keep up with. Our admin team suggested repeating important messages on a Monday (after the newsletter has been sent on a Friday) with the hope that these important messages/dates etc are not missed. Those at the parent forum agreed that this would be useful so we will try this after Easter.  

     

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  • Issue 23 - 14th March 2025

    Published 14/03/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    I would like to extend a big thank you to all the families who have already paid for their child’s swimming lessons in the pop-up pool. Your support is greatly appreciated. However there is still a considerable amount outstanding which will need to be covered from the school’s budget if not settled. Unfortunately, this would mean that the school may not be able to fund as many extra activities next year e.g. writing workshops and clubs. If you would like to make a contribution, please note that the deadline is Monday 31st March. Even a partial payment toward your balance would be helpful and very much appreciated. 

    However as ever, we will not hound families who cannot afford to pay and neither will children be excluded from events. Swimming is a national curriculum requirement therefore we are compelled to provide lessons that result in progress.  

    For any lucky winners who have not yet claimed their prize from the World Book Day event please note the last day for collecting these prizes is on Wednesday! It has been lovely to see all the excited faces when the sparkly tickets have been revealed!  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Maths Morning – Parents Invited – 1st April

    On 1st April, we are inviting parents in to take part in a fun, interactive maths lesson with their children. The plan is to meet with Miss Simmons in the hall at drop off (8:45am) for a very quick chat about maths at Almond Hill followed by a maths lesson (short, fun activities which use a range of maths skills) from 9.00 -10.00am in your child's classroom. It will be an opportunity for children to experience learning with you and maybe even for you to brush off those maths skills and support your children in the classroom. These types of events have always been very successful and children love having you in the classroom sharing their learning experiences. We look forward to seeing you then! As ever, you will be able to move between classes if you have children across the school.  

    Drop off and Collection Concerns

    We have received several emails this week from parents and local residents regarding parking and driving around the vicinity of the school. The main concerns were:  

    • Dangerous parking so others can't see clearly when they pull out of the drop off zone. 

    • Children and their parents crossing the road in the drop off zone without using the zebra crossing - running between cars parked in the drop off zone. 

    • Blocking cars who are parked in the laybys or on the road so they cannot exit their parking space. 

    Please be mindful of the way in which you are driving around school and where you park your car. Please also speak to your children about road safety and the safe way to cross the roads. 

    Food Bank at Almond Hill

    We are looking into the possibility of having a small food bank here at school for families to use when needed. Please answer the quick survey below so we can ascertain if this is a feasible idea. 

    Headlice

    We have had reports of headlice this week. Please check your child’s hair and treat accordingly. There is no need to keep your child off school if they have headlice however it does need to be treated. Please below for the NHS guidance on treatment:   

    https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice-and-nits/  

    Donation Requests

    Please consider donating any old children’s coats/shoes/fleeces/Christmas jumpers and hangers for our preloved uniform sales.  

    The pastoral team would also be grateful for any donations of colouring pens/pencils/crayons.  

    Thank you.  

    Last Day of Term

    Please note, school closes at 1.00pm on the last day of term (Friday 4th April). As Letchmore finish at 12.30pm on the same day, there will be no childcare option for parents on this day. All children should be collected at 1.00pm.  

    There will be a cold lunch option only on this day.  

    Increase in Meal Prices

    From 1st April 2025, Herts Catering meal prices will increase to £3.45.  

    INSET Days

    The INSET and occasional days for next academic year have now been published on our website. We have tried where possible to keep the same as Letchmore for those families who have children at both schools. However, INSET days are used for training days for staff (not days off) and as we are different schools, we have different priorities and commitments. Staff really value these training days to enhance their professional development and to help move our school forward.  

    https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Term+Dates&pid=24  

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  • Issue 22 - 7th March 2025

    Published 07/03/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Wow! What a day we had yesterday. It was lovely to see so many fantastic World Book Day outfits. The effort made by families and staff was wonderful. From The Three Little Pigs to Cinderella, we had it all! Apparently, I fit the role of The Big Bad Wolf quite well...  

    We had a real focus on reading yesterday and Year 3 were incredibly lucky to have Katie Budge (one of our talented parents) visit them to talk about what it’s like to be an author. Please take a look at her website for information on her books. They are available to buy on School Gateway. This has been extended until Monday. https://ktbudge.wixsite.com/author 

    FOAH organised an amazing event yesterday which was run across both Almond Hill and Letchmore. This took a huge amount of time, preparation and effort and we are very grateful. The children really enjoyed it and the buzz in the air was great. I hope the lucky winners of the sparkly tickets enjoyed their prizes!  

    I accompanied some Year 6 children to Letchmore in the afternoon to read with some of the children. We have done this over the last few years and it is another lovely way to connect the two schools. The Year 6 children did us proud reading with their younger peers with confidence.

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Last Day of Term 

    Please note, school closes at 1.00pm on the last day of term (Friday 4th April). As Letchmore finish at 12.30pm on the same day, there will be no childcare option for parents on this day. All children should be collected at 1.00pm. 

    There will be a cold lunch option only on this day.  

    Increase in Meal Prices 

    From 1st April 2025, Herts Catering meal prices will increase to £3.45.  

    INSET Days  

    The INSET and occasional days for next academic year have now been published on our website. We have tried where possible to keep the same as Letchmore for those families who have children at both schools. However, INSET days are used for training days for staff (not days off) and as we are different schools, we have different priorities and commitments. Staff really value these training days to enhance their professional development and to help move our school forward.  

    https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Term+Dates&pid=24  

    Parent Survey 

    As we reach the final week of providing feedback from the parent survey results, we want to extend our thanks for your valuable input. 

    What one key thing would you improve at Almond Hill to help with children's learning and progress?

    One parent raised a question about whether it was fair to ask for three positive areas alongside one suggestion for improvement. Change is often challenging to implement so we wanted to focus on the most impactful priority and on what was the most important thing for parents. 

    Many suggestions for improvement related to increasing staff, provisions and opportunities. As many of you will understand, these factors are largely influenced by budget constraints. 

    Key Themes from Feedback: 

    Public Speaking & Oracy – We completely agree! Over the next three years, we will be developing our oracy programme to provide more opportunities for public speaking. Look out for the new debating club for the upper school next term. 

    Homework – A topic with varying opinions! Some parents have said there is too much homework whereas others have said there is not enough and some requested a more focused monthly project . Homework is always a tricky balance as we recognise that some families can provide substantial support while others may not be able to. Our current approach includes: 

    • Weekly homework designed to be accessible, age-appropriate with 2 difficultly levels—without requiring adult support.  

    • Some children ask for the ‘challenge’ piece which is an optional extra and if chosen, should be completed on top of the usual, age-related homework. For those children who may need some additional support, they may be given homework that focusses on areas where they need more practise (i.e. spellings). 

    • Occasional projects that may require more time, effort, and resources, such as the diversity homework or the recent writing/art project where we saw some incredible Starbirds! 
       

    Additional Support & Opportunities – We would love to expand pastoral care, interventions, clubs and extra learning opportunities and we will continue to explore ways to make this possible. 

    Thank you again for your continued engagement and support. Your feedback is invaluable as we strive to create the best possible learning environment for all our children. 

    Maths Morning – Parents Invited – 1st April  

    On 1st April, we are inviting parents in to take part in a fun, interactive maths lesson with their children. The plan is to meet with Miss Simmons in the hall at drop off (8:45am) for a very short chat about maths at Almond Hill followed by a maths lesson (short, fun activities which use a range of maths skills) from 9.00 -10.00am in your child's classroom. It will be an opportunity for children to experience learning with you and maybe even for you to brush off those maths skills and support your children in the classroom. These types of events have always been very successful and children love having you in the classroom sharing their learning experiences. We look forward to seeing you then! As ever, you will be able to move between classes if you have children across the school.

    Parents’ Evening 

    Our Parents’ Evenings (PTI’s) for the Spring Term will be held on Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th March. If your child is in 3W, Miss Ward will be available to see parents on Monday 10th and Thursday 13th March. 

    Given how the time spent with the class teacher at parents’ evening is finite, families will receive their PTI forms today via email to allow you to digest the information and plan for any questions you may have.  Please bear with us as the system can sometimes take a while and you may not receive them all at the same time. 

    Face to Face Appointments 

    If your child is in the upper school, please go straight to Acorn House. You will be able to look at your child’s books in the classroom and meetings will be in offices (Year 5 downstairs and Year 6 upstairs). If your child is in the lower school, please go straight to Oak House. You will be able to look at your child’s books in the classroom and meetings will be in offices within Oak House.  There will be a free crèche available in the computing room for all in person PTI meetings on 11th and 13th March, but we are unable to offer this facility for Miss Ward’s appointments on 10th March. We will also be selling preloved uniform alongside the creche. Please come along and replenish your stocks.  The computing room can be accessed from the quadrant. Premier will be running their wraparound care as usual and our external football club for year 5/6 will run as planned. All other clubs held on a Tuesday or Thursday (including reading booster) will not be running. 

    Online Appointments 

    If you choose an online meeting, please see the below link for a guide on using the system. Please read this carefully as it tells you how to check that your technology will work correctly for the meeting. You will be sent a link for the meeting and you will need to ensure you are prompt to start. The meetings follow back to back so your time cannot be adjusted. The meetings will be timed to 9 minutes and will cut out after this time. There will be a clock on screen as an indicator for both you and the teacher that the meeting is coming to an end. https://support.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/article/801-video-parents-how-to-attend-appointments-over-video-call  

    Local Resident’s Concern 

    We received a call from a local resident last week who reported that they had noticed an increase in children walking independently to school and is worried that they are not taking enough care when crossing.  He said the children seem not to have an awareness of cars and is worried there will be an accident. Please speak to your child about road safety and the importance of crossing roads safely.  

    Girls on Board 

    Thank you to the parents who have been in touch to discuss our new initiative ‘Girls on board’ which like all our pastoral provisions is designed to help children develop personal skills and in this case, a focus on solution finding. As with all our provisions, we will monitor the impact and evaluate success over time. The book ‘When Girls Fall Out’ has been mentioned to me as a good read by a parent and I would agree (as I have read it myself) as it provides more background reading on this topic if you are interested.

    https://www.girlsonboard.co.uk/parents/ 

    Read More

  • Issue 21 - 28th February 2025

    Published 27/02/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Welcome back. I hope you all had a lovely half term and enjoyed the sunshine when it appeared!  

    We have started off with a quieter week this week. On Wednesday, Mrs Hukin hosted our monthly book sale. It is always lovely to see so many children there. We are so grateful to the parents who donate to our sale and those who are willing to buy books. It really helps us to encourage a love for reading. Some children in Year 4 took part in a rapid fire cricket event on Thursday and our football team had a match against Woolenwick. Keep reading to find out how they got on...  

    Next week, we will be celebrating World Book Day with the wonderful event planned by FOAH (please read the information further down for more information). As well as this exciting FOAH event, children are invited to dress up on Thursday 6th March.  Please note this is not a non-school uniform/pyjama day. If they wish to dress up, children should dress up as their favourite book character. Some children have been invited to join Mrs Fordham visiting Letchmore Infants to read with the younger children too.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages 

    World Book Day - Thursday 6th Match

    Please remember, the preordering for the CLIMB BARS will close on Saturday 1st March. It would be a big help to FOAH, if you want to buy the chocolate bars, they are preordered as it will help them to know how many to buy. 

    Each Climb Bar costs £1 - allergy alternatives (Dairy Free) will be available. There are two separate payments open on Gateway so please check carefully and select the one/s you wish your child to have. There is no limit to the number of chocolate bars you can order.  
     
    Buying Climb bars on the day 
    We will have a stall run by FOAH volunteers in the quadrant after school, so parents/carers/children have the opportunity to buy chocolate bars on the day too! 

    Sparkly Tickets - Collecting Prizes 
    Physical prizes will be available at the Quadrant stall so those with a winning sparkly ticket can come along straight away (after school) to collect their prizes.  This will really add to the atmosphere on the day. 

    Those unclaimed on the day - winners can contact the school office to arrange collection. We want the children to be able to keep their golden ticket as a memento, therefore we will mark the back of the ticket once a prize has been collected to avoid tickets being re-used. 

    Author Visit and Book Sale 
    Our World Book Day events continue! Year 3 will have a special visit from an author who happens to be a parent of a child at Almond Hill! Katie Budge will host an assembly after lunch and she will tell the children about being an author and read some of her stories to the children.  

    Her books are available to order! If you would like to purchase any of her books, you can do this on School Gateway from today. This will close on Friday 7th March.  Anyone who buys a book can leave the child's name (and any special message) and Katie will include this and sign the purchased copy. Please add this to the comments section on Gateway when placing your orders. 

    About the author 
    Katie Budge is an award winning children's book author. So far she has eleven books and she has many more to come. Katie lives in Stevenage and has children who attend Almond Hill. As well as writing, she has now illustrated a few of her own stories including, My Friend Dave and Hug. 

    Katie can also be found on social media and she has a website;  

    www.Facebook.com/ktbudgebooks 

    www.Instagram.com/kt_budge_books 

    https://ktbudge.wixsite.com/author 

    Parent Survey

    We asked families what they think are the best things about Almond Hill so we know what you value and we can keep it going.  

    Governor Day – Thursday 27th March 

    On Thursday, the school governors spent a day in school.  It was a great opportunity to see the school in action, interact with the children and some valuable time talking to teachers who are subject leads in different areas of the curriculum. The children were delightful and eager to answer any questions we had.  We spent some time in the dining room enjoying the school dinners, played games in the friendship room and watched them enjoy some time in the sunshine at lunch time. 

    As governors, we are committed to help drive the continuous improvement of the school and a day in school allowed us to further support the school objectives.  It was also a great opportunity to meet as a team amid our busy schedules. Taking time out to dedicate and focus on the school is both rewarding and invaluable. 

    To find out more about the governing board members see the school website @governorspage 

    We are always on the lookout for new governors to join our friendly team. If this is something you are interested in feel free to grab one of us for a chat, you can usually find us on the school run! Or alternatively, send an email to the school.  

    Grafham Information Meeting for Parents 

    Miss Simmons will be hosting an information meeting for parents of children who will be going to Grafham next year. Here you will have the opportunity to find out more about the trip and ask any questions you may have. Year 5 children are welcome to attend with parents/carers. Thursday 20th March 6pm via Microsoft Teams.  

    Read More

  • Issue 20 - 14th February 2025

    Published 14/02/25

     

    Dear Families,

    Another busy week this week with Year 6 visiting The Thomas Alleyne Academy for a student production of Bugsy Malone, Year 5s have learnt how to ‘love their heart’, Year 3 have visited the North Herts Museum and we have competed in two football matches! Miss Simmons hosted our parent forum on Wednesday – a big thank you to everyone who attended.

    I hope you all have a wonderful half term and look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 24th February.

    Please be reminded that following feedback from parents. Years 5 and 6 will be coming out at 3.20pm after half term. Years 5 and 6 will still be able to collect siblings from younger years – they will wait at their classroom until Year 5 and 6 are let out.  

    Have a good weekend.

    Emma Fordham,
    Headteacher

    Key Messages 

    Parent Survey

    Are we meeting your child’s needs? 
    I'm absolutely thrilled that 98% of parents who responded to the survey believe we are meeting their child’s needs. As a school dedicated to serving the local community and by extension, children with a wide range of needs, this feedback makes me incredibly proud. It reaffirms that we are successfully fulfilling our mission.

    The current ‘job pairs’ were mentioned in the survey – not in a negative way by any means but I wanted to address it here. For some children, a job pair can be tricky however we believe it builds a really strong teaching team for your child. Teachers are able to utilise their different strengths to enhance the learning experience for the children. Children in any class are often taught by different people (for example Cover Supervisors) and they are very much used to this throughout the school.

    We have looked at the comments regarding how we can improve but there were no patterns or trends and comments were very much personal to the individual person or family. If there is anything you feel needs follow up, please contact the relevant staff member so we can discuss this with you.

    Parents’ Evening – Diary Date

    Details are still being finalised but please be aware the dates for the spring term parents’ evening are as follows:
    Tuesday 11th March and Thursday 13th March

    Parents of 3W please note parents’ evening with Miss Ward will take place on Monday 10th March and Thursday 13th March.

    SEND/Pastoral Coffee Morning

    I was pleased to hear that the recent pastoral/SEND coffee morning was the best attended so far. This particular day of the week and time was suggested by a parent and staff changed their working patterns to facilitate so this made it particularly worthwhile. Hopefully parents know that when they give us feedback to improve, if we can action it, we will always try though it might not happen immediately.  

    Donation Request – Swimming

    We have been overwhelmed with the generosity of our families and staff so far with regards to donations of kit for swimming. We would really appreciate donations of the following:

    • Towel x1
    • Hats x8
    • Swimwear (boys and girls) size 11-12 x2 of each
    • Swimwear (boys and girls) size 12-13 x2 of each

    If you have any of these at home that are unwanted or no longer fit, please bring them in and give them to your child’s class teacher.

    Grafham Information Meeting for Parents

    Miss Simmons will be hosting an information meeting for parents of children who will be going to Grafham next year. Here you will have the opportunity to find out more about the trip and ask any questions you may have. Year 5 children are welcome to attend with parents/carers. Thursday 20th March 6pm via Microsoft Teams.

    Student Newspaper

    From outer space and dinosaurs to Messi, Ronaldo and everything in between—our young journalists have been hard at work on the latest edition of the student newspaper, 2 Cool 4 School. You can read it here:

    Student Newspaper - 2 Cool 4 School

    Parent Forum.

    Thank you to all parents who joined the Teams meeting for our first online Parent Forum. We had 21 parents/carers from across the school with each year group represented, this is a welcomed increase on numbers from the year before. It is great to see how invested everyone is in the school and their children's education.  At the meeting we discussed and took opinions on different elements of Almond Hill including: possible future changes to the way parents are kept informed of school events, the idea of being 'phone free', how we can improve transition from Y2 - Y3 and Y6 - Y7 and what parents feel about supporting the school through voluntary contributions towards some occasions. It was lovely to hear your views and even if you did not contribute your ideas this time, knowing there were many parents logged in and listening was great - so thank you. Please look out for the next meeting at the end of the term. Everyone is welcome! It is from the comfort of your own home and very informal - a nice chat about all things Almond Hill. So if you have been thinking about joining and being a voice for the parent community - do it!

    Safer Internet Day

    We have loved celebrating Safer Internet Day this week.  This year, the celebrations and learning have been based around the theme ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online'.

    Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety. Each year we cover an online issue or theme that speaks about the things young people are seeing and experiencing online. Created in consultation with young people across the UK, this year Safer Internet Day focused on the issue of scams online and for young people, how to protect themselves and others, as well as what support is available to them. This Safer Internet Day, we assessed the real scale of this issue and allow young people to share their experiences and ideas on how to tackle the problem.  It is coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees thousands of organisations get involved to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.  More information can be found on the link below.

    Safer Internet Day 2025 - UK Safer Internet Centre

    The children have used the information that we have discussed to create pretend scams.  The best will be used on a display in the Computing Suite to educate children (or adults) on the tell-tale signs to watch for in an online scam.

    Read More

  • Issue 19 - 7th February 2025

    Published 07/02/25

     

    Dear Families,  
     
    What a week it has been!  We have had school trips, special visitors, more sporting events and the annual writing awards evening! Keep reading to find out more about these wonderful events.  

    Mrs Cleaves, Miss Simmons and Mrs Fordham, were delighted to attend the North Herts and Stevenage Schools’ Writing Awards ceremony last night where the cream of the crop represented the Almond Hill community. In total, 5000 children participated in the writing project across schools in North Herts and Stevenage. With two children collecting ‘progress’ awards and two collecting ‘endeavour’ awards (one of each for lower and upper school), the evening started well! Following this were Best Writer awards for each year group where four children were nominated from Almond Hill and they proudly collected their certificates and medals. Next week, Mrs Cleaves will be awarding certificates for progress, endeavour and best writer for each class in our weekly Friday celebration assembly.  Thank you to staff, parents and the children for attending this wonderful event. 

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Parent Survey

    ‘Please tell us your views on the school’s ethos ‘It’s all about The Climb’. What do you understand of it?’ 

    I was blown away by the responses to this question, some of which were incredibly insightful and showed a real understanding of what we are trying to achieve. There were some parents who explained they were not fully sure on the purpose of ‘The Climb’ and there were some misconceptions I am happy to address here.  

    I wanted to explain more about ‘The Climb’ for those who were unsure but I am delighted to share some quotes from our parent survey that have explained what we are trying to achieve in a wonderful way…

    Academic achievements are not the sole basis for reaching the top of the hill. When children at Almond Hill consistently do the right thing (not because they want to avoid negative consequences but because it is who they are,) they receive a ‘Top of the Hill’ badge as recognition of their continued climbing. If you want to know where your child is on their journey, please ask your child’s teacher at Parents’ Evening.  

    For those who want a reminder (or have not seen) our video explaining ‘The Climb’ can be watched below.

     

    How can I be Top of the Hill?

     

    Parents’ Evening – Diary Date 

    Details are still being finalised but please be aware the dates for the spring term parents’ evening are as follows: 
    Tuesday 11th March and Thursday 13th March 

    Parents of 3W please note parents’ evening with Miss Ward will take place on Monday 10th March and Thursday 13th March. 

    Headlice

    We have had reports of headlice this week. Please check your child’s hair and treat accordingly. There is no need to keep your child off school if they have headlice. Please below for the NHS guidance on treatment:  

    https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice-and-nits/  

    Pop up Pool Voluntary Contributions 

    Please be reminded that the contributions for swimming lessons in the pop up pool will close 31st March. The office will be in contact with parents (if they haven’t already) to provide a gentle reminder of the number of lessons your child had. Please log in to School Gateway and make a contribution if you are able.  

    Signing up for Events

    We have had a few instances over the last few weeks where parents have signed their child up for an event (taking place off site) and on the day, the child has not been aware of the event or they have not been collected/dropped off as planned. We work really hard to take part in so many events and we really try to ensure that all children have the opportunity to take part (if they want to).  When you are sent the invite for your child, it will provide the information of event, date, times, location etc along with a deadline to respond to provide your consent.  If the deadline passes without consent/communication, the place will be passed on to someone else. Please check with your child that they want to take part before signing them up. If they don’t, that's absolutely fine but please ensure you have declined on Arbor so we can offer the place to someone else. These events are planned by Stevenage Sporting Futures with a minimum/maximum participation requirement that we need to meet in order to attend. 

    Drop off Zone Reminder

    There are over 300 children arriving and leaving our school every day. We welcome children riding bikes/scooting to school if they are wearing a safety helmet. In the interests of the safety of all our children, we expect you to observe the parking restrictions when dropping off or collecting your child in a car. Please can you make your child aware that the raised area outside of the school is not a pedestrian crossing. At the end of the day the school gate area is very busy. 

    At the beginning of the day, most parents with children in Years 4, 5 and 6 do not park. They drop their children off and let them walk to class. However for children in year 3, it is more likely they will want to park and take their children to the classroom door. This can cause difficulties if all the available spaces are already filled. Please be mindful of this issue. There is a 10-minute window for children to be dropped off and the car park tends to be quieter in the latter half of those 10 minutes e.g 8.50-8.55am. 

    If you park in the ‘drop off’ zone at the end of the day it must be in one of the marked bays. You may not park on the access roadway around these spaces. Adults who park in one of the allocated parking spaces at the end of the day need to get out of their cars and walk to collect their child. The ‘drop off’ area is for vehicle entrance/exit only NOT for pedestrian use. I am sure like me; you wish to keep our children as safe as possible. I hope the guidelines are clear enough for all parents/carers to follow. If you have any queries or concerns about the use of the drop off, please contact the admin team.  

    If you are driving to school, please park safely and in line with restrictions. Please also show respect to our neighbours in adjacent roads so their access is not restricted by inconsiderate parking. 

    SATs Information Meeting

    We were delighted to see so many year 6 parents joining us via Teams for the SATs information evening on Monday. The slides shown are now available on our school website (can also be seen below). If you have any further enquiries regarding the SATs, please contact your child's teacher via the year 6 email: Year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

    SATs Support Resources: /page/?title=SATs+Support+Resources&pid=199

     

    Read More

  • Issue 18 - 31st January 2025

    Published 31/01/25

     

    Dear Families,

    This week has been packed with exciting trips and events, including Voices in Hertfordshire, a badminton event, sports hall athletics and football matches. We also welcomed a special visitor to the school—a museum representative who led a workshop for Year 4. Keep reading to learn more about these activities! 

    Looking ahead to next week, we have even more exciting events planned. On Monday, the first half of Year 3 will visit North Herts Museum, Year 5 will take part in a writing day and Year 6 parents are invited to an evening SATs meeting. On Tuesday, Year 4 will have their writing day and some Year 5 and 6 students will compete in a Sports Hall Athletics event at Barnwell. On Wednesday, Year 3 will participate in a recycling workshop. Finally, we’ll wrap up the week with the Whole School Writing Project awards evening on Thursday—we can’t wait! 

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham,

    Key Messages

    Parent Survey

    We are pleased to see that everyone who responded felt we handle conflict appropriately and, when necessary, deal with it effectively.  
     
    However, if you need to discuss any concerns with the school, please use the following communication channels: 

    • Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) enquiries should be sent to Mrs. Birchall, our SENCo (iep@almondhill.herts.sch.uk). 

    • Mrs. Fordham can be reached via the admin email. Depending on the nature of your enquiry, it may be forwarded to a more appropriate member of staff for a response initially. 

    • Child Protection concerns should be directed to our Designated Teacher for Child Protection, Mrs. Fordham. Deputies include Mrs. Birchall, Mrs. Burgess, and Miss Simmons if she is not available.  

    We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to continuing to support our students and families. 
     
    One parent has referred to trauma informed training which is provided by the Virtual School. This is training that is undertaken by staff annually and we agree it is very good. As a school we employ the Therapeutic Thinking strategy as supported by the Local Authority but are also currently undertaking further training in ‘unconditional positive regard’. This concept complements and supplements the strategies already used to ensure we meet the needs of the pupils in our community. 

    Announcement  

    I am very pleased to inform parents that Mrs Bond has taken the post of Acting Assistant Head for the rest of this academic year.  Mrs Bond will look after sport for Almond Hill. I am sure you will all join me in congratulating Mrs Bond on her new role.   

    Parents’ Evening – Diary Date 

    Details are still being finalised but please be aware the dates for the spring term parents’ evening are as follows: 
    Tuesday 11th March and Thursday 13th March 

    Parents of 3W please note parents’ evening with Miss Ward will take place on Monday 10th March and Thursday 13th March. 

    Year 6 SATs meeting and Transition Workshop  

    A reminder for Year 6 parents: Miss Simmons will be hosting a SATs information meeting online on Monday, February 3rd via Microsoft Teams. We encourage you to attend! For those who may be interested, DSPL2 are hosting a 6/7 Transition: Stevenage Parent/Carer Workshop – details can be found below.  

    Microsoft Teams
    Join the meeting now 
    Meeting ID: 355 580 176 793 
    Passcode: gD9Yz2s6 

    https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/67-transition-stevenage-parentcarer-workshop-tickets-1214803773789?aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail&utm_campaign=following_published_event&ref=eemail&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_content=follow_notification  
     

    Read More

  • Issue 17 - 24th January 2025

    Published 24/01/25

     

    Dear Families,  
     

    Next week, the children representing Voices in Hertfordshire will attend their next meeting at Fairlands School. Additionally, Year 4 will welcome a visitor from North Herts Museum on Monday and some children will be participating in a badminton event on Wednesday —we look forward to hearing all about their experience! 

    We've had a fantastic start to the term with a range of sporting events, including Quidditch, football matches and sports hall athletics. As we move into February, our focus shifts to writing. Both Year 4 and Year 5 will participate in dedicated writing days during the first week, designed to inspire a love for storytelling. We’re also excited to have been invited to an awards evening celebrating writing—more details to come! 

    There are also opportunities for parents to get involved. Please check further down in our newsletter for Parent Forum dates, as well as information about our next SEND/Pastoral coffee morning. 

    Finally, a reminder for Year 6 parents: Miss Simmons will be hosting a SATs information meeting online on Monday, February 3rd at 6.00pm via Microsoft Teams. We encourage you to attend! 

    Join the meeting now
    Meeting ID: 355 580 176 793
    Passcode: gD9Yz2s6

    For those who may be interested, DSPL2 are hosting a 6/7 Transition: Stevenage Parent/Carer Workshop – details can be found below.  

    https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/67-transition-stevenage-parentcarer-workshop-  

    Have a good weekend.

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages 

    Parent Survey 

    We are really pleased to see that so many parents feel that we promote, inform and keep parents up to date on online safety matters. 

    The next Safer Internet Day is on Tuesday 11th February. Children will spend time on matters that are important to them with a particular emphasis on this year’s theme - ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online‘. https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2025  

    Some parents may have heard of ‘smart phone free childhood’. This is an area the senior leadership team have been discussing in their latest meetings. There are some interesting ideas on the website below which you may want to consider looking at. We know there is a lot of pressure on parents to provide children with phones when they reach secondary school and smart phone free childhood make suggestions for alternatives to smart phones. However, I must add, we have not checked out the statistics so cannot guarantee its credibility.  

    When we asked how to improve online safety education further, there were few suggestions because it is felt we are doing a good job. However it was suggested there was a yearly webinar as challenges and threats are changing all the time. I completely agree with this but it is very expensive, budgets are tight and unfortunately, when we have offered in the past (such as last year) there has been very little take up from parents. We will however look at ways to share more information with you via our newsletter and website.  

    Uniform expectations and items from home  

    Whilst walking round the school this week, I noted there were many children were wearing jewellery -bangles/leather bracelets, hooped earrings etc. Please do not allow children to come to school wearing jewellery for health and safety reasons but also to ensure children do not lose much loved/valuable items in school.  

    Also we have seen an increase of children bringing in items from home such as cuddly toys – particularly in Year 3. This inevitably causes problems when they get lost, broken or taken by another child. Please do not allow your child to bring these in as they distract from learning and cause upset.  

    We will speak to your child directly about these issues and the class teacher may contact you if there continue to be problems. If a child repeatedly brings something into school that should not be here, we will store it in the school office for safe collection by an adult. 

    Ordering School Dinners 

    When ordering meals for your child(ren), please can parents do this with their child so they are able to choose food they will want to eat. All meals are made to order and as such, children cannot take their meal back and swop it for something else if they have something they do not like.  

    Parents’ Evening – Diary Date 

    Details are still being finalised but please be aware the dates for the spring term parents’ evening are as follows:  Tuesday 11th March and Thursday 13th March 

    Read More

  • Issue 16 - 17th January 2025

    Published 17/01/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    We are looking forward to starting clubs next week. We are really lucky to have such a variety of clubs on offer to children. If your child is signed up to a club, please make sure they attend regularly. The office team always follow up club attendance and it is really helpful if we know in advance if your child is unable to attend on a specific date so we are not chasing you unnecessarily. If your child has changed their mind about a club, that’s absolutely fine but please let us know so the space can be offered to someone on our waiting list. Collection for clubs is at 4.15 (except booster which is 4.30) please arrive promptly to collect. Children in Year 3 and 4 must be collected by an adult. Children in Year 5 and 6 may walk home independently with parental consent. This has been requested on Arbor – please log in and check the notices section for any outstanding consents for your child.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Parent Survey

    Thank you to the parents who took the time to complete the parent survey last term. I was really pleased to see that the responses were overwhelmingly positive. Over the next few weeks, I will respond to some of the feedback/responses via our newsletter.  

    Do you read the weekly newsletter? If not, why? 

    I am pleased to see that many of our parents read our weekly newsletter. This is the best place to find answers to many of your questions.  We know that some parents feel there are too many emails from school which is why we tried to reduce the amount of emails we send by adding the majority of necessary information to our newsletter. The admin team are looking into how we can improve the way we communicate with parents. 
     
    The layout of the newsletter was mentioned too and this is something we are always happy to consider. The changes to the newsletter came from suggestions in our parent forum and we would welcome any one to join and help to make a difference. Please email Miss Simmons if you are interested in joining. The newsletter will be raised at one of their upcoming meetings. 

    Do you look at the school's website? If yes, what do you find useful? If you answered no, please explain why. 

    Again, I am pleased parents find our website useful and are looking at it to find the information they need and those who do not use our website tell us this is because the newsletter provides the necessary information they may be looking for.  The most popular areas of the school website are the term dates, calendar, staff details, newsletters, curriculum information, house points, school uniform details and photo galleries. 

    What would you like to see on the website? 

    Many of the suggestions made here are for things that are already on the website but this is really useful as we can highlight these areas for you here.  

    A list of which Illness children should be staying at home with - https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Attendance+%28including+absence+request+forms%29&pid=225 an NHS guide to when not to send your child to school can be found following the link above. 
     
    Contact details for the Governors, admin, head and year groups - The school governors, admin and headteacher are all contactable via admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk - all contact details can be found here https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Contact+Us&pid=13  

    Photos of staff next to their names - https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Staff&pid=33  

    Photos of events and achievements -  

    It would be fab if there was a quick link on the home page for the calendar – from our main homepage you can scroll down till you find upcoming events. From here, you can click view full calendar and it will take you straight to the whole calendar. We have also updated our website to have a ‘news and events’ tab to make this easier to find.  

    More information on the SEND side of things in school and what help is available and more on mental health for young children – We have a dedicated area for both SEND and mental wellbeing.  

    https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Special+Educational+Needs+and+Disabilities&pid=50  

    https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/news/?pid=22&nid=25  

    Congestion Around the School at Pick up Times - Follow up

    Thank you for completing the survey about ways to improve congestion around the school. We asked if parents of children in Year 5 and 6 were interested in a ‘walking bus’ at the end of the school day and this wasn’t a particularly popular suggestion. Most people preferred the idea of a later finish for Years 5 and 6 so we will trial this after half term.

    Disability Equality Questionnaire  

    I wanted to address this survey as we did have some submissions however due to there being a very small number of responses, I will not be addressing feedback on our newsletter as this may impact people’s anonymity. However, if you or your child have a disability, please don’t hesitate to contact the school if there is ever anything that we can do to support you for example with access to the school.  

    Pop up Pool Feedback  

    We had a very limited response to the survey but I thank the parents who did take the time to provide their feedback. All swimming certificates were given to children before Christmas and I am delighted to tell you that many children achieved their 25-metre swim. Almost all children achieved a distance certificate and everyone who participated gained in confidence. We have secured some funding via County Councillor Ellie Plater under the Locality Budget Scheme. A big thank you to Mrs Burgess for her hard work on this so no child misses out. We will continue to provide updates and the portal remains open for payments until 31st March 2025. We will never chase people for money personally but would appeal to those who are able to, to make payment, if their child took part in swimming lessons in the pop up pool. We will never exclude anyone from anything on the basis of cost but will have to limit our extra curricular plans going forward if we incur a huge deficit. Being taught to swim 25metres is part of the national curriculum so needs to be prioritised.  

    Food Waste at Lunchtime  

    Mrs Choudhury has noted a lot of wasted food from children eating school dinners. Please can I ask parents to speak to children about the importance of eating their lunchtime meal. If you are ordering a school dinner, we would suggest ordering alongside your child so they are choosing what they will eat. Not only is it a waste of parents’ money if you are paying for food and it is going in the bin but it is also not healthy for children not to eat all day.  Mrs Fordham has spoken to children about this in assembly too.  

    Calling all parents and caregivers!   

    We are always really keen to support ex Almond Hill pupils in any way we can and as such I am asking for your help to complete a survey to support one of our former pupils with her university dissertation. The aim of the survey is to better understand the reasons why children are absent from school and the factors that influence absenteeism. Having a better understanding of this can help inform new interventions to tackle absenteeism. 

    Calling all parents and caregivers!   
    Do you have a child in Years 1–6? Help us understand school attendance challenges by taking part in a short research survey.  
     
    Your views can make a difference, whether your child has faced difficulties attending school or not. Plus, there's a chance to win a £5 Amazon voucher!  
     
    Learn more and take part here: https://tinyurl.com/5n787usk  
     
    Thank you for helping us make schools better for everyone! 

     

     

     

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  • Issue 15 - 10th January 2025

    Published 10/01/25

     

    Dear Families,  

    Welcome Back to the Spring Term! 

    I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful break with your families and the children are returning refreshed and ready to learn. A special welcome to our new families joining us this term—we’re thrilled to have you as part of our community! 

    This term is packed with exciting activities and events for everyone to look forward to. Highlights include: 

    • Year 3’s trip to the North Herts Museum 
    • Writing days for Years 4 and 5 
    • World Book Day celebrations 
    • Year 4’s visit to the temple 
    • FOAH are organising a Mother’s Day present room 

    We encourage everyone to check the school calendar regularly for updates and new events. 

    We’re also offering opportunities for families to engage with the school. Join us for our monthly SEND and Pastoral parent sessions or, if you’re a Year 6 parent, attend our SATs information evening to help your child prepare for their tests in May. 

    We’re looking forward to a fantastic term ahead! 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Congestion Around the School at Pick up Times 

    I wanted to ensure families know this is still very much on our agenda. We have sent a letter to a number of people including the local authority to request assistance in this matter.  We gave suggestions to improve the situation and asked for advice and whilst we feel our concerns have been heard, there is a restriction on what help can be given. Budgets are a main factor in the decision making and data collected around the local area (in terms of collisions etc). Our local councillor has agreed to assess the size of the drop off zone and has requested a safety survey of the local area. The traffic and enforcement team at Stevenage Borough Council are increasing the presence of their officers at peak times as many times as possible in the next few weeks to act as a deterrent to illegal parking and issue penalty charge notices if required. 

    Donation Request for Pre-Loved Uniform, Christmas Jumpers and Coats

    If you have any preloved uniform you’d be willing to donate, please drop these into school. We would also be really grateful for any coats or shoes that could be passed on to someone else. It would be great if we could start building a collection of Christmas jumpers ready for next year so if you have any that no longer fit, please consider donating them to school. Thank you.

    Attendance before half term  

    Year 3 91.25% 
    Year 4 93.97% 
    Year 5 93.01% 
    Year 6 94.77% 
    All Students 93.28% 
    5P 99.55% 
    4W 97.77% 

    As you can see, the attendance before the end of term was particularly low. Please remember, if a child has the sniffles or a cold, it is not necessary to keep them off school. Please see the information below for details of when your child should not attend school.  

    https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/?scrlybrkr 

    NHS Pharmacy First Service 

    Did you know that the NHS Pharmacy First Service enables children and adults to get convenient access to healthcare advice and treatment where appropriate, for seven common conditions without the potential delay of having to wait for a GP appointment? Accessing the service may mean that we can help children feel better and get back to school as quickly as possible, as well as supporting parents/carers to also get better if they are unwell with one of the conditions covered under the service. 

    There is no need to make an appointment; parents or carers can pop into their local Boots pharmacy with their child and ask for help under the service. 

    Support for the following conditions can be accessed under the service, free of charge (unless NHS prescription charges apply): 

    Common condition 

    Patient eligibility 

    Earache 

    1 to 17 years 

    Impetigo 

    1 year and over 

    Infected insect bites and stings 

    1 year and over  

    Sore throats 

    5 years and over  

    Sinusitis 

    12 years and over  

    Uncomplicated urinary tract 

    Women 16 to 64 years  

    Shingles 

    18 years and over 

      

     

    Read More

  • Issue 14 - 13th December 2024

    Published 13/12/24

    Dear Families,  

    Year 6 children and our school choir will go to St Nicholas’ church on Tuesday 17th December for their carol service which is one of our favourite Almond Hill traditions. It is always a lovely service and a real pleasure to be a part of. If you are attending, please remember, space in the church only allows for two parents per child. Please don’t arrive until 1.30pm to allow children to arrive and get organised. We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave first and return to school and collect them from the school in the usual way. They will need to be signed out but children in Year 6 and the choir can leave early on this day (providing they are collected) but we are not able to release siblings early. We expect the service to last for approximately 1 hour. 

    We end the final week with another Almond Hill tradition – our talent shows will take place during the school day on Wednesday 18th December. Teachers will be running auditions for children who want to take part and they will be informed by their class teacher if they have been successful. They may bring special props or chosen outfits for their performance. Children in the upper school will perform in the morning and the lower school in the afternoon.  
     
    We will finish early on Thursday 19th December (12.30pm) but for those parents who really need it, school will remain open until 3.15pm. Children will be invited to watch a film in the hall and will be supervised by support staff.  Please note, this is not expected to be a ‘staggered finish’. We would expect children to either be collected at 12.30pm or 3.15pm. 

    We have requested consent to leave early on Arbor. Please log in to the parent portal and let us know if your child is allowed to leave early on Thursday 19th December. If you decline, your child will be expected to stay until 3.15pm unless they are collected by a parent. Please use the guardian note section to let us know if your child (Yr 5 and 6) is allowed to leave independently. Lots of parents have not done this and it is really important we know how your child is going home. If you have not told us they can leave independently, they will have to wait to be collected. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher

    Chrstimas Events

    Christmas Dinner and Class Parties  

    Our Christmas dinners and class parties were the highlight of the week this week. With music playing in the beautifully decorated dining room. Sue, our cook and her team provided a lovely meal for staff and children to enjoy. A big thank you to our kitchen staff who served the children with smiles and festive cheer! 

    FOAH Christmas Present Room 

    A huge thank you to FOAH for another hugely popular present room.  The wonderful team of volunteers have worked really hard to provide an excellent choice of affordable gifts – something to look forward to on Christmas Day! Our FOAH elves have told us they sold 870 gifts! A big thank you to everyone who came along and purchased a gift!  

    Year 4 and 5 Carols and Mince Pies  

    On Tuesday evening, we held our 'Mince Pies and Carols sing along evening.' Despite the chilly weather, lots of parents and children turned up to get in the Christmas mood with some fantastic singing- along with fabulous dance moves and superb percussion work! Thank you to everyone who came to join in the fun. We'll see you again next year!

     

    Key Messages

    Goodbye to Mrs Small 

    I am sorry to inform you all that Mrs Small will be leaving Almond Hill at the end of this term. She has had to prioritise family circumstances and decided to move on from Almond Hill into the educational training setting as of January. She would like to thank every child, staff member and parent she has come into contact with for helping her settle into Almond Hill life. 

    I would like to thank Mrs Small for her contributions not only as a class teacher but as one our school leaders. Her dedication to sport and celebration has been truly appreciated by staff and pupils.  

    I am pleased to be able to tell you that we have been successful in securing an experienced, qualified teacher, Mrs Barhey, who will be joining us in January '25 for two terms. She has worked in two Hertfordshire schools for over 20 years across all year groups from year 1 to year 5. She will be working alongside our very experienced year 5 team to ensure a smooth transition for the children.  

    Rocksteady Concert 

    On Wednesday, we had our end of term Rock Steady performance for parents. Mrs Cleaves went along to watch. "Wow! What a fantastic performance! It was like being at a proper rock concert. Well done to all the children who took part and a special thank you to Olivia, our Rock Steady Band leader." 

    The results are in...!  

    A big well done to all the parties who took part in the school election. I am pleased to announce our winners! This year’s elected school government are THE COLD CAPYBARAS. Please see below for a reminder of their manifesto.  

    Finley, the Prime Minister has already met with Mrs Fordham to discuss commencement of their pledges.  

     

    Pop up Pool  

    I am pleased to say that four children in Year 4 achieved their 25m swim. This is particularly impressive when you consider Year 4 were only added on at the end of the lesson period. The instructors tell us that although not formally assessed due to the limited time, the other children who had lessons from Year 4 really gained in confidence and water skills and will be in a good position to gain their 25m next year so well done!  

    Congestion around school  

    As you know, we have been looking into ways we can improve the congestion around the school at pick up times. We have been liaising with a variety of professionals as well as yourselves and Letchmore to see what we can do to ease the problems this causes.  We have been considering the idea of a ‘walking bus’ for children in Year 5 and 6 which would consist of a member of staff walking children (who have been given permission) down to Letchmore Park where they would meet parents. We would like to know if you would consider using this if it was given as an option – this would be for children in Year 5 and 6 only as the member of staff would not be able to wait with children at the park.

    Another consideration is to change the collection time. We would be interested to hear from Year 5 and 6 parents if you would (honestly!) delay coming to school if we were to let Year 5 and 6 children leave 5 minutes later at 3.20pm. The time it takes to collect is actually quite short so it would make quite a difference to the number of cars on the road but only if parents would genuinely come later if this was an option.  

    We have also written to Local councillors, Stevenage Borough Council and Herts County Council and are starting to receive responses which we will share with you in January.  

    Read More

  • Issue 13 - Friday 6th December 2024

    Published 06/12/24

     

    Dear Families,  

    The elections are in full swing! At Almond Hill, our annual tradition sees children voting for their Prime Minister and government. Year 6 students have the exciting opportunity to form ‘parties’ and campaign for votes from their peers. Each party is tasked with creating pledges at the school, local, national, and international levels, which they aim to fulfil throughout the year. This week, the parties have been actively campaigning and sharing their pledges during assemblies. All students across the school will cast their votes for their favourite party and the winners will be announced next week. Good luck to all participants! 

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham 
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Please read the email sent to all parents today regarding the early finish on Thursday 19th December. Thank you.

     

    Year 3 Christmas Play 

    WOW! What a start to our Christmas events. Year 3 put on a wonderful show over the last few days to their peers and their families and I am really proud of how well they did! A parent requested the option to donate online which has been set up on School Gateway for anyone who would like to donate. This will stay open until Wednesday 11th December. A big thank you to everyone who donated on the night and we really hope you enjoyed the show!  I would also like to thank all the staff involved for the efforts and staying at school two late evenings this week. 

    Christmas Dinner and Class Parties  

    I hope children are looking forward to their Christmas dinner and class party days! This will start w/c 9th December with each year group having their own day! Children can wear Christmas jumpers and/or Christmas accessories on their year group’s day if they would like to. Please don’t feel you need to buy anything for this! If you don’t have anything Christmassy at home (or your child doesn’t want to dress up) non uniform or school clothes is absolutely fine! Please do help our cook to prepare for this very popular event by pre ordering your child’s lunch in advance via SchoolGrid.

    FOAH Christmas Present Room 

    Our FOAH present room will open its doors on Tuesday 10th December. Online orders have now closed but cash will be accepted on the day. All gifts cost £2.50 and there is no limit to the number of gifts purchased. A big thank you to FOAH for organising this event. 

    Year 4 and 5 Carols and Mince Pies  

    Families of children in Years 4 and 5 are invited to join us for Christmas Carols on the evening of Tuesday 10th December starting at 6.00pm. We will be selling mulled wine and mince pies so please bring along some cash. Some of you may remember we hosted this a few years ago and it was a lovely, festive event enjoyed by everyone. This will take place outside in the quadrant with Mrs Cleaves leading the vocals. As this is outside, there is no need to book a place just turn up, wrap up warm, enjoy a festive treat and sing some carols. A bucket for volunteer donations will be present.  Please note, all children should be accompanied by an adult to this event. Parents can enter the school site via the school drop off zone.

    Rocksteady Concert

    We are looking forward to welcoming parents to this term’s Rocksteady concert on Wednesday 11th December. The concert will start at 2.15pm and we would ask parents to come into school via the main reception gate to sign in.  Children can have up to 3 guests to come and watch them perform.

    Year 6 and Choir Carol Service at St Nicholas Church 

    Year 6 children and our school choir will go to St Nicholas’ church on Tuesday 17th December for their carol service which is one of our favourite Almond Hill traditions. It is always a lovely service and a real pleasure to be a part of. If you are attending, please remember, space in the church only allows for two parents per child. Please don’t arrive until 1.30pm to allow children to arrive and get organised. We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave first and return to school and where they can then be collected from the school in the usual way. They will need to be signed out but may be collected slightly earlier depending on the finish time.  We are expecting the service to last for approximately 1 hour.

    Talent Shows 

    We end the final week with another Almond Hill tradition – our talent shows will take place during the school day on Wednesday 18th December. Teachers will be running auditions for children who want to take part and they will be informed by their class teacher if they have been successful. They may bring special props or chosen outfits for their performance. Children in the upper school will perform in the morning and the lower school in the afternoon.

    Parent Survey

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Clubs  

    We are starting to think about clubs for the spring term and I am pleased to tell parents, after a successful dance club this term, this will be continuing after Christmas. Please follow the link below if you are interested. We are also looking at offering a cheerleading club before school (run by the same dance company) and will be having a taster session at lunchtime on Wednesday 18th December. Please encourage your children to come along if it is something they would enjoy. If enough people are interested, we will introduce this as a new club in the spring term. 

     Children's Classes | Lindsey Pollard Dance 

    Dogs around school site 

    Whilst many of us love dogs, there are also many who don’t and may even be scared of them. I understand the convenience of walking the dog to the school dates to drop off/collect your child but please don’t congregate at the school gates to allow those who may be nervous of dogs the chance to come through. Thank you. 

    Young Carers Club 

    A huge thank you to Pound Avenue Cars who have very kindly sponsored our young carers club. Our young carers club will take place on the first Tuesday of the month and is supported by Mrs Burgess. 

    Pop up Pool 

    We are currently updating records regarding pool sessions and awaiting information regarding progress made. Parents will be informed and certificates given out in due course.   

    Cashpot for School

     

    Read More

  • Issue 12 - 29th November 2024

    Published 29/11/24

     

    Dear Families,  

    Next week sees the start of our Christmas events. We are kicking off with the fantastic Year 3 play. We are delighted so many parents are able to join us to watch what promises to be a wonderful, festive production. Please can I ask that parents ensure their children attend both evening performances even if you were unable to secure tickets for both as they will be missed during the show! For the evening performances, children will need to be dropped back to the year 3 classroom doors at 5.40pm and collected from the classroom doors at the end of the performance which is due to finish at 7.00pm. Please note, there is no charge for tickets for the play. However, we will be raising funds for the school by offering light refreshments on the evening performances so please bring some cash along. We will also be asking for donations on the way out too.  Please refer back to the email sent on Wednesday for more details. 
     
    I hope children are looking forward to their Christmas dinner and class party days! This will start w/c 9th December with each year group having their own day! Children can wear Christmas jumpers and/or Christmas accessories on their year group’s day if they would like to. Please don’t feel you need to buy anything for this! If you don’t have anything Christmassy at home (or your child doesn’t want to dress up) non uniform or school clothes is absolutely fine! Please do help our cook to prepare for this very popular event by pre ordering your child’s lunch in advance via SchoolGrid. 

    Our FOAH present room will open its doors on Tuesday 10th December. Gifts can be purchased in advance on School Gateway until 3rd December or cash will be accepted on the day. All gifts cost £2.50 and there is no limit to the number of gifts purchased. A big thank you to FOAH for organising this event. 
     
    Families of children in Years 4 and 5 are invited to join us for Christmas Carols on the evening of Tuesday 10th December starting at 6.00pm. We will be selling mulled wine and mince pies so please bring along some cash. Some of you may remember we hosted this a few years ago and it was a lovely, festive event enjoyed by everyone. This will take place outside in the quadrant with Mrs Cleaves leading the vocals. As this is outside, there is no need to book a place just turn up, wrap up warm, enjoy a festive treat and sing some carols. A bucket for volunteer donations will be present. 

    Year 6 children and our school choir will go to St Nicholas’ church on Tuesday 17th December for their carol service which is one of our favourite Almond Hill traditions. It is always a lovely service and a real pleasure to be a part of. If you are attending, please remember, space in the church only allows for two parents per child. Please don’t arrive until 1.30pm to allow children to arrive and get organised. We would also ask, to ensure all children are kept safe, that you allow children and staff to leave first and return to school and collect them from the school in the usual way. They will need to be signed out but may be collected slightly earlier depending on the finish time.  

    We are pleased to offer many of our events free of charge such as our Christmas activities, after school clubs, writing days. The cost of many of these events are covered by the school and those we do charge for are often subsidised. However, we will be raising funds at our Christmas events for Year 3, 4 and 5 and would appreciate any support in doing so.  

    We end the final week with another Almond Hill tradition – our talent shows will take place during the school day on Wednesday 18th December. Teachers will be running auditions for children who want to take part and they will be informed by their class teacher if they have been successful. They may bring special props or chosen outfits for their performance. Children in the upper school will perform in the morning and the lower school in the afternoon.  

    That brings us to our final day on Thursday 19th December. School will finish at 12.30pm on this day. As with the end of the summer term, we understand Letchmore do not finish until Friday. I do not want to put unnecessary pressure on families with children in both schools so we will finish early as planned on Thursday (12.30pm) but for those parents who really need it, school will remain open until 3.15pm. Children will be invited to watch a film in the hall and will be supervised by support staff.  

    Please note, this is not expected to be a ‘staggered finish’. We would expect children to either be collected at 12.30pm or 3.15pm. 

    We have requested consent to leave early on Arbor. Please log in to the parent portal and let us know if your child is allowed to leave early on Thursday 19th December. If you decline or do not respond, your child will be expected to stay until 3.15pm unless they are collected by a parent. Please use the guardian note section to let us know if your child (Yr 5 and 6) is allowed to leave independently. Please be reminded, our cook is preparing cold options only.  

    Have a good weekend.

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

     

    Key Messages

    Parent Survey  

    A big thank you to everyone who completed the parent feedback survey. We will take some time to go through the responses and will feedback via the newsletter over the coming weeks. 

    Reminder - Reporting on the day absence, requesting time off and changes to collection.  

    In October, we communicated that we had changed the way we would like parents to report absences. Previously, we asked parents to phone the school office on the day or to email.  

    Now, you can report on the day absence in the following ways:  
    by phone (01438 233660 option 1)   
    by completing the form on our website  
    by submitting on to the Arbor Parent Portal (How to Guide)  

    Please do not use the year group emails for this or admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk. The year group emails are not regularly monitored and there are so many emails coming into admin and with only one person managing this box,  they may be missed. You will still be contacted by the office team to check absence if you have emailed one of these as it may not have been passed on and we have a duty to check children’s attendance.  

    We also reinstated the online form for requests for time off in term time. If you are requesting time off in term time for holidays, a religious festival or other events, please submit the form on our website. You will also find a form here to inform us of medical appointments.  Please be advised that the government does not consider holidays to be an exceptional circumstance. These are highly unlikely to be authorised and may incur a fine.  

    Changes to collection – on the day  
    As previously requested, please do not email these changes in. As you can imagine, the school email address gets lots of email daily and it is monitored by one person. This means that some requests/emails may not be seen straight away so it is important that if there is a change to collection, you call the school office. These changes need to be called through by 2.45pm to ensure they are delivered to your child’s class teacher in time for the end of the school day. We cannot guarantee messages will get through to the class teacher before the end of the day otherwise. 

    Year Group Emails 
    The year group email addresses are a way to communicate with the class teachers for non-urgent queries. They should not be used to report absence or for anything that requires an immediate response as they are not regularly monitored. 

    Opportunities to Join our Parent Forum 

    The benefits of the strong partnership we hold with you cannot be underestimated and it is with this in mind that I would like to extend an invitation for parents to join an Almond Hill ‘Parent Forum’ which is led by Miss Simmons. The aim of the group is to share and discuss important educational issues affecting the school and to get parents even more involved in decision making that directly affects your children.  It is an opportunity to provide feedback, discuss future initiatives and national news related to education and has resulted in some really good partnership work resulting in changes to the newsletter, increased accessibility to bike ability, return to world book day dressing up to name but a few!   

    Each and every one of you is an expert in what it is like to be a parent at our school and would be welcome. Children thrive best when school and home work together.

    Miss Simmons plans half termly meetings to discuss an agenda jointly formed between the school leadership team and parent volunteers.

    The most important thing is that parents get involved. We would love approximately three parents per year group and with so many new families joining, we wanted to remind you of this opportunity. 

    Our next meeting will take place in January. Please complete the form below if you are interested in joining one of our meetings or would like to find out more. This is a really exciting opportunity to further develop the home school partnership. 

    Read More

  • Issue 11 - 22nd November 2024

    Published 22/11/24

    Dear Families,  

    Well, it feels like winter has arrived this week and December is only round the corner! Please can I ask that children bring a coat to school. I am cold just looking at some of the children this week outside without coats on.

    We have lots of lovely events planned over the festive period so please make a note of the key dates so you don’t miss anything.  The carols and mince pies event for Years 4 and 5 will be outside in the quadrant so there is no limit to the number of people who can attend and there is no need to book.

    Next week, on Monday, there is a FOAH meeting online at 6pm. All parents are very welcome to join and help with fundraising ideas and events. The details to join the meeting can be found below.  Year 3 and Year 6 will be having their cinema trips and Year 5 are going to the Space Centre. We are looking forward to hearing about their trip when they return!   

    Next week is also the final week of the pop-up pool. I am so pleased with how successful this has been. So much so, we were able to offer to Year 4 as so many children had managed to achieve their 25m! We will be surveying parents about this after next week to gain your feedback and look forward to hearing your views. 

    Have a lovely weekend!  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher

     

    Key Messages

    Parking Around School  

    Thank you to the parents who completed the form on last week’s newsletter. We really appreciate your suggestions to help with parking around school and wanted to take the time to address some of the points raised.  

    Parking in the cemetery 
    We have asked about using the cemetery for parking and this is the response we received:  

    You suggested previously that we allow parents to park their vehicles in the Almond Lane Cemetery car park. I did ask approval from my colleagues managing the cemeteries but I’m afraid this has been denied. They believe that would not be appropriate to allow general public parking in the cemetery car park and they do not have resources to manage it. Furthermore, on-street parking is allowed in Almonds Lane near the cemetery but in our recent school peak hours inspection we noticed that parents do not use this area for parking their vehicle and instead they join the traffic congestion near the school entrance to park as close as possible to the school. 

    Parking in Trafford Close  
    We already receive a number of complaints from local residents about parking in the nearby streets. Parking in these roads are limited and I wouldn’t want to encourage parents to make our neighbours’ lives any harder than it already is. 

    Encourage people to walk 
    Walking, scooting or cycling would always be our preferred mode of transport for families. This isn’t always easy for those who need to get to work after drop off but we do encourage working parents to try to park further away and walk into the school whenever possible. We do have families coming from much further than we used to where walking is not feasible but believe those in the vicinity of the school could try to walk more often. 

    Stagger start and finish times 
    This is something we have often considered as a school but would take more planning to execute and there are some barriers to this. For example, many of our parents have children at Letchmore who finish at 3pm so we couldn't shorten the end of the school day as this would hugely inconvenience these parents so the day would need to finish later for some children. This also doesn’t benefit parents who have children in both the lower and upper school as they would still need to be here at both times. This is something we will be discussing further and will come back to parents over the coming weeks.  

    The drop off doesn't work  
    We don’t believe drop off in the morning causes a significant issue when we have been monitoring. The problems seem to occur at the end of the school day. We have considered closing the drop off at the end of the school day temporarily to see if this makes any difference to the congestion. It has been suggested that parents aren’t looking elsewhere to park and are joining the queue for the drop off so in theory, closing the drop off at the end of the day will remove the large queue. 

    Increasing the car park size 
    Increasing the car park is a great idea but is not something that is within our control. We will be contacting Herts County Council to see if this is something we are able to do.  

    The form is still open if you would like to offer any suggestions. We understand many people are frustrated and the reasons why so please only complete the form if you are able to provide suggestions.

     

    Parent Survey  

    As you know, we are always looking at ways to improve our school and your feedback is invaluable in helping us to do this. Please can you take the time to complete the survey below to give your feedback on different aspects of school life. There is a section for you to add your child's name if you would like a response from school. Please only use this if you are hoping to hear from me, as previously, some people got phone calls who weren't expecting them. Thank you so much for the small number of parents who have already completed this – your feedback will be explored in the newsletter over the coming weeks.  

     

    Online Safety Group Delve into WhatsApp 

    The Online Safety Group have been very busy!  Watch and be fascinated by our captivating exclusive.  The top, terrific team put questions to none other than Mrs Fordham and Miss Simmons about the heated topic of WhatsApp.  Watch our exclusive.  Find out what's going on.  Listen to what children really need to know.  Don't miss this must see, one of a kind opportunity.   

    Thank you, Online Safety Group, for tirelessly making our school a safer place to be! 

     

    Opportunities to Join our Parent Forum 

    The benefits of the strong partnership we hold with you cannot be underestimated and it is with this in mind that I would like to extend an invitation for parents to join an Almond Hill ‘Parent Forum’ which is led by Miss Simmons. The aim of the group is to share and discuss important educational issues affecting the school and to get parents even more involved in decision making that directly affects your children.  It is an opportunity to provide feedback, discuss future initiatives and national news related to education and has resulted in some really good partnership work resulting in changes to the newsletter, increased accessibility to bike ability, return to world book day dressing up to name but a few!   
     
    Each and every one of you is an expert in what it is like to be a parent at our school and would be welcome. Children thrive best when school and home work together.  

    Miss Simmons plans half termly meetings to discuss an agenda jointly formed between the school leadership team and parent volunteers. The most important thing is that parents get involved. We would love approximately three parents per year group and with so many new families joining, we wanted to remind you of this opportunity. 

    Our next meeting will take place in January. Please complete the form below if you are interested in joining one of our meetings or would like to find out more. This is a really exciting opportunity to further develop the home school partnership. 

    We are thrilled to see the diversity of our school community growing and thriving! We warmly welcome and encourage family members from all backgrounds and cultures to join our Parent Forum. Your voices and experiences enrich our community and we look forward to working together to continue to improve our school.

    Young Carers

    We recently spoke to all children in assembly about whether they may be a young carer as we are in the process of setting up a lunchtime support group. 

    A young carer is anyone under the age of 18 who provides care and support to a family member usually because of; illness, disability, addiction or mental health issues. Young carers often take on practical or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. If you feel like your child fits this criteria, please get in contact with our pastoral team, Mrs Burgess or Mrs Barker. You can also find a wealth of knowledge, access support and formally register your child as a young carer at https://www.carersinherts.org.uk/young-carers/ 

    Voices in Hertfordshire 

    Our volunteers for Voices of Hertfordshire had their second session at Shephalbury Park primary school.  They were involved in discussing scenarios where those who are neurodivergent might find it challenging.  They were fully engaged and gave many great suggestions. There were representatives from the NHS mental health teams who were interested in their views on what mental health means. They also started developing their ideas for when V of H take over social media on 3rd December.   

    Reverse Advent Calendar

    Some people don’t have what they need to live and that's why we have the reverse advent calendar. The reverse advent calendar is where people donate dried goods, sweet treats, tinned items, toiletries, presents and clothing to a charity.. This year, Almond Hill is donating to Foodshed (a charity) so people can enjoy their Christmas. You can take part by bringing in your donations (it has to last till Christmas) and dropping it in your child’s class room. Merry Christmas.

    Written by Fiorella, Jimmy and Stanley in 5P

    Read More

  • Issue 10 - 15th November 2024

    Published 15/11/24

     

    Dear Families,  

    Another week of our pop-up pool! I hope the children are really enjoying this opportunity to learn to swim. After the sessions are complete, it would be great to gather your feedback about this. Year 4 had their trip to the cinema this week. I am sure they told parents all about it and hope the rest of the school are looking forward to their trip in the coming weeks. Please ensure children are only bringing healthy snacks to eat at the cinema (the same as they would for break time at school).  

    A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to a wonderful open evening – our staff for putting on beautiful displays and our fabulous Year 6 ambassadors who were a real credit to us on the evening showing parents round confidently and demonstrating to prospective families all that is good at Almond Hill. 

    In this week’s newsletter, there are a few opportunities for you to provide feedback and suggestions for things. Please do try to do this as we really do use your feedback to help make positive changes to our school. 

    Have a lovely weekend!  

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Parking Around School  

    I am disappointed to report we received several complaints last week from local residents in regard to the way parents are parking when dropping or collecting their children. I completely understand how difficult it is to park around the school and can see that this causes problems for parents. When our school increased in size, the drop off facility was put in but with such few spaces this hasn’t helped as much as we would have liked. On the flip side however our neighbours should be able to access their houses and driveways without obstruction. Some residents have sent photos of the obstructive and/or dangerous parking and I must inform parents that my advice to these people is to report to the police and/or local council.  

    As a school team, we have talked on many occasions about ways we can improve the parking situation both for our parents and our neighbours but we are struggling with a solution. We have invited traffic wardens to the school at our busiest times, met with a local councillor and contacted the local police but we are now asking for your help. Do you have any suggestions on how we can help ease the congestion outside school? Please leave your comments below. We understand many people are frustrated and the reasons why so please only complete the form if you are able to provide suggestions.

    Parent Survey

    Parent Survey  
    As you know, we are always looking at ways to improve our school and your feedback is invaluable in helping us to do this. Please can you take the time to complete the survey below to give your feedback on different aspects of school life. There is a section for you to add your child's name if you would like a response from school. Please only use this if you are hoping to hear from me, as previously, some people got phone calls who weren't expecting them.

    https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/survey/?pid=166&form=70  

    Communicating with Parents Through Seesaw 

    As mentioned on a recent newsletter, the admin team have been discussing communication methods and how we can reach more parents. Currently, we use email, phone, our newsletter, Facebook and our website.  We have decided to trial using Seesaw’s announcement function to send reminders of upcoming events/deadlines. You hopefully saw the first announcement which was sent on Wednesday this week regarding Christmas card designs. We were able to see how quickly this was being viewed by parents and think this will be a good way to communicate.  

    If you do not have access to Seesaw, please enter your details below and we will connect you with your child’s journal. 

     

    School Photos 

    Please be reminded, THE DEADLINE FOR FREE DELIVERY TO SCHOOL IS: WEDNESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 2024. Any orders placed after the set deadline will be subject to postage & packaging charges with delivery direct to your home address. For any issues regarding Online Ordering Access Codes, please contact the office. 

    Reverse Advent Calendar  

    Year 5 are going to be leading a community action project very soon! This will be a reverse advent calendar. This involves giving items (rather than receiving them) to those who need them during the run up to Christmas. Year 5 will explain a lot more next week but we wanted to give parents as much notice as possible! If you are able to, please start to collect and bring items in to your child's classroom that you would like to donate to Foodshed- a local Stevenage food bank. These items must last until Christmas so no fresh produce please and watch this space for more information next week too! 

    School Improvement Plan

    Please see a summary of our most up to date school improvement plan.

    You can download a copy to view here

    Objectives 2023-24 based on school self- evaluation: July 2023 Yr3-6 assessment outcomes, evaluation of school improvement actions 22/23, consultation with staff and governors, feedback from pupils and parents, May 2021 Ofsted, Attendance data 2022-2023 and external visits

    Objective

    Link to Ofsted RAG rated summary

    1.

    To continue to develop the leadership and management of the school to maintain overall good effectiveness and progress to secure outstanding effectiveness with a focus on provision for SEND and governance and continue to expand upon staff subject knowledge

    Leadership and Management/Overall Effectiveness

    Staff knowledge and overall progress of provision for SEND and governance has improved significantly acknowledged by the School Effectiveness Advisor in reports. The SENCO has supported all staff to expand upon their knowledge and governors have committed to visits to ensure accountability. There will remain a focus on SEND provision next year within a wider focus on all vulnerable learners.

    2.

    To provide a curriculum that empowers children and equips them with secure skills and knowledge that build progressively across the key stage and prepares them for the next stage in their education. There will continue be a specific focus on the core subjects especially writing and a new focus on curriculum planning and accurate assessment in foundation subjects.

    Quality of Education/Leadership and Management

    Attainment and progress in maths and reading is secure. Writing remains a focus for next year. There has been significant progress in curriculum planning and assessment in foundations subjects. Subject leaders will continue to work on this next year.

    3.

    To embed ‘The Climb’ behaviour for learning strategy including a focus on the importance of excellent attendance and to further develop retention and recall teaching strategies to ensure children maximise opportunities to learn and make progress through engagement. To develop a strategy for physical and mental resilience and strength.

    Leadership and Management/Behaviour and Attitudes/Personal Development/Overall Effectiveness

    There has been significant progress with embedding ‘the Climb’ behaviour for learning strategy. Attendance has improved and is broadly in line with national data and lower than national data for persistent absentees. Retention and recall teaching strategies are embedded in practice across the school. Physical and mental well- being has been a priority and engagement highly commended by Stevenage Sporting Futures as well as achieving the Gold Mark Active accreditation. Attendance will remain a focus next year within a wider focus of all vulnerable learners.

    2024-2025 Summary of Objectives

    Objectives 2024-25 based on school self- evaluation: July 2024 Yr3-6 assessment outcomes, evaluation of school improvement actions 23/24, consultation with staff and governors, feedback from pupils and parents, May 2021 Ofsted, Attendance data 2023-2024 and external visits.

    Key Priority 1

    Key Priority 2

    Key Priority 3

    Objectives

    Objectives

    Objectives

    To support vulnerable learners/disadvantaged groups to ensure progress and achievement including those with SEND and in receipt of PPG with a focus on attendance and provision.

    • To improve attendance with a focus on those pupils with prior attendance below 96%
    • To continue to improve provision for children with SEND so all children make good or better progress from their starting points
    • To prioritise a sense of belonging for pupils in receipt of PPG/in poverty therefore increasing engagement
    • Pastoral and wellbeing with a focus on building resilience and empowering the child 

     

     

     

    To develop and improve oracy and writing across the school to ensure children can articulate themselves effectively both verbally and in writing.

    • Baseline oracy skills and develop a planned curriculum to address gaps and prioritise skills: learning to talk and learning through talk
    • To improve writing attainment across the school through the development of a rigorous and progressive bespoke scheme

    Continue to develop foundation curriculum and subject leadership to ensure a broad, balanced, progressive, well planned, delivered and assessed curriculum that meets the needs of the pupils at our school 

    • Knowledge organisers developed and used in all foundation subjects
    • Retrieval practices will be used in all foundation subjects to ensure learning is embedded
    • Outdoor learning will be more effectively embedded across the foundation curriculum
    • Technology will continue to be used to support summative assessment in foundation subjects
    • Diversity will be even more effectively embedded across the foundation curriculum

     

    Read More

  • Issue 9 - 8th November 2024

    Published 08/11/24

     

    Dear Families,

    Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed the half term break with your families.  

    I have been really touched by some generous donations by parents recently to help our whole school community, preloved uniform and books, swimming kits and sensory toys to name but a few. Thank you so much! 

    I can’t quite believe I am saying this but Christmas is (fast) approaching and with Christmas comes lots of wonderful events for the children. We will outline these events in more detail over the coming weeks but please take a look at the events list and put the key dates in your diary. Parents are invited to attend the Year 3 Christmas performance, the Year 4 and 5 carols and mince pie evening and the Year 6 carol service at the church so hopefully with advance notice, many of you will be able to join us for the festivities! 

    As well as the planned Christmas activities, we also have our usual variety of events planned for this month. We have our open evening for prospective parents on the 14th November where we will welcome lots of families to look at our wonderful school. This is supported by Year 6 children who act as ambassadors for the school and show parents round. We always receive positive feedback about this event and are really looking forward to this year’s open evening.We have the first of our cinema trips next week with every year group going this month! Mrs Burgess and Mrs Birchall will be hosting another SEND/Pastoral coffee afternoon on Thursday 21st November and all parents are very welcome to come along.  

    Have a lovely weekend!  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

     

    Key Messages

    Online Safety

    We have been made aware of a WhatsApp group called ‘The World’. It has been reported that there are children in the group who attend Almond Hill as well as local secondary schools and there is some inappropriate content being shared within this group. If your child has a phone/access to WhatsApp, I would urge you to check the groups they are in and monitor the content.  WhatsApp groups are a consistent issue for children in KS2 and the Almond Hill Online Safety Group have been preparing a video – look out for this soon! 

    What parents and educators need to know about WhatsApp (downloadable)

    Change to Gate Times

    From next Monday, all gates will open at 3.10pm at the end of the day as there are often children returning to classrooms from outside lessons just after 3.00pm and we want to keep the site as safe and secure as possible. 

    Swimming – Pop up Pool  

    Wow. What a week it has been for our swimmers! It was wonderful to see the pool set up when we returned from half term and I know the children have really enjoyed their lessons this week. Thank you to parents for bearing with us whilst we get the initial assessment lessons completed to ensure we have children in the right groups. It has been a big task to juggle but really appreciate your support to ensure we do it right. We would really benefit from some more donations of towels if you have any at home that you could spare. Please bring any donations in to the office – thank you!

    Cinema Trips 

    A huge thank you to parents for kindly offering to support us on this trip. We now have enough parent volunteers.  

    Here is a reminder of the dates and films for each year group: 

    Year 4: Kung Fu Panda 4 – 13th November, 10:30-12:10pm 
    Year 3: Garfield – 27th November, 10:00 - 11:45am 
    Year 5: Asterix and the Secret of the Magic Potion – 19th November, 10:00 - 11:40am 
    Year 6: Despicable Me 4 – 28th November, 10:00 - 11:45am 

    Lost Property  

    Please ensure you label all items of your child’s unform – including coats. Many children have the same or similar coats and it is incredibly difficult to get these back to the correct owner if they are not labelled. 

    Contacting Parents 

    There are times during the day where someone from school may need to call home. We know as parents, when you see your child’s school calling, it can be a worry - especially if it is a missed call. If a member of staff calls you, we will try to leave a message (providing there is the option to do so). Please listen to the voicemail before calling back as the office team may not always know who has called and we don’t want to cause any more worry. In an emergency, we will try the other contacts on the list and/or text you. Teachers sometimes call during their free time but are not always available when a parent calls back – if the call was urgent, they would leave a message and let the office team know. It is always best to listen to your voicemails before calling back.  

    Disability Equality Questionnaire for Parents 

    The definition of disability is a broad one.  ‘A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ (Equality Act 2010). The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous discrimination law and provides a single piece of legislation covering all types of discrimination that are lawful.   

    We would like all parents who feel they and/or their child fits the definition outlined above to complete the disability equality questionnaire. The data collected will be used when writing our school’s accessibility plan and disability and equality policies. In most cases, we know if a child in our school has a disability but it is not the case for our parents and it would be useful to know how we can better support our school community as a whole. You do not have to provide identifying details about yourself or your child but there is the option to do so at the end should you wish to be involved in any future focus groups etc.   

    https://forms.office.com/e/htcdMFtbak  

    Flu Vaccine – Consent Form  

    Please find attached the E-consent letter for your child’s Flu vaccination for this coming winter. Please note that you can consent for either the Flu nasal spray, OR the non-gelatine IM Flu vaccine. Please make sure you complete the form online as soon as you can. The portal will close 48 hours ahead of the Flu session. Vaccination UK East Anglia Immunisation (schoolvaccination.uk) Flu can be very unpleasant for children and can sometimes cause serious problems, such as pneumonia. Children can catch and spread flu easily. Vaccinating them also helps protect others who are at higher risk of getting seriously ill from flu, such as babies and older people. The School Immunisation team will be coming into the school on Thursday 14th November to deliver the vaccine. Please be aware that children can NOT receive this vaccination with their GP unless they are clinically vulnerable.

    Read More

  • Issue 8 - 25th October 2024

    Published 25/10/24

     

    Dear Families,  

    We have had a variety of visitors in school over the past couple of weeks and I am delighted to tell parents we have had some wonderful feedback about the children.  The visitor from Taylor Wimpey North Thames took the time to email and say ‘what enthusiastic, well behaved and bright children’ we have. Our Jewish visitor also commented on how well-behaved the children were during her visit and said Almond Hill is ‘one of the best schools’ she has been to! Finally, our photographers were here on Tuesday (who visit lots of schools) and wanted to tell us how impressed they were with the children's good behaviour and manners. It really is fantastic to hear such positive feedback about the children and really wanted to share that with you all.  

    Please can I urge parents to take the time to read this newsletter. It contains lots of important information about all things related to school life. In response to feedback from parents, we add more and more to our newsletter rather than sending reams of emails to make it easier for parents to go back and find information should they need to and to keep information all in one place but this only works if everyone reads it.  

    During the week commencing 4th November we will be selling poppies on behalf of The Royal British Legion. Children can bring some money in during this week to donate in exchange for a poppy. 

    Have a lovely half term break and we will see you all back on the 4th November ready for Autumn 2!  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Reminder: the deadline for secondary school applications is Thursday 31st October 2024.

     

     

    Safeguarding – Please Read  

    At the end of the school day, we often have parents come into the building through external doors. Please do not do this. We have lots more clubs after school than we have before which means there are more children still here at the end of the school day. Any visitors to our school must be signed in at the office to ensure we know who is here in the event of an emergency and to safeguard all the children in our care. If you need to come in to school for any reason (other than Premier), please come to our main reception.  This is particularly important if you are coming in to collect a child late. The office staff make a note of all children who are waiting at reception to be collected and they must be signed out by the office team before leaving. The school office is open from 8.15am until 4.30pm every day. 

    Reports Regarding Children at Almonds Lane Cemetery

    It has been reported by adults and children that some children are going to Almonds Lane cemetery before and after school and not always behaving respectfully. Please can families discuss with their children to ensure this is not the case. I would suggest that visiting the cemetery at primary school age is something that should be done in the company of an adult to ensure everyone's feelings and well being are taken into account. 

    Responses to Questions Regarding the Pop up Pool 

    In response to the letter sent this morning, we have had some queries that we wanted to address in our newsletter so all parents received the same information. 

    Lots of the queries have been around payments. We do not expect (or need) parents to pay for 20 swimming lessons now. All we ask in the first instance is that parents who gave consent for their child to have lessons in the pop up pool pay for their child's initial lesson which is £4.50. Children will be assessed during this lesson. This may mean this is the only lesson your child has meaning no more payments will be required. Other children will be asked to complete lessons which will cost £4.50 each but parents will be informed about this. The number of lessons any child has will be dependent on their swimming ability with a maximum of 20 being offered. These will take place every day for 4 weeks in the month of November. In order to ensure that parents are not put under any undue financial pressure (especially in the run up to Christmas), the payment request will remain open until near the end of the spring term. 

    Lessons at Stevenage Swimming Centre will continue whilst we trial the pop up pool. Slots are hard to get (especially afternoon slots) so we don't want to give ours up until we know that the pop up pool will be successful. Children who currently go down to the Stevenage pool can do both if they want to. Where children have started their lessons already and started making progress, it is important they get the chance to complete the course.

    Hopefully this answers any queries. We will answer any further questions after half term.

    Halloween Disco

    I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff and parent volunteers who facilitated the Halloween disco on Tuesday.  It was a really well put together event by FOAH and ran seamlessly from a delivery point of view with well over 200 children enjoying themselves immensely. I am especially indebted to staff who gave up their evening on Tuesday who are also going to Grafham on Friday and into half term. It was also lovely to see a slightly expanded group of parent volunteers able to help at this event. 

    However, I am sad to say that we have had a handful of parents who have been particularly hard on the office team this week due to the Halloween disco. I understand it can be difficult if your child misses out on events taking place in school which is why we aim to give plenty of notice and reminders through our weekly newsletter. As mentioned before, we have a duty to ensure the children within our care are safe and therefore need time to ensure risk assessments are completed and distributed to the relevant staff in good time before the event. This includes our parent volunteers who kindly give up their time to host these events. When food is being served, we must ensure dietary requirements are met and all staff supervising are aware of any needs. This is a big task for over 200 children and some medical needs require specifically trained members of staff to supervise which must be planned for in advance. 

    We are also not able to accommodate the swapping of tickets. There are over 200 children who attend the discos who need to be registered and we need to know who is going to be here.  

    Please don’t put staff in a difficult position by calling/emailing and asking them to ‘bend the rules’ to fit your child in. No-one likes saying no. We don’t say no to be awkward. We have deadlines in place for safety reasons and it is never about the money.  

    This year, 70% of the school community attended the disco which is the same number as last year.  

    The disco has been on our website calendar since the end of September and has been mentioned on our newsletter for the past 4 weeks as well as a reminder being added to Facebook. That being said, the admin team will take some time to discuss communication methods (we currently have our website/newsletter, email and Facebook as communication tools) to see if any improvements can be made and welcome any positive suggestions from parents. 

    Cinema Trips 

    Thank you to the Year 4 parents who have already completed the collection arrangements form for the cinema trip. If you haven’t already done so please do ASAP. Please note, if a form is not completed by Friday 25th October, your children will be expected to walk back to school after the film.  

    https://forms.office.com/e/SpYXKX6ueW

    Disability Equality Questionnaire for Parents   

    The definition of disability is a broad one.  ‘A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ (Equality Act 2010). The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous discrimination law and provides a single piece of legislation covering all types of discrimination that are lawful.   

    We would like all parents who feel they and/or their child fits the definition outlined above to complete the disability equality questionnaire. The data collected will be used when writing our school’s accessibility plan and disability and equality policies. In most cases, we know if a child in our school as a disability but it is not the case for our parents and it would be useful to know how we can better support our school community as a whole. You do not have to provide identifying details about yourself or your child but there is the option to do so at the end should you wish to be involved in any future focus groups etc.   

    https://forms.office.com/e/htcdMFtbak  

    Flu Vaccine – Consent Form

     Please find attached the E-consent letter for your child’s Flu vaccination for this coming winter. Please note that you can consent for either the Flu nasal spray, OR the non-gelatine IM Flu vaccine. Please make sure you complete the form online as soon as you can. The portal will close 48 hours ahead of the Flu session. Vaccination UK East Anglia Immunisation (schoolvaccination.uk) Flu can be very unpleasant for children and can sometimes cause serious problems, such as pneumonia. Children can catch and spread flu easily. Vaccinating them also helps protect others who are at higher risk of getting seriously ill from flu, such as babies and older people. The School Immunisation team will be coming into the school on Thursday 14th November to deliver the vaccine. Please be aware that children can NOT receive this vaccination with their GP unless they are clinically vulnerable. 

    Flu Consent Form

    Flu Leaflet

    Read More

  • Issue 7 - 18th October 2024

    Published 18/10/24

     

    Dear Parents/Carers,  

    This week, Almond Hill were the host to a county wide initiative which aims to give children with a disability, hidden disability or a lived experience of one, a chance to share their views with a wide audience. The children involved were great at sharing their opinions and showed maturity when they were asked to contribute in front of others.   

    The next meeting will be at a different Stevenage school in November (date to be confirmed) and we will be working towards developing ideas of how to provide social media content for #SENDtakeover2024. This is when Voices of Hertfordshire have been given the chance to be in charge of Hertfordshire County Council, Voices of Hertfordshire, Services for young people and Health social media channels for the day on the Tuesday 3rd December 2024 as part of World Disability Day.  Well done to our school representatives! 

    Next Friday, our Year 6 children will set off for their residential trip to Grafham. I am sure they will have a fantastic time and will come back with lots of stories to share with you all! Please keep a look out on Seesaw for updates. A huge thank you to the staff who have given up their weekend to accompany the children too (although, they love it nearly as much as the children do!) and Mrs Patterson for all her hard work organising the trip. I would also like to thank Loraine Rossati, (one of the councillors for Symonds Green) for kindly donating to help one of our families to attend.  

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    Reminder: the deadline for secondary school applications is Thursday 31st October 2024.

     

    Maths games for children in Years 3-5 

    Children in Years 3-5 will be bringing home a maths game today. These have been kindly donated by another local headteacher and are excellent for learning times tables. All children are expected to know their times tables by the end of Year 4 so this is a great way to help your child learn at home in a fun way. It will also be really helpful for the upper school maths curriculum too as times tables knowledge is crucial for many topics such as fractions and ratios. 

    Early Arrivals – Neighbour Complaints  

    I am disappointed to report we have had complaints from our neighbours about how early parents are arriving for collection at the end of the school day which results in engines idling, streets blocked and long queues of traffic outside of school. This poses a huge safety risk too as people are overtaking the queue of cars to continue their journey. I would urge families to avoid driving if at all possible or car share and certainly not queue for long periods of time outside school. Please be mindful of access to homes and local streets - if tempers flare there is more likely to be an accident.   

    Swimming Forms – Year 5 and 6 

    Thank you to the majority of parents who have completed the swimming ability form. We will phone anyone who has not responded by the end of the day today in order to ascertain any barriers and to plan swimming groups after half term. Families can expect to hear about swimming groups before half term.  

     

    Cinema Trips 

    Thank you to the Year 4 parents who have already completed the collection arrangements form for the cinema trip. If you haven’t already done so please do ASAP. Please note, if a form is not completed by Friday 25th October, your children will be expected to walk back to school after the film.  

    https://forms.office.com/e/SpYXKX6ueW  

    School Photos -Tuesday 22nd October

    Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 22nd October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day.  

    Asda Cashpot for Schools 

    Don’t forget to sign up! So far, our cashpot is on £230.73 and continues to rise! A big thank you to everyone who has shopped at Asda and selected Almond Hill as their school! Please spread the word to your friends and family. 

    43 days left!

    Headlice 

    Unfortunately, headline is a recurring issue. We do urge all parents to check their children’s hair regularly and treat any cases immediately. More information on what to look out for and how to treat headline can be found on the NHS website http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Introduction.aspx  

    Please ensure you check your child’s hair routinely. For further information on head lice and how to treat, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice-and-nits/ 

    Read More

  • Issue 6 - 11th October 2024

    Published 11/10/24

     

    Dear Parents/Carers,  

    It was lovely to see some of our new families on Wednesday for the 3L parent lunch. I hope you enjoyed it. I know the children loved having you here! We are looking forward to welcoming parents of 3W next Wednesday. Please remember, we are only able to give parents a lunch if a pre-order has been made. 

    We will be holding our open evening on Thursday 14th November from 5.30-7.00pm.  We would love to welcome as many families as possible to take a look round our wonderful school. Please share our flyer with your friends and family or share our post on Facebook – thank you! 

    As many of you know, we have an Almond Hill Facebook page. We currently have 219 ‘followers’ and would love to see many more of you. If you have Facebook, please follow our page.  

    Have a good weekend.

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Reporting on the day absence, requesting time off and changes to collection. 

    We have changed the way we would like parents to report absences. Currently, we ask parents to phone the school office on the day or to email. 

    Going forward, you can report on the day absence in the following ways: 

    • by phone (01438 233660 option 1)  

    • by submitting on to the Arbor Parent Portal (How to Guide) 

    We have also reinstated the online form for requests for time off in term time. If you are requesting time off in term time for holidays, a religious festival or other events, please submit the form on our website. You will also find a form here to inform us of medical appointments.  Please be advised that the government does not consider holidays to be an exceptional circumstance. These are highly unlikely to be authorised and may incur a fine. 

    Changes to collection – on the day 
    As previously requested, please do not email these changes in. As you can imagine, the school email address gets lots of email daily and it is monitored by one person. This means that some requests/emails may not be seen straight away so it is important that if there is a change to collection, you call the school office. These changes need to be called through by 2.45pm to ensure they are delivered to your child’s class teacher in time for the end of the school day. We cannot guarantee messages will get through to the class teacher before the end of the day otherwise. 

    Swimming Year 5 and 6

    Please can I remind parents in Years 5 and 6 to complete the form below as soon as possible regarding swimming ability and consent for the pop-up pool. The deadline for submitting the form is Friday 18th October. It is a huge administrative task allocating the swimming lessons and we need to be able to do this before half term so we can let families know who needs to bring kit in for the first day after half term. 

    Donation Request

    Thank you to the school staff who have donated kit. We would still benefit from swimming costumes and trunks in a range of sizes if parents can please have a look at home for these. I want to remove barriers where I can and I think kit is something we can certainly support with. Please bring donations to the office – thank you. 

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer 

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months. 

    July, September and October 2024 

    Schools hold their open events 

    Thursday 31 October 2024 

    Closing date for applications (online and paper) 

    Cinema Trips 

    Thank you to the Year 4 parents who have already completed the collection arrangements form for the cinema trip. If you haven’t already done so please do ASAP. Please note, if a form is not completed, your children will be expected to walk back to school after the film.  

    https://forms.office.com/e/SpYXKX6ueW 

    School Photos 

    Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 22nd October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day.  

    Asda Cashpot for Schools

    Don’t forget to sign up! So far, our cashpot is on £204.37 and continues to rise! A big thank you to everyone who has shopped at Asda and selected Almond Hill as their school! Please spread the word to your friends and family. 

    *New* Winter Menu for School Dinners 

    This is also available to download at the bottom of the page.

     

    Read More

  • Issue 5 - 4th October 2024

    Published 02/10/24

     

    Dear Parents/Carers,  

    We have an exciting month ahead! We're looking forward to welcoming our Year 3 parents for lunch on the 9th, 16th and 23rd. Parents are also invited to meet their child's class teacher during parents' evenings on the 8th and 10th. Plus, the children can look forward to the FOAH Halloween (silent) disco on Tuesday, 22nd October! If you haven’t already, be sure to book your child’s ticket on School Gateway by Tuesday 15th October, as we absolutely won’t be able to add any more children afterward as health and safety risk assessments have to be written. We'll also be hosting our monthly book sale on Wednesday 23rd October, just before half-term from 28th October to 1st November. 

    Please note, some clubs are cancelled in the coming weeks due to parents' evening and/or the Halloween Disco.

    Tuesday 8th October (parents' evening) - cooking, French and netball 
    Thursday 10th October (parents' evening) - Outdoor activities
    Tuesday 22nd October (Halloween disco) - cooking, French and netball 

    Have a good weekend.

    Emma Fordham
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Responding to feedback about the pop-up pool

    Thank you for taking the time to read the letter regarding the pop-up swimming pool. I am really pleased to see that parents have taken the time to ask questions and give feedback and it is fantastic to see all the positive comments about the pool. As previously mentioned, we will answer questions via the newsletter so that all parents can be informed and information can be shared with everyone at the same time. Please see below for answers to the comments raised so far. Please feel free to submit the form if you have any other questions.  

    When will lessons take place? 
    There will be 12 children in a group and 10 half an hour lessons across the school day. 

    Will there be an option to pay the swimming fee over the term/year? 
    Yes. Payments will be made via School Gateway and you will have the option to pay over a number of months with a deadline being around February/March 2025. 

    Does my child have to take part? 
    We would like every child in Years 5 and 6 (even if they are competent swimmers) to get at least one chance to have a go and also be assessed but we appreciate some children already have lessons outside of school and can swim the 25 metres required. We will be asking for consent for children to use the pool so you are able to decline this opportunity if you would prefer.  

    Where will children get changed? 
    Children will be separated into boys and girls for changing in the same way they are when they go to the pool. We do not want any children to feel uncomfortable getting changed for lessons so will of course accommodate a space to change privately where we can. You can help with this by allowing your child to wear their swimming costume under their uniform to make getting ready for lessons quicker.  

    How deep is the pool? 
    It is a 10m x 5m x 1.4m heated pool with an average temperature of 30° C. 

    What year groups is this for? 
    For this year, we will be offering this opportunity to Years 5 and 6. I thought it would be very tough for the Year 6 pupils to miss out on such an exciting chance and in this way all the children in the school currently will get a turn this year or next. 

    If the trial is successful, we will book this provision annually and it will be offered to the children in Years 4 and 5 meaning that children who need it will get two sustained periods to secure this skill.  

    Please can you clarify the cost? 
    We have calculated that each lesson costs £4.50 which means if your child swims for the whole month (20 lessons in total), this will cost £90. The lessons take place daily and last for 30 minutes. 

    We appreciate that this will be very difficult for some families. No child will be denied the chance to swim if their family cannot or does not pay. However, we would not be able to fund a huge shortfall each year so if we were not able to cover the costs with voluntary contributions and possible fund-raising activities, we would not be able to make this an annual feature of our school offer. 

    Please can I ask parents in Years 5 and 6 to complete the form below as soon as possible.  

     

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer 

    Moving on 2025 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2025 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions 

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months. 

    July, September and October 2024 

    Schools hold their open events 

    Thursday 31 October 2024 

    Closing date for applications (online and paper) 

    Cinema Trips 

    As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, these are the dates for the cinema trips. 

    Year 4 - Kung Fu Panda 4 - 13th November 1:00 - 2:40  
    Year 3 - Garfield - 27th November - 10:00 - 11:45 
    Year 5 - Asterix and the secret of the magic potion - 19th November 10:00 - 11:40 
    Year 6 - Despicable me 4 - 28th November 10:00 - 11:45 

    Year 4 parents, as the Year 4 film is in the afternoon, we wanted to give you the option of collecting children from the cinema or from school. We will need to know before the day so we can plan for the correct number of staff waiting at the cinema as well as those walking back with the children.  Please complete the form (linked below) to let us know your plans as soon as possible. Parents will need to collect from the cinema at 2.45pm. We will not be in a position to wait so anyone who has not been collected at this time, will be brought back to school. We anticipate we will be back at school by 3.30pm. The time of arrival is approximate. 

    https://forms.office.com/e/SpYXKX6ueW 

    Voices in Hertfordshire

    Earlier this week, I sent a letter to parents about the Voices in Hertfordshire Project. This is a great opportunity for the right children and would urge parents to read the information and complete the form attached if your child would like to participate.  

    School Photos 

    Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 22nd October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day

    Parents’ Evening 

    We are planning Parents’ Evenings for the Autumn Term on Tuesday 8th and Thursday 10th October.  

    Booking is now closed - please contact the school office if you need to make any changes or you have not yet booked an appointment. For those classes with a shared teacher, your appointment will be with one or both of the teachers. 

    You will receive a paper copy of the parents’ evening information today to give you an opportunity to digest the information and ask questions during the appointment.

    School Uniform Reminder  

    Please be reminded that school uniform is a white polo shirt or shirt and red t shirt for PE. Red polo shirts are not part of the school uniform. We like the children to look really smart and to differentiate between the two uniforms. Please help us by supporting our uniform policy. We appreciate that cost can be a barrier so invite parents to attend our uniform sales which are held monthly. We wouldn’t want anyone to purchase unnecessary uniform so if you are reusing an older siblings uniform or have already purchased for this year, please don’t worry I would just ask that when you replace the uniform, you replace with the correct items. 

     https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=School+Uniform&pid=48  

    Umbrellas  

    We know the weather has been pretty awful recently but can I please ask that children do not bring umbrellas to use at break/lunchtime as they can be dangerous when children are running around. If the weather/rain is too bad, children will be inside. 

    Donation request 

    Following my letter regarding the pop-up pool, I would like to ask parents for any donations of old swimming costumes/trunks, swim hats or towels. I want to remove barriers where I can and I think kit is something we can certainly support with. Please bring donations to the office – thank you. 

    Clubs 

    Can I ask parents to please be mindful when signing up for clubs and ensure your child wants to attend as parents and children are disappointed when they are full and it is a shame when then they have spaces due to people regularly not attending. The idea of these after school clubs is to provide additional enrichment opportunities outside of the curriculum – they are not intended as childcare so please make sure your child wants to join the club you have selected.  

    If your child is part of a club that they don’t want to attend, please contact the school office so we can remove them from our register. Not only does it take a lot of ‘admin time’ to follow up on attendance to clubs, but we also have a waiting list of children who we could offer these spaces to. 

    Read More

  • Issue 4 - 27th September

    Published 27/09/24

     

    Dear Parents/Carers,  

    Next week, we have a Blue Cross volunteer coming in on Wednesday 2nd October to visit Year 5 to deliver an assembly about pets and wellbeing. The assembly is free of charge but we would love to make a donation to the Blue Cross as a thank you for their visit. This is now available on School Gateway for anyone who wishes to contribute. 

    We are planning Parents’ Evenings for the Autumn Term on Tuesday 8th and Thursday 10th October. We will be using a hybrid system for these appointments, whereby it is parental choice whether the appointment is face to face or online. All online appointments will take place in a ‘block’ at the start of one evening and a ‘block’ at the end of the other. Appointment lengths are timed and teachers will need to keep to these strict timings. 

    The booking system opened on Wednesday 25th September and the booking system will close at 6pm on Wednesday 2nd October. Should you wish to make any changes after this date, please contact the school office. For those classes with a shared teacher, your appointment will be with one or both of the teachers. 

    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. It is vital that you use the same information held by the school as any discrepancies will prevent you from accessing the system. Please log into the parent portal on Arbor to double check the information we hold for you and your child to ensure you are inputting the correct information. You will receive a paper copy of the parents’ evening information on Friday 4th October to give you an opportunity to digest the information and ask questions during the appointment. Please read the email sent on Tuesday for more detailed information. 

    Have a good weekend. 

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

    Key Messages

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer 

    Moving on 2025 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2025 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions 

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months. 

    First week of September 2024 

    Admissions information is available online for parents to read or download 

    Monday 2 September 2024 

    Online application system opens and the “Moving On” leaflet is distributed via children’s current school 

    July, September and October 2024 

    Schools hold their open events 

    Thursday 31 October 2024 

    Closing date for applications (online and paper) 

    Cinema Trips 

    I am pleased to be able to tell you all children will be going on a school trip to the cinema in November! The trips will take place during the school day and at no charge to parents. On the day of their trip, children will come to school as normal to be registered and then walk down the Leisure Park to watch the film before walking back to school around lunch time except for Year 4 who will be watching their film in the afternoon so can be either collected from the cinema or from school upon our return (please note, this may be later than usual). We must know beforehand if you are collecting from the cinema and will ask you to complete a form nearer the time. Please note, if your child has not been given consent to watch PG films, we may be in contact to discuss this with you. 

    Year 4 - Kung Fu Panda 4 - 13th November 1:00 - 2:40  
    Year 3 - Garfield - 27th November - 10:00 - 11:45 
    Year 5 - Asterix and the secret of the magic potion - 19th November 10:00 - 11:40 
    Year 6 - Despicable me 4 - 28th November 10:00 - 11:45 

    As a school with high expectations for behaviour and learning where hard work is greatly valued, we believe taking advantage of occasional opportunities like trips to the cinema where there is no cost involved. We are also aware that for some children, trips to the cinema happen very rarely or not at all.  A huge thank you to Miss Simmons who has organised this FREE enrichment event for the children.  

    Online Safety – The Dark Web Explained 

    Being aware of the Dark Web can help you have informed conversations and support your child if you are concerned. Please take at the following website for more information: https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/articles/dark-web-explained/  

    SEND/Pastoral Parent Meetings

    Year 6 Parents - Grafham

    For anyone who was unable to attend the Grafham meeting in the Summer term, you can find useful information in the PowerPoint below.  

    School Photos 

    Our photographers will be in school on Tuesday 22nd October to take individual photos of the children. The photos taken of Year 6 will be used in the yearbook so please do your best to be here on the day. Almond Hill siblings will also have their photos taken on this day.  

    Pop-up Pool Feedback

    Please take the time to read the letter that was sent via email on Thursday for information on the pop-up pool. If you have any feedback, please add it to the form below (also linked in the letter). Please avoid emailing as these may get missed. All feedback/questions will be collated and we will respond via the newsletter. 

    Year 3 Parents to Lunch - Information for ALL parents

    During October, we will be inviting Year 3 parents to have lunch with their children. As I am sure you will remember, this is a lovely opportunity for both parents and children but it does rely on help from the wider school to make it run smoothly. The lunches will take place on:  

    Wednesday 9th October – 3L (Mrs Lyons) 

    Wednesday 16th October – 3W (Mrs. Ward) 

    Wednesday 23rd October – 3B (Miss Bonfield and Mrs Geer) 

    An email has been sent to Year 3 today with more information.  

    The menu will remain the same for the rest of the school but we will need your help in preordering your child’s meals for this day to help our cook prepare for the increase on orders on these days. You can do this today. As always, pre orders must be in by 8.55am on the day your child will be taking the meal or a cheese sandwich will be offered. 

    School Gateway - Bank Transfer has been renamed One-click payments

    A message from School Gateway

    To make our payment options easier to understand within the School Gateway app, we’ve updated the name of Bank Transfer to One-click payments.

    Some of your parents may already be using this functionality, so please let them know that in order to see these changes they'll need to download the latest version of the School Gateway app from their App/Play store. Once they've updated the app, they'll be able to look out for our new One-click payments button which has replaced the Bank Transfer button at checkout. 

    It's likely that there are parents at your school who aren't taking advantage of this functionality yet. One-click payments is designed to save parents time at checkout, so recommending it to them can help them get the best out of School Gateway.

    We’ve created some handy guidance to make sure it’s as simple as possible to set up, so please feel free to share this with your parents.  

    Read More

  • Issue 3 - 20th September 2024

    Published 20/09/24

    Dear Parents/Carers,

    A big thank you to the parents who attended our open evenings this week. I hope you found them useful. For those who were unable to make it, we have added the PowerPoints at the end of the newsletter for you to take a look at.

    We had our first FOAH meeting of the year on Monday where we discussed the events and activities they would like to run for your children throughout the year.  We really need your support to keep Friends of Almond Hill going! If you are willing to help organise events for our children to help raise funds for the school, please let the office know. Even if you only have a small amount of time to offer, we would love to hear from you. Over the years, our parents have supported many fun events for the children and FOAH have paid for resources and educational activities which we are not able to provide from our budget. Thank you very much in advance. Any help is always so greatly appreciated.

    On Tuesday next week, all parents and carers are welcome to attend our SEND/Pastoral coffee morning with Mrs Birchall (SENCo) and Mrs Burgess (Pastoral Lead). This will take place 8:30-9:15am in Beech Room in Acorn House. Your child does not need a diagnosis for you to attend. If you feel you could do with some support, resources, or just a chat with a knowing ear, please come along.

    Emma Fordham,
    Headteacher

    Key Messages 

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

    Moving on 2025 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2025 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

    First week of September 2024

    Admissions information is available online for parents to read or download

    Monday 2 September 2024

    Online application system opens and the “Moving On” leaflet is distributed via children’s current school

    July, September and October 2024

    Schools hold their open events

    Thursday 31 October 2024

    Closing date for applications (online and paper)

    Drop off Zone

    Please be aware there was an error on the gate times on the last newsletter. The vehicle gate to the drop off zone opens at 3.10pm not 3.00pm as we do not wish to encourage parents to come early and queue. This is because our neighbours complain about excessive traffic at the end of the school day.

    Please think of our environment and switch your engines off whilst waiting outside the school.

    Nut Free School

    Can we stress to all parents the importance of not allowing children to come to school with any product containing nuts.  At present, we have a number of children with severe allergies and therefore strongly require parents to be mindful and check that the snack and lunch items they are providing do not contain nuts.

    SEND/Pastoral Parent Meetings

    Tuesday 24th Sep 8:30-9:15am
    Thursday 21st Nov 2:30-3:15pm

    We want any parent who feels these sessions may benefit them to have the chance to attend so welcome feedback about the time/dates that these are planned.

    Arbor Calendar/School Calendar

    We are really pleased so many of you are getting used to using Arbor. As you know, there is a calendar within the app. This relates to your child’s school day and includes and clubs they have enrolled in and will also include sporting events they may have been invited to. All other events that take place in school (not child specific) will continue to be on the calendar on our school website.

    Lost property

    All of this uniform was collected at the end of ONE lunch time this week. PLEASE make sure all of your child’s uniform is clearly labelled with their full name so that if it is lost, we can return it to your child. Of course, it would be much better if children collected their belongings and took them back to class with them after break/lunch so please encourage your children to do this.

    Read More

  • Issue 2 - 13th September 2024

    Published 13/09/24

    Dear Parents/Carers,

    Welcome to this week’s newsletter! Each week, we’re excited to bring you the latest updates, reminders, and a look at the wonderful things happening across our school. From classroom activities to upcoming events, we aim to keep you informed and connected with everything that's going on. You will notice that we have ‘key messages’ at the start which is important information for all followed by attendance figures, Almond Hill Achievements, house points and key dates. The final part of our newsletter showcases the wonderful events that have happened in school and other information relevant to families.

    I would like to remind parents of the information meetings that are planned for next week to provide families with information on exciting school initiatives (such as The Climb) and show you where information is on our website to support you at home like the long and medium term plans for curriculum. Year 3, 4 and 6 will be held in the hall and Year 5 will be one of the Year 5 classrooms in Acorn House. They will run from 3.30-4.30pm. Parents can make their way to the hall once they have collected children from class. Children and siblings are welcome to stay.  Please don’t worry if you are unsure on where to go – there will be signs to help you. We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

    Thank you for your continued support and engagement in our school community. We hope you enjoy reading this week’s highlights.

    Emma Fordham,
    Headteacher

    Key Messages

    Operation Encompass

    We wanted to make our new parents aware (and remind parents) of Operation Encompass which is a system in place between schools and the Police to support families. Operation Encompass is the notification to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, of incidents where and when a child or young person has experienced or been exposed to any domestic abuse.

    Operation Encompass allows the Police to liaise with a trained member of school staff (DSL) so they can use the information that has been shared in confidence whilst also ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have experienced a domestic abuse incident. We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer

    Moving on 2025 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2025 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months.

    First week of September 2024

    Admissions information is available online for parents to read or download

    Monday 2 September 2024

    Online application system opens and the “Moving On” leaflet is distributed via children’s current school

    July, September and October 2024

    Schools hold their open events

    Thursday 31 October 2024

    Closing date for applications (online and paper)

    Drop off Zone

    There are over 300 children arriving and leaving our school every day. We welcome children riding bikes/scooting to school if they are wearing a safety helmet. In the interests of the safety of all our children, we expect you to observe the parking restrictions when dropping off or collecting your child in a car. Please can you make your child aware that the raised area outside of the school is not a pedestrian crossing. At the end of the day the school gate area is very busy.

    At the beginning of the day, most parents with children in Years 4, 5 and 6 do not park. They drop their children off and let them walk to class. However for children in year 3, it is more likely they will want to park and take their children to the classroom door. This can cause difficulties if all the available spaces are already filled. Please be mindful of this issue. There is a 10 minute window for children to be dropped off and the car park tends to be quieter in the latter half of those 10 minutes e.g 8.50-8.55am.

    If you park in the ‘drop off’ zone at the end of the day it must be in one of the marked bays. You may not park on the access roadway around these spaces. Adults who park in one of the allocated parking spaces at the end of the day need to get out of their cars and walk to collect their child. The ‘drop off’ area is for vehicle entrance/exit only NOT for pedestrian use. I am sure like me; you wish to keep our children as safe as possible. I hope the guidelines are clear enough for all parents/carers to follow. If you have any queries or concerns about the use of the drop off, please contact me.

    If you are driving to school, please park safely and in line with restrictions. Please also show respect to our neighbours in adjacent roads so their access is not restricted by inconsiderate parking.

    Clubs

    Wow! We are really pleased families were so eager to sign up to clubs this term. In the past, we have had clubs that we have not managed to fill and even though we have increased our offer this term, many of the clubs were full on the day they opened! If you are not able to sign up for club on the Arbor Portal, it is most likely because it is full. Please ensure you have access to the portal (particularly for new parents) as without this, your children may miss out on events and clubs.

    Year 3 Parents

    We will be offering Year 3 parents a couple of 1-hour sessions to talk about our behaviour policy, Therapeutic Thinking. Please complete the short poll below to help us plan this to suit the majority of parents.

    What is therapeutic thinking?
    Therapeutic Thinking is a behaviour management approach which focuses on all behaviour being a form of communication. The basis is that we need to 'analyse' children's behaviour for what they are not saying and put into place support for them in order that they can thrive and develop not only academically but socially & emotionally too. The ethos is that we teach children to read, do maths, swim and we also need to 'teach' them what positive behaviour looks like. It has to be explicitly taught so we can't just bribe with extrinsic rewards as we want children to be able to make good choices for themselves (intrinsic) even when we are not there. 

    When children feel negative, it is harder to make good choices. It's like when we're tired, hungry, stressed we are not the best versions of ourselves. So in order for some children to be able to make better choices we need to help them feel better about themselves by giving them more positive, pro-social experiences.

    The theory is underpinned by ACES (adverse childhood experiences), attachment and being ‘trauma aware’ and how all these things can impact on children. Research shows for it to work, it has to be a whole school approach and needs to be embedded in policy. Consistency is key so children get the same experiences from all staff which makes them feel safe and secure at school. 

    Everyone makes mistakes and when children get it wrong we focus on repair, reflect, restore strategies such as reflection & restorative conversations to help them make a better choice next time.

    Seesaw - Year 3

    Children in Year 3 have now been added to Seesaw. Please follow the link in the invite to join your child’s journal. If you haven’t received an invitation to join, we do not have consent for your child.

    Supporting your school – Introducing Friends of Almond Hill

    We’d like to welcome back existing parents and introduce ourselves to those who have joined us this year. We are Friends of Almond Hill (FOAH for short), the PTA responsible for raising funds and running events so your children have the best experiences and some nice extras at school.

    Last year we ran a Halloween Disco, Movie Night, and Present Rooms for Christmas (sorry to mention the C word!), Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We had enough funds to purchase additional equipment for the outside gym and provided year books and leavers hoodies for those leaving the school. We are always looking for people to help us as little or as much as you can – after all, more hands make light work.

    If you have any “spare” time, useful skills, or matched funding by your employer and would like to get involved and make some new friends, please email us at foah@almondhill.herts.sch.uk, our first on-line meeting (via Teams) is on Monday 16th September at 6pm. Joining details can be found here if you’d like to say hello and find out more. There are formal roles available (we are a registered charity) and ad-hoc opportunities based on the specific activities we are running. Alternatively we’d be really grateful if you could support the fund raising activities we are running throughout the year if you can.

    SEND/Pastoral

    These sessions are a chance for parents to come and meet with other parents and Mrs Birchall our SENCo and Mrs Burgess our Pastoral Lead to talk about all things SEND and pastoral. 

    Tuesday 24th Sep 8:30-9:15am
    Thursday 21st Nov 2:30-3:15pm

    We want any parent who feels these sessions may benefit them to have the chance to attend so welcome feedback about the time/dates that these are planned.

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  • Issue 1 - 6th September 2024

    Published 06/09/24

     

    Dear Parents/Carers,  

    A big welcome back to you all and I hope you enjoyed the summer holidays. I trust our new families in Year 3 and across the school are settling in well and we wish you a warm welcome to our school.  

    Our value for September is friendship. Children can always help others by offering to play with everyone and not leaving others out. We have a friendship bench on our lower school playground where children can go if they are struggling to find someone to play with. We also have a friendship room which is for children who may find social times particularly hard. This is run by our pastoral team and they offer a range of activities for children to do to ensure they enjoy their lunch times. 

    We have lots of exciting events this term including visitors to the school and school trips (please check the diary dates further down). As well as this, I would like to draw your attention to the parent information meetings that are planned for w/c 16th September to provide families with information on exciting school initiatives (such as The Climb) and show you where information is on our website to support you at home like the long and medium term plans for curriculum. These will be held in the hall running from 3.30-4.30pm. Parents can make their way to the hall once they have collected children from class. Children and siblings are welcome to stay.  

    Please take the time to read our newsletter as this is our main method of sharing information with you at home. For those of you who don’t know, the newsletter is on our website and is shared with families via email on a Friday afternoon. We often get emails/phone calls requesting information that has been on our newsletter. After feedback from you, we limited the amount of emails that were sent to parents and therefore much more information has been added to our newsletters which remains a more reliable source of information (as opposed to WhatsApp groups - so I am told 😊). 

    Have a good weekend.  

    Emma Fordham, 
    Headteacher 

     

    Key Messages

    Weekly Celebration Assembly

    This year, we have combined our achievement and singing assemblies into one feel good weekly celebration assembly which is run by Mrs Small and Mrs Cleaves.  We will begin with celebrating the children who completed the summer reading challenge over the holidays. If your child took part, please email a photo of their certificate or send them in with their certificate FAO their class teacher. I know children are very keen to be awarded their 10 house points. On this note, we continue to invite children to bring any trophies, certificates, awards or photos from achievements outside of school to share with pupils in assembly (as well as being added to our website/newsletter).  We also celebrate the musical talents of our children and invite those who play instruments to play for their peers whilst they enter the hall for assembly. If your child would like to do this, tell them to speak to Mrs. Small. 

    In our assembly today, we introduced our new pupil leadership teams. We have a range of roles available for children across the school including, play leaders, sports captains, reading mentors, headteacher assistants and lunch time leaders. A big well done to those children who were selected to take on any of these roles this term.

     

    Attendance  

    Please be reminded, gates close at 8.55am  and if you arrive after this time, you will need to come via the main office to be signed in.  This is to ensure the site is secure and it is imperative children don’t ‘squeeze in’ at the last second as they could get missed if their class has left to go to the hall for example.  

    Parents will receive a letter in the next few weeks reminding them of the expectations and the new national regulations with regards to school attendance. I would urge you all to take the time to read the information. With the cost of living crisis and more pressure on families, we continued to see an increase in the number of holidays taken in term time last year. I would like to remind parents that I cannot authorise time off during term time unless for exceptional circumstances. I understand parents may feel that the time off will not affect their child significantly negatively however the overall education of the class is affected if the teacher has to repeatedly catch up those who have missed prior learning. 

    Seesaw

    We use Seesaw across the school to share and celebrate the children’s work. Parents tell us they love these updates. New parents will receive an invitation to join the app but only once consent has been given. This has been sent to you via the Arbor Parent Portal. Please allow us some time to get this set up. For more information, follow the link below: www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/Seesaw 

    Follow us on Facebook 

    For those of you who don’t know, we have a school Facebook page. We already have 217 of you following but would love to see many more of you including our new families! Please follow the link to follow our page: https://www.facebook.com/121almondhill  

    Other Key Apps for School

    Please download the School Gateway app to make payments for school trips etc. You will need to give your email address and you will be given a PIN number to set up your account.  To order and pay for school dinners, you will need to use School Grid.  

    Parents of children who have joined us this term, you will need access to the Arbor Parent Portal. Many of you have already logged in which is fantastic but if you haven’t and need help with this, please contact our office.

    Coming to School/Mobile Phones

    School policy allows for children in years 5 and 6 to bring a mobile phone to school for safety reasons if they travel to and from school independently. Mobile phones must be switched off whilst on school premises and not be used during the school day. There is no need for parents to inform the class teacher/office if their child is walking home independently. I would ask that children do not however bring their phones on school trips or after school events. Please can I remind parents, especially those in year 5 and 6, that unaccompanied children should not arrive at school before 8.45am. I appreciate some children are keen to get to school but the school grounds are not supervised before this time and accidents can happen.  

    Collection at the end of the School Day 

    Children in Years 3 and 4 need to be collected by an adult unless we have written permission for children to go home with older siblings. Please confirm this with teaching staff via the year group email. There are no laws about this as such as it relates to the level of the child's competency however we feel that most children in Years 3 and 4 do not have the experience to make safe choices when circumstances are not as they have expected. It is also sometimes not possible for an older sibling to keep a younger sibling safe. Ultimately it is the parents' decision however we are responsible for the safeguarding of the children so will want some dialogue if children younger than Year 5 are not being collected by an adult. As the school has become larger and access routes (both pedestrian and vehicle) have become busier, this becomes increasingly important.   

    Children in Year 5 and 6 are allowed to leave school independently. Teachers will walk them up to the gate at the end of the school day but will not monitor collection. If your child is due to meet you from school, please ensure they know where they are going. It is also important to remind children to return to school if they find the person who is meeting them is not where they were expecting them to be. 

    Contacting the School 

    There will be times, as parents, where you need to contact the school and general enquiries can be made via the school office by phone or email. You are also very welcome to email the year group email addresses to contact your child’s year group. Please only use the year group email for NON urgent queries/questions as they are not monitored during the day  

    Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk  
    Year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 
    Year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 
    Year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk 
     
    If you have any questions regarding your child, please make an appointment after school to see the class teacher initially as in most cases they will have the most up to date information on your child. If at this point you still feel you would like to speak to someone at our school, please first contact Miss Simmons, our Deputy Head (admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk) or if your child has special educational needs or disabilities, Mrs Birchall our SENCo (iep@almondhill.herts.sch.uk). If the issue is of a pastoral nature, Mrs Burgess our pastoral lead can be contacted at burgess@almondhill.herts.sch.uk The Designated Teacher with overall responsibility for Child Protection is Mrs Fordham, with Mrs Birchall, Mrs Burgess and Miss Simmons as deputies. The deputies (especially Mrs Burgess) deal with day-to-day safeguarding issues but all cases are shared with the whole safeguarding team. Mrs Fordham can be contacted using the admin email address and will respond accordingly. However, depending on the nature of your email, it may be passed on to a more appropriate member of staff for a response.  Mrs Fordham is often unavailable at short notice and an effective and more efficient response is often achieved by speaking to someone else on the team. That being said, Mrs Fordham will always make the time to speak to parents if all other avenues have been exhausted, the matter is extremely urgent or parents have a specific reason why they believe she is the only person who can deal with the matter.

    School open events and key dates for secondary transfer 

    Moving on 2025 leaflet Information for parents with children in year 6 at primary/junior school. Further information about moving to secondary school in September 2024 will be available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions 

    The timetable below gives you an idea of what will happen over the next few months. 

    First week of September 2024 

    Admissions information is available online for parents to read or download 

    Monday 2 September 2024 

    Online application system opens and the “Moving On” leaflet is distributed via children’s current school 

    July, September and October 2024 

    Schools hold their open events 

    Thursday 31 October 2024 

    Closing date for applications (online and paper) 

    Saving the Planet ‘One jumper at a time’ 

    The launch of our Pre Loved uniform sales have been overwhelmingly successful and we would love to extend this further with the aim to reduce waste ‘one jumper at a time’. As well as old uniform, we would like to ask families to consider donating shoes (that no longer fit but are in good condition), coats, Christmas jumpers, World Book Day costumes and hangers. Please remember to remove your child’s name from any donated items or they may eventually make their way back to you!  

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