Issue 18 - 31st January 2025
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:
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General enquiries can be directed to the school office via phone or email. You may also contact your child’s year group using the designated year group email addresses.
Year3@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year4@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year5@almondhill.herts.sch.uk
Year6@almondhill.herts.sch.uk -
Concerns about your child should first be addressed with their class teacher. Please speak to them to arrange an appointment after school.
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Urgent matters should be directed to Miss Simmons, our Deputy Head (admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk).
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Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) enquiries should be sent to Mrs. Birchall, our SENCo (iep@almondhill.herts.sch.uk).
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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.
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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
Diary Dates
Did you know, 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.
Upcoming Events
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03/02/2025 - All DayYear 3 (1/2 yr grp) trip to North Herts Museum
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03/02/2025 - All DayYear 5 Beowolf writing day
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03/02/2025 - 1:30pm – 2:30pmY5 Maths Challenge
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03/02/2025 - 6:00pm – 6:30pmSATs Information Meeting
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04/02/2025 - All DayYear 4 writing day
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05/02/2025 - 8:45am – 9:15amSEND & Pastoral Coffee Morning
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05/02/2025 - 9:00am – 11:00amRecycling workshops for Year 3
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06/02/2025 - 3:00pm – 3:30pmUniform Sale
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06/02/2025 - 5:30pm – 6:30pmWriting Awards Evening (time tbc)
Book Sale Dates
All sales will take place during the school day. Books cost just 50p each.
- 29th January
- 26th February
- 26th March
Uniform Sales
Dates for Spring term uniform sales.
All sales will take place from 3.00pm in the hall.
- 6th February
- 6th March
Parent Forum
Wednesday 12th February at 5.30pm via Microsoft Teams.
Meeting ID:
374 602 523 019
Passcode: 5BY3zQ34
SEND/Pastoral Coffee Morning
8:45-9:15am on 5th February. All parents are welcome so please come along – there is no need to book.
Club Collection Points
Please check your child's Arbor calendar for dates.
After School Clubs | ||||
Club | Day | Times | Collection Point | Year |
Football | Monday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Gate | 3 & 4 |
Netball | Monday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Gate | 5 &6 |
Football | Tuesday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Gate | 3 & 4 |
French | Tuesday | 3.15-4.15 | Computer Room | 3 & 4 |
Outdoor Activities | Tuesday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Classrooms | 5 & 6 |
Badminton | Tuesday | 3.15-4.15 | Hall | 5 & 6 |
Street Dance | Wednesday | 3.15-4.15 | Hall | all |
Cheerleading | Wednesday | 8.00–8:45 | N/A | all |
Football Year 6 (squad only) | Wednesday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Gate | 6 |
Outdoor Activities | Thursday | 3.15-4.15 | Year 5 Classrooms | 3 & 4 |
Card Games | Thursday | 3.15-4.15 | 3B | all |
Multi Sports | Friday | 3.15-4.15 | Hall | 3 & 4 |
Booster Classes (invitation only) | ||||
Club | Day | Times | Collection Point | Year |
Year 6 Maths Booster | Monday | 3.15-4.30 | Acorn House | 6 |
Year 6 SPaG Booster | Wednesday | 3.15-4.30 | Acorn House | 6 |
Year 6 Reading Booster | Thursday | 3.15-4.30 | Acorn House | 6 |
Attendance
Year 3 96.99%
Year 4 96.14%
Year 5 93.57%
Year 6 96.21%
All Students 95.73%
Class Winners
3B 97.86%
6B 97.24%
Almond Hill Achievements
Click the button below to see all the wonderful things our children have achieved outside of school.
House Points
FOAH Update
Next Meeting :Monday 3rd March at 6.00pm
Microsoft Teams
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 341 658 310 38
Passcode: ff76Uw7Q
In Other News...
Voices of Hertfordshire
Children from Almond Hill visited Fairlands School on Monday 27th January to represent the Voices of Hertfordshire. They discussed what SEND means and how this impacts on inclusion and designed posters around this. We also played a game to promote thoughts around inclusion.
Y3&4 Sports Hall Athletics
A group of children from Year 3 and 4 were invited to take part in an athletics event at Barnwell School. All the Year 3 and 4s had alot of fun trying new athletic sports. Almond Hill were competing against 7 other schools. They all showed great team spirit and huge enthusiasm when taking part. Year 3 and 4 were wonderful representat…
Year 4 Badminton
On Wednesday morning, 7 of our Year 4s took part in the badminton shuttle stars festival at Barnwell School. They had to work extremely hard, both as a team and individually, building their throwing and catching skills with accuracy and precision. The children took part in lots of different games which allowed them to learn the vocab…
Football Update
The team have been busy playing lots of games over the last couple of weeks and have not lost a game yet!
League games:
St Margrets 6 - 0 win
Martins wood 4-1 win
Friendlies:
Woolenwick 2-2
Wix Cup game:
William Ransom (Hitchin) 3-1 win
North Herts Museum visitor for Year 4
Year 4 have spent the past few weeks learning all about the Romans and their invasion of Britain in their History lessons so they were very excited to meet a visitor from North Herts Museum on Monday. They were very lucky to be able to see and touch Roman artefacts found in the local area including the sole of a child's shoe, roo…