Issue 7 - 18th October 2024
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.
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.
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/