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.  

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. 

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 

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.

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  

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.