We want all children to eat healthy snacks and lunches. Many of our children have school dinners or a school packed lunch. As a ‘healthy school’ we promote a balanced diet. We also encourage parents whose children have a packed lunch to consider nutritional balance.

Parents are welcome to come and see the selection of meals provided and in the autumn term, we invite you to have a school lunch with your child.

How do I make payments?

The school has the facility for parents to make payments and pre-order meals online using School Grid.  School meals must be paid for in advance. Please ensure you include an up to date email address on Arbor to enable you to use School Grid. 

Free School Meals

In Junior school, school meals are not funded by the government, but your child may still be entitled to a free school meal. It is easier than ever for families to apply for free school meals. Applicants do not usually need to provide paper proof of benefit and there have been significant improvements to the renewal process, so that all the checking goes on in the county council without the need to ask parents to renew. If you think you are entitled to free school meals, then you can apply online at www.hertsdirect.org/freeschoolmeals

There are over 300 children arriving and leaving our school every day. So, if you are able to walk, scoot, or bike that would be best. Children in the lower school must be accompanied whatever mode of transport you choose. They must wear a bike helmet when cycling to school and we do have a bike shed on site.

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.

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.

All gates are locked during the school day. Access is by the main pedestrian gate and main vehicle gate through a buzzer system. 

We believe it is important for children to do some home learning every day to support learning in school, extend learning and to enable children to undertake personal research. The school recognises that parent view of Home Learning will vary. Our policy has taken note of the very wide range of parent views with aim to providing a balance. Home learning ia hand out on a Thursday and expected for return by the following Thursday.  Home learning reviews learning that has taken place in the class. There are 3 levels; age related, which more children complete, an easier version for children with particular educational needs and a voluntary extension task for those that want a challenge. 

We expect children to read with an adult regularly, every day if possible. Reading with an adult is vital even when your child becomes a fluent reader. Please continue reading to them even when they become independent readers, so they have opportunity to discuss the text they are reading. Whilst children will have favourite authors, please encourage them to read a range of genres.  If your child is reluctant to read — encourage reading from any (age suitable) material e.g. newspapers, magazines, adverts, instructions on packaging etc. The school promotes the national annual Summer Reading Challenge organised by local libraries and arranges its own reading challenge annually.

If a child does not complete their home learning on a regular basis they will be kept in for a short while during lunch time to do so.   

If your child experiences any difficulty with their home learning, we ask you to inform the class teacher.  We do not expect children to struggle on with an activity they are not fully sure of. If you have given your child significant support with their home learning, please send a note in to the class teacher.

You can help your child with their home learning by:             

• providing a quiet working place;
• setting a regular time for home learning;
• taking an interest, but letting your child do the work herself or himself;
• letting us know if your child has a problem with the work;
• ensuring online safety agreement for remote learning is adhered to.

The school seeks to help parents to support their child’s learning at home and offers workshops and information meetings to keep you fully informed of current practice.

Home learning will usually comprise of a spelling and reading activity (see below) plus sometimes another task dependent on current learning. We also have an expectation that times tables rehearsal will be embedded into your home routine. Children who are secure in times tables are best placed to problem solve and access maths learning across the curriculum. At Almond Hill, we use TTRockstars to help children have fun with learning their timetables. Your child will be given a log-in for this, and you can log on at home and participate in different battles and challenges against school friends and even teachers! Children get to choose a ‘rock name’ and through their playing they can earn coins which they can spend in the online ‘shop’ where they can buy new outfits and accessories for their avatar.

Reading

Reading plays a pivotal part in your child’s learning experiences at Almond Hill. We recognise the undisputed positive impact that being a good reader and being exposed to a broad range of high-quality texts, can have on your child’s learning and achievement. We strive to ensure our teaching of reading supports our belief in the value of books. We have therefore devised a set of core reading principles that are implemented across the school. These are our values of reading and support both children and staff in assessing the quality of teaching and learning in reading. We believe that when these principles are met — great learning in reading is happening.