Issue 6 - 11th October 2024

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 completing the form on our website

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.

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.

School Calendar

Upcoming Events

After School Club End Dates and Collection Points

^Club	^Day	^Time	^{Club Leader}	^{Collection point}	^Year
^{Football 3&4 Booked half termly (paid) 9th Sept – 21st Oct}	^Monday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{WB Coaching}	^{Year 5 gate (by the church)}	^3&4
^{Football 5&6 Booked half termly (paid) 10th Sept – 22nd Oct}	^Tuesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{WB Coaching}	^{Year 5 gate (by the church)}	^5&6
^{Netball 17th Sept – 26th Nov} ^{Cancelled on 8th and 22nd}	^Tuesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Mrs Small/Miss Wase}	^{Year 5 gate} ^{(by the church)}	^{5&6 Boys and girls}
^{French 17th Sept – 26th Nov} ^{Cancelled on 8th and 22nd}	^Tuesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Mrs Pridmore}	^4W	^3&4
^{Cooking – 8 weeks 24th Sept -19th Nov Cancelled on 8th and 22nd}	^Tuesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Mrs Bond, Mrs Hukin, Mrs Lamacraft}	^{Computer room}	⁴
^{Dance (paid) 18th Sept – 11th Dec}	^Wednesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Lynsey Pollard}	^Hall	^All
^{Football Year 6 only 18th Sept – 23rd Oct}	^Wednesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Miss Simmons/Miss Harris}	^{Year 5 gate} ^{(by the church)}	⁶
^{Mad Science (paid) 18th Sept – 27th Nov}	^Wednesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Mad Science}	^3W	^3&4
^{Stop Frame Animation 25th Sept – 20th Nov}	^Wednesday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Mrs Lyons}	^3L	⁴
^{Basketball 19th Sept – 17th Oct}	^Thursday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^Premier	^{Year 5 gate} ^{(by the church)}	^5&6
^{Gymnastics 24th Oct – 28th Nov}	^Thursday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^Premier	^Hall	^5&6
^{Outdoor Activities 19th Sept – 28th Nov} ^{Cancelled on 10th}	^Thursday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Miss Harris}	^{Year 5 classrooms}	^3&4
^{Basketball 20th Sept – 18th October}	^Friday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^Premier	^{Year 5 gate} ^{(by the church)}	^3&4
^{Gymnastics 25th Oct – 29th Nov}	^Friday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^Premier	^Hall	^3&4
^{Outdoor Activities 20th Sept – 29th Nov}	^Friday	^{3:15 – 4:15pm}	^{Miss Harris}	^{Year 5 classrooms}	5&6

Pre-Loved Uniform Sale

Pre-loved uniform sales take place monthly in the hall 3.00-3.30pm.

Thursday 7th November
Thursday 5th December

50p Book Sale

If your child would like to purchase a book, please can they bring their money to school with them (exact money is preferred where possible). Books cost just 50p each!

Wednesday 23rd October Wednesday 27th November
No book sale in December

SEND/Pastoral Parent Meetings

Thursday 21st November 2.30-3.15pm

Attendance Matters

Year 5 97.88%
Year 3 95.89%
Year 4 95.06%
Year 6 94.48%
All Students 95.79%

Class Winners 4A 98.85% and 5P 98.35%

Almond Hill Achievements

Click the button below to see all the wonderful things our children have achieved outside of school.

ACHIEVEMENTS

House Points

FOAH News...

Silent Halloween Disco 22nd October

Can you floss like Frankenstein, dance like Dracula or waltz like a Witch?

Friends of Almond Hill will be hosting silent discos for each year group on Tuesday 22nd October. Tickets are £5 each, include a drink and a snack (a pizza slice) and can be purchased on School Gateway until 15th October. Please note we are unable to accept cash on the day or bookings after this date.

Details of the discos are as follows
Year 3 – 3.15 to 4.15
(Class teachers will drop them off after school)
Year 4 – 4.00 to 5.00
Year 5 – 4.45 to 5.45
Year 6 – 5.30 to 6.30

Please drop your children off at the hall door in the quadrant and pick them up from the central cloakroom – this will be sign posted.

We hope to see you there and can’t wait to see your dance moves.

Next Meeting: Monday 14^th October at 6.00pm

Microsoft Teams
Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 353 847 555 630
Passcode: MR2xuQ

Halloween Sweet Jars – Guess the number of treats (no tricks)

If you are looking to stock up on your sweetie stash ahead of Halloween, simply guess the number of spooky treats in our Halloween sweet jars to win them! It's 50p per guess, and money can be bought into class week commencing 14th October. The correct guess wins the sweets and don’t worry if you have any dietary requirements. We will provide you with something you can enjoy. Last guess 22nd October.

In Other News….

Bloomsbury Author Visit

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we have an exciting visitor planned for Years 3 and 4. Colm Field will be hosting an assembly on 16th October and will hold a book sale after so children will have the opportunity to purchase one of his books. You can take a look at the books by following the links below:

Book one - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/kyan-green-and-the-infinity-racers-9781526641748/
Book two - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/kyan-green-battles-the-multiverse-9781526641786/

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Visit

A volunteer from The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) will be visiting Year 5 and 6 in November to tell them all about the wonderful things they do. As with the visit from the Blue Cross, the assembly is free of charge but we would love to make a donation to the RNLI as a thank you for their visit. This will be available on School Gateway the week before the assembly.

https://rnli.org/