Issue 15 - 10th January 2025

Dear Families,

Welcome Back to the Spring Term!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful break with your families and the children are returning refreshed and ready to learn. A special welcome to our new families joining us this term—we’re thrilled to have you as part of our community!

This term is packed with exciting activities and events for everyone to look forward to. Highlights include:

Year 3’s trip to the North Herts Museum
Writing days for Years 4 and 5
World Book Day celebrations
Year 4’s visit to the temple
FOAH are organising a Mother’s Day present room

We encourage everyone to check the school calendar regularly for updates and new events.

We’re also offering opportunities for families to engage with the school. Join us for our monthly SEND and Pastoral parent sessions or, if you’re a Year 6 parent, attend our SATs information evening to help your child prepare for their tests in May.

We’re looking forward to a fantastic term ahead!

Emma Fordham,
Headteacher

Key Messages

Congestion Around the School at Pick up Times

I wanted to ensure families know this is still very much on our agenda. We have sent a letter to a number of people including the local authority to request assistance in this matter. We gave suggestions to improve the situation and asked for advice and whilst we feel our concerns have been heard, there is a restriction on what help can be given. Budgets are a main factor in the decision making and data collected around the local area (in terms of collisions etc). Our local councillor has agreed to assess the size of the drop off zone and has requested a safety survey of the local area. The traffic and enforcement team at Stevenage Borough Council are increasing the presence of their officers at peak times as many times as possible in the next few weeks to act as a deterrent to illegal parking and issue penalty charge notices if required.

Donation Request for Pre-Loved Uniform, Christmas Jumpers and Coats

If you have any preloved uniform you’d be willing to donate, please drop these into school. We would also be really grateful for any coats or shoes that could be passed on to someone else. It would be great if we could start building a collection of Christmas jumpers ready for next year so if you have any that no longer fit, please consider donating them to school. Thank you.

Attendance before half term

Year 3 91.25%
Year 4 93.97%
Year 5 93.01%
Year 6 94.77%
All Students 93.28%
5P 99.55%
4W 97.77%

As you can see, the attendance before the end of term was particularly low. Please remember, if a child has the sniffles or a cold, it is not necessary to keep them off school. Please see the information below for details of when your child should not attend school.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/?scrlybrkr

NHS Pharmacy First Service

Did you know that the NHS Pharmacy First Service enables children and adults to get convenient access to healthcare advice and treatment where appropriate, for seven common conditions without the potential delay of having to wait for a GP appointment? Accessing the service may mean that we can help children feel better and get back to school as quickly as possible, as well as supporting parents/carers to also get better if they are unwell with one of the conditions covered under the service.

There is no need to make an appointment; parents or carers can pop into their local Boots pharmacy with their child and ask for help under the service.

Support for the following conditions can be accessed under the service, free of charge (unless NHS prescription charges apply):

Common condition	Patient eligibility
Earache	1 to 17 years
Impetigo	1 year and over
Infected insect bites and stings	1 year and over
Sore throats	5 years and over
Sinusitis	12 years and over
Uncomplicated urinary tract	Women 16 to 64 years
Shingles	18 years and over

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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

Almond Hill Achievements

We are incredibly proud of all the achievements that are going on inside and outside of school. Please do keep them coming in! Previously, we have asked parents to email these in but please can we ask that if you would like to submit an achievement for our newsletter, you complete the form on our website: https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/form/?pid=130&form=483

House Points

FOAH Update

Treasurer Vacancy for FOAH

Friends of Almond Hill our school fundraising charity is looking for a new treasurer and would love to hear from anyone interested in taking on this vital role in supporting them. If you are interested in finding out more about the role and what it entails, please email Rachael at foah@almondhill.herts.sch.uk A full handover will be provided by the current treasurer who we are most grateful to.

Next meeting

Monday 20th January 2025 - 18:00 - 18:30
Microsoft Teams
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 391 946 184 938
Passcode: oz24TE9V

In Other News...

Hardship Grants

Mrs Burgess, our Pastoral Lead can apply for hardship grants for families that might be struggling. Please contact her in the strictest confidence if this is something that you feel will benefit your family.
burgess@almondhill.herts.sch.uk

Year 4 Mental Wellbeing Workshop

Year 4 were very fortunate to have a visit from Stevenage Sporting Futures on Wednesday for a workshop about mental wellbeing. We learnt about the different things we can do physically to help such as: eating a balanced diet (we even got to try some fruit!); doing exercises (we tried some out all together) and having a positive body image. We all enjoyed the session and we learnt something new. We were also very lucky because at the end we were given a water bottle (so that we can stay hydrated) and a stress ball!

Year 3 Quidditch

8 children from Year 3 had the opportunity to attend a sports activity at Barnwell School. The children played Quidditch! They showed great enthusiasm and were wonderful representatives for Almond Hill. The progress made from the first game to the end of the competition was outstanding. The sports coach commented on how well Almond Hill had come on and their enthusiasm for the game and were awarded the ‘honesty’ award. Ben (chaser), Scarlett (keeper) and Mark (beater) were runners up and Oliver was the winner for the best golden snitch. All the children really enjoyed the activity.

Survey – helping parents and carers to support their children’s mental health

Hertfordshire’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) system wants to understand what parents and carers need when they are faced with supporting their child or young person’s poor emotional wellbeing.

It can be difficult to understand why they might be experiencing low moods, anxiety or self-harming behaviours, how to cope as a family, or knowing the strategies that could help at home. In preparation for commissioning a new service, we want to make sure parents and carers feel supported, have professionals and peers to speak to and share experiences with, all while knowing they are far from alone. Complete the survey here The survey will be open until Sunday 26 January 2025

^{*can also be downloaded below.}