Thank you to the parents who took the time to complete the parent survey last term. I was really pleased to see that the responses were overwhelmingly positive. Over the next few weeks, I will respond to some of the feedback/responses via our newsletter.  

Do you read the weekly newsletter? If not, why? 

I am pleased to see that many of our parents read our weekly newsletter. This is the best place to find answers to many of your questions.  We know that some parents feel there are too many emails from school which is why we tried to reduce the amount of emails we send by adding the majority of necessary information to our newsletter. The admin team are looking into how we can improve the way we communicate with parents. 
 
The layout of the newsletter was mentioned too and this is something we are always happy to consider. The changes to the newsletter came from suggestions in our parent forum and we would welcome any one to join and help to make a difference. Please email Miss Simmons if you are interested in joining. The newsletter will be raised at one of their upcoming meetings. 

Do you look at the school's website? If yes, what do you find useful? If you answered no, please explain why. 

Again, I am pleased parents find our website useful and are looking at it to find the information they need and those who do not use our website tell us this is because the newsletter provides the necessary information they may be looking for.  The most popular areas of the school website are the term dates, calendar, staff details, newsletters, curriculum information, house points, school uniform details and photo galleries. 

What would you like to see on the website? 

Many of the suggestions made here are for things that are already on the website but this is really useful as we can highlight these areas for you here.  

A list of which Illness children should be staying at home with - https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Attendance+%28including+absence+request+forms%29&pid=225 an NHS guide to when not to send your child to school can be found following the link above. 
 
Contact details for the Governors, admin, head and year groups - The school governors, admin and headteacher are all contactable via admin@almondhill.herts.sch.uk - all contact details can be found here https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Contact+Us&pid=13  

Photos of staff next to their names - https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Staff&pid=33  

More information on the SEND side of things in school and what help is available and more on mental health for young children – We have a dedicated area for both SEND and mental wellbeing.  

https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Special+Educational+Needs+and+Disabilities&pid=50  

https://www.almondhill.herts.sch.uk/news/?pid=22&nid=25  

Thank you for completing the survey about ways to improve congestion around the school. We asked if parents of children in Year 5 and 6 were interested in a ‘walking bus’ at the end of the school day and this wasn’t a particularly popular suggestion. Most people preferred the idea of a later finish for Years 5 and 6 so we will trial this after half term.

I wanted to address this survey as we did have some submissions however due to there being a very small number of responses, I will not be addressing feedback on our newsletter as this may impact people’s anonymity. However, if you or your child have a disability, please don’t hesitate to contact the school if there is ever anything that we can do to support you for example with access to the school.  

We had a very limited response to the survey but I thank the parents who did take the time to provide their feedback. All swimming certificates were given to children before Christmas and I am delighted to tell you that many children achieved their 25-metre swim. Almost all children achieved a distance certificate and everyone who participated gained in confidence. We have secured some funding via County Councillor Ellie Plater under the Locality Budget Scheme. A big thank you to Mrs Burgess for her hard work on this so no child misses out. We will continue to provide updates and the portal remains open for payments until 31st March 2025. We will never chase people for money personally but would appeal to those who are able to, to make payment, if their child took part in swimming lessons in the pop up pool. We will never exclude anyone from anything on the basis of cost but will have to limit our extra curricular plans going forward if we incur a huge deficit. Being taught to swim 25metres is part of the national curriculum so needs to be prioritised.  

Mrs Choudhury has noted a lot of wasted food from children eating school dinners. Please can I ask parents to speak to children about the importance of eating their lunchtime meal. If you are ordering a school dinner, we would suggest ordering alongside your child so they are choosing what they will eat. Not only is it a waste of parents’ money if you are paying for food and it is going in the bin but it is also not healthy for children not to eat all day.  Mrs Fordham has spoken to children about this in assembly too.  

We are always really keen to support ex Almond Hill pupils in any way we can and as such I am asking for your help to complete a survey to support one of our former pupils with her university dissertation. The aim of the survey is to better understand the reasons why children are absent from school and the factors that influence absenteeism. Having a better understanding of this can help inform new interventions to tackle absenteeism. 

Calling all parents and caregivers!   
Do you have a child in Years 1–6? Help us understand school attendance challenges by taking part in a short research survey.  
 
Your views can make a difference, whether your child has faced difficulties attending school or not. Plus, there's a chance to win a £5 Amazon voucher!  
 
Learn more and take part here: https://tinyurl.com/5n787usk  
 
Thank you for helping us make schools better for everyone!