6th October 2023
Dear Parents
World Smile Day
Every year we celebrate World Smile Day which is the first Friday in October.
The children and staff were resplendent with their smiles or smiley faces today. To mark this day of happiness and kindness Professor Pango Mango took assembly with the help of some Year 6 actors. I can honestly say the children spent 9.00am-9.30am laughing and smiling from the antics of Professor Pango Mango. At one point I was crying with laughter - I have no mascara left on my eyes.
Once assembly was over Professor Pango Mango went to each class and retold some jokes to keep the smiles flowing. It has been a wonderful start to our day. If your child comes home wearing a smile sticker it is because they have been spotted doing an act of random kindness or they have passed their smile on.
MacMillan Cake Sale - Final Total!
Last Friday we held our Macmillan Cake Sale and I am delighted to share that we raised even more money than last year - an impressive final total of £772! The event was a great success and we were able to raise a generous amount for a very worthy cause. It's fantastic that so many people were involved in making the event happen, from the FoHA volunteers who dedicated their time and efforts, to the parents who provided the delicious cakes and to all of us who purchased and ate the treats! It's always inspiring to see people come together for a common cause, and this event is a great example of this.
Reading Army
A letter was sent to all parents this week requesting help to create a 'Reading Army' in school to hear the children read on a regular basis. We are also asking for general help in the classroom. If you are interested in helping please complete the Edulink form on your Edulink wheel. You will need a DBS check completed to volunteer in school and we ask for a contribution of £23.00 from parents to complete their DBS registration. The DBS application pack can be downloaded from the school website and the office is happy to assist you with any queries.
The letter from Mrs Davies can be downloaded from the letters page of our website.
E-Safety and Mobile Phones/Tablets
This week, the school has become aware of incidents related to e-safety, potentially cyberbullying, happening at home. Although these incidents occurred outside of school hours, parents are concerned that it could affect their children at school. The school has spoken to the individuals involved and their families, and the whole class has been reminded about using mobile devices to communicate kindly.
As a wider message to the school community please can I ask parents to supervise their children's mobile phone usage and block any hurtful or unkind messages. The school aims to break the cycle of escalated issues from the anonymous cyberworld of technology to the classroom by promoting safety and kindness.
The simplest solution is of course not to let your child have access to mobile phones, tablets etc. I know that might not work for some families so please supervise the times when your children are on a mobile device when chatting or playing games. If you do see or hear any messages as you are supervising which do appear to be hurtful, unkind or threatening please screenshot and if necessary, inform the school. This allows us to dig a little deeper in any conversations we have with the children. Of course, the simplest solution is to block the number, so these incidents can no longer continue.
Change in Date Sibling & Individual Photos to Thursday, 2nd November 2023
We have had to shift our school photo day to Thursday, 2nd November to accommodate swimming, our website photo day and school trips. We will send out a reminder nearer the time however we wanted to give you advance notice of this change in date.
Website and Window Transfer Photos, Tuesday 17th October 2023
We are excited to announce that photographers will be coming in on Tuesday, 17th October to take photographs of the children. These photos will be featured on our school website and are a great way to showcase our happy school. Additionally, the photos may be used on our external windows as a transfer. We will follow the photo permissions that have been previously granted by parents, but as the photo usage will be more prominent advertising of the school and open to the public, we kindly ask that parents notify the office if they do not want their child's photo to be used in this way. If you have already requested 'no use of photos for advertising purposes,' you do not need to contact the school office.
Please provide your response by Friday, 13th October 2023. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that it is okay to use your child's photo for this purpose.
Cultural Experience Survey
Reminder: today is the deadline for completing the cultural experience survey
Please can parents complete this google survey so we can get a clear overview of the children's cultural experiences and hopefully we can offer a more rounded and bespoke offer of trips to our children.
Parents' Evening Appts - Booking an Appointment with Your Child's Teacher
Tuesday, 17th October 2023 and Thursday, 19th October 2023
If you haven't had the chance to schedule an appointment with your child's teacher yet and would like to, simply reach out to the school office. They will provide you with information on availability and assist you in booking an appointment.
Reminder Year 6 Parent Information Mtg about the Residential Trip to Norfolk Lakes
Mrs Watson will be hosting a meeting for Year 6 parents on Wednesday, 11th October 2023 at 9.00am in the ICT Suite to introduce parents to Manor Adventures and to talk through the programme of activities, accommodation and payment plan for our Year 6 residential trip in June 2024. All parents have been sent full details via Operoo. Parents who are unable to make this meeting will be sent the powerpoint from the session after the meeting.
Important Notice Regarding Playground Safety
For safety reasons, children are not allowed to use the playground equipment after school hours, as there is no staff supervision. Additionally, we kindly ask that at pick up time, the children refrain from playing with footballs in the playground as this causes congestion with everyone trying to leave at the end of the day. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding on this matter.
Aspens - School Dinner Ordering
Next week
The Week 3 BBQ drizzle veg pizza was not popular with the children so we have changed the pizza options to margherita or veggie supreme. If you have already ordered your child's lunch on 12th October the option has been reset so you will need to reorder this lunch.
Mark Your Calendars: Harvest Festival on Friday, 20th October 2023!
Parents are invited to our annual Harvest Assembly at 9.00am on Friday, 20th October 2023. We have again opted to donate to our chosen charity, The Kings Pantry.
We would be grateful if you could provide any of the following on the day:
| Jars of Pasta or other Sauces | Rice, both Microwave and Larger bags |
| Tinned or packet soups | Crisps and snacks |
| Tins of Potatoes or Instant Mash | Tins of Meat / Pies |
| Tins Peas, Carrots and other Veg | Pasta |
| UHT Milk | Instant Coffee |
| Tea Bags | Hot Chocolate |
| Couscous | Noodles (pot noodles, dried noodles) |
| Biscuits | Spreads - Jam, Peanut butter, Chocolate |
| Squash / Juice | Desserts & Custard |
| Tins of Rice Pudding | Tins Fruit |
| Sauces - Tomato etc | Tinned Tomatoes |
| Tins Kidney Beans, Chick Peas etc | Tins Spaghetti |
| Baked Beans |
Join FoHA (our PTA) for the first meeting of the academic year!
Thursday 12th October - 8pm - Harpenden Academy
(location dependent upon number of attendees)
For those of you who are new to Harpenden Academy, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a compulsory yearly meeting where we look at the accounts for FoHA, appoint members to key roles, report on what has happened over the past year and vote on any outstanding key issues. It is also a great opportunity to find out more about FoHA as a whole and most importantly to meet other parents/carers.
VACANT CORE COMMITTEE POSITIONS:
Chair/Co-Chair
Secretary
Though all core positions will need to be re-elected, the two listed above are vacant and will need to be filled during the AGM so if you want to find out more - come along to the meeting :-)
All parents and carers are invited to attend the meeting!
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO RSVP OR SHARE YOUR REGRETS
HRFC Fireworks Tickets
We're proud to once again support the Harpenden Rugby Club's Fireworks Spectacular on Sunday 5th November! This is always a great event for the entire family - with fireworks, funfair, great food & bar! Historically, this event has sold out so buy your tickets in advance!
Harpenden Academy will receive 50% of each ticket bought using this link>> Click Here to Buy Your Tickets
Happy birthday this week to: Max, Eva, Millie, Harry and Leah
Wrap Around Care Club Assistant Manager, 22 hours & 45 minutes Term Time only
Core hours - Monday to Friday 7.15am to 8.45am, Monday to Thursday 3.00 to 6.30, Friday 3.00 -5.15
Closing Date: 9.00am Monday 16th October 2023
Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies
Please click here to view our Scholars' Education Trust vacancies
Thermal Imaging Camera
This initiative has been running since 2014 and was extremely popular last year with several hundred people borrowing the cameras. The charity runs free online information sessions for residents in the St Albans District and you can then book to borrow a thermal imaging camera to check out where heat is leaking from your home. There is also a useful booklet ’Stay Warm for Less’ with practical easy to follow advice, that one of the camera team has produced. It is freely available to download.
Skate Park
The PARC charity are fundraising to redevelop the skatepark in Rothamsted Park. They have an ambitious target of £250 000 to reach and need the help of the community to get there. They have put together a poster that outlines the ways in which people and businesses can make a donation.
Squash Stars
Squash Stars – a fun, new sports programme to introduce kids to the exciting game of squash - returns in February. This six-week programme created by England Squash, enables kids aged 5-9 the chance to pick up a racket and begin a lifelong love of the game. Sports clubs in the area are delivering the programme and you can book your child onto the February intake now.
Your child will be taught the skills to play squash, develop hand-eye coordination, be fit and healthy and make friends. All sessions include match play through action-packed fun games and drills and delivered by specially trained leaders.
Sessions are taking place right on your doorstep and you can book a place at www.squashstars.co.uk.
Mayor's Christmas Card Competition
It's always exciting to see young talents being recognised and appreciated. Last year, Adam Cheng from Year 5 won the Mayor's Christmas Card Competition, and this year the anticipation is building up for another potential winner. As per the guidance on the poster, all participants are wished good luck, and it's hoped that everyone will take this opportunity to showcase their creativity and imagination.
The competition is open to all, and the deadline for submitting entries is Friday, 3rd November 2023. It's an excellent chance for the children to display their artistic skills and create something unique and beautiful.
So, if you're interested, take a look at the poster for further instructions and start working on the Christmas card design. Who knows, maybe we will have another Harpenden Academy winner of the Mayor's Christmas Card Competition!
Festival of Science
St Francis School are hosting their annual Festival of Science on the morning of Saturday 7th October, to which they are delighted to invite pupils of all ages from local schools, and their families. This event is a morning of hands-on Science activities for all the family. They'll be able to have fun with Biology, Chemistry & Physics in activities such as: make a brain hat; study your own thermal image; try the steady-hand game; watch our tropical butterflies emerge from their pupae; see our baby quail chicks; and much more. Families who wish to attend should please let us know by emailing
marketing@st-francis.herts.sch.uk.
The Harpenden Christmas Carnival Procession
The Harpenden Christmas Carnival Procession is a wonderful tradition for our Town and we are looking for new groups to join us this year. Schools, musicians, dancers, gymnasts, clubs, and other organisations are all welcome! It’s a great opportunity to have fun and promote your group.
If you are interested in taking part in the Carnival which takes place on 26th November 2023, please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
