19th April 2024

Dear Parents

Easter Egg Hunt

The summer term has started well this week, on the back of a fabulous Easter egg hunt organised by FoHA. If you came to the event you will know that it was a busy and muddy day with plenty of munching of choccy eggs and squelching of feet along the Common. Thank you to all of you who attended - a huge 600 tickets were sold! Despite the rain and the mud (and there was lots of mud!) the Easter egg hunt was a great success, with a fantastic turnout. The Easter Bunny was on hand to meet everyone, Fizzbug offered crafts and facepainting, Alison Lloyd set up her brilliant Little City for the little ones and there were glitter tattoos and bracelet making to keep everyone entertained. Harpenden Wines ran a great bar and café and there was even a wood fired pizza van courtesy of The Ruff Wood Pizza Company! A massive thank you to all HA staff, parents, students and governors who helped make it a success and to everyone who braved the weather on the trail around the Common!

We are still finalising total figures but the event was our best attended yet and has raised around £3,000, which is an amazing result!

Welcome Back

Mrs Stanger has returned after her maternity leave and will be teaching in Year 2 three days of the week with Mrs Cooper teaching the other two days. It is lovely to have her back and I know the children will thoroughly enjoy having her working with them. 

Dates for Diaries

Family Fun Science Evening, Thursday 16th May 2024, 6.30pm-8.30pm

Lovely Mark the Science man is returning to school in May but for the adults this time!

Mark holds a family science evening where teams - usually family members pit their science wits against each other in a very family friendly science competition. Last year the science activity was based upon the Mars Rover dropping on Mars without breaking. We used an egg and dropped it off the balcony!

If you have been to one of Mark's family science events you will know they are huge fun and not at all competitive. The children are welcome and often come in to school in their PJs so they can go straight to bed afterwards. Mark will be returning on Thursday, 16th May, 6.30pm-8.30pm.

The pictures below from last year will give you a flavour of what to expect. I hope to see plenty of you there.  This is a free event and no tickets are required. Please RSVP via the Edulink form by Monday, 13th May 2024 as the numbers will give Mark an indication of how much equipment he needs to bring.

External Assessment

This term is always a busy one with end of year external assessments for Year 1, Year 4 and Year 6.

Below are the key dates to avoid taking children out of school. If a child is genuinely poorly please call the school so we can make an alternative plan. 

Year 1 Phonics	10th June - 14th June 2024
Year 4 Multiplication Screening	3rd June - 14th June 2024
Year 6 SATs	13th May to 16th May 2024

There are no KS1 Year 2 SATs this year.

Formal Consultation

Over the Easter break The Chaulden Schools in Hemel Hempstead joined the Trust. There is now a formal consultation happening to merge both Chaulden Infant & Nursery with Chaulden Junior School. This has no bearing on Harpenden Academy as such but for the sake of transparency the notification of the merger can be found on our school website. 

In March, we celebrated British Science Week in school. The children participated in the national poster competition and the theme this year was 'Time'. We had some fantastic entries but each school was only allowed to submit 5 to be externally judged. Well done to the following children who have had their poster submitted - we have our fingers crossed for a prize-winner.

• Scarlett Year 1
• Wilbur Year 4
• Elliot Year 5
• Theo Year 6
• Leanne Year 6

  

Teacher and Contractor Clubs

There are still spaces on many of our teacher and contractor clubs and it is not too late to sign your child up. Clubs start next week w/c 22nd April 2024. You can get in touch directly with Contractors via this link or book on a Teacher led club via Edulink. Any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school office. 

Club Timetables

Happy birthday this week to: Sid, Leanne, Ellie, Jenna and Kieran

FoHA Chair Position

We are looking for a parent or two parents to chair or co-chair Friends of Harpenden Academy. We are in great need urgently to fill this position. We know that there are many parents who would want to participate and we would love to welcome you into our friendly committee to plan fundraising events for our wonderful school.

Please consider emailing FoHA at friendsofharpendenacademy@gmail.com to talk through the possibility even if you're hesitant! 

Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies

Summer Term Girls’ Football - For girls in Reception and year 1 and school years 4 - 6 - Saturday mornings at Roundwood Park School

We are running a girls' only Football Group for girls in Reception and Year 1 and school years 4 - 6 over the Summer term. This is part of our usual Saturday coaching programme for boys and girls at Roundwood Park School. The Groups are open to girls of all ability levels.

Reception and Year 1 -  9 -10am.  

School years 4 - 6 -  10 - 11am.  

We play on the grass behind the tennis courts and have a team of Coaches, all of whom are PE teachers at local schools.

For further information, please email – info@kingssoccerschool.com