Belswains News

4th September 2026

Welcome Back

We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable summer break. It has been wonderful to welcome everyone back and to see our pupils bouncing through the gates in their smart new uniforms, wearing big smiles and full of enthusiasm for the year ahead. Parents seemed pretty happy at drop-off too!

We have certainly started the term at pace and have hit the ground running from day one. This first week has been packed with exciting learning opportunities, from children tackling challenging maths puzzles to classrooms being transformed into circus tents as part of imaginative and engaging English lessons. It has been fantastic to see such enthusiasm, creativity and determination across the school.

At Belswains, we are always striving to make our school even better. While we are proud of what we offer, we continually reflect, refine and enhance our provision to ensure the very best experiences and outcomes for all children.

We are looking forward to all that this term will bring and to working in partnership with you to make it a successful, enjoyable and memorable year for every child.

Mrs Claridge

New This Term

Free Breakfast Club

We are delighted to offer our new FREE Breakfast Club, which opens from 08:15 each morning. Children should be dropped off via the hall entrance, where they will receive breakfast and enjoy a range of play and social opportunities before the start of the school day.

Bookings have been reopened and you can currently book for this club to up a week in advance, up to the end of the first half term. We will then be reviewing how the process works for Autumn Term 2.

As we now have 423 pupils on roll, it is important that all children are booked in advance. This allows us to ensure that we have sufficient staffing, resources and breakfast provisions available each day.

If you would like your child to attend Breakfast Club, please ensure that you complete your booking as soon as possible.

Snack Arrangements

Please be reminded that we no longer offer free bagels for all children before school.

Children in Key Stage 1 continue to have access to a piece of fruit during their morning break. If your child is in Key Stage 2 and would like something to eat before lunchtime, please provide them with a healthy snack to enjoy during the morning break.

PTA Preloved Uniform Shop

Our preloved uniform shop will be open this term, offering a sustainable and budget‑friendly way to keep your children kitted out for school. All items are priced at £1, and all proceeds go directly back into PTA projects that benefit our pupils. Payments to be made by scanning the QR code in the shop, or cash honesty box. Donations of clean, good‑condition uniform are warmly welcomed. Simply pop the items in the preloved uniform bin outside of the shop.

Challenge Sport After School Club

We are delighted to be working with Challenge Sport as our new afterschool club provider. They offer differing options for childcare timings, meaning your children can attend another afterschool club first before moving to Challenge. You can book directly with them via this link: https://activities.bookpebble.co.uk/activity/challenge-sport-education-belswains-after-school-childcare-autumn-term-2026-hemel-hempstead-588c6711-ad0b-4b21-96b1-5414f6d7812b

Welcome to Our New Staff Team

We are delighted to welcome several new members of staff to Belswains Primary School this year and are excited for them to be part of our school community.

A special welcome back to Mrs Johnson, who is returning to Belswains following her maternity leave.

Please join us in welcoming:

Miss Panteli - Year 1 Teacher
Mrs Tarousa - Year 1 Teacher
Mr Malt - Year 2 Teacher
Ms Taggart - Year 5 Teacher
Mrs Holland - Reception Support Staff
Mrs Martin - Year 1 Support Staff
Mrs O'Sullivan- Year 5 support staff

Many of you will already know Mrs Gazza, who has recently taken on a new role as our PPA Teacher, specialising in Art and Design Technology (DT). We are delighted that she will be sharing her creativity and expertise with children across the school.

We are excited to have such a talented team joining us and look forward to the positive contribution they will make to the learning and wellbeing of our pupils. Please take a moment to look at their photographs and say hello if you see them around the school.

We wish them all a very warm Belswains welcome! 🌟

Miss Panteli

Mrs Tarousa

Mr Malt

Ms Taggart

Mrs Holland

Mrs O'Sullivan

Mrs Martin

Mrs Gazza

Parent Governor Opportunity

We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for parents and carers to become a Parent Governor at Belswains Primary School.

School governors play a vital role in supporting the school's strategic direction and helping to ensure the best possible outcomes for our pupils. As a governor, you will work alongside other members of the Governing Board, attend meetings periodically throughout the academic year, and have the opportunity to contribute to committees that match your interests and skills.

This is a voluntary position, and full support and training will be provided. Please note that no previous experience of working with a school is required. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who are interested in supporting the school and helping us to continue to thrive.

How to Apply

Parents and carers who wish to stand for election as a Parent Governor should submit their name and a short statement (approximately 150-200 words) outlining their background, skills and reasons for wanting to join the Governing Board.

Nominations should be submitted to the school office on admin@belswains.herts.sch.uk by Friday 11th September.

We have 2 positions availiable. If the number of nominations received is equal to or less than the number of vacancies available, candidates will be elected unopposed. If more nominations are received than vacancies available, a parent election will be held, and all parents and carers will be given the opportunity to vote.

This is a fantastic opportunity to play an active role in the future of our school, support our children and community, and contribute to the continued success of Belswains Primary School.

If you would like further information about the role, please speak to Mrs Claridge or Mrs Attanasio on the playground.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Park Run

Belswains at Junior Gadebridge Parkrun

We were delighted to join Junior Gadebridge Parkrun recently, where our children completed a fantastic 2-kilometre lap around Gadebridge Park. There were so many participants from the Belswains community that we helped to break the record for the highest number of attendees ever at the event!

It was wonderful to see so many children and parents enjoying themselves, staying active, and taking part together. The atmosphere was incredible, and it was lovely to see our school community having fun while keeping fit.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event. Due to its success, we will be organising regular Belswains Parkrun meet-ups throughout the year, so watch this space for future dates and details!

Club spaces

We have the final few spaces available on the following clubs, listed below.

These clubs can be booked until 11pm on Sunday 6th September on Arbor.

Monday - KS2 Boxing
Monday - Girls football training Year 1 - Year 6
Tuesday - Choir Year 4 - Year 6
Tuesday - Yoga Reception & KS1
Wednesday - KS2 Multisport
Thursday - Football & ball skills Year 1 & Year 2

Arbor-Housekeeping

As we start the new year, the school office team would be very grateful if you could log onto your Arbor account to ensure that all the information we hold for your child(ren) is up to date. Please pay special attention to permissions for walking home, photo permissions, medical or dietary needs and those people who are down as emergency contacts etc. Thank you very much for your assistance with this. If you have any queries please do email the office directly via: admin@belswains.herts.sch.uk

Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL)

As we continue to develop our OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) programme, there will be some changes to lunch and playtime arrangements to ensure children gain the maximum benefit from this exciting initiative. As with any new programme, there will be a period of adjustment while staff and pupils become familiar with the new routines. We kindly ask for your patience and understanding during this time. We are confident that these changes will have a positive impact on children's wellbeing, creativity and enjoyment of play, and that OPAL will be a great success for our whole school community.

Thank you for your continued support.

Summer Works

In our commitment to the continued refurbishment of the Nest building (Reception and KS1), we invested in the complete refurbishment of the Year 2 toilets for both Starlings and Swifts and a whole class repaint and reflooring within Swifts. We will be continuing the 'glow up' across KS1 as funds allow us to do.

Diary Dates (click the arrow to show dates)

2026/2027 Academic Year

Thursday 17th September

Year 2 Meet the Teacher

Monday 14th September

Reception School Commence

Tuesday 15th September

Year 3 Meet the Teacher

Wednesday 16th September

Year 5 Meet the Teacher

Tuesday 22nd September

Year 4 Meet the Teacher

Thursday 24th September

Year 6 Meet the Teacher

Friday 25th September

Reception - Y6 Flu Immunisations

Monday 28th September

Year 1 Meet the Teacher

Tuesday 29th September

Reception RWI Parent Workshop

Tuesday 29th September - Thursday 1st October

Year 1 -Year 6 Lego Workshop

Wednesday 30th September

Year 2 Zoolab Visit in school

Harvest themed school lunch day

Friday 2nd October

Dacorum Family Service coffee morning

Thursday 8th October

Individual and Sibling photos

Wednesday 14th October

Y5 St Benedicts Church visit

Y6 School nurse visit

Tuesday 20th October

Parent/ Teacher Consultations 15.30-18.00

Thursday 22nd October

Parent/ Teacher Consultations 16.30-19.00

Monday 26th - Friday 30th October

Half Term

INSET: Monday 2nd November school closed for pupils

Tuesday 3rd November

Pupils return to school

Bonfire Themed School Lunch Day

Tuesday 10th November

Y5 Science museum school trip

Thursday 12th November

Y4 Viking workshop

Thursday 19th November

YR-Y6 Flu immunisation

Monday 23rd November

Cash Academy Workshop

Wednesday 16th December

Christmas Lunch Day

Final day of term: Friday 18th December School closes 13:30

Meet the Teacher

Throughout September, each year group will be holding a Meet the Teacher session. These sessions will give you the opportunity to meet your child's teacher, visit the classroom and learn more about the routines, expectations and learning experiences that make up your child's school day.

All sessions will begin at 14:45 and will last for approximately 20 minutes. As sessions are taking place on different dates throughout the month, please check the schedule below for your child's year group. On the day of your session, please come to your child's classroom door at the allocated time. If your child is in Year 5 or Year 6, please wait at the entrance by the red bridge, where a member of staff will meet you and direct you to the classroom.

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing information about the exciting year ahead.

Year 1 Meet the Teacher - Monday 28th September

Year 2 Meet the Teacher - Thursday 17th September

Year 3 Meet the Teacher - Tuesday 15th September

Year 4 Meet the Teacher - Tuesday 22nd September

Year 5 Meet the Teacher - Wednesday 16th September

Year 6 Meet the Teacher - Thursday 24th September