School News
Friday 7th March 2025
School News
Friday 7th March 2025
We've had an amazing time celebrating World Book Day! The sun was shining, and the children took part in lots of exciting activities. The school was full of incredible costumes, and there was a wonderful buzz of excitement about books and stories!
During our special assembly, each teacher shared their favourite book. After break, the children got to choose which teacher’s story they wanted to hear and went to a different room to listen—how fun! Did anyone spot a theme in the costumes chosen by the teachers and staff? The first 5 children to tell Miss Brewer on Monday what the theme was will get 5 house points each!
Did you know? The news says that reading for fun is happening less and less, which is really sad! Sharing stories with parents and carers is so special. Even reading for just 10 minutes a day can help you feel happier and more relaxed. So why not grab a book and enjoy a story today!
At Nash Mills, we know how important reading is. We carefully choose wonderful books for children to enjoy, helping them develop a love for stories. In our English lessons, we use exciting and vivid books to make learning fun and inspiring. These are designed to give the children an audience so there is purpose to their writing.
Our Year 4 children were invited by the Parish Council to the grand opening of a Book Borrow Box located by The Denes. You can come and choose a book and replace it with one you no longer read.
Thank you for all your efforts to make this day so special for the children. They all looked amazing!
Competition Time!
Well done to those who entered our World Book Day competition and thank you to the parents who supported their child to read 5 books at home over the past few weeks. We had 83 entries!
On World Book Day, we drew three names out of a hat. Erin (Year 1) and Yaseen (Reception) each won a new book of their choice to take home. Corin (Year 1) won our main prize and will soon meet with Mr Maher and Miss Brewer to select a book to take home, in addition to £100 worth of books for his classroom! Well done to all of our brilliant readers!
This was sponsored by Nash Mills Parish Council. We would like to thank them for their support; it is fantastic to be promoting reading in this way!
Science Week - Part 1!
Science Week Sparks Excitement at Nash Mills School
This week, our school has been buzzing with curiosity, creativity, and lots of fun as we have begun to celebrate Science Week! Children in Key stage one and Early years have dived into hands-on activities that turned learning into an adventure, exploring exciting scientific concepts in the most interactive ways.
From budding astronauts launching their very own straw rockets to future chemists crafting gooey, glittery space slime, the week has been a fantastic opportunity to blend imagination with science. The giggles and gasps have been contagious as the children tested their rockets' flight paths, and thought about how they could adapt their rockets to make them travel further. Meanwhile, the messy joy of creating space slime introduced them to the fascinating world of polymers—what's not to love about science you can stretch, squish, and sparkle? We also tuned into the wonders of sound by making sound cones! These clever creations act like giant dish antennas, allowing the children to “catch” and focus sound waves. They discovered how sound travels through vibrations and how these can be magnified to make even quiet sounds clearer.
Another highlight of Science Week has been Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut! As part of this exciting challenge, the children work as a team to complete activities to help Lola and Leo get to the moon. Completing physical challenges, the kids learned about the importance of fitness, teamwork, and perseverance in space exploration. They’ve truly embraced their inner astronauts!
Looking ahead, the excitement doesn’t stop here! Next week, our Key Stage 2 pupils will be starting their investigations, diving deeper into scientific inquiry and experimentation. To complement their learning, all children will also be channelling their creativity by producing stunning space-themed artwork—a wonderful way to blend science and the arts.
Stay curious, and let the science fun continue at home! Maybe you can ask your little scientists to show you how to make slime, launch a straw rocket, or share what they’ve learned from Mission X. Who knows—you might even learn something new together!
Nursery
Training like an astronaut
Year 1
Straw Rockets
Year 2
Space slime
Parish Council Visit
On Wednesday this week, we were joined by three members of the local parish council who came to speak with Years 5 and 6 about the work they do in the local area. The children found out about some of the most recent projects that the parish council have carried out in addition to things that may be coming up! The Councillors thanked our 'wonderful pupils' and shared that 'It was an absolute pleasure to visit, and the questions raised were thought provoking and interesting. We were all very impressed'.
We hope that this will be the start of more work, where our children can work closer with the parish council to help steer changes in Nash Mills and can see themselves as important change-makers.
Year 2 Sports Event at Abbots Hill
Year 2 enyoyed a fantastic visit to Abbots Hill School this week to take part in an Endurance and Agility Athletics event competing against other local schools. The children took part in relay races, jumping stacks and a variety of fun activities. The competition is continuing across the next week, so scores will be totalled in due course.
Year 5 Pupils visit Abbots Hill for DT Workshop
On Tuesday, some Year 5 students went to Abbotts Hill School for an afternoon of DT.
We were looking at different artists that made different types of buildings using shapes. One of them was Kaha. We then made our own structures out of paper and cardboard using these as our inspiration. It was really good fun! Sophie Y5
Uniform
A gentle reminder to please ensure that your children's uniform is labelled to avoid the accumulation of large piles of unclaimed items. Where items remain unclaimed, they will be donated to the PTA pre-loved uniform shed; named clothes almost invariably find their way back to the owner. Many thanks for your support with this.
In this week's attendance league, Nursery takes the spotlight with an outstanding 99%, showcasing their remarkable dedication and setting a high bar for the rest of the school. This is especially impressive given their young age.
Year 5 also made a significant leap, securing an impressive 98.6%, followed closely by Year 3 who had a strong 97.3%. Reception made excellent strides, reaching 97.1%. Both Year 1 and Year 2 demonstrated solid performances, each achieving 96.7%, showing consistency and resilience. Year 4 weren't far behind, posting a commendable 96%.
Year 6 faced some challenges this week, with attendance at 92% and we will be hoping for a significant improvement next week.
Thank you to all parents for your continued support and efforts in keeping our school community thriving. Let's aim to build on this momentum and look forward to another successful week ahead!
Our TTRS leader board this week is for the most correct answers in the last 7 days. Lower KS2 dominate the board, well done!!
Our Numbots leader board tallies the most correct answers in story mode over the last 7 days - well done to our 3 leaders this week!
Mr Shane
Leader board this week
1st - Azalea (Y1)
2nd - Hallie (Rec)
3rd - Ottilie (Y2)
Leader board this week
1st - Chinmaye (Y3)
2nd - Fred (Y4)
3rd - Freddie (Y3)
Nursery
Myla
For putting in so much effort into all activities.
Well done for always trying your best Myla!
Reception
Olivia
For your hard work and your positive attitude toward learning. It is a delight to see your confidence growing and we are excited to see the progress you will make as a result. Well done Olivia!
Year 1
Ahmed
For making lots of new friends.
Well done Ahmed!
Year 2
Tommy
For his outstanding creativity in writing a fantastic story all about aliens. Well done Tommy!
Year 3
Anastasia
For trying her best and pushing herself in all her work.
Well done Anastasia!
Year 4
Ffion
For her blossoming confidence in all areas of school life and for her kind and considerate behaviour towards others.
Well done Ffion!
Year 5
Leo
For his increased confidence and challenging himself in all his learning. Keep it up Leo!
Year 6
Beatrice
For attentively listening to instructions, and consistently going above and beyond in her efforts to achieve her best in all lessons.
Keep it up Beatrice!
Nursery Admissions Now Open - New 30 Hour offer for September 2025
Please share with family and friends in the local community that from September 2025, we will be offering a 30-hour provision for our school nursery. For working families in receipt of 30-hours government funding, we will be able to offer daily provision from 8.50am-2.50pm, with the option to extend the day to 3.15pm.
To book a tour and find out more about our fantastic setting please contact the school office (admin@nashmills.herts.sch.uk). Tour dates are available on our website www.nashmills.herts.sch.uk/nursery-admissions/
5th-12th March - Science Week and World Book Day - space focus
6th March - World Book Day!
6th March - Year 4 to Parish council event at The Denes
10th March - Y3 Trip to Hudnall Park
11th March - Governor morning in school
11th and 12th March - Parent Consultations
14th March - Nursery and Reception visit to London Zoo
18th March - Y1 Class Assembly
18th March - Y6 visit to Bletchley Park
21st March - Red Nose Day
24th March - Full Governing Body Meeting
25th March - Y5 visit to Kew Gardens
25th March - Reception Class Assembly
26th March - Y2 visit to Roald Dahl Museum
27th March - Last clubs of term
28th March - PTA Thank You sale
31st March - Start of Art Week (Sculpture focus)
31st March and 1st April - Y3&4 Production
2nd April - Y4 River study trip
2nd April - Y5&6 KNEX Challenge
4th April - School closes for Easter
Good Shepherd Club—to book spaces at Breakfast or After School Club, please visit
http://www.goodshepherdclubs.co.uk/
Thank you to those who have now managed to log child absences on Arbor. It has really helped the office, meaning that we know where all of the children are more quickly in the morning. If The instructions on how to do this are set out below.
If your child is unwell, Hertfordshire Attendance team require that the nature of the illness is recorded, so please include this in your message (cough, cold, temperature, vomiting etc.). Please note that any absence requests for future dates will still need to made through the school office. In line with our attendance and safeguarding policies, a reminder to report your child's absence every morning, by 8.30am, until your child is well enough to return to school.
Step 1 -Click on Quick Actions button and then click Attendance followed by the green Log Absence button (top right).
Step 2 - Enter the absence details. If your child will be absent all day, there is no need to edit the start and end times that will automatically appear. If your child is ill, please ensure that you enter the nature of the illness and then press the green Log Absence button.
Step 3 - Once you have logged the absence, the school office will 'accept' it. Approved absences then appear in the Attendance tab of the Arbor App. It is not possible to edit an absence once it has been approved, so if you have any queries, please email the school office who will be able to help.
Did you know that your child may be able to receive additional support in school in addition to free school meals, if you qualify for certain benefits?
If you receive any of the following, your child may well be eligible for the Pupil Premium. This provides them with free school meals throughout their time at school, but also a range of additional things in school to help with their learning and engagement. If your child might be eligible, please visit the following site (https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/ufs/HCWH.eb?ebd=0&ebz=1_1717745705707) or speak to the school office who will be happy to help.
Income Support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit (as long as you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and you don't get more than £16,190 a year)
Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Universal Credit (with annual earned income of no more than £7,400 after tax and not including any benefits you get).
The application process only takes a few minutes and we are more than happy to provide support if it is needed.
Thank you for your donations towards our clothing bank. If you have any old clothes following Christmas clear-outs, please drop things in. The clothing bank was emptied again this week so should be ready for more donations.
The school carpark is open between 7am and 6pm on weekdays. Members of the local community are more than welcome to use it too so please spread the word!
It is been fantastic to see a little more sunshine this week. Spring is definitely here and the children have been enjoying the outdoors at breaktimes, lunchtimes and during lessons. Whatever you get up to this weekend, enjoy the sun!