Nash Mills CofE Primary School

School News

Friday 13th September 2024

Little City!

Nursery, Reception and Year 1 were very lucky to have a visit from 'Little City' this week! The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the different areas. Some favourites included the vets, the supermarket, dressing up and driving! This experience was not only lots of fun, but was extremely beneficial for developing the children's communication, language and social skills. There were some lovely conversations, sharing and kindness!

Year 5 Cycle Training

This week Year 5 have been doing bikeability training with Dacorum council.

We have been learning how to be safe on the roads as well as learning to signal before we turn. We also learned how to check our bikes are roadworthy using the ABC method. A is air (for the tyres), B is brakes and C is chains. We had to keep in single file on the road and make sure we got on the road safely by looking three times before setting off and stopping. We really enjoyed it! Iris and Camden.

House Captain Elections

At the start of each year, our Year 6 pupils put themselves forward to be part of our new House Captain team. The House Captains help to lead on various things through the year, including leading their House Groups during competitions and meetings, working with visitors and helping Mr Maher when difficult decisions need to be made!

This afternoon, our Year 6s stood in front of their House Groups and shared why they thought that they would make the best leaders. After close-run election in each group, the following was confirmed:

Alban

House Captain: Noah Vice House Captain: Beatrice

Canterbury

House Captain: Esme Vice House Captain: Hayden

Durham

House Captain: Alfie Vice House Captain: Evie-May

York

House Captain: Jessica J Vice House Captain: Dylan

Well done to all of the Year 6 pupils for having the courage to put themselves forward!

Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots!

Children have been given their log ins for Numbots and TTRS and the top of the leader board is taking shape. The first winners of the TTRS cup this year are Y4 well done, and it was a close run thing this week, can they hold on to it next week? We also have our first Numbots leader board, Numbots is for Early Years and KS1 to help develop their number sense and fluency. Well done to all of our top 3!

Mr Shane

Leader board this week

1st - Arthur (Y1)

2nd - Lilly (Rec)

3rd - Amelia-Rose (Rec)

Leader board this week

1st - Ivy (Y5)

2nd - Noah (Y6)

3rd - Jessica M (Y6)

Social Media Change

In school, we love sharing all our work and being able to show you how the children spend their days!

Following a number of difficulties using the 'Twitter' or 'X' platform, we have made the decision to move our news feed across to the Bluesky platform as of next week. This works in exactly the same way and will show you what we have been up to. You do not have to sign up for an account on Bluesky, but doing so will provide easier access to our news through the app. We always enjoy seeing all the 'likes' for various things shared too!

To view our school's Bluesky stream, please visit the website and search 'Nashmillsschool' or click here.

Curriculum Spotlights - Italian

At the start of the new school year, it is a good opportunity to share with you information about the curriculum we deliver at Nash Mills. This week, we will look at Italian.

Although it is only statutory to teach languages to pupils in Years 3 to 6 at primary school, all of our children are exposed to Italian in school as we believe it is an important skill for them to begin learning. At Nash Mills, we are in the middle of a multi-year project with the Italian embassy to introduce the language to more schools in the local area. For the last two years, we were visited weekly by Maestro Corrado, who led learning across the school. This year, our teachers use the skills that they have learnt to take this forward and then, from next year, we may well have another specialist Italian teacher who will work with us. Clearly, the benefits of having a native-Italian speaker teaching the children are huge and the feedback from pupils was brilliant!

We also chose Italian as our school's language for two deeper reasons. Firstly, Latin being the root of many words in the English language, it is really helpful for pupils in developing their English Grammar skills and being able to see how words link or how we use phonics to sound out some words. Secondly, when we taught French, we found that when some of our pupils moved into Year 7 and began learning French again in secondary school they were bored or became frustrated that they were re-learning things that they had already done. Italian has very close links to the languages taught in local secondary schools which will help pupils to make links whilst being able to learn something new alongside their peers.

As with our entire curriculum, more information about what we teach at Nash Mills can be found on the curriculum pages of our website. Please do have a look if you would like to learn a little more!

Star of the Week!

Nursery

Connor

For settling into Nursery so well and joining in with all activities. Well done Connor!

Reception

Roman-James

For trying really hard to follow instructions this week. Keep it up Roman!

Year 1

Lana

For her brilliant attitude towards learning and being a great role model for others. Well done Lana!

Year 2

Lexi

For having a brilliant start to Year 2. Lexi has been enthusiastic with every task set and given it 100%. Well done Lexi!

Year 3

Chinmaye

For settling in extremely well at Nash Mills. She is always ready to learn; participates in all lessons and always tries her best! Welcome to the Nash Mills family Chinmaye!

Year 4

Esme

For your outstanding attitude to learning that has really impressed all of your teachers!

Year 5

Reyansh

For his fantastic and valuable contributions in all lessons.Keep it up Reyansh!

Year 6

Kareena

For settling into Year 6 so well in her first week at a new school - a great start Kareena!

PTA - Upcoming Events and Vacancies

Please see the flyers below regarding upcoming events. Please contact pta@nashmills.herts.sch.uk or your Class Rep if you are interested in finding out more about being involved, they will be happy to answer any queries and would love to have you on board. Thank you for your support.

Fundraising Opportunity

If you shop at ASDA, please take time to download their rewards app and sign up for 'Cashpot for Schools'. They are running an initiative during the new few months whereby the school will receive a donation for every person that adds Nash Mills as their local school. We will also receive a percentage donation each time you shop.

We registered this week and already have £53 in our cashpot so please encourage friends and family also to get on board!

Start of the School Year Notices

Indoor Shoes - A reminder that we ask for pupils in Years 1-6 to have indoor shoes which they can change into when they come into class. This means that they can have more appropriate trainers for running around at break and lunchtimes and also helps us to keep the school clean and tidy. Please ensure that these are plain black shoes that are clearly named.

Pupils walking home independently in Years 5 and 6 - As some of the older pupils will now be developing more independence skills, there may be days when you would like them to walk home independently. If you would like to provide permission for this, please email the school office (the online form has now been closed) so that teachers can be aware of this.

Use of the carpark - Please note that the school carpark is for staff only, with the exception of parents who using The Good Shepherd Club. Please do not use the carpark to pick up your child after school or clubs - we try to keep traffic to a minimum so that everyone is as safe as possible. Thank you.

PE Kits - During the holidays we sent you information which included the days that each class would be having their PE lessons. On these days, the children should come to school wearing their PE kits. They are:

Monday: Years 2, 4, 5 and 6

Tuesday: Years 1 and 3

Wednesday: Years 4 and 6

Thursday: Years 1, 3, 5 and Nursery

Friday: Year 2

These days may change during the term. We will let you know if this is the case. Please note that when the children have PE lessons in the hall, they will be expected to do so bare-footed as this helps the children to be safe whilst they are running around.

Upcoming Dates

13th September - House Captain elections

16th September - Year 4 Meet the Teacher meeting - 9am in Year 4 classroom

17th September - Year 6 Meet the Teacher meeting - 9am in Year 6 classroom

18th September - Year 3 Meet the Teacher meeting - 9am in Year 3 classroom

20th September - PTA Non-uniform day

23rd September - PTA AGM at 7pm in the library (enter through the West Gate)

24th September - Nursery Parent Coffee Morning - 9am in the dining room

24th September - Year 3 visit to Pizza Express

27th September - MacMillan Coffee Afternoon

1st October – Y1 to Mead Open Farm

1st October– Y4 to Pizza Express

2nd October – Y5&6 Tag Rugby Event

3rd October – Reception Coffee Morning (9am)

7th October – School Photos

10th October – Nursery coffee morning (9am)

15th October – Y6 to Sky Studios

16th October – Y4 to Mountfitchet Castle

17th October – Y3 to Lee Valley

23rd October– Y2 to Tring Natural History Museum

25th October – Harvest Service at Church

28th October – 1st November: Half Term

31st October – Y6 Secondary School Application Deadline

Pupil Premium

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.

Good Shepherd Booking

Good Shepherd Club—to book spaces at Breakfast or After School Club, please visit

http://www.goodshepherdclubs.co.uk/

Herts Music Service

The online application is now open for booking for music lessons and ensembles. Please click here for more information.

Parking: message from the Three Tuns Pub adjacent to school

The pub landlady is happy for school parents and carers to park on the pub site any time before 12 noon. However, after this time, please do not park at the pub since it is preventing her customers from parking and she is losing business. Please allow time to find a parking space elswhere at pick up. On behalf of the landlady, thank you for your support.

Final Thought

To continue our focus on tolerance as part of our wider reflections on 'The Good Samaritan', this week, the children thought about this question.

What do you think?

There are still spaces in the Energy Dance Clubs on Mondays (Ys 3-6) and Tuesdays (Ys 1&2) after school. Please use the link above if you'd like to book your child on.

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