School News
Friday 16th October 2026
Embedded Files
Nash Mills CofE Primary School
Year 2's Animal Adventures at Tring Museum!
Year 2 had a fantastic time visiting Tring Museum this week! During our 'Discovering Animals' workshop, the children learnt how to classify animals into groups, including mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians. They looked closely at features such as fur, feathers and scales to help identify which group an animal belongs to.
The children also thought about the habitats animals live in and how they meet their needs, providing food, water and shelter. We discussed how different features help animals survive in their surroundings, making links with our science learning in school.
Everyone was highly engaged throughout the workshop and enjoyed exploring the museum’s fascinating animal collections. There was plenty to look at, talk about and wonder about! We even had time for a nature hunt afterwards, using our observation skills to explore the world around us.
It was a wonderful day of curiosity, discovery and learning. Well done, Year 2, for your enthusiasm!
Reception visit the Library
Reception went on their very first school trip this week, visiting Hemel Hempstead Library! The children were very excited to climb aboard the coach and travel through the local community, linking to our class topic. Along the way, we spotted lots of interesting places, including parks and shops! When we arrived at the library, the children had the opportunity to explore the children’s area and enjoy listening to some wonderful stories. The highlight of the visit was that each child got to choose their very own book to take home and enjoy with their families! Everyone had a fantastic time, and we are so proud of how well the children behaved throughout the trip. We can’t wait for our next school trip adventure!
Y6 Diocese Harvest
On Wednesday, Year 6 were fortunate to attend the Harvest Celebration service at St Albans Cathedral. This was a wonderful opportunity to join with pupils from other schools and take part in a large-scale service in such a beautiful setting. Our pupils represented the school brilliantly, showing confidence when responding to questions from the Bishop and singing beautifully during the hymns that they regularly practise in school. Their excellent behaviour, enthusiasm and respect throughout the service were a credit to both themselves and our school.
Our Harvest Collection - Help Needed
As part of our Harvest celebrations, we will once again be supporting the food bank at St Benedict's Church. We would be very grateful for any donations of non-perishable food items, such as tinned goods, pasta, rice, cereal, long-life milk, tea, coffee and toiletries.
These donations will help support local individuals and families who may be facing difficulties and provide a practical way for our children to demonstrate our values of kindness, generosity and service to others. Please send any donations to your child's classroom by the end of next week. Thank you for your support in helping us make a difference within our local community.
Breakfast Club Update
Breakfast Club bookings for the second half of the Autumn Term will open at 4pm today, Friday 16th October on Arbor (to book, go to Clubs / Breakfast Club Autumn Term 2 in your Arbor app). If your child is attending from 7.30am, it is no longer necessary to book onto the later session separately. Bookings can now be made up to an hour before the club opens (so by 6.30am on any morning) in order to provide better flexibility for families making use of the club.
Thank you to those parents who provided feedback recently. We are delighted to hear how much the children are enjoying sociable and relaxed time with their friends in the mornings, and trying out new breakfast options along with the varied programme of indoor and outdoor activities that our dedicated Breakfast Club team put on each day. It was also great to hear how you are enjoying a calmer start to their mornings, and that it has helped families to bring down childcare costs.
Do remember that it is fine to book in for one-off or ad hoc sessions, so if your child would like to come along and try the club out one morning, please feel free to book them in via Arbor and we shall look forward to welcoming them!!
Just a reminder that the first half of the club (from 7.30am) costs £4 per day and eligible families can pay by tax free childcare vouchers (check your eligibility here https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare/apply-for-tax-free-childcare), however from 8.10am the club is free of charge.
Walk to School Focus
Travel Survey Day - Wednesday 21st October 2026
At Nash Mills School, we are always keen to encourage walking to school — it is a great chance to build healthy habits, cut congestion, and help create cleaner air around our school. October is such a beautiful time to look around and see the Autumn colours and notice seasonal changes.
Walking or wheeling to school boosts children’s physical and mental wellbeing, helps them arrive alert and ready to learn and supports a greener environment.
Encourage your child to walk or wheel to school as often as possible.
If you can’t walk the whole way, try a Park and Stride — park a short distance away and walk the rest.
Your support is always appreciated!
Thank you
Mrs Wilson
Star of the Week!
Star of the Week!
Nursery
Reggie
For always trying your best, joining in with activities and showing such a lovely eagerness to learn and please. We are so proud of the effort you are making!
Reception
Anaayah
For having such a positive attitude towards school life, always trying your best and being willing to give everything a go. Well done.
Year 1
Sadie
For having a much more positive attitude towards your learning and being brave at just having a go! I'm so proud of you!
Year 2
Khoosh
For his amazing effort and focus in every area of our learning - always working his hardest and listening well to his teachers.
Year 3
Beau C
For being so determined to push himself in all his work, whether working out mathematical problems or focusing on handwriting. He is taking pride in his work and becoming more confident in himself! Keep up the hard work!
Year 4
Robin
For her lovely nature and hard working attitude. Robin always strives to do her very best.
Year 5
Samuel
For building your confidence to contribute to class discussions, showing determination and always giving your best in lessons.
Year 6
Sianna
For rising to every challenge she faces with enthusiasm.
Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots!
Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots!
This week's TTRS leader board is for coins collected over the last week, our top 3 have collected a total of 31,009 coins, that's 4,429 coins a day and there was a difference of only 107 coins between the top 2!
Our Numbots leader board is for the number of coins earned over the last week, our top 3 had a total of 6,102 coins! Well done to all of our leaders!
Mr Shane
Leader board this week
1st - Asher S (Y1)
2nd - Ellie (Y2)
3rd - Eren (Y2)
Leader board this week
1st - Jacob (Y6)
2nd - Oliver (Y6)
3rd - Katy (Y5)
Best Bedtime Reads
Best Bedtime Reads
As you know, reading regularly at home with your children is incredibly important. A good bedtime story is not only helpful in maintaining a strong routine in the evening, it also helps children to develop their imagination and vocabulary.
Each week, we will ask our staff what their current recommendations are for the best bedtime reads. We hope that it provides you with some ideas!
Miss Brewer recommends...
Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss
I really enjoy sharing Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss with the children because it’s such a fun book to bring to life! The rhyming and repetition make it perfect for joining in, and I love to experiment with different funny voices for the characters.
When reading together at home, have fun changing the speed and volume of your voice — try reading some parts very slowly, then speeding up when the story gets exciting! You could even let your child choose which voice you use next. It’s a wonderful way to build confidence, develop expression and, most importantly, make reading together lots of fun!
Curriculum Spotlights - RE
Curriculum Spotlights - RE
Each week, we have been reminding you of the curriculum we offer and how it is organised. This week, we will look at Religious Education (RE).
As a Church of England school, RE is a key area of our curriculum, which is taught to all pupils as they move through the school. Each term, pupils will study a different topic, some being Christianity-based, others being reflective of religions that are followed within our school community. In line with our whole-school vision for education, based on The Good Samaritan, RE is taught in a way that enables pupils to gain understanding of their own feelings and values as well those of others. In understanding how other people live, our children will be better able to show compassion, empathy and love as part of a wider community.
Learning in RE is different from collective worship as it encompasses many different world views and supports our children to have a better understanding of the world around them.
Within each topic, whether Christianity-based or not, pupils follow a similar pattern of learning. Firstly, they will think about what the topic means to them; for example if pupils are learning about belonging within a religion, they will first spent time considering what belonging is and how it might look personally to them (by being part of our school or part of a club). Each topic begins with a key question, which pupils will also be exposed to and have time to explore. During the second stage of learning, the children consider what is written or told about the religion that they are studying. This could be by looking at religious texts or thinking about how people celebrate different fesitvals. The children will then spend time thinking about why people do this; what beliefs they may have which guide them in their lives. Finally, the children will be encouraged to make connections between the different things that they have learnt within the topic and other things that they have previously learnt. This helps them to remember key concepts and ideas.
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!
Attendance
Attendance
Attendance continues to be fantastic across the school, and our overall attendance currently stands at 97%, which is a brilliant achievement. This reflects the commitment of our pupils, families and staff to ensuring children are in school every day, ready to learn.
This week, Year 4 and Year 5 shared the top spot with an excellent 98.3% attendance. Year 1 was close behind on 97.9%, while Year 6 and Nursery both exceeded our school target of 96%, achieving 96.7% and 96.6% respectively. Year 3 recorded 95.7%, with Reception on 95.5% and Year 2 on 95.2%. While these classes were just below our 96% target, they remain very close and we look forward to seeing them push above the benchmark in the coming weeks.
Maintaining an overall attendance figure of 97% at this stage of the year is a fantastic accomplishment. Thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support. Let's keep up the excellent work!
Using the School Car Park
Using the School Car Park
Please remember that we ask parents and carers not to use the school car park at the start and end of the school day whilst the children are moving around the site. This is also the case for the period at the end of after school clubs, from 4.10-4.30pm.
Please find alternative parking at these times.
Thank you for your support in keeping our children safe.
Herts Parent Carer Involvement 5th Annual SEND Survey (2026)
They want to hear from Hertfordshire families of children and young people with SEND. Whether those experiences have been positive, difficult or somewhere in between HPCI want to hear them. They run this survey every year so they can see what's improving, staying the same or getting worse. Please complete the survey thinking of ONE child or young person only. If you have more than one child with additional needs, please complete a survey for each of them if you can.
There are 2 surveys:
HPCI Short Annual SEND Survey (2026) - there is only 10 questions to this one
HPCI 5th Annual SEND Survey (2026) - this will take between 15-30 minutes to complete depending on the needs of your child.
Both close on Sunday 1st November 2026 at 11pm.
There is also an opportunity to be entered into a Simmons voucher prize draw.
Your responses will be used in the key work HPCI do with Herts County Council and Herts NHS Services to help improve services for children and young people with SEND.
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
19th Oct - Whole School Church visit for Harvest
20th October - Y2-4 Cross Country Event at Longdean School
21st October - PTA Film Night
21st October - Nursery Coffee Morning
26th-30th Oct - Half Term - school closed
Google/Numbots/TTRS
Google/Numbots/TTRS
if your child is in Years 1-4, they will have a QR codes stuck into their Reading Records, which can be used to easily log into Google Classroom, Numbots and Times Tables Rockstars at home.
To use My Login:
Visit our school website (www.nashmills.herts.sch.uk)
At the top of the page, click on the 'Useful Links' dropdown
Select 'My Login'
Select 'Scan a Magic Badge'
Scan the QR code, which should then log you in!
Logging Absences
Logging Absences
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.
Pupil Premium
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.
Clothing Bank
Clothing Bank
Thank you for your donations towards our clothing bank. If you have any old clothes following clear-outs, please drop things in. The clothing bank is emptied regularly so should be ready for more donations.
Members of the local community are more than welcome to use it too so please spread the word!
Final Thought
Final Thought
We know that some children find it difficult to tell their adults about their time at school...for some, processing what has happened during their 6-hour day can take some time!
Shared today are a number of question starters which may help! The advice around this is to be specific with the questions asked - "what did you do today?" is a big question as a lot will have happened between 8.40am and 3.15pm. Instead, perhaps try asking for a 'fun fact' or, for pupils in Reception or Year 1 ' what phonics sound they practiced'. For many children, this will be a much easier question to answer and may then lead to a better conversation!
I particularly like the question "What made you laugh today?".
I wonder what the last thing was that made you all laugh together?!
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