School News

Friday 23rd October 2026

Nash Mills CofE Primary School

Harvest

A huge thank you to all of our families for their generous donations to this year's Harvest Collection. Your kindness and support have helped us collect a wonderful amount of food, which will be donated to our local church foodbank to support individuals and families in our community. Thank you for helping our children make a real difference to those who may need a little extra support.

Brass Band!

On Tuesday, we were very fortunate to enjoy an amazing performance from Amersham Brass Band, featuring more than 20 talented musicians. The children and staff were captivated by the range of instruments on display, including tubas, trombones, cornets and horns. Throughout the performance, they learned about pitch and tempo and discovered how brass instruments produce sound. Experiencing live music in this way was both inspiring and memorable, and we hope it will encourage some of our children to consider learning an instrument themselves in the future.

The Great Big Nash Mills Chapter Challenge Returns!

The National Year of Reading may be drawing to a close, but at Nash Mills, we want the joy of reading to stay with you forever!

That’s why The Great Big Nash Mills Chapter Challenge is back!

After half term, you’ll be able to choose books from an exciting new collection specially selected for your year group. The challenge will run right through to the end of the summer term, giving you plenty of time to enjoy your challenge books, as well as all the other stories you love along the way.

And remember, there’s more to reading than completing a challenge! Many of our classes have sequels to some of the books on their lists, so why not pick one up and discover what happens next? Whether you’re desperate to find out how a cliffhanger ends, excited to finish a trilogy, or simply can’t bear to say goodbye to your favourite characters, these reading adventures are just as important!

Of course, the Chapter Challenge brings a little friendly competition, but our biggest goal is to get everyone reading, exploring new stories and discovering the magic of books. Every book you read is an achievement, and every adventure you take is worth celebrating.

You’ll soon have your brand-new book list, and the questions will be ready and waiting for you when you finish each challenge book.

So, get ready to turn the page, discover new worlds and fall in love with new stories.

Readers, your next chapter awaits! Let the Great Big Nash Mills Chapter Challenge begin!

Breakfast Club Update

Breakfast Club bookings for the second half of the Autumn Term are now open 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.

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.

Star of the Week!

Nursery

Aidan

For being so kind, using gentle hands and always helping to tidy up! Well done, we're so proud of you!

Reception

Hanan

For a brilliant week full of excellent listening, learning and kind play! Thank you Hanan, well done!

Year 1

Theo

For always bringing a positive attitude to learning, listening so well, responding enthusiastically, and showing a fantastic eagerness to improve. Keep up the brilliant work!

Year 2

Lily

For her excellent behaviour in class - always listening and following instructions and working her hardest! What a brilliant start to Year 2!

Year 3

Mia

For her maturity, growing independence and determination to complete all tasks! Keep up the hard work!

Year 4

Daniel

For working really hard and taking on board feedback in English to make his work even better.

Year 5

Daniel

For your enthusiasm and curiosity for learning, always looking for ways to improve and giving your best.

Year 6

Emel

For her continued effort with her learning. Emel is always looking to improve, sharing her ideas and contributing to class discussions.

Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots!

This week's TTRS leader board is for improvement in accuracy over the last 7 days. This reflects how many correct answers children are getting at the 1st time of trying. Well done to our top 3!

Our Numbots leader board reflecte the number of games completed in story mode. Our top 3 this week completed a total 312 game in a week!

Well done to all of our leaders this week.

Leader board this week

1st - Asher S (Y1)

2nd - Bella (Y2)

3rd - Lucio (Y1)

Leader board this week

1st - George (Y3)

2nd - Alex (Y4)

3rd - EJ (Y6)

Winter & Spring Menu 2026/27

Please click here to view the new menu from Herts Catering Ltd (HCL) which the children will choose from when they come back to school after half term. As always, particularly for the younger year groups, please take a look at this with your child before they come to school each day.

Parent Consultations

Parent Consultations will be taking place on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th November (3.30pm- 6.00pm) - please click here to view the information letter which was emailed to all parents and carers earlier today. Bookings will open on Arbor at 7pm on Sunday, 25th October and are made on a first-come-first-served basis.

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!

Mrs Ofosu recommends...

The Boy who grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Boy Who Grew Dragons, written by Andy Shepherd and illustrated by Sara Ogilvie. It is a delightful story about a boy called Tomas who discovers a strange tree in his grandfather's garden that hatches dragons instead of ordinary fruit.

I loved this book because it is packed with excitement, humour and plenty of unexpected surprises. The dragons are mischievous, hilarious and always seem to cause chaos wherever they go. Andy Shepherd has created wonderful, relatable characters, while Sara Ogilvie's illustrations add to the fun and really bring the story to life.

This is a brilliant book that kept me engaged from beginning to end and left me eager to read the next book in the series. I would highly recommend it to children aged 6-9 who enjoy adventures and love to laugh.

Curriculum Spotlights - Science and Forest School

This week's spotlight is on science and Forest School.

The reason for these two areas being covered together is that the aim of the Forest School is to expose pupils to the outdoors, allowing them time to explore and investigate the world around them. This is very similar to our science curriculum, which aims for children to be curious about the world around them and how it is changing. They will explore and investigate different ideas creatively to help us understand how and why things work as they do.

Within this learning, our aim for the subject is shared regularly with the children:

As scientists, we will be curious about the world around us and how it is changing. We will explore and investigate different ideas creatively to help us understand how and why things work as they do.

Each class studies a range of science-based topics each year, usually changing each half term, although some topics cover a whole term. During a topic, the children will learn key information (which will be shared with you on knowledge organisers), will investigate different ideas and will learn about a significant scientist from the area. The investigative skills are taught throughout each topic and focus on developing pupils to be able to observe, compare, look for patterns, organise information and research. Within each lesson, the children will consider which of these skills they are using and how they help them to be good scientists.

During Forest School sessions, most classes cover elements of the science curriculum which look at plants, seasonal changes and animal habitats. It is much more valuable for many children to be able to get outside and see the world in action, rather than learning about it from the classroom. The school polytunnel means that we can grow things most of the year round.

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

Another excellent week of attendance across the school, with five classes achieving more than 97% attendance and four classes exceeding 98%. These figures show a real commitment from our pupils and families to making every school day count.

This week, Year 4 once again led the way with an outstanding 98.9%, closely followed by Year 3 on 98.7%. Year 1 achieved an excellent 98.4%, with Year 5 just behind on 98.3%. Year 6 also exceeded our school target, recording 97.3% attendance. Year 2 finished the week on 91.6%, while Reception achieved 93.7% and Nursery recorded 84.7%.

Looking at the year as a whole so far, Year 4 remain our highest-attending class with an impressive 98% average attendance. This is a fantastic achievement and reflects a consistently strong start to the year. The question is: will anyone manage to catch them? With several other classes performing strongly, there is still plenty to play for as we move further through the term!

Thank you to all families for your continued support!

Mobile Phones - In order to keep our school environment as safe as possible, we have a 'no phones' policy for pupils. For those in upper Key Stage 2, who need to bring a phone to help with safety if they walk independently to and from school, these are put into a secure lock box at the start of the school day. Please remind your children that phones must not be used on the school site before or after the school day. Any phones being used will be taken and kept securely in the office for a parent to collect.

Nursery & Reception Small World Donations - Our Nursery and Reception children love using small world resources to develop their imagination, language and storytelling skills. We are currently looking for donations of small toy cars, small world figures and, in particular, emergency service vehicles to support our upcoming topic, People Who Help Us. We would also be very grateful for any donations of a wooden dolls' house or emergency service play stations that are no longer needed.

If you have any items in good condition that you would be happy to donate, please hand them in via the school office.

Thank you for your support.

St Mary's Quiz Night - unfortunately, the St Mary's Quiz night this Saturday has been cancelled.

Please click here to read the latest parent newsletter from the Developing Specialist Provision Locally Team in Dacorum.

Upcoming Dates

2nd November - INSET Day - school closed for staff training

3rd November - School opens for all pupils

4th November - NSPCC Workshops (Y2,5&6)

9th November - Y3 visit to Pizza Express

9th November - Governor morning in school

10th November - Police to visit Nursery class

10th November - Reception Coffee Morning

10th &11th November - Parents' Evenings

11th November - KS2 to War Memorial for Remembrance

16th November - Nursery Coffee Morning

17th November - Y6 Class Worship

19th November - Y3 visit to Chesham Mosque

20th November - Children in Need

24th November - Y5 visit to The British Museum

24th November - Y3 Class Worship

24th November - PTA Wreath Making event

30th November - Christmas Jumpers allowed from today!

1st December - Y4 Class Worship

2nd December - Reception Coffee Morning

4th December - Nursery Coffee Morning

7th December - Full Governing Body Meeting

8th December - Y4 to visit the Bayeux Tapestry

8th December - Y5 Class Worship

9th December - Y1,2&3 Angel Workshop at St. Benedicts Church

10th December - Y6 trip to Sky Studios

10th December - Last afterschool clubs

11th December - Christingle Worship in school

11th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar

14th December - Start of Art Week

14th December - Grandparents Afternoon

15th&16th December - Early Years and KS1 Nativity Performances

17th December - Christmas Jumper Day, Church Service at St. Marys and Christmas Lunch

18th December - Carols around the Tree (9am)

18th December - School closes for Christmas at 1.30pm.

19th December - 4th January - School Closed for Christmas Holidays. Pupils are back to school on Tuesday 5th January.

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

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

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

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

In church this week, Rev David spoke about how, at this time of year, it is a good chance to stop and think about the food we eat and how we can be grateful for what we have.

Question: How much food is thrown away in the UK each day?

a) 26 tonnes

b) 2,600 tonnes

c) 26,000 tonnes

The answer - 26,000 tonnes (enough to fill a cargo ship every day)...

We spent time thinking about how much effort goes into the food we eat; from the farmers who grow the crops through to the vans that deliver the food to our shops or our carers who cook it to make our meals. There is a huge amount of work that goes into this and we were asked how often we stop to think about how grateful we are for this. How often do we say thank you?

And so the challenge...at some point over the next week, before you eat a meal or a quick treat, take some time to think about how much love and work has gone into making that item. How grateful we can be for what we have.

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