Nash Mills CofE Primary School
School News
Wednesday 27th March 2024
Today we finished our term with a special Easter service at St Mary's Church. As always the children walked to the church impeccably and showed excellent listening skills whilst there. Mother Alice spent some time reminding the children of the Easter story and why this time of year is so important to Christians. We thought about how a key message at Easter is the idea of saying sorry and fixing things if they have gone wrong; how we can always make things better and look forward to a brighter tomorrow.
This ties in really well with the theme of courage and I hope the children will all be able to reflect on times when they have had to show courage and try really hard to fix things or develop areas of learning this term. There has been so much happening in such a short space of time!
Although this half term has been so short, we have really crammed a lot in. It has been great to see the children being able to get outside a little more as the weather improves, attending trips, visits and sporting events. A special well done to our Year 5 and 6 pupils who attended yesterday's district football tournament and represented the school brilliantly. All of these opportunities take a lot of planning and preparation; thank you to the staff for their continued hard work in making this all happen.
We also look forward to the completion of our new play trail and outdoor gym, which we expect will be all ready to use when the children return.
I hope that you manage to have a fantastic, restful Easter break and have some exciting things planned. We look forward to seeing the children back safe and sound on Monday 15th April ready for another exciting term.
Happy Easter!
Mr Maher
Year 3 and 4 Production
Year 3 and Year 4 took to the stage on Monday and Tuesday after weeks of preparation to perform 'The Tale of Three Trees'. This told the story of how some trees were cut down for wood yet were turned into important things in the life of Jesus - most noticeably at this time of year, the wooden cross.
The children sang beautifully and delivered confident and moving performances that the audiences thoroughly enjoyed! One parent stated, 'The children's performances were incredible and the story, songs and attention to detail throughout was fantastic'.
A huge thank you to Mrs Barrett and the rest of the team for all their hard work in organising and preparing this wonderful opportunity for the children.
Year 2 visit to Roald Dahl Museum
Year 2 had a great day at the Roald Dahl Museum yesterday. They took part in an engaging workshop which got them thinking about how to generate ideas. They were asked to explain what an idea is. This was actually really tricky to do!
They explored the galleries and learnt that they can create ideas from using their senses. This is what Roald Dahl did daily to stimulate story plots and characters.
‘It was really fun and we found out lots of interesting facts about Roald Dahl. Now I know Roald Dahl lived quite near to me. He used the things around him to write books.’ Amaya
‘It was really fun because we learnt lots of new things and there was some cool stuff and we got to look at all his books and we now know about his life.’ Noah
There were so many fun activities to do: movie making, funny faces, dressing up and the best was the enormous bar of chocolate which smelt like real chocolate!
As always, I just want to say a massive thank you to the parents who came with us. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Miss Brewer
Art Projects
This week at Nash Mills, each year group has delved into various genres of sculpture work, employing a diverse array of mediums including wire, clay, Modroc, wool, and sticks.
The children have honed their skills in moulding, shaping, editing, and refining their structures. Their creative works have ranged from crafting peg dolls and clay soldiers to sculpting abstract animal forms, stick figures, plinth people, and chess pieces, all based on the work of famous artists from around the world.
We can't wait to see the final pieces once they have all dried out over the Easter holidays!
Mrs Ofosu
Times Tables Rockstars
This week, our leader board is back to the quickest question speed. Ivy remains on top but Isma'il is closing the gap and is nearly answering a question in under a second. While getting the correct answers is important, the speed plays a crucial part in demonstrating children's fluency. So, Nash Mills can anyone catch Ivy before the end of the year? Special Rockstar shout out to Noah in Yr 3 and Jessica M in Yr 5 for getting their speed to under 1.50 seconds a question.
Well done to our top 3 Rock Stars this week!
Leader board this week
1st - Ivy Year 4
2nd - Isma'il Year 6
3rd - Ngowari Year 6
Staff Update
We would like to say a fond farewell to Hayley, who has done such a fantastic job for us managing our school kitchen, has let us know that she will be leaving us at the end of this term to fulfil a longstanding dream to work in childcare. She will be missed!
We wish her all the best in her new role and look forward to welcoming Claire, our new HCL cook next term.
Parent Support
The Summer 2024 Parenting Courses and Support Brochure for Dacorum is now available to be viewed or download from our website, via: https://dacorumdspl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dacorum-Parenting-Course-Brochure-Summer-2024.pdf
Summer Term Changes
After Easter, the days that some things happen for each class will change slightly. Please click on your child's class below to see the days that different things will happen and what they will need.
Nursery
The class will have Forest School on a Tuesday. They will need clothing suitable for being outside and wellies on this day.
PE will take place on Thursday. The children can wear normal uniform for this.
The class will also have Italian on a Thursday morning.
Reception
PE will take place on a Wednesday. To help prepare for Year 1, pupils are encouraged to wear PE kit on this day.
The class will also have Italian on a Friday morning.
Year 1
PE will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
The class will also have Italian on a Friday morning.
Year 2
PE will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
Forest School will take place on Thursdays. If the weather is poor, please ensure that the children have coats and wellies.
The class will also have Italian on a Friday morning.
Year 3
PE will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
The class will also have their recorder lesson on a Monday and Italian on a Friday afternoon.
Year 4
PE will take place on Wednesdays and Fridays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
The whole class will continue to have a ukulele lesson on a Monday afternoon.
The class will also have Italian and Forest School on a Thursday afternoon.
Year 5
PE will take place on Thursdays and Fridays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
The class will also have Italian on a Thursday morning.
Year 6
PE will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will need to wear their kit on these days.
The class will also have Italian on a Thursday afternoon.
Key Notices
Upcoming Dates
15th April - Summer Term starts
18th April - Y3/4 Football Tournament
19th April - New Guitar teacher starting
24th April - Year 3 and 4 Tag Rugby tournament
24th April - Nursery Coffee Morning
25th April - Class Photos
26th April - Reception Coffee Morning
29th April - Year 5&6 KNEX Challenge
1st May - Governors Meeting
6th May - May Day; School Closed
8th May - Governors Meeting
13th May - Year 6 SATS Week
22nd May - Governors Meeting
27th-31st May - Half Term
3rd-14th June - Swimming Fortnight
5th June - Y4 Trip to Hampton Court
11th June - Y2 Class Worship
14th June - PTA Thank You Sale
17th June - Governor Morning
18th June - Y3 Class Worship
19th June - Reception Coffee Morning
20th June - Nursery Coffee Morning
21st June - Reception Trip to Ruislip Lido
24th-28th June - Y6 Residential Trip
25th June - Y4 Class Worship
27th June - Y3 Trip to Verulamium
28th June - Y1 Trip to Chiltern Open Air Museum
1st July - Governors Meeting
2nd July - Y5 Trip to Bhaktivedantha
2nd July - Y1 Class Worship
4th July - EYFS Learning Presentation
5th July - PTA Summer Disco
10th July - Sports Day
11th July - New Class Day
19th July - School Closes for Summer
Good Shepherd Booking
Good Shepherd Club—to book spaces at Breakfast or After School Club, please visit
http://www.goodshepherdclubs.co.uk/
Nursery Admissions
Just a reminder that our Nursery applications for September are now open. Due to lower local birth-rate, our numbers so far are not looking as strong for September.
If you know of anyone who may be looking for a place, please do suggest that they come and take a look!
Final Thought
This half term, our value focus has been courage and we have spent time thinking about people who have shown courage to stand up for what they believe is right.
As we get closer to the end of term, we think about the various events that led up to Easter Sunday. The stories of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, challenging those who weren't respecting the temple and gathering his disciples all took courage.
He had to stand up for a greater cause. Even though it was risky.
When have you stood up for something that you have believed in?
Was it easy?
Everyone is welcome to our Good Friday Workshop for families!
An interactive trail through the events of Holy Week and Easter, ending with Hot Cross Buns and drinks. Free of charge, no need to book.
From Mother Alice
