Nash Mills CofE Primary School

School News

Friday 28th February 2025

Choir Performance

On Tuesday morning, the school choir, featuring our talented pupils from Years 3 to 6, delivered a sensational performance of songs from their Young Voices repertoire. The entire school and a number of parents were in attendance to witness the heartwarming and lively performance. The students' hard work and dedication shone through and left everyone in high spirits!

A great time was had by all. Thank you to Mrs Barrett for the huge amount of time she has spent preparing pupils for this event!

World Book Day 2025

A reminder that next Thursday, we shall be celebrating World Book Day. Pupils are encouraged to dress as a favourite book hero, a famous scientist, or wear a creative outfit!

This year, we shall be combining our Science Week and World Book Day foci. On Wednesday 12th March, you are welcome to visit our Space Exhibition after school, where you can see some of the learning that has taken place.

Competition Time!

Well done to those who have already returned their reading competition cards! It is fantastic to see so much reading taking place. Any pupil who has completed their card should bring it back and hand it to their teacher before 6th March.

During World Book Day, we shall draw three cards from those that have been returned. 2nd and 3rd placed will be able to choose a new book each. 1st place will be able to choose a new book and help Miss Brewer and Mr Maher in choosing £100 of books for their class.

Staffing Update

Within school, we are continually working to ensure that, wherever possible, we plan ahead in terms of staffing. You will probably have heard about the difficulties that schools currently have in recruiting new staff and the high number of schools who still have vacancies.

With this in mind, we have begun to put some plans in place for our team from September. Sadly, Mrs Jessop has shared her intention to begin reducing her time in school over the next few years as she approaches retirement. Mrs Jessop has a huge impact on the provision for children across the school and we are keen to ensure that this continues. Therefore, following an internal process, we are pleased to share that, from September, Mrs Nicholls will be taking on some of the SENCO role from Mrs Jessop and will be completing the National Professional Qualification for SENCOs. We are confident that this will be an exciting change which will allow our provision in school to further grow and develop.

We are also pleased to share that Miss Webb and Miss Jones should also be returning from their respective maternity leaves in September and Miss Lyden will be staying with us beyond this year as a class teacher.

Parent Consultations - Tues 11th and Wed 12th March (3.30pm - 6.00pm)

Please click here to view a letter from Mr Shane outlining key details, including information about which school clubs will be affected. Bookings will open on Arbor at 7pm on Monday, 3rd March.

PTA

We hope everyone enjoyed the PTA Disco before half term - what a fantastic amount has been raised!

Payments for the Someone Special sale will open on Monday, 3rd March. For those families new to our school, this event takes place in school during the normal school day. Children are accompanied by school and PTA staff to choose their special gift which they will then bring home for a surprise.

If you would like your child to participate in this, please ensure that you pay by the deadline (Friday 14th March) to avoid disappointment since the PTA are unable to accept late bookings.

Attendance

This week's attendance report kicks off with a fantastic start following the half-term break. It's been wonderful to see almost all of the children back in school, learning and having fun with their peers. Massive congratulations go to Year 4 for achieving a perfect 100% attendance – an outstanding accomplishment that sets the gold standard for everyone!

Year 5 also put in a great performance, coming in at a close 99.2%, demonstrating exceptional dedication. Year 6 maintained a strong presence with 97.1%, while both Year 2 and Year 3 shared the spotlight with a commendable 96.7%. Nursery was not far behind, achieving a solid 96.2%.

Reception showed a steady performance with 94.4%, and Year 1 recorded 94.1%, both contributing to the overall vibrant atmosphere of the school this week.

Thank you to all the parents, students, and staff for your continued efforts in maintaining such high attendance rates. Let's keep up the momentum and strive for another fantastic week, ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn and thrive in school!

Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots!

Our TTRS leader board this week is 'studio speed', the faster children can answer questions, the better their fluency in arithmetic will be. All 3 of our leaders are under 1 second an answer, in fact the top 5 are all under a second and for the first time in over a year we have a new leader! Well done all.

Our Numbots leader board is all about challenge mode and coins earned, it's a Year 1 sweep this week! Well done to all 3 who between them collected 11,500 coins! Wow!

Mr Shane

Leader board this week

1st - Francis (Y1)

2nd - Corin (Y1)

3rd - Jasmine (Y1)

Leader board this week

1st - Noah (Y6)

2nd - Ivy (Y5)

3rd - Fred (Y4)

Star of the Week!

Nursery

Ethan

For settling so well into Nursery in his first week.

Well done Ethan!

Reception

Hasan

For increased confidence with your writing and your hard work during phonics. All the staff have noticed your newfound enthusiasm for learning and it is such pleasure to see you blossom. Well done Hasan!

Year 1

Mia K

For growing in confidence and becoming independent and applying what she has learnt. Well done Mia!

Year 1

Telo

For starting to communicate his needs and always being happy! Keep it up Telo.

Year 2

Ava

For being more willing to ask for help when she needs a little more guidance. Keep it up Ava!

Year 2

Year 2!

For making a fantastic non-fiction book about animals for the rest of the school to use. Great job Year 2!

Year 3

Amelia

For having a huge smile on her face and an incredible amount of determination throughout her subjects.

Keep it up Amelia!

Year 4

Noah

For consistently working hard and enthusiastically in every lesson and for his exemplary behaviour - you're a star Noah!

Year 5

Thomas

For his positive attitude, confidence and perseverance in all lessons. Well done Thomas!

Year 6

Harry

For actively participating and always putting in his best effort in every lesson. Keep it up Harry!

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/

Upcoming Dates

4th March - Reception Coffee Morning

4th March - Y6 Class Assembly

5th March - Nursery Coffee Morning

5th March - Parish Councillors to visit Years 4-6

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

14 March - Red Nose Day

14th March - Nursery and Reception visit to London Zoo

18th March - Y1 Class Assembly

18th March - Y6 visit to Bletchley Park

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 - Y3 Easter Egg competition at Longdean

2nd April - Y5&6 KNEX Challenge

4th April - School closes for Easter

Good Shepherd Booking

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

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

Logging Same-Day 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 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!

Final Thought

As part of this week's focus on forgiveness, this week we have started to explore the theme.

Have a think about this quote from Gandhi. What do you think it means?

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