27th February 2026

Dear Parents

Welcome back to a very short half term. I do hope that you had a lovely half term break despite the weather in the UK. We only have 5 weeks of this half term which means we have a lot to fit in for the children.

However, before I carry on I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the Bint-Qaisar family who came in during half term to decorate our Festival Foyer for Ramadan. I went away for the whole of half term so didn’t see how marvellous it looked until Monday morning. It is beautiful. Thank you so much for spending your free time decorating our school to celebrate Ramadan. I heard one of our children say “Wow, what beautiful balloons for Ramadan” which shows that our children are slowly becoming used to all of our festivals and really appreciate what we are doing to promote the sense of belonging in our school.

The Festival Foyer is going to be busy this half term because we will soon be celebrating Lunar new year and then of course Easter. Any families who wish to help with the decorating of the Festival Foyer please let us know.

Below is a picture for those parents who haven’t managed to get in to school.

                         

Lunar new Year celebrations

To launch the start of our Lunar New year celebrations we had a visit on Monday by author, Eric Huang.

Eric told the children about his fascination with legends and lore and how as a boy he wanted to find real-life dragons, so he studied palaeontology at university. The reality didn't live up to his Jurassic Park dreams, though, and he found himself working at Disney Publishing, launching a career in children’s books. The children and teachers were fascinated by his story and really enjoyed his workshops. Below are the books that he has written if you are interested.

Future events

I thought it wise to repeat again the whole list of events that are happening in school this week so that parents are aware.

• Thursday, 5^th March - World Book Day 
• Friday, 6^th March to launch the start of National Science week the children will be having a workshop called “Dognapped” where they will be taught about the science behind forensics and crime solving.
• Monday 9^th March - Year 6 will be working with STEM club during the school day on various activities involving IT and science experiments.
• Wednesday 11^th March KS1 children are off to the Royal Philharmonic for the afternoon.
• Monday, 16^th March KS1 will have an Orchestra workshop in school- funded by FoHA.
• Wednesday, 18^th March – the return of Mark the Science man- running various activities throughout the day from Rocket making to heart dissection.
• Thursday, 19^th March KS2 will have an Orchestra workshop in school- funded by FoHA.
• Friday 20^th March – 'Wear Red for Comic Relief' Non School Uniform 
• Tuesday 24^th March Easter Church Service 2.00pm at St Nicholas' Church

Grow your Dough

Yesterday your child will have come home with a letter and an envelope containing £2.26. 

In partnership with FoHA, we are excited to bring back a popular initiative from 2018 called “Grow Your Pound,” now renamed “Grow Your Dough” in celebration of our 2026 milestone. Here’s how it works:

• Each child will receive £2.26—representing the year 2026.
• Over one month, children will explore ways to grow this money, learning about saving, investing, and the value of money.
• They will decide how to allocate their funds and try different ideas to increase their amount.
• The goal is to raise funds that will support school projects and activities, with all contributions going directly to FoHA to help us reach our fundraising target of £10,000.

The initial amount of £2.26 was sent home with your child on Thursday, 26th February. After one month, on Thursday, 26th March 2026, children will return their original amount plus any profit made. Families can choose to participate or simply return the envelope to the class teacher or the school office without any pressure—your involvement is voluntary.

During yesterday’s assembly, we shared ideas and activities to help them think creatively about “growing their dough".

We will be keeping a close eye on the ways the children will be growing their £2.26 with interest and we will be giving certificates for not just the largest amount raised but also the most imaginative ways of growing their money.

I would like to wish all the children …and parents... the very best of luck with growing your £2.26 into a much larger amount. We are really excited to see how successful our ‘Grow your Dough “campaign will be.

'Little Beans Big Dreams' - Coffee & Pastries Stall - Friday 6th March 2026

Olivia and Jack Ballantyne are holding a 'Coffee and Pastries' stall next Friday, 6th March between 8.20am & 8.50am, in aid of 'Grow your Dough'.  This will be held outside the front of the school before the start of the school day. The children have worked hard planning and organising this stall so we really hope you parents will join in with the fun and give the Ballantyne family your full support by purchasing lots of coffee and pastries!!

• Fresh Ground Coffee – £3.00, Danish Pastry – £2.00, Coffee & Danish - £4.50.
• Apple Pay • Google Pay • Contactless Accepted.
• All profits help fund our new classroom air conditioning.

Well done to our Year 5 and 6 Tag Rugby Team!

A huge congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 tag rugby team who recently represented the school at a competition held at Harpenden Rugby Club.

The team performed brilliantly throughout the event, winning one of their games and coming incredibly close in their other matches. Every player showed fantastic determination, resilience and teamwork, supporting one another and demonstrating excellent sportsmanship at all times.

We are very proud of the way they represented our school — well done to you all!

Well done to our Year 5 and 6 Boys’ Football Team!

It has been a very busy and successful week for our Year 5 and 6 boys’ football team! On Tuesday, the team played out an exciting 2–2 draw, with two fantastic goals from Soul and Joseph. It was a thrilling match, full of energy and great team play.

They followed this up on Thursday with a strong defensive performance, earning a 0–0 draw and extending their impressive unbeaten run to four games.

Well done to all members of the squad for their continued hard work, determination and teamwork. We are very proud of your efforts — keep it up!

Chinese New Year Workshop

Today, the children enjoyed a wonderful introduction to Chinese New Year, learning about how it connects to the Lunar New Year celebrations around the world. They were fascinated to discover the story of the Great Race, which explains the order of the zodiac animals, and enjoyed exploring the different traits associated with each one.

The children also located China on a world map and learnt about the importance of the colour red, which symbolises luck and happiness in Chinese culture. They discussed traditional celebrations, including the custom of receiving red envelopes filled with sweets or money as a sign of good fortune.

As part of the celebrations, the children learnt a traditional fan dance using Chinese fans and took part in an exciting dragon parade to bring good luck and positive energy for the year ahead.

It was a fantastic opportunity to immerse ourselves in another culture, and a real highlight was watching some of Harpenden Academy’s talented dancers shine!

Sports Kit Audit - Monday 2nd March 2026

Please can parents return any sports kits they have at home as our PE Leads are doing a kit audit. You can simply drop these to the school office. 

World Book Day - Thursday, 5th March 2026

Many thanks to the Year 6 children who have planned our World Book Day activities; here are a few things to be prepared for:

• Children are invited to come into school with props and clues linked to their favourite book character.
• Costumes are also welcome to dress up as their favourite book character, or they can wear a cosy outfit they love to read in.
• Children are also invited to bring in a book for their class book swap (this should be a book they are happy to part with it as it will be swopped for a different book that someone else has brought in).

Reading home learning for Friday 27th February for the whole school will be to prepare up to 5 clues to present orally for their classmates to guess their favourite book character. Here are some examples:

• My favourite character is/ has ….. (describe their appearance).
• My favourite character is ….. (describe their personality).
• My favourite character likes to wear ….. (describe their outfit).
• What makes my character special is…
• A problem that my character has to overcome in the book is….
• The reason I love this character is that….
• If I met this character I would love to ask him/her…..
• Another character similar to my character is……because…..

We can’t wait to celebrate all things book-related with your children next Thursday!

Wear Green Day -  Friday, 13th March 2026

Friday, 20^th March 2026 – 'Wear Red for Comic Relief' Non School Uniform 

On Friday, 20^th March, we will be taking part in Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day and will be hosting a ‘Wear Red for Comic Relief’ non-uniform day. Children are invited to come into school wearing red instead of their school uniform. A £1 donation for Comic Relief via MCAS is kindly requested.

Traffic Lights

This Easter holiday, Traffic Light Arts have two fantastic workshop weeks!  Booking is now open - email admin@trafficlightarts.co.uk 

Parent Spring Term Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete our Spring term survey in the below link:

Harpenden Academy Parent Survey Spring 2026 – Fill in form

The deadline for completion is Tuesday 3 March at 8pm.

Thanks to a new partnership with Ecologi and the Scholars' Education Trust, for every survey completed a tree will be planted. 

Spring Term Parent Evening Reports can now be downloaded on MCAS

Parents can now access their child's Spring term report on MCAS by accessing the 'Reports' function on the app.  Your child's class teacher will have gone through this with you at the recent parents' evening.

Please contact the office if you need any support locating this report. 

Important: Change to phone system

We have upgraded to a new phone system over the Feb half term and as a result the options for parents have changed. When ringing Harpenden Academy you will have the following options:

PRESS

1. Finance
2. Report an absence
3. Stay & Play
4. Hold – to be put through to the School Office

Co-Curricular Clubs After School

A polite reminder for parents to contact the office if your child is not attending a Teacher Club, Contractor Club, or Owls so we can pass it to staff so any absent children from the club registers are accounted for.

Harpenden Easter Egg Hunt - Good Friday, 3rd April 2026, from 11am,  Harpenden Common, £6 per child (£8 per child on the day)

Harpenden Easter Egg Hunt tickets are now live - please visit Harpenden Easter Egg Hunt — Friends of Harpenden Academy to book your ticket!

Join us for some Easter family fun!

Hop along to Harpenden Common and follow our Easter Egg Trail, cracking the clues as you go. Once you’ve completed the trail, head over the road to Lourdes Hall to collect your Easter egg from the Easter Bunny himself

We’re delighted to welcome Traffic Light Arts, who’ll be running a range of creative activities for older children. There’ll also be glitter tattoos, face painting, and the return of our ever-popular bouncy castle for all the keen jumping bunnies!

Why not stop by our Lego-themed bar, hosted by the fantastic Platform Wines, where grown-ups can enjoy a drink while younger guests get creative with Lego nearby?

Too many eggs? Not to worry — we’ll have plenty of savoury and sweet treats available, including delicious food from Emilio's Lebanese Street Food.

It’s sure to be a great day out for the entire family!

Easter Egg Hunt: call out for parent volunteers

Last year, we sold over 500 tickets and welcomed nearly 400 families from Harpenden and the surrounding areas to enjoy our trail and the activities in our “Egg Quarters”.

To make this year’s event a success, we need a minimum of five parent volunteers from each class to support with:
 - welcoming families to the trail and providing information,
 - supervising the bouncy castle,
 - helping with arts, crafts, face painting and glitter tattoos
 - helping families cross the road safely
 - setting up and clearing away our event

Children are very welcome along during your volunteer slot.

For more information and to sign up, please visit Friends of Harpenden Academy: Easter Egg Hunt - Volunteer Sign Up

Happy birthday this week to:-  Emily B (R), Kayan (Yr 2), Grace G (Yr 1), Finley (Yr 1), Isobel B (Yr 3), Ludo F (Yr 3), Remy S (Yr 3), Tristan (Yr 4), Bo (Yr 5), Annabel (Yr 6), Shreyan (Yr 6)

Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies

Please click here to view our Scholars' Education Trust vacancies