13th March 2026

Dear Parents

It has been an exciting and diverse week this week with KS1 children going to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on the train, Year 5 and Year 6 taking part in the primary school’s football competition and the primary choir attending the Trust concert on Wednesday night. Also the Year 6 children enjoying a whole afternoon of STEM related activities to launch Science week - more about all of these later!

Grow Your Dough

'Grow your Dough' continues to gather pace with Moomin class leading the way with their marketplace activities. I know that the forthcoming week also has a huge number of children and parents who are committed to growing their dough. Each day I am asked if it’s ok to do a variety of different activities and of course the answer is yes. Please keep the teachers in the loop regarding what activities and innovative ways children are coming up with to grow their dough - we are keen to know.

We have 2 more weeks of growing your dough to go so best of luck with your plans and endeavours. If you need to use the playground/ hall etc just ask.

The Moomin & Friends: Grow Your Dough Market was a fantastic success, raising nearly £500 on a beautiful sunny day. Thank you to everyone who came along and showed such great support.

The children have been incredibly enterprising, working hard to grow their initial £2.26 into enough money to invest in stock or raw materials. Their ideas ranged from finding free items to sell for a profit, to doing jobs at home and delivering leaflets to raise funds. The market featured a wonderful variety of stalls, including games and challenges, delicious treats, and some fun finds for visitors to enjoy.

The children themselves were very proud of what they achieved. “It was really nice that people got to raise money for the school,” said Eva. Harry added, “All the hard work was very good and I am so proud of how much we raised.” Sadie loved seeing everyone’s ideas come to life, saying, “I loved how so many people were raising money and being creative.” Leo shared how rewarding it felt to take part: “Doing my stand made me feel so happy. When I looked at everyone else’s stand they were doing a great job too.” Carter summed up the experience perfectly: “It was really fun because it was like having our own little job.”

A very big thank you to all the children for their enthusiasm and hard work, and to our families and community for supporting such a wonderful event.

Eggcellent Easter Bags

Add some egg-stra fun to your Easter with these Eggcellent Easter Bags, created by enterprising siblings Alfie and Millie as part of their Grow Your Dough project. Each £4 bag contains a surprise mix of Easter goodies – perfect for children of all ages or as a small Easter gift. Grab one while they last and help support their fantastic fundraising effort! 

Contact Emma on 07885-973-798 

Coming up

Extraordinary Popcorn! 

As part of the Grow Your Dough challenge, Justin has an exciting idea popping up soon! Justin has decided to turn his investment into something delicious by making and selling homemade popcorn.

Watch this space and get ready to support his challenge while enjoying a tasty treat! 

Bake & Book Sale, Sunday 15th March, from 2pm, 101 Ox Lane AL5 4PN

Whether you fancy a slice of delicious homemade cake, a new book to get stuck into, or simply want to support some enthusiastic young entrepreneurs, we’d love to see you there!

Come along, bring friends and family, and enjoy an afternoon of treats, great reads, and community spirit. 

Ottie & Kaspar’s Craft & Cookie Sale, Monday 16th March, 3.20pm.

Includes K-Pop Fimo & Star Wars Cookies

Myles, Hayley and Lolah Rose in Year 3 - Beyblade Challenge, Lucky Dip and Football Raffle, Friday 20th March 2026

Eco Council 'Wear Green Day'

The school Eco Council have come up with a way to save energy and are raising money to put their plan into action. Your support is greatly appreciated! Please can parents make a £2.00 voluntary donation via MCAS to support this event. So far we have raised £220!

British Science Week

Harpenden Academy have had a great British Science Week, with lots of fun activities taking place. This year the theme was 'Curiosity' and the children loved it!

Year 4 and Year 5 designed their very own Lunar Rover, and discussed which materials would be needed to go up into space and why. Ladybirds enjoyed making their very own boat made out of materials of their choice and loved predicting whether their boat would float or sink. They tested them in water and recorded their results! 

Year 6 had a jam-packed Science workshop which meant they needed to use their Engineering skills to take part in the carousel of activities. Overall, it seems that Harpenden has a lot of young scientists who are all very curious! 

STEM afternoon , Year 6, Monday 9th March 2026

Wonderful start to Science Week with three scientists coming to run a STEM workshop with Year 6, focused on unwilling curiosity, awe and wonder in the children.

Philharmonic Trip, Wednesday 11th March 2026

On Wednesday, Key Stage 1 had a fantastic day out in London! We boarded the train from Harpenden to Blackfriars, which was a very exciting experience in itself, before strolling down the River Thames until we reached the Royal Festival Hall. Here, we were lucky enough to watch the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform to the story of Stan and Mabel and The Race for Space. The children were brilliant at joining in with the songs they had practised at school and loved adding in some actions too. It was a fun-filled day with lots of steps and sunshine included!

Football Tournament, Wednesday 11th March 2026

Well done to the boys’ football team who represented the school in the Harpenden District Sports Year 5 and 6 Boys Football Tournament at Woodend School on Wednesday. The team battled brilliantly throughout the day, showing great determination as they worked their way through a mixture of wins, draws and closely fought matches. They narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals, but the team should be very proud as they continue their run of strong performances in the league. The boys demonstrated fantastic teamwork and resilience, motivating each other after a tough loss to go on and win their final game. An excellent goal from Rex (Y5) helped secure a well-deserved 2–0 victory to finish the day on a high.

Trust Concert, Wednesday 11th March 2026

On Wednesday evening, the Choir attended the annual Trust Concert at The Grove Theatre in Dunstable. We enjoyed singing in the Primary Choir and when we sang our own choir piece. We sang ‘Dreamer’ by Ozzy Osbourne which we loved performing to the Parents and staff from the other Trust schools. Also, we enjoyed the performance of the Primary Orchestra where Sam Randell from Year 6 played in and he did fantastically. It was an amazing concert and the children enjoyed watching the older children perform too.

Next week is looking just as busy too with more science related activities with the return of Mark and Hands on Science and more musical moments.

On Monday and Thursday, the children will be experiencing musical events, funded by FoHA. These sessions are designed to introduce the children to the world of classical music and orchestral instruments. During the workshop, children will have the opportunity to learn about different instruments, explore how an orchestra works, and even participate in musical activities that bring the compositions to life.

Mark will be in school on Wednesday and he will be making rockets with the children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, looking at biological diversity with Year 3, stars and space with Year 5, electricity and circuits with Year 4 and finally heart dissection with Year 6.

I am sure that the teachers have already asked for parent volunteers if they need them but if you think you can offer your support – especially in the Reception and Year 1/Year 2 then please Class Dojo the teachers. 

Easter Service, Tuesday 24th March 2026 - Last chance to RSVP - DEADLINE TODAY!

On Tuesday, 24th March we will be holding our annual Easter Service at St Nicholas' Church, Church Green, Harpenden, AL5 2TP.  The service will start at 2.00pm and will last for approx 30-40 minutes. We will walk all children to the church and if parents want to join us at the service we would be delighted to have you with us. Please complete this RSVP by today - Friday, 13th March 2026. This is a hard deadline as we need to make sure we have staffing to walk the remainder of the children back to school for normal pick up. Please complete a form for each child. 

If any parents, attending the church service would like to collect your child from the service, we can accommodate that. To be clear, we will only release children early to parents if the parents attend the service. 

Please complete this e-form to let the school know if you will be:

a) attending the service and collecting your child from the church.

b) would like your child escorted back to school for collection at 3.20pm from school. 

If parents are able to help walk the children to the church and you have a valid DBS then please contact the class teacher via Class Dojo to volunteer your help. This would be most appreciated by school. 

We will remind parents nearer the time however we plan to continue our usual Easter cross tradition where the children bring in flowers on the Tuesday morning to cover our wooden Easter cross. Long stem flowers are the best so the children can weave these on to the cross - eg tulips, carnations, daffodils, roses. We will be using them during the service so please explain to the littler children that they won’t be getting their flower back.

On the Tuesday morning there will be a bucket at the front of each entrance for the flowers to be put in to at drop off.

Co-Curricular Teacher and Contractor Clubs

Just a reminder that next week is the last week of clubs for the Spring term unless the Contractor has notified parents directly (Game On will have their last session on Tuesday, 24th March).  All teacher clubs finish next week. 

All clubs will start on the second week we return to school after Easter, on w/c Monday 20th April 2026 and finish on w/c 6th July 2026 (unless otherwise stated by club).  You can access the club page of our school website to access the flyers for each club.

Contractor Clubs

Please contact the club provider directly to book your place, it will be on a first come first served basis.  The Club Provider is responsible for all communication and confirmation of external clubs. Please see flyers below for further details. You can contact the club contractors to book your child on to their clubs with immediate effect.

Teacher Clubs 

All parents will be able to book their child on to teacher led clubs from Wednesday, 18th March 2026 from 5.00pm. You will be able to login to your child's MCAS profile and select the club option from the menu. At 5.00pm you will be able to enrol your child onto their chosen club. If the club is full the system will add your child to the waiting list and the office will inform you if there are any cancellations. We will always do our best to try and accommodate your child’s choices.

Please do not rely on these school clubs as childcare, it is dependent on teacher commitments and we may need to cancel them at short notice. 

Some Key notes:

KEY NOTES:

• Chess remains a lunchtime Tuesday club with Mrs Wong.
• All children will need to enrol on clubs to give everyone a fair chance - including choir this term.
• Board Games has moved to Wednesday.
• We have a new Cheerleading club run by CASPA Dance on Fridays after school. 
• Netball4Fun are offering a netball club for Year 4 and Year 5 (mixed) in summer term 2 running from 3rd June - 8th July 2026. Unfortunately due to the size of the court the club is limited to the first 12 children who sign up. Click here to book your child's place

Big Walk and Wheel, w/c 16th March 2026

From Monday 16^th – Friday 27^th March, we will be taking part in the Big Walk and Wheel, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge. This initiative supports our ongoing efforts to encourage active travel to school. Choosing to travel actively can help children feel more energised and ready to learn, while also contributing positively to our environment. 

We kindly encourage families to support this event by helping their children walk, wheel, scoot or cycle to school on as many days as possible during this challenge. If travelling from further away, you might consider parking a short distance from the school so your child can complete the final part of their journey actively.

Thank you for supporting this initiative and for helping us promote healthy and sustainable travel.

Future events

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

• 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

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 

Film Competition, Harpenden Town Council

Harpenden Town Council, together with the Harpenden Arts and Culture Forum, are excited to invite local young people up to the age of 25 to enter a new film competition.

With a theme of “What’s Important to Me?” this competition is a celebration of creativity, voice, and perspectives across our community.  We’re encouraging young people to tell their stories through film and explore what truly matters to them, whether that might be people, places, passions or ideas.

With various age and awards categories (including soundtrack and script), the competition aims to nurture emerging talent and encourage creative expression at every stage. The initiative proudly supports the developing arts sector in Harpenden and is backed by the University of Hertfordshire and the Hertfordshire Film Office.

Entries may be made by individuals, pairs, teams, community groups or schools and shortlisted entries will be invited to a grand awards evening on 17th April 2026, where the judges and category winners will come together to view and celebrate the winning films and the creativity behind them. There are also some fantastic prizes on offer.

For more information, please visit the webpage at www.harpenden.gov.uk/whats-important or get in touch directly. Entries close on Friday 13th March, 2026.

 

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:- Evelyn S (Reception), Jersey T (Yr5)

 

Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies

Please click here to view our Scholars' Education Trust vacancies