20th March 2026

Dear Parents

We have had a terrific week with so many activities for the children to take part ranging from Irock concerts to rocket building.

New Catering Company- Innovate

As mentioned last week we have a new catering company starting in the summer term called Innovate. This week parents have been sent all of the information relating to the new company with a very clear set of instructions from the office staff as to what parents need to do next.

Please click here to read all about our new catering provider.

This page includes:

• instructions on how parents can activate their child's account once they receive login details on Thursday, 2nd April 2026.
• how to order your child's dinners daily, weekly, monthly or termly. 
• a link to the new summer term menu.
• a link to the summer term allergy menu.

Please note that if your child has an allergy then parents need to complete the Pupil Allergy Form asap. Innovate will then be in touch to confirm if your child will choose from the set 'Allergy Menu' or if your child needs a bespoke menu designed for them specifically. The office will upload any dietary notes such as Vegan, Pescatarian, Vegetarian etc..before we return on 13th April 2026.

For the first month there will be a representative of the company in the kitchen with the catering staff making sure that the new menus and the new ways of operating are in alignment with the company’s philosophy.

Please read through the information and if there are any queries, please contact the office who will be able to support you.

Orchestral Exploration Workshops

This week, all classes had the exciting opportunity to participate in an orchestra workshop. They explored a variety of musical instruments and gained insight into how different sections of an orchestra collaborate to create beautiful music. The children enjoyed listening to live performances and even had the chance to try playing some instruments themselves. The experience fostered a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity about music, inspiring a deeper appreciation for the classical world of music.

Mark The Science Man Visit

If there is one day of the year when the whole school is full of excitement that is the day that Mark the Science Man is in school. Mark has been coming to Harpenden Academy for approx. 8 years and always has an array of wonderful activities to complete with the children.

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Mark The Science Man, brought the topic of forces to life in a fun and interactive way. Through demonstrations and experiments, the children learnt how pushes, pulls, and air resistance affect how objects move.

After exploring these ideas, everyone had the chance to become mini scientists by designing and making their own rockets using paper and straws. The children tested how far their rockets could travel.

It was a fantastic hands-on session that sparked curiosity and creativity.

Year 3 – Biological diversity

Year 3 looked at paw prints for cheetahs, dogs and cats. They looked at how bees stay alive and looked at what animals eat and what they get eaten by. This is called Biodiversity!

Year 4- Electricity and circuits

Mark the Science Man, delivered an engaging workshop all about electricity to our Year 4 class. The children learnt about the potential dangers of electricity and how to stay safe in different situations. They then put their knowledge into practice by creating their own circuits, which was a fantastic hands-on experience. It was a fun and informative session that really brought their learning to life!

Year 5-Stars and Space

Year 5 enjoyed a fantastic workshop on stars and space. The children learnt about different constellations and then created their very own constellation viewers to explore the night sky.

Year 6 Circulation and Heart Dissection

Year 6 had a wonderful afternoon dissecting hearts, learning all about how the heart and circulatory system works as well as how to keep our hearts healthy.

Crucial Crew

Year 6 had a trip to St Albans Firestation this week to participate in a Crucial Crew workshop where they learnt about how to keep safe in a variety of scenarios: fire safety, road safety, train safety, water safety, drugs and vaping awareness and mental health awareness.

Irock Concert, Tuesday 17th March 2026

On Tuesday the Irockers entertained the crowds with their music and enthusiasm. The children absolutely love their Irock concert and get very excited about showing their skills. It is one of the teachers most anticipated assemblies as we love to see and hear how the children have developed their skills.

Red Nose Day Celebration

This year’s Red Nose Day theme is “Take Yourself Funny for Money.” Throughout the day, our School Council delighted everyone by sharing their class jokes over the school tannoy. It was also wonderful to see so many children dressed in red in support of Comic Relief, helping to raise money. The children watched a video to learn more about how the money raised makes a difference and supports those in need. Thank you for your generous donations. So far, we have raised £303.50.

It is not too late to make a donation which will go directly to Comic Relief - you can do this via the 'store' function at the bottom of your MCAS app. Thank you for your support. 

Grow your Dough Week 3

'Grow your Dough' finishes on Thursday, 26^th MARCH so we are entering into the last few days and there is no let-up in the amazing and enterprising ways the children and parents are coming up with to grow their £2.26  We have had this week cake sales, a staff sandwich shop, friendship bracelets, book sales and brownie stalls...

NEXT week, is the final push to Grow your Dough. 

To make your final payment to FoHA, you can either make a BACs transfer or bag up your cash and include a note stating how much was raised, who raised it, and how it was raised. Please contact the school office for FoHA's bank details if you would prefer to make a bank transfer. 

Mrs Davies will be creating a display in the entrance foyer over Easter to showcase all the wonderful ideas. If you have any photos of your child’s fundraising activity that you haven’t yet shared, please email them to the school office. If you have already sent photos, there is no need to resend them – they will be included.We are extremely grateful for every penny raised. Once all funds have been collected and counted, we will share the grand total. The money raised will directly benefit the children.

If your child has been unable to grow their dough, please don’t worry. Simply return the original £2.26 in the envelope provided to the school office, who are keeping track of returned funds.

Thank you once again for your support and enthusiasm.

Easter service on Tuesday 24^th March

Just a quick reminder that our Easter service is at St Nicholas' Church on Tuesday, 24^th March at 2.00pm. Can I remind parents if they can bring in a long-stemmed flower such as daffodils/ tulips/ roses/ lilies/ gerberas/ on that day as we will be using them as part of our Easter service. There will be buckets at the entrances to the school on Tuesday for the children to leave their flowers in. Thank you and I hope that we will see many of you there.

Clubs

Clubs went live to parents on Wednesday of this week. If there are still spaces on the clubs then parents can sign up via MCAS. All details for clubs can be found on our school club page. 

Both Contractors for netball club (Wednesdays after school Year 5 and Year 5) and Traffic Lights Performing Arts (Year 1-Year 6) have sent us their flyers to encourage further sign up to their clubs. Netball has 5 further places available. 

Traffic Lights

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

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:- Gurfateh D (Yr6)

 

Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies

Please click here to view our Scholars' Education Trust vacancies