17th April 2026
Dear Parents
Welcome back to the summer term and wow we have had a great start back.
Grow your Dough
FoHA have confirmed that the total amount of money raised through out “Grow Your Dough” initiative has reached the mind-boggling amount of £6167.38! I can’t quite believe it if I’m honest! This is a huge amount of money and I am beyond thrilled.
All the children have received a certificate to celebrate their outstanding contribution to our fundraising effort. Today the Mayor of Harpenden, Beth Fisher, visited Harpenden Academy to award some additional certificates to the children to acknowledge their incredible commitment and teamwork.
New Catering Company: Innovate
This week our new catering company, Innovate, started work at Harpenden Academy. They have made a terrific start, and we are keen for children to try the new menu. Every parent should have received an email detailing how to sign up for school meals so please contact the school office if you have not received your child's unique login details.
In the next few weeks, the company will be giving me a date for a Parent Taster Session, where parents can come and meet the caterers and try the food available to the children. It is very early days yet, but the children have so far been really positive around the quality and the taste of the new menu so fingers crossed that this will continue.
A polite reminder to cancel your child's meals if they are ill from school otherwise you may get charged and it also helps the kitchen to reduce any waste. Parents have until 8.55am each morning to amend their school dinner booking.
Please note that it is parent's responsibility to add any allergens or dietary requirements to SchoolGrid and all parents, who have children with allergies or dietary requirements should complete the online form below so that the catering company can collect and verify allergen and special dietary requirement information ensuring alignment between parental information and school records.
Innovate has said that only 1 parent has completed this form which was sent to parents before the Easter break. The allergy and dietary form needs to be completed for all dietary requirements so the catering team capture accurate and up to date information - for example they need to know if your child is Pescatarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, No Nut, No Kiwis, Gluten Free, No Diary, No Eggs, Halal etc..
Easter Egg Hunt
This year’s Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success, welcoming a record number of families with 600 advance tickets sold and a further 80 on the day. Children hopped along Harpenden Common, following the Easter Egg Trail and cracking clues before heading to Lourdes Hall to collect their well-earned treats from the Easter Bunny.
Alongside the trail, there was plenty to enjoy, including creative activities for older children, glitter tattoos, face painting, and the ever-popular bouncy castle. The Lego-themed bar offered a relaxed space for grown-ups while younger guests got creative, and a fantastic selection of savoury and sweet food kept everyone fuelled throughout the day.
We’re also delighted to share that the event raised an incredible £3,950 in support of the school.
A big thank you to everyone who helped make the event possible, from those involved in the organisation to the volunteers on the day. We are especially grateful to our parent and teacher volunteers, our incredibly talented bakers, the Easter Bunny, Traffic Light Arts, Platform Wines, Emilio’s, and our sponsor, Harpenden Building Society, for their support in making the event such a memorable occasion.
New Reception Children September 2026
Yesterday, Thursday 16th April, we officially received the Reception numbers for the forthcoming September intake into Ladybird class. We are thrilled to announce that we will be full in Reception next year. This is a huge achievement in a time when the birth rate in this area continues to fall and with other schools not being able to fill all their spaces in the first round. In a time when some schools are reducing their allocated numbers or combining classes, we are in a very favourable position to be and as a school we are delighted.
Summer Uniforms
I truly hope that the weather will improve soon so that the children can start to wear their summer uniform. I have included below pictures to show exactly what is summer uniform and what isn’t. FoHA have a really wide selection of preloved clothing so please enquire there first please before buying brand new. I would particularly like to draw to parents’ attention footwear. We are having a wide array of various shoes and trainers coming in to school at the moment - none of which are school uniform, along with any coloured PE shirt. As of next year, the new school PE top brought in this September, will be compulsory and this is available from Beats store in the town centre or Stevensons in St Albans.
All items can be obtained from the school suppliers:
SCHOOL UNIFORM PRELOVED, STEVENSONS, BEAT SCHOOL UNIFORMS
Co-Curricular Clubs and Teacher clubs start this week, w/c 20th April 2026
A reminder that clubs start this week. If your child is unable to attend the club then please inform the office so we can let the teachers know as they take a register and for safeguarding reasons we need to know.
The club information can be downloaded from the club page of our website. Clubs will run until Friday, 10th July 2026.
Please do not rely on these clubs as childcare as sometimes due to teacher commitments after school we need to cancel the club at relatively short notice. We will endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any cancellations.
Happy birthday this week to:- Omer D (Yr4), Fynlo G (Yr4), Jenna B (Yr5),Leanne Y (Yr6), Ellie M (Yr6), Sidhipriya B (Yr6),
Please click here to view our Harpenden Academy vacancies
Wrap Around Care Club Assistant Manager, 16.5 hours Term-Time, Monday to Thursday 3pm-6:30pm & Friday 3pm 5.30pm
Please click here to view our Scholars' Education Trust vacancies
BBC x Latitude Children's Poetry Competition
Now in its 3rd year, the BBC and Latitude Festival are giving children who go to your school, between the ages of 7 & 11, the chance to perform as the opening act at this year’s Latitude Festival.
We’re looking for 6 young people to write an original poem on the theme of ‘generations’ to open the festival on the Waterfront Stage and LIVE on the radio, across the East of England, on Thursday 23rd July.
I appreciate it’s Monday morning, but if you’re able to hang up a copy or two of the attached poster or include it in a newsletter and encourage parents to have a look at www.bbc.co.uk/latitudepoetry, I’d be very grateful to you.
Here are the important bits:
• Entries must be submitted by midday on Friday 24th April.
• The competition is open to children aged 7-11 years who live or go to school in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, or Suffolk.
• It must be an original poem of any length, up to 200 words, on the theme of 'generations'.
• One child will be chosen from each of the 6 BBC Local Radio stations in the east of England (Three Counties Radio, Essex, Radio Cambridgeshire, Radio Northamptonshire, Radio Norfolk & Radio Suffolk) and all 6 will get to perform their poem on stage with one over-all winner chosen from the six finalists.
• The six finalists will also receive a weekend family ticket to the festival.
Full terms, privacy notice and ‘how to enter’ can be found here
Please also find below the poster for the competition.
If you have any questions, please e-mail Jon Wright (jon.wright02@bbc.co.uk) who is the BBC’s contact for this competition.
Downloads
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