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We talk a great deal to our students about the importance of community and this includes a strong focus on charity - supporting others who are less fortunate than ourselves.

 

Last Saturday, our site manager and one of our site team, Ryan,  took on the late-night ‘10@10’ walk in support of our local hospice, The Countess of Brecknock—and they smashed it! Even Milo (our school cat) turned out to support them. Coming in 2nd place (just like last year), they showed fantastic spirit and stamina, all while raising vital funds for such an important cause.

 

Harrow Way proudly supports this event each year by offering our site and facilities to the hospice free of charge, giving them a strong base for this brilliantly organised fundraiser and helping them raise even more for the community they serve. A huge well done to everyone involved!

Today, as part of our role as a Champion School for Simon Says—a local charity supporting young people through bereavement—we held a fundraising event. Our school community continues to feel the impact of a profound loss at Christmas, but I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many other families within our community who have experienced the death of a loved one and quietly “carry on” each day. 

This academic year, we have sadly lost two former students in addition to one of our current students. We remember them all. As I have said to our students: once you are part of Harrow Way, you are always part of Harrow Way. It is fitting, therefore, that as well as Ryan Marshall, we remember Pranisha Gurung and, more recently, Taylor Connors, who tragically lost his life in a recent motorbike accident on the A30. Naturally, our students welcomed the chance to take part in a relaxed uniform day, and I am pleased to share that we have raised a fantastic amount to help Simon Says continue their vital work.

While our students show generosity and compassion through their fundraising efforts, behind the scenes we are also working hard to protect the future of education funding. Today, the Chair of Governors and I met with our local MP to discuss the growing financial pressures facing school leaders.

I am determined to continue providing the best possible education for our students, but this is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of rising costs and year-on-year real-terms funding cuts.

 

While national figures suggest increased investment in education, these do not reflect the actual cost of running a school—particularly when factoring in inflation and significantly higher utility bills. We have already made substantial efficiency savings, but there is a limit to how far these can go. I’m pleased to say the meeting was positive, and our MP has agreed to raise our concerns directly with the Secretary of State for Education.

I wish you all a restful weekend,
Mrs Dawn German

All key dates for 2024-25 are also available on the website.

Assemblies This Week
Assemblies this week focused on Respect. Mr Reed spoke to the students about how, even though the rules for staff and students are not the same and the ways that they show respect are different, it is important that everyone in the school shows Kind Regards to every other member of the school community. With over 1100 members of our school community, no-one will be friends with every single person here. But every single one of us should show all of the others respect.

Sponsored Walk
We’re excited to announce that on Friday 4th July, 600 of our Year 7, 8 and 9 students will be taking part in an amazing 16km sponsored walk to raise money for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance! Our students have chosen this charity in recognition of HIOWAA’s efforts when we sadly lost one of our students earlier in the year.

It is also a fantastic chance for students to challenge themselves, support a great cause, and enjoy time with their tutor groups. Pupils should wear their PE kit, comfortable walking shoes, bring a backpack with lunch, snacks, plenty of water, suncream, sunglasses, and a hat. Let’s make a difference together - donations can be made via our JustGiving page.  

Staying Hydrated in the Warm Weather 
With the recent warm weather, we kindly ask all students to bring a reusable water bottle to school each day. Bottles can be refilled during break and lunchtime using the available water stations. Staying hydrated is especially important during hot weather to support focus, wellbeing, and overall health. Thank you for your support. 

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme

Hampshire County Council is inviting families with children in receipt of free school meals to apply for a voucher for Andover Leisure Centre. This voucher provides:

This offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and the deadline for applications is 8 July.

Families can apply using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/7GangGXHQb

New Intake Notices - Year 7 September 2025

New Year 7 Induction Day and Welcome Evening
We’re really looking forward to welcoming our rising Year 7 students on Tuesday 1st July for their first taste of secondary school life. During the day, they’ll have the chance to meet their tutors, work alongside our senior prefects, and take part in sample lessons to help them feel confident and excited about September. Please remember that students should wear their current primary school uniform, bring a pencil case which should include a pen, pencil, ruler and rubber, bring a bottle of water, a snack and, of course, their best smiles! We hope they have a fantastic day.

In the evening, we’re also delighted to be welcoming parents and carers for an information session. This will be an opportunity to learn more about our school, meet key members of staff, and feel fully prepared for the transition to secondary school.  The LRC will be open all evening to help parents if they have any queries regarding the MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) App . Children do not need to attend in the evening.

Year 6 Welcome Disco
Venue - Harrow Way Community School
Date - Wednesday 2nd July 2025
Timings - 6.00 - 7.30pm
Cost - £2.00 on the evening
Parents to drop off at the school's main reception and collect from the covered area at the side of the auditorium.  Complete this FORM if you would like your child to attend

Admission Form for September 2025
Please remember to sign up for My Child At School (MCAS) and complete your admissions form, details of how to do this were supplied in the Welcome Pack sent to you last week. Thank you.

Year 11 Notices

Year 11 Exam Results Day – Thursday 21st August 2025
We will be distributing Year 11 exam result slips on Thursday 21st August, between 10:00am and 12:00 midday, in the auditorium.

The Maths Department would be very grateful if any Year 11 students are willing to donate their scientific calculator in exchange for a bar of chocolate on results day! While some of you may need your calculator for Further Maths or A-levels, many will no longer have much use for it. 

Donating your calculator to the school on results day helps future students – and you get chocolate in return, which is surely more fun! Thank you in advance for your generosity and see you on results day!

Request for Pre-Loved Year 11 Uniform
As your child is ending their Harrow Way journey, the PTFA would like to wish them the best of luck in everything they do. We would like to thank you, the parents, for your support towards the PTFA over the last few years.

We are kindly requesting, if it is possible, that you consider donating pre-loved uniform and PE kit to the thrift shop. We have found the thrift shop to be increasingly popular and our supplies are low. Ideally we would like: blazers, skirts, ties and PE kits.

To donate, simply drop in uniform at reception (don’t worry about washing or missing buttons etc. we will take care of that). Alternatively, your child can drop the uniform directly into Mrs Bain’s room B004. The PTFA are also planning to have ‘drop-zones’ after the students’ last exams.

Thank you for your support with this. HWPTFA

Year 11 - Important Prom Evening Travel Information
We are very much looking forward to welcoming our Year 11 students to the upcoming Prom Evening — a special occasion to celebrate the end of the academic year.

Please be aware that Portway School will also be hosting its Summer Fête on the same evening, which is likely to attract a high number of visitors. As a result, traffic along Upper Drove is expected to be particularly heavy.

To help ensure a smooth and enjoyable arrival for all prom attendees, we kindly ask that transport to the prom avoids Upper Drove where possible. We encourage you to consider alternative routes or drop-off points to help ease congestion in the area.

Thank you for your understanding and support in helping the evening run safely and smoothly.

Ways Forward - our weekly newsletter for Careers, Apprenticeship, College, Work and Work Experience.

Every week, we try to pull together all the best local and national information about those subjects to help students think about next steps and career paths after they leave school. This week, find out about a career as a set designer, technician careers, railway careers, logistics, and careers in sport and physical activity.

This week we marked World Music Day with fiction and information books and a student voice activity where students named their favourite artist/bands/tracks and their favourite genre. Great to see a wide mix - some as far back as the 80's!

Representation in middle grade and young adult fiction is our objective this year so this week the spotlight has been on disability, illness and body image. Disability being one of the 9 Protected Characteristics aimed at creating awareness as well as building empathy and understanding.

National Book Tokens are running their funding scheme for school libraries currently and we would be pleased if you could nominate us here. Scroll down to nominate a school and then there are 2 actions only to complete. Many thanks.

Junior District Athletics – Year 7 & 8
On Tuesday, our Year 7 and 8 athletics squads travelled to Charlton Track to compete in the Junior District Athletics Championships. As always, the competition was fierce, but our students rose to the occasion with determination, effort, and enthusiasm in every event.

There were outstanding performances across both year groups:

All athletes who achieved 1st or 2nd place have qualified for the Andover Schools Team and will represent us at the County Championships on Tuesday 8th July at Winchester University Track.  A huge congratulations to all our athletes for their incredible effort, sportsmanship, and team spirit. We’re proud of you all!

Oak National Academy
On Wednesday and Thursday a team from PE Scholar were in school filming Key Stage 3 athletics for Oak National Academy. Oak National Academy is a government-funded online platform that provides free, high-quality, adaptable digital curriculum resources for teachers and schools in England. The students involved were excellent, working very professionally to provide 12 week units of athletics lessons for Year 7 and 8.

Year 7 Rounders Tournament
On Tuesday, the Year 7 rounders team travelled to John Hanson for the district rounders tournament. The girls were a mix of excited and nervous, ready to take on their first competitive matches of the year.

Our first match was against Winton, and it was a great success. The girls batted brilliantly and showed real confidence in their fielding. We secured our first win with a score of 9.5–6.
Next up was Rookwood, which proved to be a tougher challenge. The girls struggled to find their rhythm while batting and only managed to score 3.5 rounders to Rookwood’s 5 – our first loss of the tournament.

Determined to bounce back, we headed into our third match against Testbourne – and it was a roaring success! Our fielding was outstanding, and we managed to get 6 of the Testbourne batters out. Once again, our batting was confident, with some powerful hits that really tested the opposition. We won that match 11-5.

Our final match was against the hosts, John Hanson. We knew this was going to be a tough game. Batting first, we found it difficult to score full rounders and ended with 4.5, as John Hanson’s excellent fielding left little room for error. Then it was their turn to bat. After a quick team talk to refocus on our fielding tactics, the girls went out with determination. Their focus and hard work paid off – we managed to hold John Hanson back, we got 6 of their batters out and the game finished 4.5–2.5 in our favour.

After a tense wait for the final scores to be calculated, the results were in – Harrow Way had WON the district rounders tournament!

It was a well-deserved victory after such excellent gameplay. A huge well done to the girls – everyone in the PE department is incredibly proud of you all!

Year 7 and 8 Cricket
Our Year 7 and 8 cricketers had their 6-a-side tournament at John Hanson this week. For some of our players, it was their first taste of a competitive cricket game, and the experience was valuable for them. Unfortunately, the boys weren’t able to get a win on the board, but stayed positive throughout the day. There were some highlights though, with Callum Green taking the first wicket of the day against John Hanson, and Ethan Brown with a great batting innings, retiring on 20 runs against Danebury. Well done to the 8 boys that were involved!

Primary Rounders Festival
Reception pupils came to Harrow Way on Tuesday and enjoyed an action-packed sports morning as they took part in a round robin of fun and energetic activities designed to introduce them to the sport of rounders. For many of the children, it was their first time ever hearing about or playing the game—but that didn’t stop them from giving it their all!

The session focused on developing key skills such as throwing, batting, and fielding, with each activity tailored to help build confidence and coordination. The children were quick learners, especially showing fantastic promise with the bat—sending the ball flying and impressing everyone with their enthusiasm and energy.

To round off the session, the children took part in some exciting mini games, putting their new skills to the test in a fun, supportive environment. The joy and excitement on their faces said it all—they had a brilliant time and couldn’t wait to play again!

Check out the latest news, fundraising initiatives and upcoming events from the PTA here - harrowwaypta.charityhive.co.uk

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Harrow Way Community School,
Harrow Way,
Andover,
Hampshire.
SP10 3RH