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Last night, we held our annual KS4 Presentation Evening, a wonderful celebration of the Class of 2025 and all they contributed to school life. It was a joy to welcome former students back and hear about their next steps. We could not be more proud of the young people they have become.

We reflected on the extraordinary journey this year group has taken. Covid disrupted their schooling in both Year 6 and Year 7, meaning their transition to Harrow Way was largely virtual. Their early experiences of secondary school were shaped by social distancing, hand sanitising and separated breaktimes, yet they persevered and overcame learning gaps. They also faced the profound loss of their friend, Ryan, last December—a tragedy that deeply affected our whole community. Their compassion and strength in supporting one another was remarkable. Ryan lives on in our memories and will always be part of the Harrow Way family.

This week’s assemblies on democracy have been a real highlight. Supported by Oscar-Bertie in Year 11, who was elected as the Deputy Youth Member of Parliament two years ago, Ms Blair spoke powerfully about the importance of having a voice. She encouraged students to consider applying for the newly created Youth Councillor role – one representative for every school in Hampshire. It was wonderful to hear how many information packs have already been collected, showing how our young people feel about making a positive difference.

For context, the new Youth Councillor elections form part of Hampshire Youth Parliament’s new approach to ensuring every young person in the county is represented. Each school should elect one councillor to serve a two-year term, having opportunities to influence real change. An exciting step forward!

Giving students a voice is important to me, and this week’s Student Council meeting reminded me once again why their input is so valuable. They held me to account on several issues, including the temporary toilets currently in place while refurbishments continue. I fully agree with their concerns and have already made our dissatisfaction clear to the supplier. The good news is that there is good progress on the girls’ toilets in Block B, the boys’ toilets in Block A, and the gym changing rooms. We look forward to seeing these spaces reopen.

We also discussed the recent Student Survey, particularly around school uniform. Students feel it is time for a refresh. While I like our current uniform, I understand their perspective. The world of work has evolved, and school uniforms can feel outdated. In addition, new Department for Education guidance comes into effect next September. While we already meet most of the expectations, a few adjustments may be needed. I wrote to parents of students in Years 7–10 earlier this week to gather views, and I am grateful for the more than 300 responses we have already received. Your feedback will play an important role in shaping our next steps. I am pleased that we can work together on this.

Finally, the Arctic air this week has made for some bitterly cold days. While the heating is on in school, students are still encouraged to get some fresh air at break and lunchtimes— please do remind them to bring a warm coat. I know many of you already do, and it never ceases to amaze me how young people can stroll around in shirt sleeves, seemingly immune to the temperature! A coat will make all the difference as winter sets in.

I wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Mrs Dawn German

All key dates for 2025-26 are also available on the website.

Assembly
Assemblies this week focused on the importance of diplomacy - putting your point across using respect and manners rather than anger and insults. Mrs Blair and Mrs Burningham introduced the Hampshire Youth Parliament Elections for 2025, when every school in Hampshire is invited to elect its own Youth Councillor.  During UK Parliament Week 24th -28th November there will be guidance for those who would like to apply for the role. The following week 1st - 5th December voting will be open for students to elect their chosen candidate. An ideal opportunity for us to practise diplomacy as a school community.

Harrow Way Christmas Fair

Friday 28th November, 3:30–5:30pm
Join us for the Harrow Way Christmas Fair on Friday 28th November from 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm in the school auditorium. Enjoy games, competitions, prizes, a BBQ, Santa’s Grotto, a Mario Kart tournament, a tombola, an assault course and more — all planned and run by our students.

Cash-Free Fair
The fair uses Jingles (50p each), available via Scopay until 3pm on Thursday 27th November. Jingles will be delivered to students via Tutors; undelivered ones can be collected from Reception.

Most stalls cost 1–2 Jingles. BBQ items cost slightly more. Entrance is free. Jingles can be bought on the door (cash or card). Minimum £5 spend on card.

Supporting Charities
All proceeds will go to the Harrow Way PTA and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

In order to gather prizes for our epic tombola, we are offering students the chance to ‘dress down’ for the day on Thursday 27th November. Students may ‘dress down’ their school uniform by wearing trainers, hoodies or jumpers (even Christmas jumpers if they are feeling festive!). 

In return, we are asking each year group to bring in a donation worth roughly £1 as follows:

Christmas Lunch 2025 -  Last Chance to Sign-Up!
We’re excited to celebrate the festive season with our annual School Christmas Lunch!

To sign up for the Year 7 Christmas Lunch follow this LINK

To sign up for the Year 8 Christmas Lunch follow this LINK

To sign up for Years 9, 10 &  11 Christmas Lunch follow this LINK.

DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER 2028.

Reminder for Students Signing Out
If your child needs to sign out of school for an appointment, please ensure that a note is written in their student diary for staff to see. If a note is not provided, this may cause a delay when signing your child out.

Year 9 Royal Signals Museum Trip
I am absolutely delighted to report on the outstanding success of the Year 9 trip to the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Forum Camp on Tuesday. 41 of our keenest Year 9 students participated in a truly dynamic and hands-on STEM experience.

The students were magnificent, showing fantastic engagement across all stations. They absolutely loved practising Morse code and competing in the Morse Code test winning prizes, quickly grasping the principles and history of the communication evolution. The cyber security briefing delivered by "real world" experts was incredibly informative and very scary, linking their digital lives directly to real-world threats and defensive strategies. The practical workshops in robotics and code-breaking challenges were definite highlights, encouraging brilliant teamwork and logical thinking. The hosting ex-soldiers of the Royal Corps of Signals were inspirational role models and so welcoming. At the end of the day we visited the brilliant museum which was both fascinating and very hands-on. Mr Carter.

Could your child be the Young Change-Maker of the Year?

Our students are making a difference in our community. Please support them to apply now for our 'Superkind: Young Changemaker of the Year' award and show how kindness is changing lives!

More details and how to Enter can be found HERE

Public Consultations
Transport and Post-16 Transport Policy Consultation

Resource Provision at Harrow Way School - Final Stages

Consultation on the future of Smannell and Enham Church of England Primary School

Community Events & Information Page
Stay in the know with what’s happening locally! Our Community Events page features family-friendly activities, free resources, Local Authority events, schemes, and support available for families, as well as other opportunities taking place in and around the local area. It’s updated regularly, making it easy to discover events and services that connect, inspire, and support our community.

You can find it HERE and it’s also linked at the bottom of the E-News every week—don’t miss out!

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

Year 11 students were spoken to in assembly this week about Youth Impact opportunities next summer. Click on the link to find out more and apply.

This week in Ways Forward, learn more about careers in engineering construction and theme park engineering.  There's a new Unifrog Talent Pool that Year 11 students who are searching for apprenticeships might be particularly interested in.

Would you like £500 to help you improve health and wellbeing in Hampshire? If so, please apply for Unloc's 2026 grants! Some of you might also like to enter the University of Oxford competitions that we tell you more about on page 4. Looking to the future, find out more about degree apprenticeships, and there's also a handy new guide to university for parents and carers.

The LRC is currently in full swing promoting and organising the Hampshire Youth Parliament elections. This is open to Years 7, 8 and 9. If your son or daughter is interested in running for election, they can find all they need to know at this website including a link to an election pack.  It is particularly important that they are aware of the commitment required. Mrs Blair, the Citizenship and Personal Development Lead, has run assemblies and a number of election packs have been issued to interested students.

This week, we are inviting candidates to share their official nomination form with us (available in the election pack) along with any other supporting material such as posters, slide presentations and speeches. The latter two should be no more than 2 minutes long.

There will be a display in the LRC for voters to read to inform their decision. Candidates may use the LRC at lunch to share their speech/their presentation and generally showcase their application - book in advance. Our existing representative will be holding 2 sessions next week to share his experience. From 1st December, student voting will take place in the LRC at break, lunch and after school. Candidate participation and student voting participation will be incentivised through the House point system.

Coincidentally, it is also UK Parliament Week so there will be a display about how our Government works.

Spectators’ Code of Conduct and Procedure for Sporting Fixtures – Harrow Way School
A reminder to all visitors attending sporting events at Harrow Way School:
Sign In Required: All spectators must sign in at reception upon arrival and collect a Spectator Label.

Wear Your Label: Your label must be worn visibly at all times. Staff may politely challenge anyone not displaying a label.

Code of Conduct: The full Spectators’ Code of Conduct can be accessed HERE.

Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.

Year 9 and 10 Rugby V Wellington
On Thursday, the combined Year 9 and 10 rugby team hosted Wellington. It’s fair to say the boys weren’t at their best on this cold November evening, struggling to find rhythm and connection. Early inaccuracies — loose passing and a lack of support at the breakdown — allowed Wellington to build a commanding lead. The team went into the halftime break 19 points down.

However, a constructive discussion about retaining possession and simplifying play sparked a strong response after the restart. A powerful, determined carry from Mylo Street saw him break through multiple defenders to score Harrow Way’s first try. Soon after, Tom Webb added another following a spell of improved handling and forward momentum.
A late runaway try from Wellington extended their lead to 26–10, but despite being reduced to 14 men through injury, the Harrow Way boys finished the match with real intent. After sustained pressure in the closing stages, Will Webb dived over in the corner for their third try. Final score: 15–26.

Year 8 Football v Testbourne School
Harrow Way travelled to Testbourne School on a cold Tuesday evening with the aim of avenging an earlier 2-1 defeat in the home fixture.

Despite a determined performance and a dogged defensive display throughout, the visitors found chances hard to come by as Testbourne controlled much of the attacking play.

A goal in each half proved decisive, with Harrow Way working tirelessly to stay in the contest but unable to create the opportunities needed to turn the tide. Though the team showed resilience and commitment, it was the hosts who ultimately finished as deserved winners on the night.

Year 10 Football v The Clere Year 11’s - Harrow Way 8 - 3 The Clere
Another week and another fixture for our Year 10 football team. Due to issues with player availability, the game was reduced to 9v9, which meant higher intensity and work from our boys. The game was tight to begin with, until a corner came in from the left which was headed home by Mo Barahmeh. It quickly became 2-0 and Mo doubled his account for the day, striking the ball nicely into the far corner. The Clere got a goal back to halve the deficit, but Marley Jones extended the lead again after a nice move. Again, The Clere fought back and kept themselves in the game with a nice strike into the corner, but Harrow Way responded well again, when Dougie Bain hit a nice strike from outside the box. 4-2 at half time with the boys playing well.

In the second half, with fatigue setting in, the game started to open up. Mo Barahmeh secured his hattrick with a nice volley on his left foot to make it 5-2. The Clere got another one back to make sure Harrow Way didn’t get carried away, with a nice finish past Arthur Andrews. Neyo Furtado, on his return to the team, got two quick goals for the home side, to put the game beyond doubt. Dougie Bain got the eighth and final goal of the game, with the very last kick to round off a great performance from the boys. One final game to go this season and the boys will be looking to secure an unbeaten season, alongside a league title.

Year 9 Netball
The Year 9 A and B teams had a thoroughly successful afternoon on Wednesday, despite the unpleasantly cold conditions.

The A team, coming off the back of a disappointing result against JH A last week, put that well and truly behind them against John Hanson B. From a steady first quarter, the team forged ahead in the second and never looked back. Slick passing from Ivy, Laila, Alexia and Ruby N through the centre of the court and consistent shooting from Ruby C and Sophie led to a final whistle victory of 26-5. Players of the match were Ruby C and Nicole.

The B team were down a few players this week so were very grateful for the assistance of year 8’s Poppy, Darcie and Izzy against a tough Rookwood team. Through the first three quarters the scores were tight, with Harrow Way only ever leading by a maximum of 2 goals.

Going into the final quarter the team were needing to maintain their focus and quality in passing to secure a victory.  They did just that. Isla, making her debut for the team, made a number of important interceptions as GD, regaining possession and providing attacking opportunities. Erika, Poppy and Ivana linked up well through the centre and the goals flowed a little more freely. With three more games for the 9B’s still to play, hopefully this is the start of things to come!
Final score 10-4. Player of the Match - Erika. Coach’s -  PoM Isla and Ivana.

Primary Sports Festival Report – New Age Kurling & Boccia
We were delighted to welcome 64 enthusiastic students to our Primary Sports Festival, where they took part in an exciting New Age Kurling and Boccia tournament. With schools playing against each other in a friendly round-robin format, the festival was full of teamwork, determination, and plenty of smiles. The atmosphere throughout the event was fantastic, with pupils showing great sportsmanship and encouraging one another in every game.

A special mention must go to our Sports Leaders, who helped run the festival. Their leadership, organisation, and positivity made the event run smoothly from start to finish. They were truly fantastic and played a huge part in creating such a welcoming and enjoyable experience for all participants.

Overall, it was a brilliant day of competition, fun, and new friendships. We can’t wait to host the next festival on 9th December!

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

For local community events and information, please click the button below:

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