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Friday 11th May 2018

I say 'afternoon' but it is in fact 7.05am on Friday morning; I envisage a particularly busy day ahead and thought it best to grab a few minutes for eNews-writing prior to heading to Test Valley School for the Andover and Area Secondary Headteachers meeting.

Annual Parent Survey
Thank you to all those parents who have responded to our annual questionnaire. We have had an excellent response. I will share the headlines with you in the next few weeks. The information will be discussed at Senior Team Meetings, and Governors' Committee Meetings and will form the basis of the next School Improvement Plan 2018-2019.

Assemblies
​8JCM did a fantastic Assembly all about the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. A lot of hard work and effort went into producing a video all about it. Mr Carter, Year Leader for Year 8 said it was the funniest Tutor Assembly he had ever witnessed, but also very informative. Very clever - well done 8JCM.

9RKS updated the Year Group on the impact of littering the planet, inspired by 'The Blue Planet'. Discussion included the current issues, what we at Harrow Way could do about it, and some great ideas shared from the audience, including a tutor litter picking competition. The Year Group were left pondering over how they could reduce their materials usage in everyday activities, including packed meal wrappers and containers.

Teacher Development Trust Visit
Two years ago we gained a bronze award for our work on professional development with the Teacher Development Trust. On Thursday we underwent a rigorous self-analysis of its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provision to measure progress. The audit covered a wide range of areas including culture and well-being, processes, structures of CPD, and research, innovation and evidence.

The school is given a detailed report with breakdown of results and commentary from the assessor. We are hoping this time around for a Silver award – watch this space!

GCSE exams
GCSE exams get underway next week. The students have all worked so hard and the end is in sight – I do think that the students in Year 11 are in a pretty good place right now and should be confident of reaping the rewards of their considerable efforts.

One of the many things that makes Harrow Way such a great place to be is the dedication of my colleagues in supporting Year 11, who go above and beyond on so many occasions and in a multitude of ways. They give up their time willingly because they see the difference it makes to our young people.

'Be Ready', 'Be Respectful' Two of our three simple rules – A reminder:

Being ready is for us at this time, focussed around punctuality, equipment, having a 'can do' positive attitude and being visibly ready with appropriate uniform. We have unapologetically high standards at Harrow Way and a timely reminder at this point in the year is what I felt was needed for our students. This significantly reduces the need for any type of misunderstanding or confrontation along the lines of…'I didn't realise we weren't allowed to…' fill in the end of the sentence with multiple suggestions! This kind of misunderstanding detracts from our core purpose, to provide the best possible, highest quality educational experience for all our pupils to help them get great outcomes and progress to life beyond Harrow Way!

Being respectful focussed around kindness and good manners. Get both of these things consistently right and in my opinion, you cannot go far wrong in life! Sometimes it is easy to forget a simple please, thank you or good morning. Manners! Cost nothing and are worth so much as they say.

Litter
We have a huge number of bins yet some of our students seem to believe that it is the responsibility of others to pick up the litter that it is acceptable for them to drop. I've got to say it makes me very frustrated. We're looking into whether we need even more bins; different types of bins; whether we need to increase tutor group litter pick activities to encourage a sense of pride in the premises and environment in which we learn and work. It's a journey…but I would really like us to have significantly less litter in the coming months due to a proactive effort from us all. It would help reduce the unbelievably aggressive seagulls for a start!

The Aspire Defence Project
On Tuesday 1st May, a lucky and excited group of year 9 and 10 students were given an amazing opportunity to visit the Aspire Defence Project that is underway at Larkhill. We were privileged to meet Allan Thomson, Chief Executive and Governor at Harrow Way Community School who oversees the whole project for Aspire. Allan took time out to give the students a real insight into Aspire Defence, The Army Basing Programme and Construction careers. Following this Richard Tindal the Project Director took all of the students and staff on a guided tour of the project visiting an array of construction sites at the Larkhill Garrison. This included a visit to Purvis Lines build with a Q&A with contractors and engineers. Students were able to witness inside some of the new unoccupied state of the art quarters and bedrooms under construction and witness engineers preparing residential quarters in action.

Exciting careers in various aspects of construction, the girls and boys were able to gain a real insight in the various trades that worked on the site and the potential careers available for all. Finishing the morning visit, students were able to step into the main project office and have a chance to see plans and drawings being developed. At the very end, students were given a individual goody bag with some special reminders of their visit to Aspire. All in all, it was an amazing first hand opportunity to show Harrow Way students what amazing opportunities are available to them in the lifelong journey of learning.

Blood Brothers Trip
Over 200 students from years 10 & 11 watched Blood Brothers on stage at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on Wednesday. Blood Brothers, written by Willy Russell, is a key text in the GCSE English Literature syllabus. Seeing the play on stage allows students to get a better perspective and understanding of what they are learning in the classroom, which they can take through with them to the exam.

Plas Pencelli
Year 7 students are preparing for their residential visit to Plas Pencelli in the Brecon Beacons next week. We look forward to seeing their adventures on our Twitter feed.

Rounders results
A good start to the rounders season for our Year 9 team as they won again this week, beating Winton 15 ½ to 11 ½ . The Year 8 team also won, 17 ½ to 7 ½ making it 2 wins . Donna Doig and Faith Holman were players of the match for year 9 and Year 8 respectively.

Hampshire Music Service have the following activities calendared for the next term:

Hampshire World Music Festival - Sunday 13th May, 9.30am - 4.30pm, The Anvil, Basingstoke. More info...

Hampshire County Youth Wind Ensemble Open Day - Saturday 19th May, 10.15am - 2.30pm, Henry Beaufort School, Winchester. More info...

Deadline for county youth ensemble applications -31st May 2018. Apply here.

Jazz Composition Competition - Deadline for entries: 15th June. This project provides a fantastic opportunity for young composers to compose a piece of music inspired by one of the most memorable images of WW1. More info...

Guitar Festival - Saturday 16th June, The Wickham Centre, Wickham. Calling all young guitarists, soloists, bands and ensembles - young guitarists have a unique opportunity to improve their performance skills with a professional guitarist. More info...

These visits for 2017/18 have currently been agreed by the Headteacher. Others will be added throughout the year. There is no guarantee that they will all go ahead as this depends on student uptake. Further details on each visit will be given out to the year group/classes involved by the member of staff organising the visit.

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