Harrow Way ENEWS

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Friday 16th March 2018

Good afternoon,

SIMS Learning Gateway and New Parent Portal
We are pleased to announce the trial launch of a new online parental engagement platform. Parent Progress View provides access to the same annual reports, behaviour / achievement detail and school attendance information as SIMS Learning Gateway, but addresses some of its limitations - including full support for mobile devices and self-service password resets.


Parent Progress View is now part of our existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and parents are welcome to request an account by completing the 'Parent Progress View Signup' form on our school website under the 'Parents' banner.


SIMS Learning Gateway will remain available as normal for the time being, however we encourage any parents who experience issues with SLG to request a Parent Progress View account.


BBC News Report
Every year, the BBC run an initiative called School Report, which gives students the opportunity to make the news. Our Year 7 students wanted to get involved this year. Ably led by Dmitrijs Meiksans, the team met on several occasions to plan news reports and brainstorm creative ideas on how to present their information. The project provided resources to teach students how to research as journalists, how to find trusted sources and how to film high quality video with a smartphone.


Whilst this is an on-going project, the BBC showcase the work of School Reporters across BBC programmes in the UK on News Day which was Thursday, 15 March this year. We uploaded three reports to our website that linked to the BBC via their interactive map. As a result our news is accessible to a worldwide BBC audience. You can find the three videos created by our team on our website: Curriculum > BBC Report.


Congratulations to all involved and we look forward to further reports and articles in the coming months.


Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Annual Award
A select group of Harrow Way students accompanied Wendy Davis from Andover Trees United to the Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots Annual Awards last Friday. We are delighted to inform you that 'due to enthusiasm and engagement and ability to talk about their work today' the Most Outstanding Group in touch with Nature Award was awarded to our students. This award was sponsored by Kew Gardens' Grow Wild programme and the prize will be a visit to Kew Gardens and the world's largest fungarium. You can find out more information and pictures here.


Year 9 Curriculum Information Evening and Year 8 Parents Evening
A reminder to Year 9 parents that Monday's Curriculum Information Evening, starting at 6.00 pm, is an important opportunity to discuss the final subject choices that your child will select with subject staff. Your child should have brought home a Pathways booklet and a letter giving a date and time for your individual meeting with a member of the Senior Team.


Year 8 Parents now have access to the online booking system to make appointments for the Parents Evening on Monday 26th March. Full details have been emailed to parents.


Prefect Training
Mr Reed, Mrs Woods and Mrs McCullough took our new Year 10 prefects to Norman Court on Wednesday for Harrow Way specific training, team building and a workshop on communication skills with external trainers from Lloyds Banking Group. They also took part in team-building sessions in the grounds, choosing between bushcraft and orienteering. They are now ready to take over prefect duties after the Easter break.


Assemblies
This week the school learned about what Islamophobia is, the two main types and an example in the UK. It was explained to students that it is a fear or hatred of Muslims or Islam and that it can be 'non-Muslim to Muslim or (more rarely) Muslim to Muslim. It was explained that Christianity has experienced this during the Reformation in the 16th century; Catholics and Protestants.


The 2 main groups of Muslims was explained; Sunni (80% of the world), Shi'a (19.7% of the world) and the less known Ahmadiya (0.3%). Ahmadiya's suffer enormously in other countries and the assembly focused on the case of Asad Shah, an Ahmadiya who fled Pakistan after being persecuted. He came to Scotland and lived here and was then brutally murdered by a Sunni Muslim who objected to his faith.


Students were left with a quote by Albert Camus 'democracy is not the law of the majority, but the protection of the minority'.


Sporting Achievements
Harrow Way Year 7 and 8 netball teams played Winton on the afternoon of 13th March. Strong performances by both teams resulted in victory. Year 7 won 12-3, player of the match was Emily Phillips Strudwick. Year 8 won 12-2. Players' player of the match was Traci-Ann Henry, Coach's player of the match was Sophie Cole.


Congratulations to Lucie Davies who competed in three different dog obedience categories at Crufts last week. She achieved a 5th and 1st in her age categories and a 6th place in an adult category.


Business Studies Market Place
Staff and parents were invited to the Year 10 Business Studies Market Place on Tuesday. Students had to research, produce, market and sell their ideas to a discerning buying public. On offer were home made smoothies, bookmarks, candles, bath bombs, stress balls, Lego kits and dog treats, with games and raffles also available to tempt us.


Scholastic Book Fair
Following on from last year's success, we are holding a Scholastic Book Fair from 21st to 26th March in the Library. Stationery, posters and books will be on sale from 50p. Cash only. Sales equal points for new books for our library from Scholastic so we hope many students will be able to join in with the fair.


Bunting World Record Attempt
We have an exciting opportunity to support the Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in attempting to break a 'Guinness World Record' for the largest string of bunting and we would like all Year 7 students to participate. Your Year 7 student will have brought this letter home, and the Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services information on the project can be read here.


Hampshire County Youth Music Ensembles
For those interested, auditions for the various Hampshire County Youth Music Ensembles are being held next term, including voice. Details of dates and requirements can be found here.


and finally...
This week we had the very sad news that world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking had died at the age of 76. The British scientist was famed for his work with black holes and relativity, and wrote several popular science books including A Brief History of Time. At the age of 22 Prof Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease. The illness left him in a wheelchair and largely unable to speak except through a voice synthesiser. I still remember his 2012 Paralympics speech that was so powerful.


"The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world. We are all different, there is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit. What is important is that we have the ability to create. This creativity can take many forms, from physical achievement to theoretical physics. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at." A powerful message for all our Harrow Way Community!


Hampshire Parent Carer Network
Parent Carer Network

A get together and friendly chat for parents/carers of children or young persons with special educational needs and/or disabilities.


The event will be held on the 19th March 2018, 9.30 - 11.30am, at King Arthur's Hall, King Arthur's Way. All welcome.


 
Calendar
March 2018

Monday 19th March
6.30pm Year 9 Curriculum Evening


Tuesday 20th March
Yr 9 football @home v Testbourne
3-4pm House Kahoot Competition


Wednesday 21st March
SLT Year 9 Option Appointments
Drama Trip to The Lights Theatre


Thursday 22nd March
SLT Year 9 Option Appointments
Zone 11 - PE


Would You Like More Support with Your Teen?

The Talking Teens Parent Group are offering helpful sessions between 19th April - 10th May. Please click here for a link to more information.

Planned School Trips for 2018

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.

School Trips
Working with Children
Early Years Educator

If you are interested in a career working with young children, Peter Symonds College Adult and Higher Education are running a full time pathway course, for those aged 16 – 18 who are working or volunteering in an early years setting.

There is an Open Evening event taking place on the 28th March, 4.30pm – 7.00pm. For more information see here.

 
SEND Information Day
SEND Information Day

Support4SEND, Parent Voice and Hampshire Parent Carer Network (HPCN) are pleased to announce that their next SEND Information Day will be held on Saturday 24 March 2018, from 10.00am to 3.00pm, at Noadswood School, Dibden Purlieu SO45 4ZF.

Information about the organisers can be found via their websites: www.hants.gov.uk/support4send, www.parentvoice.info, www.hpcn.org.uk

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