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Friday 20th April 2018

With this lovely weather, it has felt like we've all had something of a spring in our step this week. The two-week break is truly felt, and it is an opportunity to, not only rest up but to do some things which can and should distract us all from our daily work. This allows us all to refresh more completely. As a consequence we can come back to school with a little more bounce and vigour: be that the adults or the students.

The theme of this week's assemblies was Reflections on Spring and Fresh Starts. We explored with Year 11 on how little time they now have and thinking carefully about revision and preparation in the lead up to exams. In Year 7-10 we reminded ourselves of what we believe in as a school and issued a few reminders on rules for the summer term. You can see my assembly presentation here. We used the example of England's netballers who stunned overwhelming favourites Australia. The Roses, having reached their first major final, claimed gold with a 52-51 victory against the hosts. You can watch the final exciting moments here.

The team had an excellent attitude, and within the school I emphasised a great attitude to learning is a clear 'Barometer for Success' at Harrow Way.

Year 11 have returned well this term showing focus as they begin the final run in to the exams. Monday 23rd will see the final English Language mock exam, French and Spanish Speaking Exams are on Wednesday and Thursday 2nd/3rd May and the real written GCSEs start in three weeks.

The students will be given their exam preparation timetable on Monday, which details where they need to be in order to be best prepared for their exams. Study leave no longer exists and students will therefore continue to attend school as per the timetable throughout the exam period. We will publish the timetable on Monday for all to view.

Link to the Summer 2018 exam timetable on our website.

Our TA team have been supporting a group of Year 11 students with revision and memory techniques during some tutor sessions this week. This will continue until the GCSE examinations begin. We have also introduced a new intervention for Year 11 with the aim of reducing anxiety and exam stress. Our Mindfulness sessions take place on a Friday morning.

New GCSEs
You will all be aware that GCSEs in England are changing. The courses and exams are changing to ensure that young people have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century. The new GCSEs ensure that students leave school better prepared for work or further study. They cover more challenging content and are designed to match standards in the strongest performing education systems elsewhere in the world. The first exams in new English language, English literature and maths GCSEs were sat last year in the summer of 2017 and the rest of the new GCSEs will be rolled out over the next three years. Ofqual have just updated the guide for parents. Do have a read through.

Twilight INSET
On Wednesday evening staff spent some time sharing their ideas and progress with Year 7 curriculum planning. In addition we shared our progress so far with using retrieval practice. This is an evidence based strategy that will enable our students to memorise and recall information, essential for GCSE and in life-long learning.

Indian Theme Day - HC3S
Staff and students enjoyed the Indian cuisine yesterday. Later this term the dining room will be offering Italian, Chinese and American style menus. We'll keep you posted.

Parent Progress View
A reminder that our new online parental engagement platform, Parent Progress View, is available for parents to request access. This 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.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Assembly
Year 9s welcomed Stephen Bennett, from Andover Baptist Church, who offered 28 places for the Bronze award (on a first come, first serve basis). This is a great opportunity from a centre who have been offering the Bronze, Silver and Gold Award locally for the last 8 years, with great success. Information letters were issued to those showing initial interest. For those still interested, please pick a letter up from Mr Cade or email: stephen.bennett@rathbones.com for more information.

Year 8 Curriculum Evening and 1 to 1 Appointments
Next week Year 8 students will be given their Pathways Booklet and details of the Curriculum Evening on 30th April and individual appointments with senior teachers on 2nd and 3rd May to discuss subject choices in Year 9.

Road Safety - Headphones
Do please remind your child that if they are walking to and from school they should take care and be aware of other road users. Using headphones can cut out traffic noise and it is all too easy to 'zone out' when listening to music.

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

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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