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Positive start
As we approach half-term I thought this would be a good opportunity to share with you the very pleasing, positive and productive start the students have made this academic year. Our current Year 11 have really impressed us with their mature approach to school; attitudes to learning have been very good and students already seem willing to take responsibility for their learning and are working purposefully towards their aspirational target grades. An up to date ‘data snapshot’ will be sent out after half term and your support with celebrating successes and discussing areas for improvement is always very valued.
We have been delighted with the way our new Year 7 pupils have taken to life at secondary school. While the move from primary to secondary school can be a nerve-wracking time for students and families, Harrow Way makes every effort to help our newest students feel comfortable and confident in their new school.
Over the last half term, there has been lots going on to help Year 7s build new friendships, familiarise themselves with the building and take advantage of the opportunities available in the school.
Letter from Kit Malthouse MP
We were very pleased to receive a letter from our MP, Kit Malthouse, congratulating the Geography Department on their recent Geography Quality Mark Award.
Assemblies
Special celebration assemblies were held this week to reward students who have achieved this half-term in different ways. For example, Year 8’s assembly celebrated and rewarded the 107 students in the year group who had zero behaviour points so far this year. Lucy Sullivan’s gymnastic success (see our Twitter feed!) gave staff goosebumps and the year group were really proud of her. Ellie Kew’s lovely singing just topped it off.
Teacher Training at Harrow Way
We welcomed 30 Trainee Teachers from the Hampshire LEARN SCITT Partnership to Harrow Way today. Caroline Lowing, Deputy Headteacher with other Harrow Way teachers, have given them a full day's immersion in our ethos and teaching practices.
Year 11 Mock Examinations
The Year 11 mock exams for English and Maths take place during the week of 13th November. Please follow this link for the full timetable. In order to give students and staff a clear idea of where focus and support may be needed it is important that students revise fully for these exams alongside the preparation that students will be doing in class.
It is important that students remind themselves of the topics that they have been studying in Maths up to this point and focus on the poetry anthology and the play 'Othello' for English.
ASCL Conference
On Wednesday I attended the ASCL Regional Conference in London. These annual conferences are an essential event in all school leaders’ diaries. The updates included:
- national education policy
- post-16 policy
- qualifications, curriculum and assessment
- primary assessment
- funding
- inspections
- accountability measures, data and performance tables
- pay and conditions
Pride of Andover Awards
I was delighted to go along to the Pride of Andover awards with Allan Thomson one of our governors who is also Chief Executive – Aspire Defence. Aspire Defence were sponsoring one of the awards. The Pride of Andover Awards makes sure we all know about our town’s unsung heroes; the people who make such a big difference to so many lives but who are so often ‘just getting on with it’. With a range of different categories, the awards honour outstanding citizens in the local community as a way of saying ‘thank you’ from everyone living or working in Andover and the surrounding villages. This year's awards were presented by Katie Piper, an ex Harrow Way Student!
Educational Visits
Our footballers are looking forward to their Barcelona tour over the half-term holiday; playing matches and seeing plenty of football related sights are on the agenda.
Governor Vacancy
We currently have a vacancy for a Co-Opted Governor. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real contribution to our very successful and rapidly growing school community. We are looking for someone with the commitment to improving education for all students and to the school's vision and ethos. Please follow this link for more information and to request an application form. The deadline for applications is today.
Sporting Results
Our Year 10 football team have had a busy fixture list. You can read their match reports here.
Gymnast Libby West was also competing with Lucy Sullivan at Sheffield last weekend and you see both girl’s final tumbling runs here. Lucy achieved joint first place and Libby placed a very close third.
Whole School Photograph 16th Oct - 50th Anniversary
It looked like touch and go for a moment with Storm Ophelia threatening to affect our plans but in the end we successfully took our whole school photograph on Monday morning and we are now waiting to see the final result. It was great to see the whole school community of staff and students gathered in one place and that the storms and eerie red sky held off until we were finished. We will publish the viewing link as soon as this is available as well as purchasing options. We took a few set-up shots...
It was a big week for photography and filming as Year 7 also took part in a special assembly this week to record a short film to celebrate our 50th anniversary.
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