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Friday 25th June 2021

It's Coming Home!
I am sure like me you have been watching the football over the last few weeks. Euro 2020 (in 2021) gives us all a chance to share in something special, something that brings us all together. We can hope together, celebrate together, enjoy together. If necessary, we can commiserate together. But after what everyone has been through over the past year and a half, I hope that the next few weeks gives us moments to celebrate. The quote from Gary Lineker did make me smile "Football is a simple game - twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."

Thank A Teacher Day
I know Wednesday was 'Thank A Teacher Day' but I'd like to say 'Thank you' to every single member of staff at Harrow Way for all you have done and continue to do. Our amazing teachers and support staff who work so hard to provide the best possible opportunities for the wonderful students at Harrow Way - they are all very much appreciated.

End of Term Dates
Monday 5th July - INSET Day
Friday 23rd July, 12.45pm - Last day of term

Start of Term Dates for September
Thursday 2nd September - INSET Day
Friday 3rd September - Year 7 Only
Monday 6th September - Year 7 and 11 only
Tuesday 7th September - Whole School Returns

Year 11 Teacher Assessments
After many hours of marking, moderating and collecting data the Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGS) for our Year 11 students were submitted last Friday. I am so proud of our students who have faced this change in their assessment practice responsibly and respectfully. I am also incredibly impressed with the staff who have worked hard to ensure that each student receives the grade they deserve this summer to support their progression to further education or training. A special mention must go to our fabulous Exam Officer, Mrs Cook, who has been a superstar throughout the last few months.

Friday 2nd July – Dress Down Day

Next Friday will be a dress down day. Students can pay £1 to dress down and to raise money for local charity The Andover Trees Project. This day was organised by Matt Thomas, one of our outgoing year 11 students. The money raised will go to support the costs of their new sustainable woodland classroom.

Progress Reviews
The individual reports for each student have been posted out and will also be available on 'Parent Progress View' and 'Student Progress View' today. You will receive an email notifying you that these have been uploaded. There is a helpful Parent Guide on the website if you need assistance in navigating the Parent Progress View. If you have not yet signed up, you can request an account to access our Parent Progress View here.

Year 7 Parents Evening
Thank you to all parents who booked and attended our virtual Parents Evening. If you had technical difficulties, the member of staff will be emailing you regarding your child.

Year 10 Pre Public Examinations
Year 10 students have completed a first busy week of pre public 'mock' examinations. Students have faced multiple exams on each day with assessments being conducted in the Sports Hall under 'real' exam conditions in order to fully prepare them for the rigour and challenge of the final exams next year. The year group has behaved and performed impeccably. There are still several exams to be completed next week but the Sports Hall is now packed up ready to return to hosting some sport!

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Year 9 and Year 10 students had the opportunity to listen to presentations this week about the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Award. We hope that lots of students in both years take up this exciting opportunity to experience the new challenge that the Bronze and Silver awards offer beyond their achievements in the classroom. More information and the presentation can be found here.

New Delta Variant

The Delta variant is clearly significantly more transmissible. This has implications for our school and keeping our children and community safe. We understand many people have been vaccinated with either their first or second jab. The vaccination does not prevent anyone from catching or spreading Covid.

Staff are continuing to take two tests a week, and so far we have not been notified of any positives in the adult workforce, which is great. Many thanks to all the families who are still supporting the LFD testing.

The form to report results to school can be found here.

The link to report your test to the gov.uk site is here.

As a reminder, the most important measure is not to come to school if anybody in the household is symptomatic. The main symptoms are:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For students who need to self-isolate, our Summer Term Remote Learning Programme can be found on the website here.

Year 6 Transition
Thank you to those parents who have already put their child's name down for the Summer School on 31st August and 1st September 2021. If you have not done so already, but would like your son or daughter to attend Summer School please complete the form at this link by Friday 16th July.

As we mentioned last week, our Welcome pack has been sent home and all Year 6 students should have received this by now. If you have not received your copy, please contact us at school.

An email has been sent to parents about our Modern Languages offer. The Google Form link to express a preference between French and Spanish is here with a deadline of Wednesday 30th June.

We have added to our New Intake Parent Page with some tips to encourage independence. Do please take a look!

Head Prefect Challenge for Year 6 Students
We've had an incredible response to the first challenge we posted last week! Thank you so much to everyone who participated. All students who replied with the correct answers before Thursday will receive a small prize. We've popped everyone's names into a hat and have already chosen our first winner... We can't wait to announce this in your first assembly in September.

The answers to last week's challenge were, of course:

1. What has hands and face but can't hold anything or smile? A Clock
2. It belongs to you but your friends use it more. What is it? Your Name
3. Kate's mother has three children: Snap, Crackle and? Kate

Well done if you got these right!

Here's the challenge for this week. Try to find the answers and then email us at: head-prefects@harrowway.hants.sch.uk

We're really looking forward to hearing from you!

Year 11 Prom - date amended to Thursday 22nd July 7pm to 11pm
Year 11 Parents will have received an email from Miss Lowing confirming that we have had to move the date of the Prom to Thursday 22nd July.

Last Year's Year 11
We would like to invite students from Harrow Way's Year 12 (last year's Year 11) to a Garden Party on Wed 21st July from 3.30 to 5.30pm.

We were so sad that the Prom was cancelled and that we did not get a chance to say goodbye. All of the Harrow Way team would love to catch up with them to hear how they are doing and share some great memories!

To reserve a place please complete this Google Form. Feel free to share the link to the form and extend an invite to all members of the Class of 2020 as we do not have email addresses for all students. If you have any questions the please email: caroline.lowing@harrowway.hants.sch.uk

We are running a Summer competition for our new Year 7 cohort joining us in September 2021. Simply take a photo of yourself reading in an unusual place and when notified in September, upload it to the LRC Google Classroom. All entries will earn points for their house and a small prize will be awarded to the winner.

We are delighted to say that the Learning Resource Centre and Library will be reopening in September 2021, following a period of time being utilised as a lockdown classroom and as an extra teaching space to allow for adequate social distancing elsewhere in school.

We are expecting to return to our normal opening hours of 8.00am to 4.00pm Monday to Thursday and 8.00am to 3.30pm Fridays. We will continue to offer magazines, physical and digital books, including non-fiction, to support reading for pleasure and reading for purpose. All Harrow Way students are encouraged to be readers in order that they can effectively access the curriculum. Our clubs and competitions will re-start too. The DVD service has been permanently discontinued. A calendar of events will be published on the school website.

Here is a summer virtual book club run by Speakers for Schools for children aged 14 and above.

The National Summer Reading Challenge for 4 to 11 year olds starts 10th July. This is run through Public Libraries and Harrow Way has a great record of supplying student volunteers to Andover Public Library. Students who are in year 9 and above can contact Mandy Warner there to get more information about volunteering.

Harrow Way Community School (All Parents) Mailing List

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