This is the first edition that is being sent to our new intake of Year 6 students who will be joining us in September. Welcome to the Harrow Way family and we are looking forward to meeting you on Induction day and evening. Lots of information, including dates and things you need to know are all together in one section of the website here.
Information on new GCSEs
The DfE has launched a new GCSE webpage which provides information for students, parents, employers and those who work in education. It explains:
- why the GCSEs are changing
- when they are changing
- why the grading scale is changing and how the new grades align with the A* to G scale
- the difference between a 'standard' and a 'strong' pass
- what this means for students, schools, parents, employers and others who work in education
More information can be found on this fact sheet produced by the DfE.
Big Sing
Harrow Way Music Department welcomed a large contingent of Portway pupils on Monday who joined with Harrow Way's Show Choir to practise and perform a short programme to parents. Pictures can be viewed on our Twitter Feed
INSET day
On Wednesday teaching staff had some training with Miss Lowing on plans for next year. Our mantra is to be 'Plan - Teach - Feedback' to enable teachers to focus on their core business - helping students to make excellent progress. We have some quite radical plans on how to use our meeting time to plan collaboratively in departments and are looking to use every available minute in lessons! The Inclusion department had a visit from the Communication and Language team from Hants County Council to develop further their support of students with SEND.
Internal School Exams Years 7 - 10
Today sees the final internal school exams for years 7 through to 10. As our students move towards the new GCSE qualifications we are working to ensure that they are well prepared for the majority of assessment being terminal examination at the end of year 11. The opportunity to practise the exam process, from planning revision, to doing revision and applying the knowledge and skills in an examination is crucial. It is a skill which needs to be developed to learn the content by heart for exams. The vast majority of students have prepared well and arrived calm and equipped at the exam door. Lessons have also been learnt by some students where the preparation was not good enough (including some not having a pen or correct equipment!) We have been pleased with the feedback from students that they have felt the process is valuable and they know what they need to do to prepare even better in future. Well done to you all.
Maths Challenge
Our apologies for incorrectly reporting the Best in Year for Year 8 last week. This should have read Daniel Bullock.
50th Anniversary Day
On Wednesday 5th July Year 7, 8 and 9 students will be taking part in a 1960s themed 'drop down day' as part of Harrow Way's 50th anniversary celebrations. In this cross-curricular day, all departments will be putting on exciting lessons for our students on things such as a 1960s tea party, making rockets, the hippy movement and even our own HW Olympic Games. Students will be grouped vertically, spending the day with students from other year groups - information which will be shared by their Tutor. This promises to be an exciting and interesting day for our students and one that we hope they all enjoy. Please also remember that this is a non-school uniform day (60s dress optional) in exchange for a tombola prize for the 50th anniversary fete on Saturday 8th July.
50th Anniversary Summer Fete - 8th July from 1pm to 5pm
Please come along and support the school in this special year. There will be a non-uniform day on 5th July - an item for the tombola is being requested instead of money. The letter home and list of suitable items is on the Letters Home page.
HWCS Guarantee Graduation Ceremony - Monday 10th July
Could Year 8 parents please 'Save the Date' for the Harrow Way Guarantee Graduation Ceremony. The evening will start at 6.30 pm and end by 8.15 pm. Letters of invitation will follow once Miss Atherton has completed the assessment of all 180 student portfolios.
Year 4 & 5 Open Mornings – 19th and 20th July 2017
Parents of Year 4 or 5 pupils are invited to attend an Open Morning from 9.15 to 10.30am on 19th or 20th July. There is no need to book, more information can be found here.
Uniform change
We are changing the way we sell uniform. With immediate effect, all items of clothing are available from our suppliers Stitch a Logo. We will continue to make items available at school until stocks are exhausted.
We have also made some changes to the uniform for next year. Our PE kit has been revamped and extended. Please note that this change will be introduced for the new Year 7's in September onwards. Current students will continue with their usual uniform requirements and expectations.
|