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Friday 5th October 2018

Well this week it's Thursday evening. I've just returned to my office having watched the Year 7&8 girls football team playing Henry Beaufort. They didn't win but I was really impressed with their commitment and they scored a fantastic second goal!

On Wednesday I was incredibly proud as our Year 11 students were treated to some words of wisdom from former students now successfully in the world of work, at college or off to university. We had ten special guest speakers who shared their experiences in order to inspire and motivate the year group. They included:

• Former student Mark Todd described his journey from Harrow Way to reaching the University of Oxford where he is now reading Physics.
• Josh Ingram who spoke passionately about how hard work, effort and more importantly, commitment were required to help students achieve their goals. This singular focus saw Josh exceed his predicted A Level grades of ABC, securing three grade As which will now enable him to pursue his dream of going to medical school to train to be a doctor.
• With apprenticeships an increasingly popular choice for school leavers Harrow Way also invited in former student Connor Harvey to explain how he realised in Year 11 he needed to apply himself to achieve the grades required to secure an apprenticeship. Connor is now happily completing his apprenticeship with Mercedes Benz.
• Local gym owner and former student Andre Diurno discussed with the students how effort and dedication helped him grow his successful business while the University of Winchester led a session looking at routes to university.

I have also this week started meetings with Curriculum Leaders to discuss 2018 results along with outcomes and progress of their students. I've loved digging deep into data heaven to work out the detail of our GCSE outcomes for the class of 2018, our predicted outcomes for class of 2019 and to look at the curriculum and how it is preparing all other students with regard to progress and outcomes across the school as a whole. My Middle Leaders have been exceptional in their input; insightful, reflective, innovative and completely student centered.

You may be aware that this Friday (5 October) is World Teachers Day. It has been the theme for this week's assemblies. I encourage you to visit www.teachingawards.com/thankyou to #ThankATeacher on behalf of a child. It's easy to do, and every teacher mentioned receives a card of thanks in the post.

Below is the new teacher recruitment advert. It clearly shows the difference that we make to young people and why working with them is the best job in the world!

Sporting Activities
With the Girls' team in 2nd place and the Boys' team in 3rd place, the school came third overall in the Badminton tournaments this week. Well done to both our teams.

Our Year 7 Boys Football team had better success this week with a 3-3 draw against Wellington.

The Year 9 and Year 10 Girls Netball teams have also had good results this week, winning against Winton. Match information on the website here.

The House Basketball competition was completed this week - and to prove the "it's not the winning it's the taking part" adage, the final points allocated to each House were:
Kestrels - 1290
Buzzards - 840
Hawks - 790

The underlying baskets scored and students participating were:

School Visits
Year 11 Geographers have measured longshore drift on the beach at Swanage over the last two days - lovely weather for it!

Primary Transition work with local schools is continuing apace. We have welcomed groups from Vernham Dean and Hatherden for Computing classes and held a Maths masterclass at Appleshaw. Staff have visited Portway Junior for a Samba workshop, Portway Infants and Juniors for Dance workshops and Hatherden for New Age Kurling. Appleshaw pupils are also enjoying using our climbing wall.

University of Winchester Ambassadors
During the Autumn term, we are working with University of Winchester Ambassadors at Harrow Way to support students in various aspects of Careers and Next Steps. Over the next few weeks ambassadors are presenting sessions with staff to Year 9 in their Personal and Social Development lessons on Effective Money management and to Year 10 on Identifying Career Opportunities in the future.

A Hampshire wide Art initiative commemorating the end of World War 1 has culminated in exhibitions in Gosport, Winchester and Andover. The artwork features white doves of peace, white flowers of hope, and symbols and messages about remembrance. The work has been made using all different materials and is of different sizes being made by children of all ages and their schools' communities. The work completed by Harrow Way students will be on display at Andover museum from 20th October to 15th December. Artwork completed by staff will be part of the Winchester installation. More details can be found on the website: www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/hope-peace-and-remembrance​

These visits for 2018/19 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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