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Friday 6th July 2018

It was a pleasure to meet our new intake this week for Induction Day. I hope you and your child found our Induction Day and Evening both enjoyable and useful (and you got back in time for the England game!) The Year 6s had an extremely busy day and enjoyed themselves thoroughly; hopefully they are excited about arriving here next September. We have done a lot of work to evolve the transition from primary to secondary school. We gather more academic information than ever before and also plan our curriculum to ensure it immediately challenges the students from the moment they arrive at Harrow Way. The Headteacher's Presentation can be viewed here, and the Tutor's Presentation here.

Football's coming home…
As I'm sure you have all noticed, the World Cup has reached an exciting stage, and, although at the time of writing this ENews England have yet to play their quarter final game, flags are beginning to be worn on cars and hung from windows, TV schedules are being dominated by Gary Lineker and his friends and the hopes of all nations competing have risen to a feverish temperature.

At Harrow Way, our aim has always been to serve our community in a similar way to how Mr Southgate is suggesting the England national football team should serve its country, as well as hoping that, as often as possible, we are able to be proud of either the individual achievements of one of our members or the collective accomplishments of a group. Just like when England players wear the Three Lions emblem, when Harrow Way students put on their uniform, with our own very distinctive school badge they should also feel very proud to be part of a community that is hard-working, successful and unique.

College Andover Year 10 and BCOT
All Year 10 students spent a Taster Day at Andover College on Wednesday this week. It gave them an opportunity to try out subjects in preparation for their choices next year.

Work Experience
The majority of Year 10 students are out on Work Experience next week and will be visited by staff whilst on placement. The remaining students will have a bespoke timetable.

Sports Day
Today, we were blessed with beautiful sunny weather for our annual sports day. With the hot weather we had rearranged to take advantage of the cooler part of the day. The main track events took place in the morning. The day was full of sporting activities involving all of our students, trying to earn house points for their house. In the second session before lunch, the whole school were taking part in sports matches, including short tennis, rounders, softball, Tug of War and a climbing dyno challenge. In the afternoon everyone was out on the track to enjoy short distance races, hurdles and relays. Results will be announced at the end of term.

Former Harrow Way student, Josh Evans
Josh is on duty outside Buckingham Palace this week. Josh passed out from Catterick to become a Guardsman based in Wellington Barracks, London. He now guards St James' Palace, The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace - fantastic achievement!

Year 4/5 Open Mornings - 11th and 12th July
We are holding Open Mornings for parents of Year 4 and 5 pupils next week from 9.15-10.30 am. Please do pass the information on to any parents you think may be interested in a tour of the school. A flyer can be downloaded here.

Summer Works
You may be under the impression that the school closes up and 'goes to sleep' during the Summer break, but this is far from the case as I keep Mr Badby and my site team very busy! We have managed to secure funding (£44,000) for the external redecoration of the school, (£60,000) to move the car park and create more hardstanding areas for students with benches and tables. We also have a lighting project to replace our fixtures with energy efficient LED ones. A number of classrooms are being refurbished during the Summer and Student Reception is getting a facelift. Students will certainly notice a difference in September.

Year 7 and 9 Activities
There will be a series of events for year 7 students next week. On Monday, all students will take part in an enterprise day in the morning and there will be a rewards cinema event in the afternoon. Year 7 will also take part in our annual Harry Potter Day on Friday 13th focusing on different magic and literacy focused lessons across the school. Year 9 students will be given the opportunity to take part in a rewards cinema event on the same afternoon.

As year 9 parents will be aware, Year 9 students will be taking part in a sponsored walk on Monday. It is important that they make sure that they are carrying plenty of water with them on the day and have a sensible breakfast able to sustain them until they break for lunch. There is plenty of shade on the walk but students should still bring a hat and sensible walking shoes are essential!

Courtesy to our Neighbours
Can I please remind all parents who drop and collect their children by car that Charlton Hill Surgery is NOT a public car park. Parents parking there are blocking patients from accessing the surgery and at times impeding ambulance access.

Democracy
Year 9 Student Council recently visited Test Valley School to work with Test Valley Borough Councillors on democracy. Students were involved in workshops that discussed issues in the local community and explained how democracy works in society. All of the students had a great day.

CAS Lead School 2018/19 Revalidation
Following a recent Audit, we were pleased to receive our Revalidation Certificate as a Computing at School Lead School this week. Mr Peebles and Mrs Robinson are both CAS Master Teachers.

Year 7 Girls HPV Information Assembly
Following an assembly on Monday explaining why this immunisation programme is important to them, HPV Consent forms were sent home with Y7 girls on Monday. Please could I request that you complete this form and send back to Mrs Preece in school as soon as possible.

From September 2017 we started phasing out the sale of school uniform in-house. Current Year 7 students who joined us in September 2017 obtained all their compulsory uniform from Stitch-a-Logo; as will students starting at Harrow Way in September 2018.

From September 2018, and whilst stocks last, we will continue to sell PE tops in-house for students in Years 9, 10 and 11 only. Please bear this in mind if you use our on-line payment system to order and pay for items of uniform.

We hold a stock of ties and grey jumpers, which are suitable for all Year Groups. We still have a selection of Girls' blazers in sizes 26" to 48" available at £23 to £25. These can also be ordered via our on-line payment system.

All other compulsory uniform items should now be ordered and collected from Stitch-a-Logo.​

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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