Dear Parents
Culture Week has been incredible this week with various visitors and events taking place throughout the week. I am sure that this has helped to increase our young people’s cultural awareness and understanding and I would like to thank all involved for their hard work in making it happen.
The Year 10s have approached their exams with maturity and a really positive work ethic this week. We are very proud of them and look forward to seeing how well they have shown off their skills and knowledge.
The Leadership Team are making regular visits to Year 11 lessons this term and have been hugely impressed by their focus and hard work. Thank you to all involved in supporting Year 11 and Year 13 as they approach the exam season and working with us to help them prepare.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued help in improving our school. We are constantly trying to improve the education that we offer the pupils and students at Hardenhuish and are now at a stage in the academic year where we need you to tell us how well you think we are doing and how we can improve the things that are important to you. In previous years, our survey to parents have given us really valuable feedback into areas we could improve and a number of our plans were put in place because of the opinions you told us. I would be grateful if you would spare ten minutes to complete the electronic questionnaire and tell us what you think.
Link to parent log in: https://survey.gl-assessment.co.uk/s/JOQHQF/
Parent password: HHHS10112Pa
The deadline for completion is Friday 17 May. We recognise that some of the questions may be difficult to answer as this is a generic survey used by a large number of schools nationally. The benefit of this is it provides us with a useful comparator with other schools as well as benchmarks where we can compare ratings year on year. By completing the questionnaire you will also be telling us how you think we should be spending our time and resources to make Hardenhuish the best that it can be for your child. Your answers will be treated in the strictest confidence and will make a real difference to how we run the school and plan for the future.
A reminder that the Chippenham Teen Takeover takes place this weekend with numerous free activities for young people to get involved in – further details can be found on the Community page on the website.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Focus On ….Sheep Club
Sheep Club started up again in the New Year with a ready and willing group of Year 8 and 9 pupils. Since then we have all met every week, with our Hardenhuish shepherd Chris, to learn about and care for our small herd of Jacob sheep. The pupils have learnt how to move and herd them between the two fields that we have, how to get them into the sheds and some of the pupils have successfully learnt how to turn the sheep onto their backs. Once in the sheds we are able to carry out our sheep maintenance tasks; these involve inspecting and trimming their hooves, tagging the lambs ears, and weighing the lambs. This is all work in progress as our lambs are growing fast. We also have a helper in Gilly the Sheepdog but recently she has not been needed as we are all getting so much better at herding!
Zoolab
This week in Science we have been lucky enough to have external company Zoolab with us. Zoolab worked with all our Year 7 pupils over the two days they were here, teaching them all about the fascinating world of biomimicry with the added bonus of some real-life guests! The pupils got to meet a snake, giant African land snails, rats, gerbils, cockroaches and even a tarantula. All pupils seemed to be having a lovely time meeting and holding the animals, and the Zoolab rangers were very impressed with how enthusiastic and engaged the pupils were during the sessions. Mrs Johns
Immunisations
While your child is in secondary school, they will be eligible to receive routine vaccinations in Year 8 and Year 9.
The immunisation team is comprised of experienced nurses and support workers and will visit the school several times throughout the school year.
All year 8 students are eligible to receive the HPV vaccine. HPV is linked to several different cancers such as cervical cancer, some head, neck and throat cancers, genital cancer and anal cancers and is also responsible for genital warts.
HPV Vaccination For All – English Leaflet from September 2023.pdf
All year 9 students are eligible for their Diptheria, Tetanus and Polio booster (Td/IPV) and at the same time, the Meningitis ACWY vaccinations (MenACWY)
Td/IPV vaccine (3-in-1 teenage booster) – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
MenACWY vaccine – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
A consent link sent from the school will be sent to all parents with children in these year groups so they can either accept or decline the vaccinations, the consent links are below.
https://schoolimms.hcrgcaregroup.com/hpv/2023/wilts
https://schoolimms.hcrgcaregroup.com/dtp/2023/wilts
Please take time to look at the added links to learn more about the different vaccinations.
https://wiltshirechildrensservices.co.uk/our-services/immunisation-service/
We look forward to meeting your children.
The Immunisation Team 😊
Our Community – Hardenhuish School