Dear Parents and Carers
The Spring Concert on Tuesday was fantastic with music ranging from Chopin to Jazz and with some amazing solo performances from some of our young musicians as well as those more used to performing. A massive thank you to Mrs Hawkins, Mrs Simpson, our peripatetic teachers and everyone else involved in making it such a wonderful evening and congratulations to all of our talented musicians.
As you will see from the item below, we have Charity Week approaching where we will raise funds and collect cereal products for The Rise Trust, our charity chosen by School Parliament for this academic year. Thank you for your support by buying a pre-pay card for your young person to participate in the many exciting events planned and for any donations you feel able to make.
Congratulations to Mr Palmer, English Teacher for his second book “Play” being selected for the Carnegie shortlist. I am looking forward to reading the books alongside the shadow group, Mrs Lucas and Mr Southwood.
Have a good weekend.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Focus on… Trips and Visits
We continue to work hard to ensure that young people have as many opportunities for trips and visits to enhance their school experience as possible. We aim to launch trips and visits with as much notice as possible and to ensure that for the higher value trips, payment plans are provided to make them as affordable as possible to all pupils.
We continue to do our best to adapt to demand and have added extra places to trips where demand has significantly exceeded the originally available places. We may also however, not run trips if there is not sufficient interest or voluntary contributions to make them viable.
We are grateful to staff across the school who plan, manage, administrate, and accompany these trips and visits and thank you as parents for your support of these amazing enrichment opportunities for our young people.
Quiz Night
There are only ten tables left for the Quiz Night! Book now to avoid disappointment and missing out on the top prize of £100 for the winning team!
Charity Week is Coming Soon…
Our fabulous Charity Week will be taking place the week commencing 24 March. During the week, we will be fundraising for our school charity The RISE Trust – an essential local charity which offers a variety of services for children, young people, and families. Charity Week cards, offering each pupil the opportunity to participate in 6 exciting activities, are now available to purchase for £5 from the Arbor School Shop
Throughout March, we will be collecting breakfast donations for The RISE Trust. The charity would be very grateful to receive any cereal bars or cereal pots, which will go directly to young people who need them. There are collection points by Hardenhuish Hall and in the Sixth Form Foyer.
During Charity Week, School Parliament will host an Easter Egg raffle and we would be extremely grateful if you are able to donate an Easter Egg prize for our raffle. Please can pupils bring any donations to Mrs Auld in A8.
Many thanks, School Parliament.
Carnegie Book Awards Shadowing Group
The shortlist for this year’s Carnegie Awards was released this week. As a school, we shadow the Carnegies (the most prestigious children’s book awards) every year, and this year’s group of keen Year 8 and Year 9 readers (plus a Year 10 who’s taking part for the third year running!) is ready and raring to get started next Monday lunchtime.
This year is extra special for Hardenhuish, though, as one of the shortlisted books is written by our very own Mr Palmer of the English department! ‘Play’ is his second novel, and we could not be more proud that its brilliance has been recognised by the Carnegie panel. We wish Mr Palmer the very best of luck!
Vocational Studies Trip
Year 10 Vocational students have enjoyed a trip to Wiltshire College’s Chippenham campus this week. They were given a tour of the site by Deborah Scott, one of the School Liaison Officers, and learnt more about college life and the range of courses they run there. While on the tour it was wonderful to meet many ex – Hardenhuish students who enthusiastically shared their positive experiences of studying there. Thank you, Deborah, this was such a valuable opportunity for them and will help inform their decisions about post 16 options.
Year 8 Virtual Rowing Competition
Well done to those who compete in the year 8 virtual rowing competition this week. Please see the results below:
Climbing Competition at The Arc
Friday 7 March, saw the second round of the climbing competition at The Arc. The competition spanned three disciplines: bouldering, top-roped climbs, and a timed climb for the finalists. The top-roped climbs began with a comfortable but long ascent, but the second challenge ramped up quickly, with the juniors taking on a 6b+ and the seniors tackling a tough 7a+, showcasing some outstanding skill.
The bouldering was a 30-minute endurance challenge where the students gained a point for every bouldering problem completed. The most determined students gave it their all, completing over 50 problems in such a short time, pushing themselves to the very last minute and finishing in a heap.
Those who made it to the final timed challenge then had to pick themselves up from the floor and give it everything again for a rapid ascent of the highest wall! Congratulations to Henry Vassie, Tommy Allen, and Xav Atkinson for making up the final three seniors, and to Finn Cobbold, Toby Carter, and Hugo Craig for making up the final three juniors. The strongest competitors from this round will face the strongest from the December competition groups in a final face-off in June.
Girls Football Success
This week, our U14 girls played an exciting football match against Sheldon, and it was a fantastic display of teamwork and sportsmanship. The game was played in great spirits, with both teams giving their all. Our girls came out on top with a well-deserved 6-3 victory, but it was their determination and hard work that truly shone through from start to finish. The girls showed real character, working together seamlessly and supporting each other throughout the match.
The determination to secure the win was evident in every pass, every tackle, and every shot on goal. Maria and Sophie each contributed with two goals, while Patricia and Phoebe also found the back of the net to complete the team’s impressive total. It was a brilliant all-round effort, and everyone played their part in this fantastic team performance.
We also want to give a special mention to Martha, who was voted the Most Valuable Player by the Sheldon team. Her effort, skill, and commitment were clearly noticed, and she truly deserved this recognition for her standout performance.
A huge well done to the entire team for their hard work, focus, and sportsmanship. You’ve made us proud! Keep up the great work, girls!
Gymnastics
After a very long 18 months of not competing due to injury, Year 9 pupil Kaci Sweeney competed at the Welsh championships as a guest and a practice run through, with a very good day competing beam, bars, floor and vault, coming 4th over all in a very large group of very talented girls.
A week later saw Kaci in Scotland competing at the Scottish championships where she again came 4th overall, only missing out on 3rd place by 0.01 points! With a very good first day finishing top 5 on all pieces and 1st on bars, she then made 3 finals the following day to showcase her fabulous routines.
With both competitions under her belt and her amazing scores Kaci has made it through to compete at the British championships in Liverpool at the end of the month! Well done and congratulations Kaci.