Dear Parents and Carers
Thank you for your support in what has been a difficult week for our school community. We are very grateful for your ongoing support.
Please find attached information related to e-bikes and e-scooters that the Police have asked us to share with you.
The new Year 7 have had their induction evenings this week and we have their induction day today along with Year 12 so as per my previous messages, current Year 7,8,9,10 and 12 are not expected in school.
We wish our Malaysia adventurers a safe and enjoyable expedition and also hope that our Year 10 and 12 have a good Work Experience next week.
Have a restful weekend, take care in the warm weather and please encourage your young people to bring their refillable water bottles to school next week as this continues.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Focus on… End of Term Arrangements
Thank you for your continued support this year.
As we approach the end of the academic year, please find below confirmation of our arrangements for the last couple of weeks.
Our last day of school is Friday 18 July when we have Activities Day for Years 7, 8 and 9. Year 10 and 12 are on Work Experience all week.
A reminder that our first day back for new Year 7 and 12 is Wednesday 3 September and the rest of the school start back on Thursday 4 September.
Have a wonderful Summer break!
Hardenhuish50 Update!
Plans are now proceeding at a pace for our celebrations in September (19th in school and 20th Open Morning). I am delighted to unveil our Hardenhuish 50 logo:
Further details regarding our celebrations will follow before the end of term!
Badminton
Year 9 pupil Imogen Drew played singles in the U19 Sankey silver tournament recently at the national badminton centre in Milton Keynes, beating the number 1 seed to get into the final and then going on to win the gold medal. Such a great achievement.
Chippenham Folk Festival Project
This term the Year 9 Business pupils have been completing a project to design a business that can be run from a van at a festival. The project finalised with a gallery walk, judged by Peter King, the Finance Director of the Chippenham Folk Festival. The entries were incredibly creative with clear unique selling points, and pupils impressed with their confident and eloquent presentations. The Group A winners were World Horizons and Slice on Wheels with a special commendation for Otaku Odyssey. More presentations will follow next week!
Cambridge Biology Challenge- Homerton College
Homerton College, Cambridge launched their second Biology Challenge this year. Open to students from Years 10-13, the University poses four interview style questions across the year, with participants free to answer the questions in any format they wish. This year questions included ‘Does behaviour fossilise?’, ‘Pick an aspect of winter/Christmas and discuss it from a Biological perspective’, ‘Why do we dream, and what might animals dream of?’ and finally ‘Using an example, discuss how biology can explain a mysterious thing’.
Last year saw over 500 teams take part in the competition, with winners invited to Cambridge University for a celebration in the Summer. This year was even more competitive, with well over 1000 entries nationally, including 21 Biology students in Year 12 representing six teams from Hardenhuish. All teams performed admirably, with entries investigating twin telepathy and the parasitic nature of mistletoe amongst many that scored high marks, with some gaining special commendation from the University. For the second successive year a Hardenhuish team have finished amongst the very top teams and have accepted their invitation to Homerton College in the Summer holidays. Well done to all involved.
Biology Intermediate Olympiad Results
This year, all 39 of our Year 12 Biology students took part in the UKBC Intermediate Biology Olympiad, a competition open to Year 12 A Level students across the UK that challenges their Biology knowledge and their ability to problem solve. Participation also rewarded the students with free membership to the Royal Society of Biology for the next year.
Our students excelled in the one-hour multiple choice assessment, with 9 students being awarded a commended certificate (Top 60% of entrants), 4 highly commended (Top 45%), 10 Bronze (Top 30%), 4 Silver (Top 15%) and one gold award (Top 5%). Well done to all involved, and I hope you are looking forward to another opportunity in Year 13.