Dear Parents and Carers
Happy Hello Yellow Day! This is a great opportunity for us to share the opportunity to discuss mental health and wellbeing with the young people and demonstrate our commitment as a school and wider community to continue to do all we can to look after ourselves and each other.
I hope that you found Tutor Check-in last night useful and were able to celebrate the positive start our wonderful young people have had to this academic year.
The Hardenhuish Educational Trust met last night and have agreed some exciting bids which will impact young people across the school. Look out for further details over the coming weeks.
I am looking forward to our Sixth Form Open Evening next week when we can share our amazing post-16 facilities with our prospective students for Year 12 in 2026.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Progress Checks and Reports
At Hardenhuish, we know that parent and carer support is vital in achieving good progress and successful outcomes for our young people. To this end, 3 times a year for each year group we will send home a Progress Report to parents by email through Arbor. The timings of these reports are staggered throughout the year.
For Years 7 to 11, subject reports are based on the following learning attributes; Behaviour, Classroom Effort, Equipped to Learn, and Homework. Using a 4-point scale teachers judge each of these attributes as either ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’. Each report will have a description of what each judgement means for each attribute.
1st Report in Y7:
In KS3 when there is sufficient assessment evidence to do so, all subjects also report an expected grade for the end of that year. Key Stage 3 pupils will have a three-grade target range to compare their attainment to. Our Key Stage 3 attainment grade criteria becomes progressively more challenging as a pupil moves from Year 7 to Year 8 and into Year 9. Therefore, attaining a Grade 5 in each year of KS3, for example, would show they are making expected progress. Each subject has designed Progress Maps to explain what pupils have to do in each year to achieve the different grades.
2nd Report in Y7:
In Year 10 and 11, parents can compare current and expected grades to a NI (national indicator grade), which is based on national statistical data of the grade pupils most often attain at the end of KS4 based on SATs or CATs, and we also provide an AT (aspirational target) to show what they could achieve with the right application of learning attitudes.
3rd Report in Y11:
In all years one report will also include written comments from a young person’s tutor, Learning Manager and the Headteacher. You also will have a chance to discuss your young person’s progress with each class teacher once a year in our Pupil Parent Consultation Evenings. These Progress Reports are an important part of our assessment calendar as they provide teachers and Curriculum Leaders with data to identify early when a child may start underachieving, allowing them to put the appropriate support in place to address this. It also helps Learning Managers see where additional support and intervention may help pupils get back on track with behaviour and effort. Most importantly, they also allow the parents to consider what else they can do at home to support improvements where needed.
Resource Centre news
As well as the chance to borrow from our 14,000+ book collection here at Hardenhuish, there are also regular opportunities for you to buy some of the latest titles through the school – often at very discounted prices! If this sounds appealing in the lead-up to Christmas, look no further than the Scholastic Book Club.
Here https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/hardenhuish/digital-book-club you can browse through a superb range of titles for all age groups, place an order securely online when you have made your picks and you will benefit from free delivery here to Hardenhuish. We will make sure your child receives their books promptly once the order arrives in school and you will be benefitting the library in the process as we receive 20% commission on every pound spent!
As well as stand-alone novels, there are also a number of great value book packs available including ‘Lottie Brooks’, ‘Percy Jackson’, ‘Heartstopper’ and ‘The Inheritance Games’, where the savings can really mount up quickly.
The closing date this term is Wednesday 5th November and all the orders placed usually take just over a week to arrive from that date.
Look out for several more opportunities to take advantage of Scholastic deals as we go through the school year, including our annual Book Fair in March.
Get ready Chippenham! The Teen Takeover Weekend 2025 is coming.
From Saturday 18 to Sunday 19 October, the town comes alive, buzzing with creativity, fun and opportunities – especially, for all young people from the ages 11-19 or up to 25 for SEND, living in Chippenham and surrounding Villages.
From something sporty like climbing at the Arc, to something tasty like Nacho Tasting, (that’s right – a free lunch!) to something creative like art workshops, to something fun like a pool disco at the Olympiad, there’s something for everyone. It’s a weekend jam packed with fun and activities.
Do you want to hear the best part? It’s free! All the activities on both Saturday and Sunday are all for free.
Meet new people and try something new. It’s an awesome opportunity.
Jasmine McDonagh Year 9 Student
Netball Round-up
Our netball season has started with a bang so far! We have had consistently over 50 pupils at netball club, which is amazing numbers! This then allowed us to put out 9 teams for our friendly round robin tournament against Sheldon and Corsham this week. All the matches were played in high spirits, and our teams showed us some fantastic passages of play and some spectacular long-range shooting. The previous week we had our U14 and U16 Area Tournament, which was a very competitive afternoon of netball, some results did not go our way but what was positive that the teams kept their heads held high and enjoyed the experience.
We have Netball club back this Tuesday coming this week so please make sure you attend ready for the following week’s Varsity matches vs Sheldon.
Vacancies – Hardenhuish School