Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that your young people benefitted from the long weekend last week.
As the weather closes in and the evenings are darker, please could you speak to your young people about staying safe on their journeys to and from school. Please ensure that they are walking with friends where possible and using well lit routes as well as being alert to the traffic.
I hope that Year 11 Parents found the PPCE useful last night. We have launched a new platform to deliver these, and any feedback will be gratefully received.
GCSE practical exams are taking place in many subjects over the next few weeks, and we wish our Year 11 well as they take these opportunities to demonstrate their learning.
I am looking forward to the Christmas Fayre next week (12 December) and look forward to seeing many of you there – don’t forget to buy your raffle tickets on Arbor. Please see below information about our trial of tokens as an alternative to cash!
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Christmas Fayre – Money Tokens Trial
For this year’s Christmas Fayre, we will be trialling money tokens alongside cash. If you would like to purchase tokens for your child, the minimum amount to order on Arbor is £5.00 you can do so via Arbor school shop. The tokens will be bagged up and ready with your child’s name and tutor group for collection at the Fayre, where your child can use them to spend at the various stalls.
Anti-Bullying Week 2025 at Hardenhuish
In November we held our annual Anti-Bullying Week, with the theme focusing on ‘Power for Good’. We explored how everyone has power – through words, actions and choices – and how it should be used positively to support and include others, not to harm or cause upset.
Power can come from knowledge, strength, influence, money or laws. What matters is how we choose to use it – and bullying is where power is misused. We encouraged pupils to use their power to uplift others, help create a safe environment and stand up for fairness.
If anyone is worried about bullying, then please speak up and let us know. This could be through speaking to any adult in school, the Stop Bullying email address (stopbullying@hardenhuish.wilts.sch.uk) or the Stop Bullying form which is on Satchel One. Together, we can make sure that every pupil feels safe, valued and respected
Focus on …. STEM
At Hardenhuish we value STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects and encourage students to consider them as potential career avenues in the future.
Technology Update
Creative Week offered a wide range of opportunities for students and staff to experience new design methods and techniques.
It has been great to see year 10 students independently designing their lamp designs with a focus on Creativity & Innovation. The prototypes are looking fantastic!
The food technology team enjoyed hosting the annual Hardenhuish Bake-Off with a focus on the 50th anniversary of our school!
KS3 Resistant Materials club have nearly finished their desktop flower bud holders – we are excited to see how they look in a couple of weeks!
A-Level Product Designers are starting to manufacture their final outcomes for the NEA, we have everything being built from an Art Supplies Storage systems to a Electronic Education Teaching Kit.
Maths update
Year 12 and 13 students have had a busy and successful start to the academic year, taking part in the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
The inaugural Mathematical Challenge for Girls took place early in Term 1, with 10 students from Years 12 and 13 participating. Four students earned Merit certificates and two achieved Distinctions – an impressive outcome on a particularly challenging paper. Those involved should be very proud of their achievements.
Later in the term, the Senior Mathematical Challenge was held for KS5 students. An excellent turnout saw 36 students complete the paper, resulting in 14 Bronze, 11 Silver, and 3 Gold certificates – a strong set of results. Notably, the three students who achieved Gold (two from Year 13 and one from Year 12) have been invited to take part in the second round of the challenge, which is a fantastic accomplishment.
There are also exciting UKMT Mathematical Challenges ahead for the younger year groups. The Intermediate Challenge for Years 9 to 11 will take place in Term 3, followed by the Junior Challenge for Years 7 and 8 in Term 5. These events offer a fantastic opportunity for students who enjoy Maths to engage with interesting and unfamiliar problems, and to challenge themselves beyond the classroom.
Here is one of the questions from the Senior Mathematical Challenge:
A link to the paper and worked solutions can be found at SMC_2025_questions_and_solutions.pdf
Hardenhuish Students Compete in the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2025
We are pleased to share that Hardenhuish Y8 students are once again taking part in the CyberFirst Girls Competition, a national challenge created by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to encourage young women to discover the exciting world of cyber security.
The competition gives students the opportunity to explore a wide range of cyber topics, including cryptography, digital forensics, logic, coding, and network security. These challenges are designed to be both fun and thought-provoking, helping pupils develop valuable skills such as teamwork, resilience, and problem-solving.
Last year, our teams showed fantastic dedication and creativity throughout the competition, and it was inspiring to see their confidence grow as they worked through increasingly complex challenges. We are looking forward to building on that momentum again this year.
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting opportunities in computing, students will have access to practice activities, lunchtime support sessions, and guidance as they prepare for the competition rounds. Whether pupils are already interested in computing or are trying something new, the CyberFirst competition is a brilliant way for them to explore possible future pathways in technology and cyber security.
We are incredibly proud of the students taking on the challenge this year and wish all our teams the very best of luck. We look forward to celebrating their successes as the competition progresses.
Good luck to our Hardenhuish CyberFirst competitors!
Science and STEM Club
Our Science & STEM Club has got off to a flying start this term. So far, we have designed parachutes to prevent a very precious egg from breaking, designed our own Rube Goldberg machine – with our winners creating an impressive 5 chain reactions, dissected an eyeball (not for the faint hearted) and investigated habituation in our resident African land snails. We are also very much looking forward to designing our own STEM projects soon for the Bronze Crest Award as we head into next term. A big thank you to all our Y7 & 8 scientists for being so enthusiastic each week and getting stuck in with each task.
Mrs Johns and Miss Langridge.
Christmas Jumper Day
Friday 12th December is Christmas Jumper Day! We are inviting all students and staff to donate £1 to wear their festive jumpers on the day with all funds raised going to the Hardenhuish Educational Trust.
A Taste of Christmas
On Friday 12 December, pupils in Years 7, 8, and 9 are invited to come to C10 at lunchtime to take part in A Taste of Christmas and try 10 different festive foods from around the world whilst discovering more about each culture. This festive event will be hosted by Mrs Fennell, our Food Preparation & Nutrition students, and the Languages Ambassadors. Tickets cost £1.50 and are available from Arbor shop.
Bilingual Club
Bilingual Club has been busy this week preparing posters for the upcoming Taste of Christmas event.
A huge thank you also to our two Sixth Formers for supporting the Bilingual Club so effectively!
The posters are going up around school this week and we are really looking forward to sampling some of the international goodies on offer. Some of the countries being represented are England, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and USA.
Mrs Burton and Ms Euvrard
Senior Mathematical Challenge Success
Three students from Hardenhuish School recently advanced to the second round of the Senior Mathematical Challenge, known as the Senior Kangaroo. This progression is an impressive achievement in itself but furthermore, one student was awarded a Bronze Certificate, and another achieved a Silver Certificate, reflecting an impressive level of accomplishment. Congratulations to all three students on this success!
Here is an example of the kind of questions the students faced:
Looking ahead, the Intermediate Maths Challenge for Years 9, 10, and 11 will take place after Christmas, followed by the Junior Maths Challenge for Years 7 and 8 in May. Both competitions include follow-on rounds for high-performing students, offering additional opportunities to tackle some difficult mathematical problems. Information about how to sign up will follow in the new year.
Transport for London Competition
At the end of Term 1, students were able to enter a competition run by Transport for London, through the Art & Design department. Students were asked to enter one of the following themes:
Chose active or sustainable travel
Be considerate passengers
Travel to places of interest on public transport instead of cars.
We had a variation of entries, and we are proud to announce that one of our Y7 students entries, was picked to be displayed at the exhibition at Battersea Power Station Underground Station, and it will also appear on the digital screens at the London Transport Museum.
Discover Economics
On Monday and Friday, our Year 12 Economists were joined by four undergraduate students from the University of Bath – Ankita, Esti, Raheel, and Eliza. They delivered two really informative lectures that each included a degree-level economics taster lesson, and information about studying Economics at university. They both included lively question and answer sessions where students could discover more about attending university and student life at the University of Bath. These fascinating talks gave the Year 12 Economists a valuable opportunity to consider their future options.
Health and Social Care
Last week the Year 10 Health and Social Care students enjoyed a visit from Sara Dagger, Specialist Teacher for Vision Impairment, who works for the Sensory Impairment Physical and Medical Service (SIPMS). They learnt about the physical, intellectual, social and emotional impacts those who have vision impairments may experience and the work that practitioners can do to support their development.
They also had the chance to wear some simulation spectacles and consider some of the challenges those with vision impairments may experience. Thank you so much for visiting the students and sharing some of your valuable knowledge with them Sara – this will be so useful for their studies