Dear Parents and Carers
Happy New Year!
I hope that you and your young people had a good Christmas break. It has been an interesting first week back with the snow and Storm Goretti but the young people have settled back in to school life really well.
Please see our list of extra-curricular activities for this term on the website and encourage your young people to get involved with all of the wonderful opportunities on offer.
Extra-Curricular-Activities-2025-26-Term-3-vs1.pdf
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Focus on..School Governors
Hardenhuish Governors are an active group of volunteers who give generously of their time to oversee the work of the school. The Board of Trustees meets once each term and establishes an overall framework for the governance of the Academy and determines membership, terms of reference and procedures of Committees and other groups. It receives reports including policies from its committees which include Community, Education, Resources and Strategy for ratification. It monitors the activities of the Committees through the minutes of their meetings. We are very grateful for the support of our Governors who play an active role in our work through visits into school, attendance at events and provide both support and appropriate challenge to our work.
Zero Club
Introducing the Zero Club! From Monday 12th January, all pupils will have a chance to become members of the Zero Club if they have the following over each week:
- Zero lates to school or lessons
- Zero behaviour points
- Zero conduct points
Each week all pupils will have a chance to be members of the Zero Club and there will be weekly draws for prizes for Zero Club members.
Pupils will be able to work to get a streak and are encouraged to get the longest streak they can over the term – and those with the longest streaks will be eligible for bigger prizes. Even if things don’t work out perfectly over one week, pupils will still be able to rejoin the Zero Club the following week.
The Zero Club is all about rewarding positive habits and consistency, so let’s see who can keep their streak going and join the Zero Club each week. Good luck to everyone!
Online safety update – A guide for parents
The ‘Children’s Commissioner’ website has released a great resource titled ‘What I wish my parent or carer knew – A Guide to Managing Children’s Digital Lives’.
The website includes two resources:
- A parents and carers guide with lots of useful help and support on various digital topics from the perspective of young people (e.g. screen time, use of AI, when bad things happen online).
- An activity pack with various activities and ideas that could be used to support the positive and healthy use of technology.
The use of technology has many benefits for our young people, and we are hoping these resources could be useful to help support conversations about the positive use of technology with confidence.
MacDonalds Visit
Year 10 and 11 Vocational students enjoyed trips to MacDonalds before the Christmas break. They met Jess, the designated People Manager and also the Assistant Manager – Jenny, to find out about jobs for 16-year-olds, and the pay and conditions and career opportunities they offer. They also learnt about the job application process and the skills and qualities that are important for school leavers when they apply for their first job. Thank you so much for your time, Jess and Jenny – the students found this really helpful, and it was a lovely way to end the term.
Our Community – Hardenhuish School