Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to Term 5!
Thank you for your support in making the return so positive. Pupils have been focussed in lessons and are maintaining our high standards with uniform (with a few reminders!). This was commented on by an external visitor yesterday and is so pleasing to have this recognised.
We welcomed visitors from Sint Maartens in Holland yesterday. Thank you to those young people who helped us to give the young people a taste of our education system. We look forward to welcoming visitors from Germany and China next term.
Thank you in advance to all of you who are supporting young people with exams over the coming weeks. We see how hard the young people are working to prepare for these but wanted you to know that we also appreciate your support of us and them.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
Focus on……
Coming together for Charity Week!
Every year, our School Parliament organises a Charity Week that encourages pupils to be active citizens and make a real difference in our community. This year, we are fundraising for our school charity The Hardenhuish Educational Trust, to buy a new school flag, a stag weathervane, and to support other projects across the school to leave a legacy of our 50th year.
Charity Week takes place on the week commencing 27th April and promises to be a fun-filled week of activities. Throughout the week, the Student Leadership Team will be delivering assemblies and there will be quizzes and guess the sweets in the jar at tutor time. Pupils could take part in the Hardenhuish 50 Challenge, bingo, a chess tournament, or the Rubik’s Cube Championship. They could participate in tug-of-war, capture the flag, or the bench ball tournament. There will be lots of food on offer including a sweet stall, Krispy Kreme’s, Charity Week cookies & cakes, and the chance to win in our Chocolate Raffle! Additionally, there is a non-uniform day on Friday 1st May.
To take part in any event, students can either bring £1 cash to the activity or their Charity Week card – a pre-paid card that can be purchased from the Arbor school shop for £5 and allows pupils to take part in six different events.
If you are able to donate to our chocolate raffle, please send any donations in to school with your child to drop to A8.
We hope that pupils will thoroughly enjoy getting involved and help make this an unforgettable Charity Week!
Y12 Trip to Houses of Parliament
On Tuesady 14th April, eighteen Year 12 Politics students went to the Houses of Parliament.
We were toured around the House of Commons, House of Lords and had access to impressive rooms such as the robing room where the monarch gets ready for the opening of Parliament. In addition to this we were also taken to the room under which Guy Fawkes was found, and which is ceremonially checked before every state opening. We were lucky enough to meet the Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Joanne Woolway Grenfelle who is one of the twenty six Lords Spiritual who sit in the House of Lords. Following this we participated in a workshop where students were split into groups and had to write their own manifestos. The winning manifesto had policies relating to a green energy commitment by 2040, reintroduction to the EU, reduction of A Level and GCSE exams as well as a commitment to investigate and reduce tuition fees and interest on these loans.
Following this we visited the Supreme Court which unfortunately was not in session due to the Easter break, however we were able to go on a self guided tour and sit in Court Room One and Court Room Two and sit in the seats that are reserved for the judges!
It was a fantastic day, which enabled students to put their Politics A Level knowledge into practice. In true Hardenhuish tradition students certainly dressed the part and looked immaculate, and were an absolute credit to the school.
Model International Diplomatic Assembly Report
At the end of March, I had the honour of representing the United Kingdom’s delegation, sent by of the European Youth Parliament UK to the 2026 Model International Diplomatic Assembly (MIDA), which brought together representatives from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands and the UK for 4 days of negotiations in Brussels.
As the UK’s head delegate in the convention’s Aerospace Committee, my team and I worked closely with the other nations during several days of diplomatic talks and dialogue to reach an agreement and the establishment of a cooperative treaty.
The 5-day event also included a variety of lectures given by industry experts and diplomatic professionals alike, including European ambassadors, several members of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and specialists from the Belgian Armed Forces, who all provided fascinating insights into the world of global diplomacy and strategy.
It was also a huge privilege to be able to visit various iconic buildings and institutions during our time in Brussels, including the NATO headquarters, the European Parliament, the Belgian Senate, the French and Luxembourgish permanent representations to the EU, and the emblematic Palais d’Egmont.
A particular highlight of the event was getting to meet and exchange with the French ambassador to Belgiumafter he gave an insightful presentation of the diplomatic profession and current geopolitical situation, held at the Belgian Federal Parliament.
Overall, this amazing experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which further deepened my interest in international relations and global politics.
Louis Sabatier, Year 12 Student
Exchange Visit Update
Over the Easter holidays, our Chinese Exchange Coordinator, Mrs Irwin, visited our partner school SSFLS in Suzhou China. The trip included a detailed tour of the school campus and facilities, and it was lovely to see some of our previous pupils who stayed with us over the last two years. All had very fond memories of their time in the UK with their host families. Preparations are now well underway for the next wave of homestays this June when we will host 21 pupils across Year 7 and Year 8 for three weeks, We meet them all ahead of their visit, some even showed us around their junior school and they asked lots of great questions ahead of their trip.
If this is something you would like to get involved with next year, please email admin@hardenhuish.sch.uk for more details and to be added to the host family list.
