Hardenhuish Headlines

Dear Parents

It has been STEM week this week and good to celebrate and encourage our young people to get involved in a wide range of STEM based activities during the week.

The Poetry Slam was an amazing event last night and included a variety of poems including those themed around elements, animals, anti-bullying and the school bell. The winning team was “Super Stags” poem on animals and the ecosystem.  Thank you to the English Team and Sara-Jane Arbury for making this annual event so incredible!

I am delighted to announce that we have been reaccredited with the Wellbeing award. Thank you to Simon Kain, Emma Barton and the Wellbeing group for their continued hard work in keeping the profile of wellbeing high at Hardenhuish and always looking for new and exciting ways for us to extend our work. There are some wonderful accolades in the report “wellbeing initiatives are at the centre of the whole school vision” , “wellbeing is as important as academic achievement”, “ the school has a real sense of community, with relationships being at the core of the experience for all” – thank you for the part that you play in our work in supporting the wellbeing of our young people.

A massive thank you to everyone who helped to organise, came along, donated prizes or bought raffle tickets for the Christmas Fayre last week. It was a lovely event and we raised an incredible £2701.08!

If your young person travels to and from school by bus, please could you remind them that they need to show their passes as they get on to the bus in the mornings and afternoon. They also need to ensure that they are at the bus stops on time as the buses are working to a tight schedule and need to leave at the published times.

I am looking forward to the Carol Concert next Tuesday in St Pauls Church at 7pm. This represents the beginning of Christmas for me and will be a lovely end to what has been a full and busy Term 2!

A reminder that we finish for Christmas at 12.30pm on Wednesday 20 December so there will be no Headlines next week. Coachstyle will provide an early pick up at 12.45pm for those who travel by school bus.

I would therefore like to take the opportunity to wish you a restful and joy filled Christmas break and look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Thursday 4 January 2024 (please note this is a normal school day and not a TD Day).

Lisa Percy
Headteacher

Wellbeing Award for Schools

We are proud to have been reaccredited with the Wellbeing Award for Schools for another three years. The Wellbeing Award recognises schools that ensure that mental health and wellbeing sit at the heart of school life.

Areas of strength identified by the review include:

  • The school’s continued strategic focus on wellbeing.
  • The wide range of support available for young people, including from teachers, tutors, Pastoral Managers, School Counsellors and wider services.
  • The variety of wellbeing interventions and learning through Tutor Mentoring, whole school events such as Hello Yellow, the Successful Lives Programme and PSHE lessons.
  • The increased role of young people in championing wellbeing, such as through the Student Leadership Team and pupil Mental Health Champions.
  • The empowerment of students to be able to feed back their views and organise and facilitate events.
  • The commitment to staff wellbeing and continued training for staff around wellbeing and mental health.
  • The links that have been established with other local schools and organisations.

It was also recognised that we know there are always areas to improve, and these include continuing to develop outreach with the community and ensuring that staff continue to have a wide range of experience and awareness around mental health and wellbeing.

Berlin 2023

When we landed in Berlin this year, we were greeted with a blanket of snow. It was a refreshing start to the trip, which would see us visit many sites connected to the history of Germany from its foundation in 1871 to recent times. The core of the trip was to see how Berlin was shaped by the Second World War and Cold War, with ramifications upon how it as a federal state today. On our first day we walked to Alexander Platz and then down Unter den Linden to Bebelplatz, the site of the book burning memorial, commemorating events that took place there in 1933. We finished day one with a tour of the Reichstag at night to see the sites through the descending mist, before we checked in for our evening meal. The second day took us to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Jewish Memorial and Museum. This allowed us to look at the impact of the Third Reich on German history and connect it to how the country has chosen to memorialise parts of its history. The iconic Berlin quiz took place that evening at the hotel, where students had to recall knowledge from the day, including an observation round and historic Berlin general knowledge quiz. Day three was our Cold War Day and involved using the U and S-Bahn and tram network to navigate to an underground bunker tour, the Berlin Wall Memorial, Potsdamer Platz and the DDR Museum. Students and staff were then treated to some local German cuisine in a meal out, before heading back to the hotel. Day four gave us the opportunity to explore the preserved section of Berlin Wall, which had been turned into the East-Side Gallery in 1990. The afternoon was more leisurely and involved a longer lunch, some souvenir shopping and Christmas Markets, bearing in mind, we’d walked on average 18,000 steps each day! The students were a credit to themselves, and all had a wonderful time and feel slightly more Christmassy then when they’d left.

🌟 Competition Results Announcement for CYBERFIRST Girls 🌟

Congratulations to all the fantastic participants of our recent competition! We are proud to announce the standings:

🥇 First Place: Group I – Outstanding effort securing a remarkable 3715 points!

🥈 Second Place: Group B – Impressive performance with 2814 points!

🥉 Third Place: Group G – Tremendous effort resulting in 2248 points!

Prizes to be given out in Year 8 Assembly next week.

Although we didn’t advance to the next round, every participant displayed exceptional determination and dedication. Your hard work is truly commendable! As a token of appreciation, each participant will receive a book, vouchers, and ACE points for their outstanding contributions. A big round of applause to all the girls who took part!

Your enthusiasm and dedication are inspiring! Well done to each and every one of you!

Music Exam Results
Congratulations to Year 7 pupil Esther Oldacres who recently achieved a merit in her grade 3 trumpet exam.

Hardenhuish has been successful in a bid for a grant from the Chippenham Borough Lands Charity to help support our Mental Health provision. The grant will be used to help to fund our counselling service, to make sure that as many children as possible are able to access this vital provision. We are very grateful to CBLC for their continued support.

Lost Property

Please see linked below a list of lost property we currently hold. If your young person has lost any items, which they have not yet reclaimed please check this list. Any items that remain unclaimed at the end of this term will either be disposed of or donated to charity next term.

Lost Property Log December 2023

Year 7 Football

The Year 7 football team travelled to Trafalgar in Downton on Wednesday afternoon to play in round 16 of the county cup. After waking up after a very long journey the boys started well, putting Trafalgar under pressure from the start and it was not long before Huish were ahead and ended up 3-0 up at half time. The message was more of the same at half time and boys delivered eventually running out 8-1 winners and progressing into the quarter finals. A special mention for captain and the player of the match who played superbly from the warm up to the final whistle.  

Mr Brailey even enjoyed the repeated renditions of “Football’s coming home” on the bus on the way back.

Well done boys and to think football season hasn’t even really started yet!

Sports Leaders

Over the last 2 terms lots of Hardenhuish Sports Leaders have supported Chippenham’s Sports Partnerships events. We have been really impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment they have shown in every event – proving themselves to be excellent role models.

Last week we welcomed nearly 500 primary pupils (plus their teachers!) to take part in a Winter Wonderland Welly Walk. Our Sports Leaders once again stepped up to the challenge by wearing festive clothing, performing the 12 Days of Christmas dance and then leading each group around the course. They were outstanding from start to finish and we were incredibly proud of each of them.

We are looking forward to even more leadership opportunities in 2023!

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