The Hemel Hempstead School Issue 1033

13 October 2017

Email: parentmail@hemelschool.com Website: www.hhs.herts.sch.uk

Years 7 and 10 School Photographs Proof copies of Year 7 individual and form group photographs and Year 10 individual photographs were distributed to students earlier this week. The deadline for returning your photo order to Student Services is Thursday 12th October. Thank you.

Dear Parents/Carers, As you will be aware Mr Patrick Harty is moving on to the John Colet School as their Headteacher in January 2018. We are sorry to see his departure yet we also wish him our very best as he moves forward with his career. Following our advertisement for his replacement we wish to re-advertise this important role and seek a larger field of candidates. To ensure continuity, The Hemel Hempstead School has, with the support of Herts for Learning, secured a temporary solution for our school. We have been fortunate to gain the support of Tring School between January 2018 and the end of the Summer Term in 2018. Mrs Susanna Collings will be our Executive Headteacher and Mrs Sally Ambrose will be the Acting Headteacher for this period of time. Both colleagues have extensive school leadership experience and will be able to lead our school, along with the support of our Governing Body and Senior Leadership Team. Mrs Ambrose will be leading the school on a day to day basis as the Acting Headteacher, supported by Mrs Collings to help shape the vision and direction for our school. Mr Tim Jordan, our Deputy Headteacher, who is currently undertaking a two days per week secondment with the Hertfordshire Virtual School until March 2018, will be working closely with Mrs Collings, Mrs Ambrose and our own Leadership Team during this period. The partnership working between our school and Tring School will be of benefit to both schools. The sharing of best practice between our staff bodies will enhance learning and teaching and, in turn, this will boost achievement for our students. As always thank you for your continued support for our school. Yours faithfully

Mr Steven Mansbridge Chair of Governors

HEADTEACHER’S

CERTIFICATE

For Service to the School Community – Open Day presentation

Grace Gower 8F Dylan Pethard 8C

Cherry Halfyard 13P Jamie Stone 13P

For Service to the School Community – Sixth Form Oxbridge Evening presentation

Eleanor Clark 13L

Dates for Your Diary OCTOBER ***Blue Week*** 17th HHSA Meeting, Library, 7 – 8.30 pm 18th Years 7 & 8 Kids Count Assembly 19th – 24th Duke of Edinburgh Year 11 Silver Practice Expedition 19th School Musical Rehearsals, PA3/4, 7 - 9 pm 20th Non-Uniform day in support of the Willow Foundation Charity HALF TERM: Monday 23rd – Friday 27th October 2017

***Gold Week*** 30th Year 7 Maths Parent Student Workshop (Sets 1 & 2), Hall, 6.20 – 7.30 pm November 1st Year 7 Maths Parent Student Workshop (Sets 3 & 4), M9, 6.20 – 7.30 pm 2nd School Musical Rehearsals, PA3/4, 7 - 9 pm 2nd & 3rd Year 11 GCSE Food NEA1 Exam, 9 am – 12 pm 3rd Year 11 PACE Psychometric Taster (11XPC1), TE6, Period 3 The Newsletter is blue or gold to correspond with the blue or gold timetable of the following week.

Sickness/absence line: Years 7 – 11 Please will all parents contact us daily if your child is sick, going to be late in due to a medical appointment, or is absent for any other reason. Please call our sickness/absence line on 01442 390103 by 8.30 am if possible. Sickness/absence line: Years 12 and 13 The dedicated telephone number for accepting calls/messages concerning absence from school of Sixth Form students is 01442 251732. Please call by 8.30 am if possible. If Sixth Formers arrive at school after registration they must sign in at the Sixth Form Office.

Financial Studies – Top Performing Students!

For a number of years, The Hemel Hempstead School has offered the Certificate in Financial Studies as part of its enrichment programme. This qualification is provided by The London Institute of Banking and Finance and provides a comprehensive introduction to personal finance, with the purpose of developing the knowledge and skills in young people in order for them to make informed financial decisions. This year we had amazing results, with two of our students, Eleanor Clark and Brandi Ravenhall, being offered a £750 scholarship towards a financial degree, for being in the top performing 1% of all students across the country, while a further nine students received an offer of a £500 scholarship for receiving an A* or A. Students have found the course incredibly useful, not only because of the increase in their own financial knowledge, but also for the transferable skills that they can use in their other subjects. We have History and Government and Politics students who say that the knowledge gained from the CeFS course really helped them to a gain a thorough understanding of other subjects, such as the economy of the 20th century.

Year 11 Graphics visit to Watford

Last Wednesday, the Year 11 Graphics students went to different locations in Watford to take pictures of buildings for our November mock exams. We went to Watford High Street, a church and the Watford Football Club stadium on Vicarage Road. Whilst on the trip we took pictures of different buildings that interested us. We looked at a variety of buildings, from old to new, to give us a range of ideas. It was really useful, first-hand primary research, which helped to inspire us for our mock exam.

Molly Cook, 11N

Vacancies Post: 3G Football Development Officer H6 £21,057 - £23,166 Full Time permanent position, 37 hours per week, 52 weeks per year Further details may be found on our website: http://www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/information/vacancies/ . For an informal chat please phone Mr Robinson (School Business Manager) on 01442 390100 and/or Mr Lingham (Herts FA County Development Manager) on 01462 650217. Visits to the school are welcome and can be arranged by appointment with Mr Robinson. Closing date for applications: Friday 20th October, 12 noon.

Post: Site Assistant H2 £15,507 to £16,481 37 hours per week, 52 weeks per year Application forms are available on our website at http://www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/information/vacancies/ . Upon receipt of applications, we will be assessing and inviting selected candidates in for an interview. We would ideally like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible. Closing date for applications: Monday 16th October, 11am.

Post: IT/ICT Assistant Network Manager Permanent Full Time 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Pay scale: H6 Salary: £21,057 (starting salary) to £23,166 For further details and an informal chat please phone Mr Gareth Hughes on 01442 390100. Application forms are available on our website at http://www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/information/vacancies/ . Closing date for applications Monday 16th October, 11am Please send completed forms to Mr S Robinson, School Business Manager, The Hemel Hempstead School, Heath Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP1 1TX. Tel: 01442 390100, email: admin@hhs.herts.sch.uk by the closing date. Please note, if you have not been contacted within one week of the closing date you have not been shortlisted for interview.

Year 8 visit to Hampton Court Palace

Year 8 recently visited Hampton Court Palace, one of the many owned by Henry VIII, to learn more about the royal family that changed England forever. When we went to Hampton Court, we learnt all about the Tudors and how they lived and we learnt about Henry VIII and his six wives. I really enjoyed this experience. My favourite thing was the maze and it took about 20 minutes to get to the centre of it. We also learnt about the kitchens, gallery and lots more. I found this trip very useful because this term we are doing work on the Tudors.

Rosie Heaney 8C

The Hemel Hempstead School Association

PTA News Forthcoming Events: The HHSA will be providing refreshments and will need your help to set up, serve and clear away. Please let us know if you can spare some time. If you are unable to help for a full session, please consider joining us for part of the time. Bag2School Drop-off: The next Bag2School collection is arranged for Monday 6th November. The Bag2School bags are now available for students to take home. If your child doesn’t bring a Bag2School bag home, or you fill the donation bag and still have more items, then you can use any other bag to donate your items. Don’t forget to ask grandparents, friends and neighbours to have a sort out as well! There is no need to wait until collection day; you may bring your bag (or bags!) to room M16 (Premises Manager’s Office) any time, during school hours, to help us have a really good collection. Please visit the Bag2School website http://uk.bag2school.com/ for the list of acceptable items. Bag2School weekend Drop-off: Saturday 4th November 2017, 10 am to 12 pm. We will be pleased to accept donations on the morning of Saturday 4th November. Use the Anchor Lane entrance and follow the Bag2School signs to the store room adjacent to the car park.

Christmas Market: Saturday 18th November 2017, 11 am to 3 pm. An opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early! More details will be published in the next Newsletter.

Christmas Concert: Friday 8th December 2017, 7 pm to 10.30 pm. Look forward to mulled wine and mince pies during the interval, as well as our usual offering of snacks and hot beverages. There will also be a bumper Christmas Raffle.

Carol Service: Monday 11th December 2017, 7 pm to 9 pm at St John's Church, Boxmoor. The HHSA will be serving mulled wine and mince pies after the service.

Next Meeting: Tuesday 17th October 2017, at 7 pm in the School Library.

Facebook: Please search for ‘Hemel Hempstead School Association’ and ‘Like’ our page. School website, HHSA Page: www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/parents/hhsa/ Includes minutes of meetings, second hand uniform, and ways you can help to raise funds. Contact: Brian Spencer, HHSA Chair Tel: 07710 905759 Email: hhsa.chair@gmail.com

Gold Letters issued recently: Letter 34 Year 13 Biology Enrichment Visit Letter 36 Year 12 Biology Information Letter 37 Year 7 Parent Student Maths Workshop Letter 38 Year 7 Parent Student Maths Workshop

SPORT FIXTURES Monday 16th October Senior Netball @ JFK, 4 – 5 pm Year 9 Rugby @ Ashlyns, 4 - 5.30 pm Senior Basketball @ Longdean, 4 - 5.30 pm Wednesday 18th October Year 9 and 10 Netball v Ashlyns (H), 4 - 5.30 pm Thursday 19th October Year 9 Football v Danish Team (H), 3 pm KO

RESULTS Year 8 County Cup Football 1st round v Cavendish won 5-2 (MVP Martin Kirov 8C) Year 8 Netball v Longdean lost 16-7 (MVP Nicole Johnson 8N) Year 9 Netball v Longdean won 30-12 (MVP Summer Brookes 9P) Year 10 Netball v Longdean won 38-12 (MVP Yasmin Taghavi 10C) Year 9 County Cup Football 1st round v Samuel Ryder Academy won 4-0 (MVP Ben Smith 9L) Current Football Top Goalscorers Year 7- Justin Jones (5) Year 8 - Louie Galasso, Luke Mathison (3) Year 9 - Harry Bonner (6) Year 10 - Louie Potton, Jordon Mulholland (2)

PE Faculty

Flyer attached: Gade Schools Family Support Craft Morning

Non-Uniform Day Friday 20th October

Next Friday 20th October will be a non-uniform day for students. We would be grateful for donations (we suggest £1) towards the charity Willow Foundation in exchange for wearing non-uniform on this day. Students will hear in next week’s assemblies about the work of the Willow Foundation.

Mr Jordan, Deputy Headteacher

Activities aimed at families with children aged 3-12 (younger siblings are welcome).

All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult, and children aged 8 and under must be supervised

by an adult at all times.

There will be a small entrance fee of:

£2 per child per family or £5 for a family group with 3 children and £1.00 per child thereafter.