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In the midst of the sadness we felt last week, it has been wonderful to see our students settle back into school with such positivity and focus.  The learning environment this week has been calm and purposeful—just the way we like it. Moments like these remind us how important it is to support one another and keep moving forward together.

Thank you to all the Year 11 parents and carers who joined us for our Consultation Evening. It was a pleasure to see so many parents engaging with teachers to support their child’s journey to success. The predicted grades for some of our students are exceptional, but as ever, our focus remains on the progress of every student. This is the time to roll up sleeves, put in the effort, and turn potential into reality.

Speaking of effort - our PPEs (mock exams) begin on 7th February. This week, Year 11 students worked on sharpening their study skills during the Tutor Standstill session. The key message? "Little and often" is the recipe for revision success. Forget crammin. It’s all about steady, effective preparation. (And no, copying out your notes doesn’t count as revision!)

We can’t stress enough the value of attending revision sessions. Why struggle at home when expert teachers are here to guide our students? We are fortunate to have staff so willing to give up their time to run these sessions. Please encourage your child to make the most of every opportunity available to them.

To help Year 11 students maximise their potential, we’re also launching a Year 11 Attendance Challenge. We know how crucial good attendance is for exam success, so for the next four weeks, all Year 11 students who achieve attendance of 96% or better will be entered into a draw to win Amazon vouchers. There are several vouchers up for grabs, and we look forward to celebrating students’ commitment to their learning!

Here’s to a term full of hard work, smart choices, and, of course, some stunning results. 

I wish you all an enjoyable weekend,
Mrs Dawn German

Inclement Weather leading to School Closure
January is known for inclement weather. We’ve been grateful for some sunshine this week, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one surprised to see the snow last Wednesday!

As I’m sure you would expect, any decisions about closing our school because of weather conditions will always be taken with great care and consideration. Our children have missed enough learning! Nevertheless, I have to take into account the safety of our students around our site, as well as consider their journeys to and from school. In addition, I will need to know that my staff are able to travel; most don’t live in Andover. We need minimum numbers of adults in school in order to open safely. In the rare event that I have to close the school, we will put information on the front page of our website and email everyone. Here’s hoping for good weather in the weeks to come!

 

Assembly

This week, Mr Whitworth has been delivering assemblies on the fundamental learning habits we aim for students to develop during their time with us. By cultivating these habits, learning becomes more manageable, effective, and successful.

Wedding Bells
Huge congratulations to the new Mrs Vout, formally Miss Parker, who got married on Saturday 21st December 2024. 
Mr. and Mrs Vout had a wonderful wedding, surrounded by friends and family. A magical and memorable day. I am sure that you will join me in wishing the new couple a lifetime of happiness together.

Important Update on Attendance Marks                                      We’d like to make parents and carers aware of how attendance is recorded under our new system.
Naturally, we encourage all students to be punctual to lessons, as this plays a key role in maintaining a positive learning environment and ensuring they don’t miss valuable teaching time.

If your child arrives late to school following a medical appointment or as part of a reduced day arrangement, their attendance will be marked as L. Please note that this is a standard mark that ensures their attendance record is maintained accurately and does not affect their attendance percentage negatively. 

MCAS - My Child at School
If you’re experiencing any difficulties accessing the app, please don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Townsend at school.
 
A gentle reminder: if you have any questions or concerns about the information displayed on the app, please reach out to your child’s tutor directly.

Thank you from Andover Foodbank

We received a thank you from Andover Food Bank this week from donations collected in the lead up to Christmas from Students and Staff. If you would like to find out more about Andover Food Bank visit their website here.

Year 11 Revision
We have statistical evidence for our students that shows the more the students engage in the revision process the more successful they are in their final exams. The secret is to start early and keep going. GCSE Exam preparation is a marathon and not a sprint; it can be a true test of resilience and determination as well as hard work.

In order to enable our students to prepare for success in all their courses, we have reviewed what is on offer to students. Accordingly, we believe that we have devised an effective programme that will ensure rigorous preparation for the examinations next May. 

Ways Forward - our weekly newsletter for Careers, Apprenticeship, College, Work and Work Experience.

Any Year 10 students interested in taking part in a residential work experience placement with the Army need to email Mrs Manning ASAP as spaces are quickly running out (elizabeth.manning@harrowway.hants.sch.uk). Year 10 students that have not started arranging Work Experience placements need to get started on this now. 

In Ways Forward this week, find out more about becoming a molecular biologist, learn to code from scratch and read about a special event exploring careers working with animals. There are new virtual conferences for students interested in medicine and dentistry and in our LMI spotlight you can find out which skills local employers are looking for.

We have new apprenticeship vacancies suitable for Year 11 students to apply for with the British Army, and a role as an Engineering Technician Apprentice with Chilbolton Observatory.  There's also a new guide from Amazing Apprenticeships to help you get ready to apply for apprenticeships.

We were delighted that some Year 8 and Year 10 girls wanted to make our 2024 TikTok/Booktok display after school one day. The Veganuary display supporting Catering and reading for learning/inquiry has led to some interesting discussions.

As more than 100 books are overdue, some by a year and more, letters requesting their return or replacement will be sent out in the next two weeks. Students have had numerous reminders to their school email account. Thank you in advance for your support in encouraging returns.

Badminton
On Tuesday our KS4 Badminton players competed at the Andover Schools competition.  The girls dominated each game with unanimous victories over John Hanson and then Testbourne.  The girls progress through to the Hampshire competition and we wish the best of luck.

The boys had a good tournament and finished 3rd overall.  The players from John Hanson won the Hampshire round last year and made it through to the National finals so we knew it was going to be a tough day at the office! However, they competed well and had a very tight game against Testbourne A.  They comfortably beat Rookwood and Testbourne B. Well done boys.   

On Thursday it was the KS3 badminton tournament. Sadly, we had a couple of drop outs due to other commitments in the girls team however Dotty and Sophie managed to still play some singles and doubles matches against the other schools. They played really well and only just lost out by one point in the crunch match against JH. Great effort girls.

The boys put in an incredible performance. Alfie had a tough day playing against the Number 1’s but battled well. These boys practise doubles every lunchtime in the sports hall and it really did show. Dominant performances from the doubles pairs, noticeable tactical awareness and aggressive attacking play earned them the top spot and they made their way through the Hampshire round in a few weeks.

Netball
Harrow Way 7A v John Hanson Year 7A. 
On Wednesday it was the first match of the season for our brand new Year 7 team! They had a tough draw with John Hanson as their opening match, however, they were excited and ready to go. The John Hanson side were strong and their goal shooter just could not miss, the opening quarter was 7-0 to JH. The second quarter was more positive, Riya made some great passes into the circle and Isabelle scored 2 brilliant goals, whereas JH only scored 3. The girls had a tough third quarter with JH running rings around them. Hollie did her best to stop the shooters, however, JH's score creeped up to 15, with Harrow Way still only at 2 goals. After a pep talk from Miss Parker the girls went onto the court for the final quarter feeling positive. They managed to win that quarter scoring 3 goals. The game finished 16-4 to John Hanson. Player of the match went to Hollie and Coaches Player went to Isabelle. 
Well done girls, it was a tough first match, onwards and upwards from here!

8A vs John Hanson A
A tough first game of the season for a much changed team compared to last year. The girls have been working hard over the last term not only to develop their netball skills but also to learn how to work together as a team and throughout the match there were certainly some elements of excellent teamwork play.

The centre court players of Ivy, Laila, Lexi and Ruby N worked tirelessly, working to transfer the ball up the court and then tracking back again when out of possession. Nicole also made  some excellent interceptions as GD. Unfortunately, the shooting opportunities did not fall for our team and John Hanson’s slender lead of 3-1 after the first quarter slowly grew as the game went on. Final score HW 5 - 12 JH.

Lots of positives to take from the game, the girls should be proud of their effort, many of who were playing in their first league game for the school.
Player of the match Laila. Coaches Player - Nicole.

Lateness 
If your child is late to school, please write a note in their planner or call the school with the reason for lateness, to prevent unnecessary sanctions being set. The sanction will be a same-day lunchtime detention for all Years.  Failure to attend this detention will result in an after-school detention and further sanction will be applied for persistent lateness. Thank you for your support with this, it is very much appreciated.

Website Medical Page
We have an updated Medical Page for parents on our website.  Parents can access forms to keep us updated on all things medical for their child, such as:

Prescription Medication

Returning to school on crutches or with an injury

School inhaler

School Autoinjector

Updating medical information  

Students Feeling Unwell in School
Please remind your child not to contact home in the first instance if they feel unwell. They should go to the school nurse, who will then contact home if necessary. If you send your child into school knowing that they are under the weather, we feel you have made the decision that they are well enough for school and we will stand by that decision unless their condition deteriorates.

School Nursing Team
The school nursing visited recently, they highlighted how parents can support their child's well-being through the teenage years, here are some useful websites and services that they shared with us:

Hampshire Healthier Families

Sleep Charity

Back to Basics - Hampshire CAMHS

Young Minds - Parents' A-Z Mental Health Guide

Community
If you are looking for a new venue for your club/organisation Harrow Way Community School offers fantastic facilities at competitive prices. To view what we can offer please visit our lettings website. We now have a Facebook page. You can find it here or by searching for Harrowwaycommunity

Aluminium Recycling
We have teamed up with Magpie Community Recycling on East Portway Industrial Estate. This local service supports people with learning and physical disabilities and has provided us with a bin so we can collect foil, drink cans and aluminium food trays. There is a collection bin in our Main Reception for the aluminium to be deposited. Please send in any aluminium products you have - this will be collected by Magpie Community Recycling every 2 weeks. Thank you for all your support.

Lost Property
Is your child missing a water bottle, coat, blazer or their shoes??!  Please get them to check at student reception as we have several of each item waiting to be reunited with their owners.

Check out the latest news, fundraising initiatives and upcoming events from the PTA here - harrowwaypta.charityhive.co.uk

This will be the home of PTA news, raffle and event details so please sign up, check out what we are up to and if you have any thoughts, feedback or if you are interested in helping out in any way please get in touch!

The HWCS Parent Teacher Association continues to look at future fund-raising and enrichment opportunities to benefit students and would love to hear from you if you have ideas or experience to share. You can email us here for information or to express an interest. In order to continue, we do need volunteers so hope to hear from you. 

Andover Athletic Club
Happy Advent and welcome to the December edition of the Andover Athletic Club Newsletter. Did you open a door on your advent calendar this morning?  Was it chocolate or sweets? Or perhaps something luxurious? The range of different advent calendars is astounding and yet I struggle to find one that is tailored for athletes.

This bumper edition includes the winners of the Club's Presentation Evening, but the competitive calendar has been quiet, particularly at the hands of Storm Bert, so not a lot of results to report. Enjoy. You can find our December newsletter HERE.

Andover RFC U13’s - We are looking to recruit enthusiastic players to our U13 team (School Year 8). Training is held on Wednesdays and Sundays at the Goodship Ground.

Family First Magazine

New Issue out now.

Click here to view.

Being a parent has never been easy. There are no manuals for it, and previous generations may not be able to provide the insight you're looking for. The family unit is more dispersed than ever, with some families existing hundreds of miles from what may be called a 'core unit'. The rapid pace of societal change in the UK rapidly outstrips the knowledge of the immediate past. The result is that many parents may find themselves lost in a maelstrom of contradictory advice. For adults, time has never been more compacted. Family Lives has produced a series of online parenting courses, to make this challenge a little easier. If interested please follow this link.

Family Lives offers a confidential and free* helpline service for families in England and Wales (previously known as Parentline). They can be contacted on 0808 800 2222 for emotional support, information, advice and guidance on any aspect of parenting and family life. Their website is also a rich source of useful support and advice.

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Harrow Way Community School,
Harrow Way,
Andover,
Hampshire.
SP10 3RH