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The greatest pleasure of working in a school is seeing young people succeed. We held our Dance Show, The Wizard of Oz, this week on Wednesday and Thursday evening. As anyone in the audience will tell you, it was a delight to watch this talented group perform their programme: a culmination of weeks of hard work, effort and commitment from students in Years 9, 10 and 11, skilfully guided by our Dance teacher Miss Bryant. Warm congratulations to all involved.

This morning, we launched the Prefect application cycle for Year 10 students—a significant step in their school journey. Our prefects represent the very best of our student body. They are role models who exemplify our school values and high standards in everything they do, from wearing their uniform with pride to demonstrating an exemplary attitude towards learning and engaging positively with the school community.

 

Last year, we introduced a new structure to our Prefect Team, which has proven to be a resounding success. The Student Executive comprises: two Head Prefects and four Deputy Head Prefects. There are also eight Senior Prefects, who work closely with staff on projects, such as this year’s environment initiative supported by Mr Whitworth. These teams are supported by a wider group of prefects, who support events and help foster a strong sense of community within the school. Meanwhile, the Student Executive plays a pivotal role, leading our Student Council and liaising closely with me to represent the student voice at the highest level.

 

The application process is rigorous, reflecting the importance of these roles. Interested students must submit a letter of application to me by Wednesday, 12th February. After half term, shortlisted applicants will participate in a group interview, followed by staff nominations for standout candidates. From there, shortlisted students will progress to an individual interview with the Head of Year, Mrs Woodhead, our outgoing Head Prefects, and me.

 

We’ll announce the new Prefect Team, including Head, Deputy and Senior Prefects, before Easter. I encourage all eligible students to consider this fantastic opportunity to lead and inspire their peers. I look forward to reading their applications!

I wish you all an enjoyable weekend,
Mrs Dawn German

Assembly

This week, Mr Fluellen spoke about one of our five core values, 'Have Integrity', and how integrity relies on our other 4 values of 'Be Kind', 'Be Resilient', 'Be Respectful' and 'Be Aspirational' to help guide us into making the right decisions. He showed examples of heroes and characters from famous films that show integrity by being honest and putting their moral principles first.

Year 11 Parents - GCSE Summer 2025 Timetable     You can now access your child's GCSE timetable for Summer 2025 via the Bromcom My Child at School MCAS App by clicking on the Exam icon on the left.

Important Reminder - Reporting student absence       
This is a reminder that if your child is absent from school, please ensure that you report the absence to us via the absence line or absence form. We aim to send the absent notification via the school app if your child is not present in school, and we have not been notified by 11am.

 

Additionally, we would like to remind you that you have access to the MCAS app, where you can view your child’s attendance records and marks.

If you have concerns about your child possibly absconding from school, whether due to mental health reasons or any other factors, please be assured that you can monitor their attendance and wellbeing through the MCAS app. If you have any concerns, we kindly ask that you notify the school as soon as possible.

 

Road Closure - Monday 27th January 2025
Charlton Road will be closed on Monday - from Junction Road/Station Approach area to Mylen Road. There may be a couple of days of roadworks following this, but the road is only due to be closed for 1 day.

HCC haven’t confirmed what hours exactly the road will be closed for. Workers' hours are 7.30am to 6pm but they may not close the road for all of that time.

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.

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

Year 10 work experience information: this week we highlight an exciting work experience opportunity for those interested in working with children (from birth to 5 years old) that is still available in the area.

Have you ever wondered what the most popular jobs are around the world? Our labour market information spotlight tells you more. Being a pilot is the globe's number one dream job, while careers in law are the second most popular. Although in England, lots of people want to be a YouTuber...

For those interested in animation, games and VFX, you might like to have a look at Escapeverse Live - a new virtual festival aimed at helping you find out more about careers in this area.  This week you can also find out more about a career as a Bricklayer, an Allied Health Professional, and a Midwife.

Parents and Carers might like to view the latest 'Choices' online magazine and there's also a special Unifrog webinar to help you make the most out of this website for Year 10 and Year 11 families.

This week we engaged with Martin Luther King Day with books, quotes and facts. This supported the Humanities curriculum. We run lots of these awareness days throughout the year and our next one is Holocaust Memorial Day followed by Chinese New Year.

We have hosted English lessons for year 8 who have started their Horror genre unit. This activated their schema to be ready for the unit. Moving round the LRC Library in a carousel of activity, students were able to engage with a variety of horror texts from quick reads to graphic novels to traditional paperbacks.

We received lots of new books and promoted some of the UK's most popular secondary school books of 2024. In order to continue to purchase new stock, we need all loans returned. Starting with year 11, we shall be emailing parents about overdues and providing a final deadline for return. Items remaining unreturned after this deadline will require replacement or the cost reimbursed. We envisage this happening through Scopay. The charging policy is here. Students can check their current and previous loan history at Reading Cloud.  Thank you for your support with this.

Year 7 and 8 District Cross Country
Our Year 7 and 8 cross country runners were at Testbourne on Monday to take part in the Andover Schools District cross country event. This is always a tough, undulating course and really tests out our runners.  In the Year 7 girls race Isabelle Kneller led from the start.  She put under some pressure from 2nd place however managed to keep her distance and win her race, Heidi Prosser finished next for HW in 4th place.  In the Year 7 boys race it was a similar story. Zach Watts was challenged in the first half of the race but comfortably broke free and won his race really well.  Both winners were exceptional and clearly the hard work they put into their training in different sports paid off.

In the Year 8 girls race we finished second with Nala Williams.  She ran a solid race holding her position throughout.  Ivy Jennings pushed herself hard to finish 8th overall.  The Year 8 boys were in a tough race and couldn’t quite manage a top 10 spot.  Callum Green and Ethan Brown were our first runners home in 11th and 12th respectively.

Well done to all our runners.  Any runner finishing in the Top 10 is invited to represent the Andover District School team in Basingstoke on Tuesday 4th March. 

Year 7 Netball - HW 7B 5-1 JH 7C
For some of the team this was their first ever competitive netball match, but any nerves they may have had certainly did not affect their performance.

They started strong from the off, staying spaced out and moving the ball well. A 2-0 lead after the first quarter meant that the team were always in the driving seat. They maintained a good level of possession and although they started to tire in the third quarter, they dug deep to not allow John Hanson many opportunities to get the ball into the goal circle. Lilly and Heidi combined well in the centre of the court, Amelia and Hollie P remained solid in defence, making a number of excellent interceptions and Scarlett and Hollie P linked well in the goal circle with some lovely goals scored. An excellent first victory - we look forward to the next match against John Hanson D in a fortnight.  
Player of the Match - Scarlett, Coaches Player of Match - Hollie P.

Primary Indoor Athletics Festival
On Tuesday 21st January, 50 students from 4 different Primary Schools visited Harrow Way for an Indoor Athletics festival. The students took part in 7 different activities trying to get the best score of the day. These activities were: chest push, vertical jump, long jump, skipping, sprints, speed bounce and 5 strides. My wonderful Sports Leaders guided, supported and measured all the children’s efforts on each station. We finished the morning with school V school relays, which was very exciting and the races were very close! A massive thank you to my Sports Leaders for their fantastic work. We are looking forward to Year 3 and 4 multi skills on 11th February.

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
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