We have had a very exciting week at The Hamble school. We regularly invite outside agencies into school as we are very proud of the school’s improvement journey. This week we welcomed an Advisor from Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS) to observe lessons and conduct some Student Voice. The feedback from HIAS was very positive and it was noted that in lessons:
- High Quality Inclusive Teaching engaged all learners
- There was appropriate challenge
- Students were actively learning and not passive
- Teachers had high expectations.
On Thursday we were delighted to host so many prospective students and their families for Open Evening. Thank you to our wonderful current students who gave up their time to help departments or act as Tour Guides. A special thank you to Lahnee, Heath and Wiktoria who wrote and delivered fantastic speeches as part of the Headteacher’s presentation. Overall feedback from the evening was extremely positive – We have included a selection of comments below:
- ‘We were there for ages as there was so much to look at and my son loved going to every department! He loved the Science experiments and the Music room! The Year 10 who showed us around was so lovely and gave us so much detail about the school!’
- ‘The evening was so well organised and I can see that this is a very well organised school – We had an excellent time and this is the first time I have had to drag my child out of school!’
- ‘The Headteacher’s speech was excellent and gave us lots of information. The students spoke so clearly and we found it very useful and reassuring to hear from them’.
- ‘We loved the Science department, loved the Music department and loved Food Technology. The Hamble School really put in lots of effort to show us what they offer’.
- ‘How do we ensure that our daughter gets into The Hamble School? We really want her to come here’.
Thank you to all the Parents/ Carers who came along to the Curriculum Evenings for Year 9 and 10 this week. We look forward to seeing Year 8 Parents/ Carers and students on Monday 23 September.
Have a great week.
Next week is WEEK 2
Question of the Week
Please select your answer in the form below, all fields marked * are required and to help prevent SPAM this form is protected by Google reCaptcha v3.
Each week we will ask parents/ carers a question in the Weekly Message – This will either be about a topic we are focussing on or an aspect of our school improvement plan. We would appreciate it if everyone answers it when reading the Weekly Message.
Events w/b 4 March
w/b Monday 23 September – Year 11 Review Assessments – Revision materials will be available on Class Charts.
Monday 23 September – Year 8 Curriculum evening. 5:30pm in the Main Hall. Please sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/XgVc559atA
Future Dates
Tuesday 1 October – Parent Forum with Mrs Valleley (Deputy Headteacher) at 6pm in SC16. Find out what we have been up to since the start of term and share your ideas. Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/VS9dSStbUE
Friday 4 October – PTA Quiz Night – 6pm in the Main Hall. Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/iThraj3Q6E
Letters
You can find all letters sent home over the week here – https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/letters-to-parents/
The canteen menus can be found here: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/food-and-drink/
Please check your child’s Attendance regularly on Class Charts
Theme of the Week – How to keep safe
Next week, students will have an assembly delivered by Mrs Pennington-Chick (Senior Deputy Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead), about how to keep themselves safe.
This will cover how to keep safe online and, in the community, as well as rail and road safety. The assemblies will support students in helping them think about where risks may be apparent and how to mitigate these.
In tutor time, as part of the Personal Development Programme, students will be continuing the themes of rail and road safety so they can look at scenarios that may put themselves at risk. There are some useful resources for Parents/ Carers and students to support this theme, here: https://www.think.gov.uk/
Year 7s will be continuing their transition programme. This week they will be looking at Friendships and fallouts as well as how to stay well, both emotionally and physically.
This Week at the Dinner Table
- When you are walking to school, where do you think the most dangerous places are? How do you keep yourself safe in these areas?
- When you ride to school, do you wear your helmet? What might happen if you don’t wear a helmet?
- What are the hazards at a train station? What safety features are in place at a train station to help you keep safe? How should you behave at a train station?
Reading
‘A quarter of young people do not recognise the link between reading and success’ (Literacy State of the Nation) yet we know that:
- A child who is read to at age 1-2 scores higher in reading, spelling, grammar, and numeracy skills at age 8-11.
- Reading for pleasure at the ages of 10 and 16 has a substantial effect on a child’s cognitive scores in vocabulary, spelling, and mathematics at age 16.
- Reading for just 6 minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 68%.
- Reading can improve sleep quality.
- Children who read at home have a higher success rate at school.
Each week we will show you what one of our teachers is reading at home. For Recommended Reads for teenagers, please click here: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/library/recommended-reads/
PTA Quiz – Test your trivia, enjoy great company and support The Hamble School
Date – Friday 4 October
Time – 6pm
Teams – 4-6 people
Cost – £2 per person
All proceeds will go to The Hamble School.
We are very excited that the first PTA Quiz will take place on Friday 4 October in the Main Hall. Doors open at 6pm and the quiz will start at 6:30pm.
Teams will need to be between 4-6 people, however, if you have less and would like to come along we can join you with another team. To enter we ask that each person taking part pays £2 on the night – This will need to be in cash.
You can bring food for your table but the PTA will have drinks and snacks available to purchase (cash only).
There will be a prize for the winning team, a special wooden spoon and plenty of laughs guaranteed!
Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/iThraj3Q6E
Executive Functioning – From our Inclusion Department
What are executive functioning skills?
A student’s capacity for executive function involves both cognitive and behavioural aspects that are crucial for managing learning and for realising personal goals and aspirations. When students have strong executive function skills, they can more effectively organise their work, increase their productivity and improve their emotional regulation.
Specifically, executive function skills comprise:
- Attention and inhibition: The ability to focus and concentrate, to ignore distractions, and to control impulses and instead choose appropriate behaviours.
- Working memory: The ability to hold several pieces of information in mind at the same time, in order to think about them, reason and make decisions.
- Cognitive flexibility: The ability to think flexibly, to switch gear and adapt to changing circumstances or demands when necessary, and to switch between different rules or behaviours at will.
Students with strong executive function skills will be able to make better decisions, be more effective in a range of situations throughout life and are more likely to enjoy long-term physical and mental health. Research has found executive function skills to be more predictive of academic achievement than IQ, and to be related to higher achievement in areas such as reading, Maths, and spelling.
What can Parents/Carers do at home to develop executive functioning skills?
Learning about executive function helps young people to understand the role of executive function skills for self-control and for managing their studies better. It also supports them to recognise the impact of managing emotions, resisting temptations, and planning and executing complex projects. Young people can be supported at home in the following ways:
- Young people should be reminded that executive function can be improved with exercise, like a muscle. Repetitively using a strategy that exercises executive function, such as prioritising tasks, will enhance their executive function skills.
- Parents/Carers might invite their child to discuss their experiences of urgent tasks: did they put off starting because of anxiety, confusion, or poor planning? How does having a task become urgent make them feel, and what practical consequences does this entail? What might help them to act earlier next time? Developing executive function skills, such as those involved in planning and prioritising, can help young people avoid reactive responses to the demands of tasks once they become urgent and stressful.
- Support young people to understand how to manage their attention and understanding, you can periodically stop during a conversation or activity at home to ask your child reflective questions such as: ‘If you have stopped paying attention, what distracted you? How might you refocus? If you don’t understand, what might be the problem? What help can you seek?’ This can be a useful strategy that students might use at other times when they want to monitor their progress or performance, such as when writing assignments, before handing in an assignment, or simply when leaving home for school each day.
- Young people can be encouraged to apply an understanding of the limitations of working memory to improve their study techniques. For example, trying to remember schedules and assignment details overloads working memory and may lead to important information being forgotten, as well as leaving less capacity for more higher-order thinking such as planning the structure of an essay. It is also important for students to understand that they need to actively work with important new learning over time in order to transfer it to long-term memory.
- Young people may benefit from the opportunity to reflect on their executive function skills and determine for themselves how to become better at self-management. You might encourage your child to identify unhelpful thinking and ineffective strategies and to brainstorm alternatives (itself an exercise in cognitive flexibility).
In future updates we will review:
- How Parents/Carers can support planning, goal-setting and self-monitoring at home.
- How Parents/ Carers can support emotional regulation at home.
- How Parents/ Carers can promote self-control and good decision-making at home.
- Games and activities that support executive function skills.
Unit Award Scheme
We are thrilled to share some remarkable accomplishments from our students with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) this term. At The Hamble School, every EHCP student has an opportunity to participate in the AQA Unit Award Scheme (UAS), both at school and at home. This offers them the chance to gain accreditation in a range of areas and not only supports academic outcomes but also supports students with preparation for adulthood.
The AQA UAS provides a unique way to celebrate learner achievement with a ‘can do’ approach, designed to enhance student confidence, motivation and engagement. Our Inclusion Department is accredited to run these courses, giving our students access to a vast array of over 20,000 available accreditations on the AQA UAS platform.
This term, we are especially proud to highlight some of our students’ outstanding achievements, which span from complex topics like nuclear physics and magnetism to more personal goals such as health and fitness. The flexibility of the UAS allows students to progress at their own pace, with each completed unit culminating in a well-earned accredited certificate.
Congratulations to all our students for their dedication and hard work!
Cyber First
The Hamble School is taking part in the CyberFirst Girls Competition for the first time, and would like to encourage all Year 8 girls (regardless of current IT skills) to register to compete in teams of four. This is great chance to work on teamwork and IT skills, with the top scoring teams attending an award event. Find out more here and register your interest by contacting Mr Keel. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberfirst/girls-competition
Careers
This week we are focusing on the importance of career exploration and future opportunities. Encouraging students to explore various career paths can open doors to passions they never knew existed and help them make informed decisions, when it comes to career choices. Please use the link below for information college open days.
Comprehensive careers guidance for students can be found in the Careers section of the student pages – here
We are also welcoming colleges into our Year 11 assemblies over the next few weeks. Thank you to Barton Peveril for presenting to our students last Friday.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust Youth Board
Applications for the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust Youth Board are open for 2024-25. The Youth Board is made up of a group of committed young people from across Hampshire, the New Forest and Isle of Wight who want to contribute to decision-making in their local NHS Trust while building their skills and experience to support them in their futures.
They are recruiting for new members of the Youth Board and students are able to apply to:
- Share their voice & support decision-making within their local NHS Foundation Trust.
- Develop their confidence, teamworking, communication and leadership skills.
- Gain insight into how the Trust operates and potential career paths within Southern Health.
Feedback from last year included:
‘It’s inspired me to keep up to date with what’s happening in the NHS and think about how it will affect me and other young people around me and what I can do about that.’
‘I had lots of opportunities to be really hands on and work on impactful projects.’
For more information about this opportunity please see the linked poster or visit the webpage. Applications for the Youth Board are open now until 10am on 15 October 2024.
Poster: https://bit.ly/YouthBoardPoster24
Webpage: https://unloc.online/opportunities/hiow-nhs-youth-board
Application form: https://bit.ly/YouthBoardApply24
Rewards
The students listed below achieved the most reward points this week – Well done to you!
- Year 7 – Charlie B 7-3
- Year 8 –Freddie W 8-6
- Year 9 –Harvey P 9-1
- Year 10 – Kristian G.R10-3
- Year 11 – George F 11-8
You can say ‘thank you’ to a member of staff here: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/staff-recognition/ they really do enjoy receiving these each week.
Support
If you or your child would like support with wellbeing, please check out the links of our website: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/student-wellbeing-support/