Thank you for all your support over the last week during our Ofsted Inspection. We really appreciate all the messages and kind words from Parents/ Carers as well as those who took the time to complete the Parent View. We would also like to thank the students who took part in Student Voice activities and completed their survey. We will share the report with you once it is published.
It was lovely to see so many Parents/ Carers at the Year 7 Achieving Excellence Evening. This was an important event as it will help prepare students for the Year 7 Exams w/b 31 March 2025. More information is detailed in this Weekly Message and a letter will be sent home early next week.
We enjoyed some House events this week. Well done to everyone who took part in the Year 8 Swimming Gala and the Red Nose Day Bake Off. The results of these competitions will be in the Student Bulletin this week and we will share with Parents/ Carers in next week’s Weekly Message.
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 24 March
Year 7&8 NGRT Tests
Monday 24 March
Year 8 PSHCRE Day
Tuesday 25 March
Year 11 Music Intervention Twilight
Year 11 Afterschool intervention
Wednesday 26 March
Year 9 Arts Day – Bringing the Set Texts to Life
Thursday 27 March
Year 9 Immunisations – For those students who have signed up
Year 11 Mock Results Assembly
Year 11 Afterschool Intervention – Session 1 only dur to Parents’ Evening
Year 11 Parents’ Evening – Please ensure that you have booked appointments
Friday 28 March
Year 10 – Girls in STEM visit to Coopervision (selected students)
Year 11 Maths Test for Success
Future Dates
Monday 31 March – Parent Forum – 5:30pm in the Conference Room (by Reception). Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/9LVAExAtdi
Friday 4 April – Parents/ Carers & Grandparents Art Event for Year 8. Sign up here:
https://forms.office.com/e/YiZkbkHUvj
Friday 4 April – Last day of the Spring Term. Please note that the school will close to students at 1pm.
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 – Careers in STEM
Next week’s school assemblies will be dedicated to exploring the dynamic and ever-evolving world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers. We are excited to ignite our students’ passion for these fields and showcase the immense opportunities that await them in the UK’s thriving STEM sector.
We will be highlighting the vital role STEM plays in shaping our future, from cutting-edge technologies that are revolutionising industries to innovative solutions addressing global challenges. We aim to break down stereotypes and demonstrate that STEM careers are diverse, creative, and accessible to all.
The assembly will feature a range of exciting career paths, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainable architecture, and genetic engineering. We will emphasise the importance of problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration in these fields, showcasing real-world examples of how STEM professionals are making a difference.
We will also be discussing the significant and growing demand for STEM professionals in the UK economy. Currently, the UK requires a substantial workforce in STEM related fields, and this need is only set to increase. Future projections indicate a significant surge in STEM job creation, with hundreds of thousands of new roles expected in the coming years. This growth is fuelled by rapid technological advancements and the urgent need to address complex challenges.
We will encourage students to explore their interests through hands-on activities, participation in STEM-related clubs, and consideration of relevant subjects at GCSE and A-level. We will also highlight the importance of developing essential skills such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability, which are crucial for success in any career.
We hope this assembly will inspire our students to embrace the exciting possibilities that STEM careers offer and empower them to pursue their passions. We encourage you to continue these conversations at home and support your child in exploring their potential.
Please note that Year 11 started their bespoke Year 11 Exam Support assemblies last week and therefore they will be following a different programme from now until the exams.
This Week at the Dinner Table…
- If money wasn’t a factor, what would be your dream job?
- Who can help you at school with questions about careers?
- What sort of environment would you like to work in?
- How much do you know about future options beyond school?
- Have you looked at the school careers page?
Please do explore this page with your son/ daughter: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/careers/
Quarry
As you are aware last year Hampshire County Council rejected the Cemex Proposal to put an Urban Quarry next to the school. However, Cemex has appealed and there will be a Public Inquiry starting on Tuesday 1 April in Winchester. The Inquiry will run for 4 days and we plan to take students to protest on Tuesday as we did before. Once we have finalised the coach, we will write to Parents/ Carers ask you to sign your children up to represent the community.
If you would also like to join in the protest, details of a Community coach are outlined below:
Our Chair of Governors and students will be speaking at the Inquiry, but if you would like to speak as a Parent/ Carer, details of how to do this are below:
Arts Week
We are hugely excited for our upcoming Arts Week, 31 March to 4 April 2025. During this week, we hope to showcase all that the arts has to offer students as both participants and consumers and to delve into creative careers and opportunities in the local area.
We have responded to Student Voice from last year and identified 3 areas for development:
- Students wanted the activities to be more inclusive
- They wanted more opportunities to view the work of professional artists and work alongside them
- They wanted the activities to be free or more affordable.
Therefore, we have changed the format and this year, each year group has a designated day!
Kicking us off early this week on Wednesday 26 March, Year 9 will be Bringing the GCSE Set Texts to life with ‘The Globe Players’. On Monday 31 March Year 7 will be exploring Music and Movement for wellbeing with ‘Light Up Drama’ , On Tuesday 1 April, Year 8 will be creating and exploring Community Art with Arts University Bournemouth and Local artists. On Wednesday 2 April, Year 10 will be looking at Creative Careers ‘Behind the Lens’, with the Southampton College Group.
As well as these designated days, students have the chance to take part in the Open Mic session, Easter Chocolate making workshops, Dance Workshops led by the GCSE Dancers, a very special Game Design talk with Alex Dooley and a Special Effects Makeup workshop, led by Fareham college. There will be arts-based videos shown at breaktimes in the Main Hall, a chance to see art in action in the Hamble Big Draw, performances from Drama Club and the cast of our upcoming production ‘Matilda’ and a trip to the Mayflower for 60 students to see ‘Hamilton’.
Thank you to those who have made a small parent contribution for the events. We rely on this to be able to offer a rich timetable of experiences. This can be done via ScoPay at any point from now until the end of term. Finally, we hope that your child finds the week both educational and exciting. Please do encourage them to talk about their experiences and what they have gained.
Year 11
Next week is a very important week for Year 11. There are 11 school days to go until the MFL speaking exams and 21 school days until the first written paper. Over the next two weeks, a number of subjects have coursework (NEA) deadlines which have to be met so that they can send final grades to the exam board.
Students will be completing an online questionnaire next week in tutor time to ensure that any final support is targeted and they have the help in place that they need. Parents/ Carers will also be asked to fill in a similar questionnaire, which will contain a surprise! Look out for this in your email inbox near the end of the week.
On Thursday 27 March students will get all of their Mock Grades in a Results Assembly at school. This will be similar to GCSE Results Day when they open their envelopes. The idea is to emulate the feeling they will get on 21 August 2025. For some Thursday will be exciting as they will have reached their target grades and will be looking to keep up momentum over the next few weeks. For others, they will realise that they next few weeks is vital in terms of revision.
On the topic of revision, all students should now have a revision timetable which takes them through to the end of the exam period. If you don’t have one or would like to adjust their timetable, Get Revising www.getrevising.co.uk/ is an excellent website to help with this. All students should also now have Revision Guides for every subject and know what resources they can use to revise.
On Thursday 27 March 2025 we have our final Year 11 Parents’ Evening. This will be an opportunity for you to meet with all subject teachers and get feedback on the Mock Exams as well as hints/ tips for the final exams. It really is vital that all Parents/ Carers attend. You can book here: https://hamblecollege.schoolcloud.co.uk/ or call reception to get some help making bookings using the main school telephone number: 023 8045 2105
As a reminder that GCSE timetable for the Summer Exams can also be downloaded from our website: https://www.thehambleschool.co.uk/examination-information/
All students will need to be available for exams up to and including 25 June 2025.
Intervention
Intervention continues this week but there will only be one session on Thursday to allow staff and students time to prepare for Parents’ Evening. A reminder that Easter Intervention will run in most subjects during the holidays and the dates will be distributed this week.
Year 10 – Work Experience Update
Thank you to all the students who have signed up for work experience and have paid the initial instalment or in full.
All students will be given their log in details for the EBP system during tutor time the week beginning 31 March 2025.
We will show students how the system works and will get them to start their searches; they can access this at home for you to help and monitor their selections.
Once students have selected 4 places, EBP will work on securing their placement. Once this is done students will receive a letter via their tutor with the contact details of the employer and they will have to call them to arrange their interview.
Students who are wishing to find their own placement, must return their forms to Mrs Turner by Friday 25 April. These will be sent to EBP who will then process them. Once confirmed students will also receive a letter via their tutor to confirm this.
Remember students cannot select placements on the EBP system and fill in an own placement form, otherwise they will be charged for two placements.
Year 10 – Parents’ Evening
Our Year 10 Parents’ Evening was calendared for Thursday 1 May 2025; however, we have been made aware that this is also the Barton Peveril Open Evening. To enable Year 10 Parents/ Carers and students to attend the Open Evening, we have decided to move the Parents’ Evening to Thursday 8 May 2025.
Year 8 PSHCRE Day
On Monday 24 March Year 8 will have a PSHCRE Day focussing on the theme of ‘Staying Safe’. Students will not attend their normal lessons and will take part in a variety of sessions and activities. The majority of the lessons will be provided by outside guest speakers and experts.
In line with the RSE Curriculum student need to know that ‘specifically sexually explicit material, for example pornography, presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviours, can damage the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual partners’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary
Research suggests that nationally most young people have seen sexually explicit material (often not by choice) by the time their secondary school years commence. Therefore, it is important that this is addressed in a sensitively through the Year 8 PSHCRE Day.
Students will also have opportunities to discuss and explore themes of staying safe online, fire safety and financial security with the MyBank team.
Students should come into school in normal school uniform and will be given a timetable in tutor time for the day to follow.
Year 7 Exams
During the Week Beginning 31 March Year 7 students will have Formal Exams. English, Maths and Science will take place in the Sports Hall (or additional rooms for students identified as requiring a smaller room). All other subjects will conduct exams in normal lessons. The assessments will test the content students have been learning since they joined us in September as well as knowledge acquired at Key Stage 2. Each subject will put the date of the exam and revision materials on Class Charts.
Preferences – Year 8
Due to unforeseen technical circumstances the Year 8 Preference Form has been delayed. We will write to you again next week and extend the deadline. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Online Safety – Sextortion
The meaning of sextortion comes from the combination of ‘sex’ and ‘extortion’. It refers to someone threatening to share or distribute intimate images unless the victim takes a certain action.
In some sextortion scams, children and young people believe the perpetrator is someone their own age. They will genuinely believe they are talking to someone who is interested in them and who wants to get into a relationship with them.
Parents/ Carers need to think back to when they were this age. Did they tell their parents everything that they did with their partner at the time, particularly sexual things?
The following changes in your child could suggest they have experienced online sexual coercion or extortion. However, it’s important to recognise that some of these signs could relate to other changes.
- Your child might appear withdrawn, worried or unhappy compared to their normal.
- They might stop using their phone or mobile device. Or, they might seem worried when a message appears.
Apps that they love might become sources of anxiety. As such, they might stop using those platforms. Sextortion can happen on any platform where users communicate with others.
Some additional signs might resemble those that also come with child-on-child abuse or grooming.
More information and support can be found here: https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/what-is-sextortion/
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/
Rewards
The students listed below achieved the most reward points this week – Well done to you!
Year 7 – Charlie B 7-3
Year 8 – Harriet S 8-1
Year 9 – Oliver B 9-5
Year 10 – Ava S 10-7
Year 11 – Brent J 11-3
Don’t forget to complete the student survey on Class Charts for over 1,500 points.
