Headteacher's Update 23 May 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

This term has been immensely busy, and our young people have taken advantage of lots of opportunities in the last 5 weeks. Today we have sent our Year 11s off on study leave with a celebration assembly and activities to mark their time in Hope Valley College. It is an absolute privilege to support young people on their journey from Year 7 to 11 and we know that the whole Hope Valley Community wishes them well in the rest of their exams.

Next term is an important part of the year, and we will continue to maintain our high standards around attendance and behaviour as Year 10 undertake work experience and their first set of mock exams and other year groups start to look ahead to the next part of their learning.

I hope your young people have a restful half term and we look forward to seeing them next term.

What’s going on in school:

Year 11 have celebrated their time at HVC today. After spending time in their tutor groups and signing shirts, they enjoyed a special lunch in the dining room. Staff played against the Y11 netball team, whilst Y10 played football against Y11. This afternoon we have reflected on their journey with us in a celebration assembly, followed by a game of rounders. We wish them all the very best for their future studies.

Year 8 scientists have carried out fieldwork in the local river this week. Thank you to our science department for facilitating this.

Lead School for Music 2025-2026 - We are proud to announce that we have been selected as a Lead School for Music with the Derbyshire Music Hub for the 2nd year running, supporting other schools and championing best practice across our area.

Changes to Y9 English curriculum

To maximise the full two years available for studying the AQA GCSE in English Literature, we have reviewed the English curriculum and made changes to the final half-term of Year 9. Students will now be introduced to selected poems from the Power and Conflict anthology and will explore the plot and characters of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. To support this, revision guides, workbooks, and core texts are available to purchase via ParentPay, enabling students to begin their transition through pre-learning and revision over the summer. Orders will close on Monday 2 June 2025. For clarity, students will not move into their GCSE classes until September.

English Learning next half-term

Prelearning, revision and additional materials can be found on Team - English - General - Class Materials - (KO / Enrichment)

Y7 - William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Y8 - George Orwell's Animal Farm

Y9 - Power and Conflict anthology (Ozymandias, London, The Prelude, My Last Duchess)

Y10 - Power and Conflict anthology (Charge of the Light Brigade, Exposure, Bayonet Charge)

Derbyshire Schools Athletics Championships

Derbyshire Schools Athletics Championships are being held on 14 June at Moorways Stadium in Derby. This is a very popular competition for students in Y8-13. All students are welcome to enter; there are no qualifying standards, and it is an excellent opportunity for students to enjoy an athletics competition at Moorways. We would invite anyone wishing to enter this competition to email aastbury@chorustrust.org with the following details: Student full name / date of birth / year group/ event. You need to make your own way there and arrive in plenty of time to register your young person and warm up. We have a provisional timetable of events and therefore you would not be required to stay all day. Please be aware that HVC staff will not be present – the event is being run by an external organisation. Closing date for entries is Monday 2 June.

Music and Mayhem 2025

Our popular PTFA fundraising event is due to take place on Saturday 28 June from 11am-4pm. If your young person would like to perform, please ask them to email Mrs Machan (jmachan@chorustrust.org) by Friday 6 June. Please include name of performer, instrument/voice, name of song to be performed, link or mp3 if using backing track, and preferred time slot. Mrs Machan will try to accommodate preferred times.

Time Slots:

11:30am-12pm

12:30pm-1pm

2pm-2:30pm

3pm-3:30pm

If you are entering a band, please send one email with the names of all performers and other required information. If your young person is performing in the big band or wind band, there is no need to email Mrs Machan. Rehearsals will take place in music and more information will follow over the coming weeks.

Job Vacancies

We are recruiting for cleaners to join our site team and an admin assistant to join our busy admin team. For more information, please see our website: Hope Valley College - Vacancies

Nut Allergies

A reminder that nuts should not be brought into school. Please refrain from including items that may contain nuts in packed lunches or snacks. Could we also ask you to be vigilant with cosmetic products that may also contain nuts. We have a number of students in school who suffer from nut allergies. Thank you in advance.