This week has always been one of my favourite weeks in school and it has been a joy to see so many of our young people take part in the Festive Showcase and Carol service. Their dedication in these moments is just amazing and they are such uplifting moments to witness. Next week we will enjoy our school Christmas Dinner on Thursday and then on Friday we will hold our celebration assemblies and the annual Christmas Bazaar. We have spoken to all of our young people this week about the importance of charity and I know that each tutor group is working hard to create their stalls. Next week will continue to be a productive week in school with Year 10 students completing Maths and English assessments. 

Christmas Dinner, Christmas Bazaar and Non-uniform Days

Our Catering Team will be serving Christmas Dinner on Thursday 18 December. Main course and a pudding will be priced as a Meal Deal at £3 per person. There will be a small selection of Grab and Go lunch items available for those not wanting Christmas Dinner, or your young person may wish to bring a packed lunch that day. Both Thursday 18 and Friday 19 December will be non-uniform days with optional Christmas jumpers.

What’s going on in school?

• A huge well done and thank you to all our wonderfully talented performers who entertained us at the Festive Showcase on Wednesday evening. From Big Band to soloists to rock bands to choirs, every act gave an incredible performance and got us all in the festive spirit. Huge thanks to our PTFA who provided refreshments and a raffle. Proceeds from this event will go towards supporting performing arts in school.

 

• Some of our Y9 catering students helped to serve Christmas dinner to the Hope Seniors on Tuesday afternoon. They did a fantastic job and received some really lovely feedback from the organisers. Our Y7 choir then joined them after lunch to entertain the seniors with some festive singing.

• Fresh from performing at the Festive Showcase, the Y7 choir then performed again on Thursday evening at the annual carol concert at St Peter’s Church in Hope. Thank you to Rev. Louise Petheram and church helpers for allowing our students to perform in church. Parents and carers enjoyed mince pies and hot drinks after the service. Well done to all involved.

• After training hard in all weathers throughout the autumn term, our Y8 netball teams went along to Chapel last week to play a fixture. Both teams did really well and learned lots about a new level competitiveness. Unfortunately, both teams lost on this occasion but have been inspired by the fixture and are determined to get better. Training will resume on the first Wednesday in February.

• We are looking forward to our Christmas Bazaar on Friday 19 December. Students have come up with a great variety of fun stalls. All monies raised from the Bazaar will be donated to charities chosen by our Student Council. Students may wish to bring in some loose change on the day if they wish to have a go on any of the stalls.

• Well done to Owen in Y7 who came first in the National Hill Climb cycling championship for 2025. What a fantastic achievement!

Y9 Subject Evening – Tuesday 13 January

The Year 9 Subject Evening will take place in school on Tuesday 13 January. This is an opportunity to talk to teachers about progress, attainment and attitudes to learning. Details about how to book appointments will be shared next week.

Rescheduled Final DofE expedition for Year 10 – 9-10 May

The final expedition for Y10 students doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award has been rescheduled for the weekend of 9-10 May. Further information has been sent to parents and carers of students involved.

GCSE English Revision Guides

An Inspector Calls and poetry GCSE English revision guides are available to purchase via ParentPay for students in Y10 and Y11. The deadline for orders is 18 December.

Lockers

As a reminder we do have lockers available in school for students to store coats, bags, and other items securely. These are available to all year groups and are rented directly from a company called Secure Locker Rentals. The cost for the academic year is £22.95 and they can be booked using this link: Locker Rental The lockers are accessed using a combination lock, once you have booked one a unique 4-digit pin is sent to you directly via email or text message.

Lost Property

We have lots of lost property, including coats, school uniform and equipment in school that has not been labelled with student names. All of this will be displayed in the hall next week for students to come and claim, so please remind them to come and have a look if you know that they are missing anything. Anything not claimed will be either added to the spare uniform store or donated to charity.

PTFA news

The PTFA would like to thank parents and carers who supported the Festive Showcase. From your donations, bakes, drinks and raffles they raised just over £900. Thank you for your generosity.

A reminder that the PTFA are holding their AGM on Tuesday 13 January at 6pm in school – please come along and find out how you can support them.

 

Dates for Your Diary

Thursday 18 December – Christmas Dinner in school, non-uniform day

Friday 19 December – Break for Christmas, Christmas Bazaar for students, non-uniform day

Tuesday 13 January – Y9 and Y12 Subject Evenings

Thursday 29 January – Y9 GCSE Preferences Evening

Monday 9 February – Y10 Subject Evening

Wednesday 11 February – Y11 Geography Fieldtrip

Thursday 12 February – Y9 Preferences form deadline

Friday 13 February – Break for Half term

Monday 23 February – INSET day – school closed to students

Wednesday 11 March – CRY screening for Y10 and Y11 students

Monday 23 March – Y7 Subject Evening

Friday 27 March – Break for Easter

Thank you for reading our communication. Here are some helpful email addresses, should you need to contact us:

• attendance@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report a child’s absence
• enquiries@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for general enquiries
• pastoral@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for any issue with a child’s wellbeing
• headteacher@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the Headteacher
• safeguarding@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report safeguarding concerns. If a child or any young person is in imminent danger, then please report this to the police.
• ptfahv@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the PTFA

Kind regards

 

 

Debbie Petts Headteacher   T: 01433 620555 E: headteacher@hopevalley.chorustrust.org W: www.hopevalley.chorustrust.org