Headteacher's update

This week has felt like a much more usual week for us in school and that has meant getting back to our core purpose of education. All students have received feedback on where they are at through ATL and MLO grades. This information will be shared with parents via email and is also available on the Arbor app. Year 11 are now at the point where revision is the word they are hearing a lot in school, as they approach mock exams. 

Today we welcomed Duncan Wilson, the CEO of Historic England into school. He brought with him 2 apprentices to talk to Year 9 and other selected students about careers within this sector as well as the benefit and value of apprenticeships.  his is part of our on-going careers programme to help our young people to make informed choices about their future and also to understand the expectations of the world of work. We will have more employers coming in to school over the coming months to talk to different year groups about different work sectors.

A reminder that school starts at 8.55am and students are expected to be in school before this time, ready to start their learning when the bell goes. We are aware that delays to bus journeys are outside our control. If you bring your young person to school, please make every effort to ensure they arrive on time. Please also remember to use the car park when dropping off or collecting students. The bus bay at the front of school should be kept clear for buses. Students with bus passes for travel should make sure that they have their passes available to present to the driver on all journeys.

If your young person is ill and unable to attend school, please contact our attendance team by phone or email (attendance@hopevalley.chorustrust.org). If a student is absent and we have not received notification from you, we will now contact you via email in the first instance. 

What’s going on in school:

• All past, present and potential contributors to student magazine HaVoC were invited to a celebration in the library to mark the recent release of Issue 5 and to say a big thank you to editors-in-chief Ruby, Flo and Ben for all their hard work. Work will start on Issue 6 next week and new contributors are always welcome to submit items such as articles, creative writing, artwork and photography. If you're interested in getting involved, see Mrs Mummery in the library, or come to HaVoC meetings on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1pm.

• Y10 GCSE drama students have officially started 40% of their course this week. They are in groups devising a performance where they are in charge of everything from the script to the lighting! Miss Starbuck is really impressed with the passion and maturity the class has already shown towards this topic, and we cannot wait to see them perform in the summer term. 

• Brothers Danny (Y10) and Johnny (Y8) made the most of the snowy conditions last week with a spot of ice climbing before school! This was their first time using ice axes and crampons to complete a route here in the Hope Valley. After a 5am start, they were up and down in time for their first lesson at school! Great effort boys!