Headteacher's update 24 January 2025
Published on 24/01/25

Dear Parents and Carers
This week has seen some amazing instances for our young people to engage in learning beyond the classroom and to be able to show that they wish to strive for the best possible outcomes. On Tuesday we welcomed a former student who has trained to be a vet, who spoke to Year 10 about the importance of hard work and focus in their education, as well as the need to never settle but to always look to work to the best of their ability. We also hosted a representative from Buxton Opera House who shared an amazing work experience opportunity for Year 10s and talked with them about careers in the theatre and entertainment industry.
Our Year 8 Girls represented us in a football match against Sheffield High School, and while the result may not be the one they wanted what they demonstrated was grit, determination and teamwork - all attributes we are working hard on in school to teach our young people.
We have continued to prepare our Year 11s for their GCSE with advice and support around preparation for the mock exams which will start in a week's time.
What’s going on in school:
- HVC is playing a lead role in choosing a catering contractor to work with our Trust schools from Easter 2025. On Tuesday afternoon we hosted a taste testing session and our student council plus representatives from our staff and Hope Valley Pathways were able to sample lots of delicious new foods. They all gave lots of positive feedback. We will update parents/carers once a service provider has been chosen, and we thank you for your continued support of our catering team.
- On Thursday, 120 primary students from across the Hope Valley visited HVC to take part in a Primary Schools Sports Hall Athletics event. With a morning and afternoon session, our Sports Leaders were kept busy. They did a fantastic job, running the events, timing the racing and collating the results. Well done everyone!
- We had a lovely group of students at our 6-pack Club this week. This is a social and friendship club run by our Pastoral team on a Tuesday lunchtime at the park at Hope Sports Field. All students are welcome to sign up and attend.
- Our Outdoor Activities is a continuing success. The students are showing real talent in orienteering sessions at Longshaw and have exceeded expectations with their times on the course, map reading skills, and resilience to tough weather conditions! Last week we had our fastest ever time completed on the course by Y9 students George and Josh with a time of 41 minutes. We have had to postpone three sessions due to poor weather conditions. Please be reassured that these sessions will be rearranged on a Friday morning and students will not miss out. Please encourage students to check student notices, the Outdoor Activities noticeboard outside of PE. Thank you for your continued support.
- On Thursday afternoon, Under 13 girls played in the second round of the ESFA Football tournament against Sheffield Girls School. With an early goal from Liv Y7, we then, unfortunately, conceded more goals. We lost the game overall, however our students never gave up, kept smiling, and showed a huge amount of resilience in the wind and rain. The players were role models, thanking the other team, shaking hands with their teachers and giving a huge cheer at the end of the game, despite the loss. Well done to Ada Y7 who was voted player of the match! Bring on the next game!