Dear HP families,

Update From The Headteacher, Mr Hudson: It has been fantastic to welcome so many prospective families to our Open Evening this week. We had the highest number of student volunteers we have ever had, with more than 140 students from the lower school volunteering alongside many our Sixth Form students. We received some lovely comments from parents about how helpful and welcoming their student guides had been. As staff, we have certainly noticed an increase in the confidence of our students year on year, alongside an ever growing sense of belonging and pride in HP.

Attendance is also off to a positive start. Our whole school attendance target is 92% and this week we have been at 93.3%. This is a positive start, but every day counts and early habits are hard to break. This is why we are making daily calls to the contacts of every student who is absent, to make sure there is no context we are missing and no support we could be offering. Please see these calls as supportive because ultimately we all want the same thing: every HP student thriving in school. Last year, Friday was our lowest attending day and, already this year, Friday is again our lowest attending day. I wanted to share this with you because I think it is important contextual information for all our families. This afternoon, Mr Hogarth launched this year’s HP Hero Club with students, so please talk to your child about the rewards and what they need to do to reach the Gold Tier.

Homework: Homework is now underway and the Student Guide has been shared with all families as an attachment to the email version of this bulletin. Please contact k.barrett@hphigh.co.uk with any questions. From next week, Year 7 students will begin to receive homework. We will phase this in, giving students time to become familiar with the expectations for each subject. On Tuesday, Year 7 students will be set their first Maths homework, which will be 30 minutes on TTRS. During the first term of Year 7, our focus will be on ensuring that all students know their times tables fluently. Many students will be familiar with this platform from primary school. The first week is an opportunity for students to make sure they can log in, access and complete the homework. If they have any problems, they should ask their Maths teacher in a lesson or at social time, before the deadline of Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30am. Preps will be set for students who do not make any effort to complete the homework this week and, going forward, they will be set for students who do not complete the required 30 minutes by the deadline. Students will have an assembly on Monday about homework and Maths teachers will also be explaining the expectations to them next week.

KS4 Bulletin: We have had positive feedback about our Year 11 Bulletin, which will continue this year. We will also be starting a KS4 Bulletin, which will be sent to families by Mrs Adams, Head of Year 11 and Deputy Leader of KS4. This week’s KS4 Bulletin includes information about our first ever KS4 Assembly, the KS4 Gold Standard Award and Revision Timetables.

FACE Parent Talks: We are pleased to share that HP families can now access FACE Parent Talks free of charge. FACE offers parents practical advice, information and support across a wide range of topics, including supporting neurodiverse children, understanding emotions and managing behaviour. Visit the Parents Live Talks page of the FACE website at facefamilyadvice.co.uk to view the 16 regular talks available for parents. Choose a topic and use the booking calendar to find a date and time that suits you. To access the talks free of charge, use the HP access code shared in the Bulletin email. This can be used by HP families for unlimited access to all the regular FACE Parent Talks. The code cannot be used for any other FACE services and must not be shared with families from other schools. At the payment stage of booking, continue through the pages until you reach the Add Promo Code box, enter the HP code and the price will reduce from £24 to £0.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson
Headteacher