Dear all,

Last weekend, fourteen Year 11 pupils completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh qualification expedition having completed practice expeditions successfully in June earlier this year. This involved walking and navigating 25 miles of Cotswold countryside independently over three days whilst camping for two nights. They had to carry their own kits, sleeping bags, tents and food and be completely self-sufficient. The expedition took place from Broadway to Bourton-on-the-Water. We are very proud of all the students involved for showing such perseverance and commitment. I am very grateful to Miss Austin, Mrs Myers, Miss Carter and Miss Himpson for giving up their time to support our students to have this opportunity.

We also had a Textiles trip last weekend to St. Ives in Cornwall, led by Miss Martin. Students visited the Tate Gallery and the Barbara Hepworth museum, looking at a range of sculptures and carvings about the moving of the ocean. This will support our Year 11 students when they encounter the Sea Life project topic later in the year.

For all of our students, thinking about the future and their next steps is a vital part of the HP journey. We are helping to prepare them for their life beyond school, and having a clear ambition they are aiming towards is a crucial part of this process. At HP, our students are lucky to receive excellent Careers’ provision, led by Mr Lockett and facilitated by all of our PSHE teachers. All schools are expected, by the Department of Education, to meet eight Gatsby Benchmarks when it comes to Careers’ provision. The national average across all England’s secondary schools is that, on average, five of these benchmarks are met, which shows the challenge and amount of work that is required. We have received our most recent Gatsby Benchmarks report this week and are very proud to say that we successfully meet all eight.

Yesterday, I sent out a message stating that we have been informed that payments on the MCAS app are now working. From Monday 2nd October, students will no longer have an overdraft facility on their accounts. Therefore, please can you ensure that if your child wishes to buy food during the school day, they have money on their account by the start of next week. Any overdrafts accrued over the last few weeks will need to be paid off before any credit appears. If any problems persist, please email [email protected] and will respond appropriately.

Finally, congratulations to Harley in Year 9 who has been selected for the Gloucestershire Boys' U14 football team. 54 of the best players from around the county went to the trials and the standard was extremely high so this is a fantastic achievement.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson
Headteacher