Dear HP families,

On Friday 5th December from 9:00am to 10:30am we are holding our first ever HP Pastoral and SEND Open Morning for current families. You can sign up using the link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hp-pastoral-send-open-morning-tickets-1963255512086?aff=oddtdtcreator. Tickets are available until 12pm on Monday 1st December. We are doing this because we receive frequent external praise for our pastoral and SEND provision and are often visited by other schools who wish to learn from our approach. It is important that our families also have the opportunity to hear about what we do and, just as importantly, what we are striving to achieve over the next two years to make our provision even stronger. I hope many of you will be able to join us.

Attendance remains a central focus for us, and I am delighted to report that, following our best ever Term 1 attendance, we have achieved our best ever first week back attendance after October half term. This consistency is the result of collective effort from students, families and staff. Every day in lessons matters and this ongoing improvement gives our students the best possible platform for success.

Enrichment was back with a bang this week. Wednesday Period 5 is such an exciting time to walk around HP and see the variety of activities on offer. Highlights from Mrs Sharples this week included students embroidering their bags in art, learning how to suture on bananas in STEM, baking delicious cakes in cooking club, and practising for the upcoming Criminal Mock Trial competition. Design technology students began work on their bird boxes, palaeontology students prepared presentations on different prehistoric eras, and our synchronised swimming group practised their passé positions. It was fantastic to see so many students engaged, developing new skills and pursuing their interests outside the classroom. We are so proud that every HP student takes part in an extracurricular opportunity every single week.

In addition, this week saw our Year 7 footballers take on a very strong and competitive Crypt team. Our players performed incredibly well and celebrated a 3-1 win. Special congratulations to Evie, who was named Player of the Match, and Raquel, our Coaches Player. The PE Team tell me that we are looking forward to our next match on Monday with great excitement.

This week’s assemblies have been particularly positive. In particular, our Year 11 students have heard an introduction to the HP Sixth Form and learnt about the launch of Passport to Prom. Our first Champions Hour raffle took place this week, celebrating those who attended 15 or more times in Term 1. Congratulations to Bella, our inaugural winner. Champion Hour continues to go from strength to strength as more students engage in extra study. I encourage every Year 11 student to attend regularly in the lead up to their January mock exams.

I would like to wish our Year 13 students the very best of luck as they begin their mock exams next week. These assessments are an important milestone in their preparation for final exams and we are confident they will approach them with the maturity and focus that characterises our oldest students.

Finally, it has been wonderful to see students selling poppies to staff and fellow students this week in the lead-up to Remembrance Day. Our whole school act of remembrance will take place on Tuesday and will be led by our Key Stage 5 representatives and CCF Cadets. This annual moment of reflection is always one of the most moving and important events in our calendar.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson
Headteacher