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respect i learn i achieve

We are proud of our school and its students and would encourage anyone to contact us for a visit.

W: www.hetton-school.co.uk E: hetton.school@schools..gov.uk Facebook: Hetton School Twitter: @hettonschool

Hetton School, North Road, Hetton-le-Hole, DH5 9JZ Telephone: (0191) 562 3322 OUR STUDENTS ARE WELL PRESENTED, WELCOME TO DISPLAY GOOD MANNERS AND DEMONSTRATE COURTESY AND HETTON SCHOOL RESPECT TO OTHERS

Thank you for your interest in Hetton School.

Our aim is to improve the life chances of all young people in our community. We do this by delivering high quality learning experiences both in and outside the classroom.

Students at Hetton learn in a school environment with superb facilities; dedicated, caring staff; and through a highly personalised curriculum designed to allow everyone to achieve high standards.

Our students are well presented, display good manners and demonstrate courtesy and respect to others. We work hard to develop their aspiration and ambition through a growth mind-set philosophy we call Learn to Achieve.

Hetton School is committed to providing high quality education for young people between the ages of 11 and 16. We focus on developing the whole child academically and pastorally.

Craig Knowles

Headteacher

STUDENTS AT HETTON LEARN IN A SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT WITH SUPERB FACILITIES AND DEDICATED, CARING STAFF

2 3 OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD A GROWTH MIND-SET IN OUR STUDENTS AND AVOID THE FIXED MIND-SET THAT CAN TRAP THEM ON A PLATEAU, CAUSING LEARN TO ACHIEVE THEM TO FALL SHORT OF THEIR POTENTIAL Our goal is to build a growth mind-set in our students and avoid the fixed mind-set that can trap them on a plateau, causing them to fall short of their potential.

What is Learn to Achieve? • A belief that we can all improve – that ability is not fixed. • Embracing challenge – because it makes us stronger. • Showing resilience – sticking in when the going gets tough. • Welcome mistakes – learning from them is the way we grow and achieve success. • Giving 100% effort – this will always prevail over talent alone in the long-term. • Seek out and learn from feedback – learning from those that know or have experience. • Find inspiration in the success of others – achievement is not competitive, it is complementary.

We aim to prevent: • A student thinking they are ‘clever’ or ‘talented’ which can lead to coasting. This can lead to a slow-down of academic progress, often manifested as a lack of effort or challenging themselves. • A student thinking that if they work hard they will do well, even as learning becomes more complex. It is no good working hard at the wrong thing.

4 5 WE HAVE a WELL-FOUNDED PASTORAL CARE REPutation as a We have a well-founded reputation as a school that cares for its students. school that We are very proud of this good reputation and work hard to support cares for its young people and families. Our pastoral care is based on a Year system with talented, dedicated students professionals leading teams of tutors. All students belong to a tutor group. Some groups are mixed ability with some specialising in certain subject areas such as Maths, English, Science or MFL. Almost all subject teaching is delivered by setting on ability/progress which is then flexible throughout the year.

WE expect every student to challenge themselves to be the best they can be

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

At Hetton we hold high expectations for all students. This applies to standards of uniform, behaviour, attitude to learning and respect for others.

We expect every student to challenge themselves to be the best they can be, and ensure the right opportunities are in place to facilitate and drive their aspirations.

6 7 OUR CURRICULUM HAS BEEN SKILFULLY ADAPTED TO THE NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF THE STUDENTS

A CURRICULUM TO CHALLENGE AND INSPIRE

Our curriculum has been skilfully adapted to the needs and interests of the students and this has helped to widen the range of subjects in which students do well. There is a wide array of clubs and visits, and the students value the opportunities they are offered.

The sporting academies in cricket, football, rugby and dance all provide yet further opportunity to work with professional coaches alongside the rigorous academic curriculum. The international visit opportunities are inspirational, with visits offered including Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Madrid, New York and Paris.

Hetton has productive links with all local post-16 providers including Durham Sixth Form, , and Durham Johnston Sixth Form. The school works hard to ensure students are prepared for this important post-16 decision with our award-winning careers programme. This includes strong links with apprenticeship providers and universities such as Newcastle, Durham and Cambridge.

8 9 at hetton school we celebrate students who embody our WOW! learn to achieve philosophy At Hetton School we celebrate students who embody our Learn to Achieve philosophy. This means we award WOW points for:

OUTSTANDING ENCOURAGEMENT LEADERSHIP EFFORT CREATING CHANGE SUCCESS FROM KEEPING THE INDEPENDENCE HELPFULNESS FAILURE SCHOOL TIDY

RESILIENCE KINDNESS REPORT BULLYING HETTON HONOURS

We also display students’ outstanding work on our WOW wall. It is full of work done by our students that made us go ‘WOW!’

The culmination of our students’ success is celebrated in our annual awards ceremony, bringing together academic, sporting, community and other successes.

10 11 students at hetton school achieve academic and sporting success at all levels

CELEBRATING SUCCESS Academic Success Students at Hetton School achieve academic success at all levels. Hetton alumni include doctors, professors, entrepreneurs, solicitors and even teachers. Students move on from our school with the qualifications and transferrable skills to be successful at universities such as Cambridge and Durham, at employers such as the NHS and BAE systems, and in companies in the locality such as Nissan and Sage. Students in the highest ability category always achieve GCSE results comparable to any local school.

Sporting Success At Hetton we pride ourselves in our sporting achievements. At the forefront of this are our young cricketers. In most years we win a county championship in at least one age group and many of our cricketers have representative honours for Durham including one for . We work closely with coaches from Durham Cricket Board and local clubs Hetton Lyons and Eppleton in our cricket academy.

It is not just cricket where sporting success occurs for Hetton. Boys’ and girls’ football has had some high profile success leading to the start of our football academy, in association with Sunderland Foundation of Light. We have also started a rugby academy in association with Houghton Rugby Club and a dance academy linked with . 12 13 at hetton school we believe in DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP THROUGH developing future leaders of HETTON HONOURS our communities

At Hetton School we believe in developing future leaders of our communities. We do this through a variety of methods such as junior sports leaders, peer mentors, cyber-bullying mentors, peer readers and a prefect system (including a Head Boy and Head Girl team).

It is through our Hetton Honours system that leadership for all is developed in particular. This scheme recognises the contribution students make to life beyond the classroom, especially in our community. The scheme was highly commended by the Department for Education in its National Education Character Awards.

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