Hawthorn Highlights Don’t miss out on info… @HawthornHighSch Issue 16 November 2018 Inside this issue… School Reorganisation No Pens Day Our School Anti-Bullying Find out what’s been happening with Youth Parliament the filming of Our School this half Young Councilors term. Read all about an exciting trip Roald Dahl some of our pupils went on. Competition Winners Department News Creating a safer Read about KS3’s latest No Pens Day and entrance to school how we are continuing to develop News communication skills in our Lower School. “Follow some of our Discover who our sporting heroes have pupils as they make their been over the last term and find out journey into the world of where they are heading next in their politics” sporting lives. Page 2 Headteacher’s Blog – Wednesday 19th September 2018 Hello everyone, Welcome back to the start of a new academic year at Hawthorn! We are delighted to see so many new faces joining us in Year 7 and the new year group has settled in exceptionally well in the first two weeks – it has been lovely to see ten of those pupils qualify for my Headteacher’s award on a Friday morning. The cameras have been rolling since the start of term as Boomerang Productions begin their filming for the BBC of the next series of ‘Our School’ and I am delighted that so many parents have committed to the project. The film crew have been made very welcome at the school and feedback from staff and pupils has been very positive. A special thank you must go out to those families who have welcomed the cameras into their homes (I am not sure that the Hicks household in the mornings would be a place that I’d be brave enough to show to a TV crew!). I am sure that you saw the relevant press releases with regard to the many successes that our Year 11 and 13 students achieved in public examinations during the Summer and it was lovely to see the highest percentage of Sixth Form students we have ever had achieving places at their chosen universities. Only one Year group has ever achieved more C grades at GCSE including English and Maths than last year’s Year 11 and results at the school improved significantly in both English and Maths (where performance will be in the top 25% of similar schools across Wales). Thanks to all parents for their support in preparing their sons and daughters for public examinations. Our new ‘split lunchtime’ reorganisation of the school day has seen a very significant reduction in the length of queues in both the main canteen and the snack bar and pupils seem very positive about the atmosphere around the school during the lunchtime period. It was also lovely to welcome Daniel Davies back from his exploits in the Summer with ‘The Voice Kids UK’ and congratulate him on his phenomenal success in winning the competition – we are sure he is destined for great things and hope he will perform for us again at forthcoming whole school events! The new Year 12 have enjoyed an induction programme at the University of South Wales and we would like to thank the University staff for their support and the provision of such excellent facilities. Year 9 are for the first time embarking on their studies in GCSE option subjects and staff have been very impressed by their mature attitude to these new and quite demanding courses. We have also been delighted to welcome the following staff to the school in the Autumn term: Mr Alex Morgan – Head of Maths Mrs Fiona Middleton – Science Teacher Ms Bethan Jones – Welsh teacher Mr Joshua James – WRU rugby hub officer The school’s partnership work with South Central Consortium as a Teach First base training school is also continuing very successfully and we are delighted to welcome the following Graduates to the school: Ms Madeline Hogben – Science Department Ms Elodie Phillips – Science Department Mr Vanya Burke – Maths Department Year 5 and 6 Open Evening took place on Tuesday 9th October and, if you have younger children in those year groups but were unable to make the event, you can still make an appointment to see the school in action. Please be aware that we have now moved to an electronic process of communication with parents and we would urge any parents who have not yet given us their email address to do so at their earliest convenience (data protection advice is available on the school website homepage). I look forward to sending you the latest edition of the school newsletter in the coming weeks and months with further updates on all the exciting developments here at Hawthorn and, once again, thank you for your continuing support. Regards, Hawthorn Highlights Page 3 21st Century Schools proposal response – December 2018 A message from the Chair of Governors (Mrs Helen Cook) Dear Parents/Carers, I would like to take this opportunity to convey to you the school’s formal response to the Council’s proposals for school reorganisation in the Pontypridd area in the hope that you will support us by expressing similar views in your written response before the end of January. We and Pontypridd High School have worked very closely together for many weeks in formulating our responses. Whilst both schools recognise that there are many benefits to aspects of the proposals, we are very disappointed by the arguments the council puts forward in an attempt to justify Cabinet thinking re. Sixth Form provision in Pontypridd; we would ask that the Local Authority gives further consideration to this aspect of reorganisation by identifying an appropriate and suitable location in Pontypridd for a Pontypridd Sixth Form using 21st Century funding. This should be one which: can be led and managed predominantly by staff working in our Schools is accountable to the LA for standards achieved by Sixth Form pupils meets the aspirations of students and makes use of facilities and future investment planned for this important and well serviced central location within RCT On the school’s website in the ‘About us’/’21st Century Schools’ you are able to read our ‘Guide to the 21st Century Schools proposal for parents and carers’, which sets out our detailed response to the council’s consultation and a summary of the arguments it puts forward. We would encourage you to join the school in saying: No to proposal one – to remove Sixth Form provision for all English medium schools Yes to proposal two – to create a 3-16 school on the Hawthorn campus (as long as a suitable Sixth Form provision for Pontypridd can be found and the level of investment to create a 21st Century school campus is secured). Yes to proposal five – to reorganise the catchment of the new Hawthorn school to include Gwauncelyn Primary School in Tonteg. I hope that you can find the time to read the guide and summary document and consider their implications for your children’s education. I shall write to you again soon to tell you when you will have the opportunity to come to the school and discuss the documents with myself, Governors and the Headteacher. You have until the last week in January to make your views known to the council. Thank you for your continued support, Issue 16 - NOVEMBER 2018 Page 4 On Tuesday 18th September, Sustrans (a charity making it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle) visited our school for a workshop with Year 7 pupils on how to improve the safety and appearance of School Lane. They work with local communities to improve neighbourhoods and they want to make School Lane a better place for the students of Hawthorn High and Hawthorn Primary. When they came to our school, we shared ideas about how to make School Lane safer and more pleasant to use. In July ,Sustrans installed pneumatic road tubes outside the school, despite the speed limit being 10 miles per hour, the tubes showed that the majority of people were driving at 16 miles per hour. One of the things we discussed was how we can reduce this as soon as possible. We drew our ideas for the road and then we went outside to examine School Lane in more detail. We looked at the positive and negative aspects of the lane For example: how much room there was for cyclists, whether there was enough space on the pavements for students at Hawthorn High School to walk safely to school and lastly, whether the public adhere to the no parking regulations? As well as creating a safe environment, Sustrans want to make School Lane a nicer place to walk down. We discussed how we could make it a fun, pleasant lane with plants, coloured tiles, water features and even a funky zebra crossings. We had a fun afternoon and learnt a lot about how the safety and appearance of a community can be changed. We can’t wait for our next visit from them, where we get to further expand on our ideas and eventually trial some of our ideas out on School Lane. Thanks very much Sustrans. By Megan Gane Year 7 Hawthorn Highlights Page 5 At Hawthorn High School we are striving to improve pupils’ communication skills as we know that pupils will be better prepared for the outside world if they are effective communicators. One of the ways we are helping with this is through No Pens Days. Just before half term, pupils in Year 7 and 8 partook in their first one of the year, with subsequent No Pens Days to follow every half term.