You will have received a letter from our Chair of Governors earlier today, regarding the appointment of a new Headteacher at HVC from September 2024. On behalf of all our staff, I would like to congratulate Mrs Petts on her new appointment and wish her every success in her new role.

All schools have recently been contacted by the National Crime Agency regarding an increase in reports of children and young people being forced into financially motivated sexual extortion. Attached is a letter for parents and carers to read with further information regarding this. Please read this carefully. We will share age-specific information with students regarding this topic in our PSHE curriculum. We are currently also in the process of reviewing our mobile phone policy in school.

What’s going on in school:

• Pi Day Challenge! Every year on 14 March we celebrate Pi Day! Students in Y7 were challenged to represent π in an interesting way of their choosing. There were no rules on what could be done.  It could be a piece of artwork, music, a poem or a movie.  The students excelled themselves and produced a varied selection of work. It was a hard job to pick out some winners but after a lot of debate, the winners are: Johnny B, Layla C, Amelie C, Elsie, Savannah, Catherine H, Eireann, Iuri, Ben S, Sophie Y, Alfie W and Dillon. Well done to all involved! 

• Students in Years 7 and 8 learned more about careers within the Civil Service, with a representative from the Department for Work & Pensions coming into assembly to speak to them today.

• Miss Starbuck is so proud of her drama students this week. Y7 have shown great maturity and excitement reading through DNA by Dennis Kelly for the first time. Their theories of what is going to happen next are amazing! Y8 and Y9 have been trying to make connections with themes, characters and locations of DNA. Well done to all the students who engaged with this task and congratulations to the students who made "super connections" of over 20 things! Y10 drama students are well underway with their devising performance for Component 1 of their course, which is worth 40% of their overall grade! And, finally, Y11 are showing their dedication and resilience preparing for their drama exam next week. Break a leg! 

• Our school hall was full to the brim last Sunday, as The Hathersage Choir & Hayfield Singers performed Carmina Burana by Carl Orff to an audience of over 150 people. The concert also included performances by the choir from Hathersage Primary School. The group hired our facilities here at HVC and made great use of the venue. If you are interested in finding out more about hiring our facilities, please contact our admin team: enquiries@hopevalley.chorustrust.org

• Students in Y9 were recently tasked with writing their own recipes in German. They came up with some great ideas and showed fantastic language skills. Some of them even made their recipes!

• Our music department has been as busy as ever with Big Band rehearsals, lunchtime practises and string rehearsals.

• Well done to Daisy in Y8 who is representing Great Britain at the BMX World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina!! What an amazing achievement! Good luck Daisy!

Y7 Subject Evening

The Y7 Subject Evening will take place in school on Wednesday 15 May. This is an opportunity to talk to teachers about progress, attainment and attitudes to learning. Information regarding booking appointments has been emailed to parents and carers earlier today.   

Y9 Options Letters

Options letters have been posted out to Y9 students today. All students have had the opportunity to talk about their choices with their tutor and a member of the Senior Leadership Team, but please contact us if you need to discuss anything in more detail.

Water Bottles

A reminder that students need to bring a water bottle to school with them. This can be filled at the water fountains around school. We do have some water bottles for sale at Reception at a cost of £1.50. These can be paid for in cash or via ParentPay.

Road closure at Brough

We have been informed by the Local Authority that the road between Bradwell and Brough will be closed to traffic from 17 June to 13 September. We are awaiting advice on how this will affect school buses and will update you as soon as possible.

 

Thank you for reading our communication. Here are some helpful email addresses, should you need to contact us:

• attendance@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report a child’s absence
• enquiries@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for general enquiries
• pastoral@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for any issue with a child’s wellbeing
• principal@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the Principal
• safeguarding@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report safeguarding concerns. If a child or any young person is in imminent danger, then please report this to the police.

Kind regards

Gaynor Jones

Principal, Hope Valley College
T: 01433 620555