The School Day

Junior School:

Pupils can arrive in school from 8:00am and will be supervised by teachers and support staff until registration at 8:45am. Every pupil has their own form room where they go for registration with coat peg and a place to leave their bag. Lessons which are not held in specialised rooms are also held in these form rooms with teachers coming to the pupils. Hymers College Junior School has a long lunch break from 12:10pm to 13:25pm to allow children to take part in all the different clubs and activities on offer. At lunchtime, pupils have an earlier sitting in the dining hall to the Senior School and eat either a hot meal or their own packed lunch. The School day ends at 3:40pm but children can continue to remain at the School until 5:30pm taking part in a supervised homework club or other after school activities.

Regular assemblies in the Hall focus on different aspects of the Junior School CARE Code. On Fridays, we have an uplifting Commendation Assembly, in which we celebrate kindness, effort, achievement and much more. Senior School and Sixth Form:

For early risers there are a number of activities, such as swimming, available at the school before registration at 8:45am. Pupils can be dropped off at school from 8:00am and make use of our Learning Resource Centre, including the library and also get a bite to eat before lessons start. In the Senior School we have a long lunch break from 12:35pm to 13:50pm to allow pupils to take part in the many clubs and activities we run as well as having time for lunch either in our dining hall, from our café, deli counter or bring your own packed lunch. Lessons finish at 4:00pm and again, more clubs and activities swing into action after the end of School. The Learning Resources Centre also stays open until 5:30pm and pupils are welcome to stay until then at no extra charge. We gather twice a week for school assembly, which gives us the chance to celebrate each other’s many successes. We hear from visiting speakers, staff and pupils, providing opportunities to engage with different cultures and promoting positive attitudes towards other people.

From the Duke of Edinburgh Award, National Citizen Service, CatZero and Young Enterprise, to esports Club, Myths and Legends Club and photography workshops, our range of extra-curricular activities are not only fun, but complete a well-rounded education. Across the school we run over 80 clubs and all our pupils are encouraged to take part in co-curricular activities. We support this by ensuring the timings of the most popular clubs do not clash. This means that pupils are able to participate in varied activities without the requirement to specialise at too young an age. Pupils looking to explore their enthusiasm for certain key subjects can compete in national academic competitions such as:

Competitions and Cryptography, to name but a few. These provide further learning opportunities and healthy competition with other schools around the country. For Junior School through to Sixth Form we also organise a wide variety of educational visits, both in the UK and abroad. These help pupils to become more independent and acquire a lifelong appetite for discovery and adventure.

In both the Junior and Senior Schools we are proud of the facilities and passionate teaching we are able to offer our pupils in creative subjects. Design and Technology brings a practical and creative edge to our curriculum, inspiring innovation, critical thinking and problem solving. In both our Junior and Senior Schools we have dedicated Design and Technology workshops. Here pupils learn and develop their designing and making skills through a wide range of traditional and modern methods of manufacturing as well as involvement in national design competitions and real-life challenges. Co-curricular clubs such as the recycling club, the Vex robotic club and the Greenpower race continue to capture the imagination of students of all ages and provide lots of opportunities for them to explore the world of engineering. Students in Greenpower work hard to maintain and develop the car throughout the year and participate in competitive racing events around the country. We are particularly proud of our older students who excel in design or engineering and their continued success in achieving a place on the prestigious Arkwright Scholarship each year. In the Junior School we have a specialist art room on the 1st floor and in the Senior School the Art department is situated on the top floor of the Art and Design Centre where all aspects of Fine Art practice can be accessed by students. Student learning is rooted in projects led by teacher demonstrations, designed to stimulate practical and intellectual development. Familiarity with traditional and digital skills is encouraged at all levels.

With a dedicated music room and outstanding teaching we are proud of the opportunities we are able to offer all our pupils in the Junior School to explore their musical talents. From singing in our award-winning non-auditioned choirs through to a string group, wind band, percussion group, recorder ensemble and orchestra there is plenty on offer for our younger pupils. The Stephen Martin Music School was built in 2014 to provide first-class music facilities to pupils of all ages. These facilities consist of music technology and teaching classrooms, a state-ofthe-art chamber concert room with ceiling microphones that link to our recording studio and percussion suite. We also provide seven individual teaching/practice rooms and appropriate storage facilities for students’ instruments. There are a large range of ensembles including choirs, chamber groups, wind bands, brass groups, orchestras and rock bands, and we encourage pupils to take part in all these extra-curricular music activities.

Frequent concerts in school and performances out of school enable students to showcase their talents.

We have 12 visiting teachers delivering over 400 lessons a week on strings, woodwind, brass, percussion, guitar, piano and voice. We also offer additional classes in theory and aural preparation to help students progress through the ABRSM examinations, which are held for a week each term in school.

All our children in the Junior School have regular drama lessons and the opportunity to perform in a whole year group production. In our Senior School encouraging our students to embrace their creativity and individuality is made possible with our outstanding drama department. Whether or not they choose to study drama at GCSE or A Level, every pupil has the opportunity to get involved with productions, be it as a performer, stage crew member or part of the technical team. There’s also a full programme of theatre visits each year, which enables students of all ages to experience drama productions outside of school.

We are very proud that two of our recent Head Boys have gone on to drama school since leaving Hymers.

Bringing out the pupils’ competitive spirit through sport is part of our co-curricular programme. Our diverse PE and Games curriculum encourages every child’s participation, whatever their ability.

Pupils who have a particular passion for sport have the opportunity to represent the school and compete against some of the strongest schools in the country at regional and national level. A number of Old Hymerians have progressed to an elite or representative level in their chosen sport. Sports tours are a regular feature of the calendar including New Zealand in 2023 and we also host a number of touring teams from overseas.

We are proud to have achieved an outstanding report in ‘The Good School Guide’.

Making sure we stay grounded and appreciate our local surroundings is one of our founding principles here at Hymers. Our pupils are encouraged to give something back to the local community through a range of activities outside of the school gates. All year groups work together on projects to raise money for local, UK and worldwide charities. Annually, we give Christmas parcels to vulnerable children and adults, organise a range of sporting and musical events such as our annual charity carol concert, and even completed a charity skydive.

This scheme, aimed at students aged 15 to 17 from all over the local area, includes a residential outward bound trip and a substantial social action project which benefits the local community. Participating students develop life and work skills and meet some amazing people on their three-week journey.