Newsletter Autumn 2018

December 2018

Hope High

Head Teacher message Hello and a very warm welcome to our autumn newsletter. What a busy term it has been! Our new year 7’s have settled in well and have made new friendships. Many pupils have been involved in activities such as football matches, the school production of Solomon Crooge, Forest School and Duke of Edinburgh awards. Well done to all the pupils who took part, they were a credit to the school and did us all proud.

Holiday schedule for next term End of Christmas Holidays School reopens to pupils on the 8th of January 2019.

Over the past 12 months our school has continued to grow; pupil numbers have increased, creating a positive and vibrant school atmosphere. We now have 59 pupils on role. We have already had many positive visits for year 7 places for September 2019. The future is looking good for Hope High.

Half Term

We have raised money this year by organising different events such as, Macmillian coffee morning and Children in Need. I would like to thank pupils and staff for all their hard work in organising and helping to make these events a success. We have been collecting for the food bank and the Salvation Army present appeal and would like to thank parents, pupils and staff for their contributions, we have been overwhelmed by all your donations.

School opens on the 25th of February 2019.

School closes on the 15th of February 2019.

End of Term School closes on the 5th of April.

December 2018

Hope High Head Teacher message continued..

I would like to recognise the school staff for their hard work throughout this term.

We have a team who work hard to support the school and all are dedicated to support each learner to achieve. I would like to thank each of our fantastic children who attend Hope High School; all are progressing very well due to the effort that they put in every day at school.

Your continued support is greatly appreciated. It was wonderful to see many of you at the recent progress meeting and at the very entertaining play that some pupils put on for us. The show was fantastic, if you didn’t come and watch you missed a brilliant afternoon! I hope to see you at a future event being held at Hope High. If you need any information about school, please visit our website www.hopehighschool.co.uk.

If you would like to put your views about our school please visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk.

Wishing you a merry and safe Christmas holiday.

Mrs Dunbavin

Hope High Food Bank Throughout this half term, staff and pupils have been donating food to the local food bank in Skelmersdale. During the festive period, the food bank sees an increase in a number of families needing to use their services. Hope High provided lots of items that were welcomed by the Trussell Trust Food Bank at the Ecumenical Centre. Thank you to all staff, pupils, parents and carers who donated.

Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal As well as the food bank donations, staff and pupils have been very generous in taking part in the Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal. These are gifts that are for children aged 3-16 who are in a less fortunate position than most. Once again, we thank everyone who donated to this great cause and will make lots of children happy over the festive period.

We Are On Twitter Hope High School has its own Twitter feed now, which can be found on the home screen of our website, as well as Twitter itself. At the moment we have 15 followers, but it would be great to have more staff, parents, carers and pupils on board to engage in this medium of communication.

Why not some and follow us?

It’s a great way to share news of events happening in school, read interesting articles shared by the school or simply to comment on or like posts on our feed. You can join us by downloading the twitter app on your phone and following us at HopeHigh_Skem. Get tweeting about Hope High!!!!

Learning Resources Pupils continue to access Accelerated Reading and over the last 12 months we have seen a 70% increase in the pupils reading age. The pupils earn points when they have finished a book and taken the quiz these points are then converted to the pupils bank fund, which helps to support engagement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support with home school reading.

“calming Influence�

Lola, Mrs Griffiths dog continues to support the children on a Thursday. Lola has a calming influence that helps the children at times when they need it.

Design Technology

Leon Stark has practised his wood work skills and build his family friend a jewellery box, to give as a present this Christmas.

“traditional wood work �

He has used traditional wood work tools such as carefully measuring and marking out the wood. Sawing accurately with a tenon saw, chiselling out a half housing joint/ grove for the wood to fit together and followed all Health and Safety whilst working on the building process.

Physical Education The PE department has been very busy this autumn term with many lessons and extra curricular activities. All classes will have covered by Christmas: Football, Handball, Badminton, Basketball, Rugby, Volleyball, Gymnastics and a Santa’s Assault Course. Pupils have worked well in general and a number of class sports competitions are also taking place through lessons.

“KS3 Champion— Kai Pritchard”

“KS4 Champion - Harry Lofthouse” In September, most staff and pupils enthusiastically took part in this competition. KS3 champion, Kai Pritchard played the KS4 champion, Harry Lofthouse. Harry was the eventual whole school pupil pool champion and he now awaits a challenge match against the soon to be announced staff pool champions. Watch this space!

Food Technology

This term in Food Tech, students have worked on a variety of dishes from around the world. Key Stage 3 students have prepared and cooked a range of foods from savoury dishes like Pizza and Stir-fry, to sweet treats like sponge cakes and cookies.

“dishes from around the world�

Key Stage 4 students have been working hard towards their BTEC Home Cooking qualification, cooking and preparing complex dishes such as Chicken Noodle Soup and the Ultimate Club Sandwich!

Computing & ICT This term in Computing, students have been busy working on a variety of topics. Year 7 students have been working on using computers safely and effectively. This as included internet safety and using Microsoft office applications.

Year 8 students have been working on understanding computers how computers work. This as involved looking at how computers use pictures, text, numbers and sound.

“help them improve their ICT skills. �

Key stage 4 students have been working on their ICT Functional Skills. Students have been set various ICT tasks to help them improve their ICT skills.

Since October half term the pupils have really got involved in art. Groups 1 & 2 have looked at Primary and Secondary colours using their knowledge to create colour wheel eyes and abstract art.

Art

Group 3 also created colour wheel eyes, which influenced their ‘Sweet Tooth’ project.

The focus was using different mediums to showcase still life drawings of cakes. Group 4 focussed on portraits of famous sport personalities projecting the image and shading independently.

“work hard on their GCSE portfolios” Group 5’s very skill fully drew free hand portraits of cartoon villains. Group 6 have been making and painting different Airfix models and using ‘Hama Beads’ to create different points of interest. Group 7 are continuing to work hard on their GCSE portfolios.

History This term in History, key stage 3 pupils have looked at the 20th century. At the start of the term pupils researched key people and events of the 20th century.

This included pupils researching famous people such as Winston Churchill. Pupils also researched key events of World War 2, including Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain.

“key events of World War 2 �

Towards the end of term, pupils looked at media of the 20th century. Pupils researched computer games from the 1970's up until the 1990's.

RE We have introduced RE into the curriculum at Hope; it’s a wonderful way to explore different cultures, religions and beliefs that exist in our world. The topics we cover tie in with the British Values agenda as we look at varied issues that we encounter in the world today.

This term, KS3 have been exploring Creation and how different cultures and religions believe the world we live in came about; this topic allows our pupils to explore their own opinions on subjects that matter. KS3 have also been looking into Life After Death; discussing different religions’ and belief systems’ versions of the creation of Earth.

“it’s a wonderful way to explore different cultures” KS4 have begun the GCSE course in Religious Studies, which not only looks at specific religions and the details involved, but also explores themes that have religion involved; this term, we have been looking at Religion and Conflict. The pupils have involved themselves in discussions that explore how religion has led to conflict throughout history.

Maths

This half term in KS3 maths we have covered a range of topics from algebra to angles and measure. The pupils have shown some amazing progress this half term coping with some very difficult and challenging new topics they have never done before.

“pupils have shown some amazing progress�