Dear Parent/Carer
We are now into the second half of the autumn term, the longest term but one of the busiest and it passes by very quickly! In order to support our education partnership, some information and dates are included in this communication so that you can be fully informed of what to expect for your child this term with regard to curriculum and events. As always, please do not hesitate to contact the Faculty Leader should you have an enquiry about the curriculum or just want to know more about a certain subject your child will be studying. Any emails or telephone calls to our main office will be directed to the correct Faculty Leader on your behalf.
Dates for your Diary:
15th November 2023:
Nasal Flu Vaccinations for Years 7 to 11. Further information and consent forms have been emailed out to parents.
30th November and 1st December:
Non Pupil days – The school will be closed to all students.
19th, 20th and 21st December:
ATL film rewards trips to The Electric Palace Harwich.
This will be an invitation only reward for those students who have achieved an ATL of 2.8 or above. You will receive further details nearer the time if your child reaches this threshold.
Curriculum Updates:
What will my child be studying this year?
We have created a brief overview of topics being studied in each subject area this year, here:
Y7 Curriculum Overview 2023-24
Y8 Curriculum Overview 2023-24
Y9 Curriculum Overview 2023-24
Y10 Curriculum Overview 2023-24
Please do encourage your child to talk to you about what they have been learning in each area.
Y11 Curriculum Overview 2023-24
Further information about our curriculum can be found on our website here:
https://hdhs.org.uk/faculties/
We have updated our HDHS learning journey for 2023-24, which can be found here:
Finally, we are often asked by students what they can do outside of school to boost their attitude to learning score to a 4. One way is through carrying out one of the activities from our “Opportunity Curriculum”, which has been updated and is available here:
HDHS Key-Stage-3-Opportunity Curriculum-Booklet 2023/2024
Communications:
To ensure that all parents and students receive important communications can we please ask that you support us with the following:
- Get in contact if you aren’t receiving emails from Arbor. Please ensure they aren’t entering your spam account by mistake.
- Please get in contact if we only have one emergency contact on the system.
- If there is a change of contact number or address please ensure you inform us as soon as possible.
Learning Catch Ups
- If you receive a notification that your child has a Learning Catch Up, please discuss this with them, informing them where and when it will be from the notification that we send home. This information is also available for them to view within Arbor.
- Please support the school by insisting your child attends any Learning Catch Up given.
- Behaviour summaries can be seen in Satchel. We are currently working with them to make this more informative.
- More detailed behaviour summary is still available from Arbor and accessible if required.
Medical Needs:
If your child has a medical need can you please ensure that the school is fully aware of their need or condition. Individual Health Care Plans have been sent out via email to all those with a known condition, if you have received this email and have not replied can we please ask that you complete this as a matter of urgency.
If your child needs to take medication whilst in school please contact student services for a medication form.
Road Safety:
Can we please remind all parents that the yellow zigzag lines in Hall Lane are strictly no stopping. This is for the safety of all students.
Now that the evenings are getting darker and especially if cycling, please remind your child that they need to cycle with care, with suitable illumination and ideally a cycle helmet.
School Closure Safeguarding Arrangements:
During any period of school closure, if you have any urgent concerns regarding the safety or wellbeing of a child, please call the Essex Safeguarding Child Board on 03456037627 or Essex Police via 999 in an emergency or 101, or via text (18000).
Any concerns sent into school over the weekend may not be picked up immediately, so please refer to the sources above during this period. All non-urgent concerns can still be sent to school or reported via the Whisper button: https://www.swgflwhisper.org.uk/report/har
Yours faithfully
Mrs K Finch
Headteacher
