The Hemel Hempstead School Issue 1049 16 th March 2018 Email: [email protected]Website: www.hhs.herts.sch.uk HeadLines International Women's Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women, took place on Thursday 8 th March. To mark this event at The Hemel Hempstead School we hosted our first female role model event. We were very pleased to welcome 15 inspirational women from contrasting fields of work to discuss their roles and different routes into employment. Our students listened with great interest and asked the most inquisitive questions. Thank you to Mrs Sue Bond, Careers Co-ordinator, for organising this event. This week is National Science Week and Mr Smith, Head of Science, has expertly led the assembly programme focussing on this. During the assemblies Mr Smith has been encouraging the students to be creative and courageous in their thinking. This theme links to our whole school teaching and learning focus to design learning activities to help students think hard and develop their own thinking skills. In addition to the National Science Week assemblies our Year 12 and 13 Physics students were very fortunate to participate in a seminar on Particle Physics delivered by Dr Sarah Williams from Cambridge University. Year 11 have continued to impress with their hard work and focus during the most recent trial examinations. A reminder that Year 11 Parents Evening has been rescheduled for Thursday 22 March. Year 9 students have been fortunate to visit the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum in London this week. The Imperial War Museum provides an excellent overview of twentieth century history, complementing the Year 9 History course perfectly and also features exhibitions on the Second World War and the Cold War that will be very useful to those students who wish to continue their History studies into GCSE. The National Army Museum gives an overview of the changes to the British Army, many of which occurred during the First and Second World Wars and provides an excellent introduction into our Warfare and British society unit studied at GCSE. On Thursday our most able students in English in Year 9 participated in the BBC School News Report programme. Students were busy moving around the school creating interesting and varied reports. Many staff have been filmed whilst interviewed by many intrigued students. Final reports can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/hemelschool.com/hemel-hempstead-school-bbc-sch/home Our PE Department have seen our students’ hard work and dedication over this season culminate in triumph this week in a variety of sports. Year 9 and 10 Rugby teams have secured a place in the County Cup Final. Both games will be played next week on Wednesday 21 March at Old Albanians Rugby Club (Harpenden Rd, St Albans AL3 6BB). The Year 9 Game kicks off at 4:30 pm and the Year 10 game kicks off at 6:00 pm. Please do come along and support if you can. Our Year 10 Girls became District Netball Champions this week and Year 9 won the District Plate competition. Our Year 7 and 8 students have also had a fantastic season, both qualifying for the final, but sadly, were narrowly beaten on the day. I am delighted to share with you all that The Hemel Hempstead School continues to be the school of choice for so many families locally. This year our number of applications for places for Year 7 were in excess of 920 for 187 places. We are very much looking forward to working with our new students and families over the next few months as we begin our transition programme. Sally Ambrose Acting Headteacher On Wednesday ten Year 12 House Captains and our Senior Charity Prefect from Year 13 visited The Hospice of St. Francis, a local charity the school has supported for over a decade. The visit was part of the House Captains’ preparations for supporting the Hospice Midnight Walk in June which we are adopting again as part of the House Charity Challenge. Our students received a detailed guided tour of the Hospice, learning about the different services the charity provides our local community with and explored the beautifully tended gardens which patients and families enjoy. An extremely special visit to help launch our support of the Midnight Walk which will be shared with the rest of the school over the next month and beyond.
HeadLines International Women's Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women, took place on Thursday 8th March. To mark this event at The Hemel Hempstead School we hosted our first female role model event. We were very pleased to welcome 15 inspirational women from contrasting fields of work to discuss their roles and different routes into employment. Our students listened with great interest and asked the most inquisitive questions. Thank you to Mrs Sue Bond, Careers Co-ordinator, for organising this event.
This week is National Science Week and Mr Smith, Head of Science, has expertly led the assembly programme focussing on this. During the assemblies Mr Smith has been encouraging the students to be creative and courageous in their thinking. This theme links to our whole school teaching and learning focus to design learning activities to help students think hard and develop their own thinking skills. In addition to the National Science Week assemblies our Year 12 and 13 Physics students were very fortunate to participate in a seminar on Particle Physics delivered by Dr Sarah Williams from Cambridge University.
Year 11 have continued to impress with their hard work and focus during the most recent trial examinations. A reminder that Year 11 Parents Evening has been rescheduled for Thursday 22 March.
Year 9 students have been fortunate to visit the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum in London this week. The Imperial War Museum provides an excellent overview of twentieth century history, complementing the Year 9 History course perfectly and also features exhibitions on the Second World War and the Cold War that will be very useful to those students who wish to continue their History studies into GCSE. The National Army Museum gives an overview of the changes to the British Army, many of which occurred during the First and Second World Wars and provides an excellent introduction into our Warfare and British society unit studied at GCSE. On Thursday our most able students in English in Year 9 participated in the BBC School News Report programme. Students were busy moving around the school creating interesting and varied reports. Many staff have been filmed whilst interviewed by many intrigued students. Final reports can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/hemelschool.com/hemel-hempstead-school-bbc-sch/home
Our PE Department have seen our students’ hard work and dedication over this season culminate in triumph this week in a variety of sports.
Year 9 and 10 Rugby teams have secured a place in the County Cup Final. Both games will be played next week on Wednesday 21 March at Old Albanians Rugby Club (Harpenden Rd, St Albans AL3 6BB). The Year 9 Game kicks off at 4:30 pm and the Year 10 game kicks off at 6:00 pm. Please do come along and support if you can.
Our Year 10 Girls became District Netball Champions this week and Year 9 won the District Plate competition. Our Year 7 and 8 students have also had a fantastic season, both qualifying for the final, but sadly, were narrowly beaten on the day.
I am delighted to share with you all that The Hemel Hempstead School continues to be the school of choice for so many families locally. This year our number of applications for places for Year 7 were in excess of 920 for 187 places. We are very much looking forward to working with our new students and families over the next few months as we begin our transition programme.
Sally Ambrose Acting Headteacher
On Wednesday ten Year 12 House Captains and our Senior Charity Prefect from Year 13 visited The Hospice of St. Francis, a local charity the school has supported for over a decade. The visit was part of the House Captains’ preparations for supporting the Hospice Midnight Walk in June which we are adopting again as part of the House Charity Challenge. Our students received a detailed guided tour of the Hospice, learning about the different services the charity provides our local community with and explored the beautifully tended gardens which patients and families enjoy. An extremely special visit to help launch our support of the Midnight Walk which will be shared with the rest of the school over the next month and beyond.
MARCH ***Blue Week*** 22nd Year 11 Trial Exams (En, Ma, Sc & Hi) 19th – 23rd Year 12 Geography Field Trip to Cranedale Centre, N Yorks 19th UKMT Team Maths Challenge, 9.30am-3.30pm 20th Year 8 (A,C,F) Soap Enterprise Challenge, Hall, 9am-3.30pm 21st Visit to Year 9 and PE from Danish students and teacher Year 10 (selected) to Balliol College, Oxford, 8.40am-4.40pm Year 12 Bedfordshire University Presentation, M9, 8.40-10am Year 8 (L,N,P) Soap Enterprise Challenge, Hall, 9am-3.30pm 22nd Year 11 Parents Consultation Evening, 4.30 – 7 pm Year 13 A Level Drama rehearsals, 7-9pm 23rd Dacorum Dance Competition, Sportspace, 8-9pm Sport Relief fundraiser, 3G pitch/field, 1.35-2.35pm 25th Year 11 Drama Tech & Dress Rehearsals for GCSE Drama Exam, PA3/4, 9am-6pm ***Gold Week*** 27th, 28th & 29th Year 11 GCSE Drama Practical Examinations, PA3/4 8am-7pm 28th Years 12/13 Dance Theatre trip, 5 – 10.30pm 28th Mar – 3rd Apr Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Practice Expedition to Brecon Beacons 29th Last day of term Year 13 A Level Drama rehearsals The Newsletter is blue or gold to correspond with the blue or gold timetable of the following week.
Dates for Your Diary
LOST PROPERTY A Fitbit was found in the School Hall after the Year 7 Parents Consultation Evening on 22nd February. If you believe it may be yours please contact Reception.
Author Talk
On 7th March, students in Years 7 and 8 were treated to a talk by best-selling children's author Chris Bradford, who wrote the Bodyguard and Young Samurai series. He described himself as a ‘method writer’ and said he believed in ‘practising what you preach’. So, before writing the Bodyguard series he trained as a professional bodyguard and, before writing Young Samurai, spent one year training in Japan.
The talk focused mainly on the Bodyguard series (which is about a teenage bodyguard named Connor Reeves), showing the students what it’s really like to be a bodyguard and giving us some training. He demonstrated surveillance techniques using a spy camera hidden in a coke can, showed us different formations bodyguards use and even gave us some close up crowd control techniques with the help of a brave volunteer from the audience. Chris also did many activities and demonstrations involving the audience and there was never a shortage of volunteers.
Excitement peaked as Chris showed the audience his authentic Samurai sword that he received as a gift from his master in Japan. It was clear that the students enjoyed this talk at the end when queues of people wanting to buy or order signed books trailed all the way to the back of the hall. It was clear that the students enjoyed this inspiring talk will be talking about it for a long time to come.
By Oliver Stone 9N
HEADTEACHER’S
CERTIFICATE
For Exceptional Achievement – selection to swim in the World School Games in Morrocco
Joseph Coldwell 10F
For Exceptional Achievement – winners of District Netball Cup
HCC School Closure Notification System Please may we ask you to check that you have signed up and have kept your contact details up to date on the Hertfordshire County Council School Closure Notification System which is used in the event of an emergency, usually related to severe weather. Please follow this link: https://member.everbridge.net/index/892807736725489
PTA News Next Meeting: Tuesday 15th May 2018, at 7pm in the School Library.
Used Uniform for Sale: I am very pleased to announce that Sarah Tedder, (mother of a Year 8 student), has kindly volunteered to be our used uniform coordinator to manage the HHSA uniform stock. If you wish to buy any used uniform items, such as blazers, trousers, PE kit, etc., please contact Sarah, who will be delighted to help. Contact details for Sarah: tel:07493 451101, email:[email protected] WANTED The HHSA urgently needs your unwanted school uniform and PE kit. Please deliver donations to Student Services during school hours, or contact Sarah Tedder. Forthcoming Events: The HHSA will be providing refreshments and will need your help to set up, serve and clear away. Please let us know if you can spare some time. If you are unable to help for a full session, please consider joining us for part of the time. Sports Day Wednesday 13th June 2018 (8.35am – 1.30pm) Year 6 Parents Information Evening Thursday 28th June 2018 (6.30 – 8pm) Year 6 Secondary Transfer Day Thursday 5th July 2018. HHSA will be selling used school uniform and PE kit. Summer Concert Friday 6th July 2018 (7-10pm) Fun Run Friday 13th July 2018 (11.30am-2pm) House Drama and Art To be arranged. Facebook: Please search for ‘Hemel Hempstead School Association’ and ‘Like’ our page. School website, HHSA Page: www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/parents/hhsa/ Includes minutes of meetings, second hand uniform, and ways you can help to raise funds. Contact: Brian Spencer, HHSA Chair Tel: 07710 905759 Email: [email protected]
Gold Letters issued recently: Letter 134 UK Mathematics Trust Team Math Challenge (selected students) Letter 135 GCSE English Revision Letter 136 Breakin' Convention at Sadler's Wells Letter 137 Year 12/13 Sociology Student Seminar
Sickness/absence line: Years 7 – 11 Please will all parents contact us daily if your child is sick, going to be late in due to a medical appointment, or is absent for any other reason. Please call our sickness/absence line on 01442 390103 or email [email protected] by 8.30 am if possible. Sickness/absence line: Years 12 and 13 The dedicated telephone number for accepting calls/messages concerning absence from school of Sixth Form students is 01442 251732. Please call by 8.30 am if possible. If Sixth Formers arrive at school after registration they must sign in at the Sixth Form Office.
SPORT
FIXTURES Monday 19th March Year 8 Netball tournament @ JFK 4pm Year 8 Basketball v Ashlyns (A) 4pm Tuesday 20th March Year 9 Girls County Basketball tournament @ Wodson Park, Ware 12.30 - 4.30pm Year 8 Boys County Sportshall Athletics @ Wodson Park, Ware 12.30-4.30pm. Under 13 Girls Football v Kings Langley (H) 4pm KO Wednesday 21st March Year 7 Netball tournament @ JFK 4pm County Rugby Final @ Old Albanians, St Albans Year 9 – 4pm KO, Year 10 – 6pm KO Thursday 22nd March Year 10 Netball tournament @ JFK 4pm Year 7 Rugby v Longdean (A) 4pm KO Year 7 Girls Basketball v Tring (H) 4pm KO Friday 23rd March U18 Football v Ashlyns (H) 4pm KO
RESULTS
Netball District Cup Finals Year 7 v JFK lost 10-13 Year 8 v Tring lost 8-20 Year 10 v Kings Langley won 20-16 Year 10 County Rugby Semi-Final v Sir John Lawes won 12 -12 (on away points rule) Year 9 Football v Longdean won 4-3 U13 Girls Football v JFK won 3-2 Year 7 Boys Football v JFK won 10-0 Year 10 Basketball v Astley Cooper won 76-14 Year 9 Netball District Plate Final v Ashlyns won 22-7 Football Top Goalscorers 2017-18 Year 7 - Justin Jones - 15 Year 8 - Louie Galasso - 10 Year 9 - Harry Bonner - 11 Year 10 - Louie Potton - 9 Year 11 - Ryan Wood - 3 U13 Girls - Scarlett Dearman - 9
PE Faculty
Year 10 Netball Achievement
The Year 10 Netball team attended the District Netball Cup finals on Tuesday 13th March held at JFK where they won the final. The girls played against Kings Langley School who were a strong team and from having played them earlier in the year we knew it was going to be a tough game. The game was very close throughout and we were only ever a couple of goals ahead of the other team. The final score was 20-16 with Poppy Nixon being named as most valuable player. We are really proud of our girls who have worked so hard as a team since Year 7 and it is the first time they have reached the finals. Their effort was outstanding and their hard work and perseverance paid off. Huge congratulations!
Firstly, a review from Mr James Chappelow, former teacher at the school, who attended the Saturday evening performance: Annie! A Triumphant New Deal!
The biannual musical productions from Hemel Hempstead School are always awaited in eager anticipation. Expecta-tions are high and audiences are never disappointed. The choice of the very popular musical, Annie, caused much excitement and proved to be inspira-tional. For four nights, to packed hous-es, the young cast performed brilliant-ly. The familiar story of the young or-phan, Annie, seemingly trapped in the harsh poverty of the New York of the Great Depression, yet who never gives up hope of a better tomorrow, was told with conviction, zest, energy and pa-thos. It was impossible not to be moved and uplifted.
The great joy of this production – as has been the hallmark of all recent productions – was the apparent professionalism of the cast. The thought that this was “just a school production” was completely absent. Annie, played by Natacha Bassett in the Saturday performance, stole the show. Her characterisation of the orphan who lives in the hope and expectation of something better was simply superb. She com-manded attention and captured the hearts of all. Her performance of the show's theme-song, ‘Tomorrow’ reached perfection. President Roosevelt (ably played by Elliot Harding) and his team had no chance of resisting Annie's charms. Instead, they took up the theme of ‘Tomorrow’ with great gusto, which gave them the inspiration for the New Deal. The philanthropist Warbucks (Joe Reed-Hook) and his assistant, Grace Farrell (Amie Merrick) were both swept off their feet by the vivacious Annie, who was also an in-stant hit with Sandy the dog (the extremely well behaved Bea Bevan). A contrasting trio of wickedness was very convincingly provided by Miss Hannigan (Jasmine Metcalfe), her brother Rooster (Jack Noonan) and his girl, Lily St Regis (Lucy Kyne). Their performance of ‘Easy Street’ was most impressive. Yet as notable as individual performances – of which many deserve high praise – was the ensemble per-formance of the entire cast. Not a note, not a word, not a movement was out of place. Everyone worked together in this extraordinarily outstanding performance which once again demonstrated the great strength in depth of the Performing Arts in The Hemel Hempstead School. All of the students who dedi-cated themselves to this production and all the hard work that it demanded deserve the highest possible praise. In giving a totally thrilling performance to delight the entire audience, these students will not only have happy memories of a great experience but should also be inspired to retain and develop their tal-ents further.
None of this would be pos-sible without the large team of staff and others who support these musi-cals. The whole production bore the hallmark of the direction of Diane Heale and the choreography of Sharon Sepala. A most welcome addition to this team has been the new Musical Director, Ros Sax-by. No words of praise can be found that are sufficient to describe the magical way that these amazing individuals have turned their students into stars of musical theatre. Many, many congratulations to everyone. …….and now, a word from Mrs Heale
What is always exciting when double casting a musical, is seeing how different performers bring their own interpretation to the role resulting in a completely different show. The Wednesday/Friday cast
stunned audiences with their comic timing, clever characterisation and boundless energy.
Ruby Reeve (Annie) melted hearts and captured our imagination with her feisty spirit and sweet de-meanour, a tribute to such a young actress in such a big role. Amber Grappy was funny, sassy and suitably gin-soaked in her depiction of the romantically challenged, bitter Miss Hannigan, providing the perfect foil to Cherry Halfyard’s upbeat, chipper Grace Farrell. All three actresses created comedy gold through their pacey dialogue, and spirited exchanges on stage. Holly Carter’s portrayal of Lily St Regis, the conniving and grasping, girlfriend of Rooster was flawlessly executed, particularly in her en-
ergetic rendition of Easy Street.
Shiraz Ali (Wednesday/Friday) and Sonny Carter (Thursday/Saturday) brought the relentlessly cheesy and saccharine Bert Healey to life with great skill, capturing the golden age of American radio advertis-ing against the bleakness of the Depression, selling the notion that ‘You’re never fully dressed without a smile!’ The orphans, also saw a change in cast over the run. This group of young ladies (all Years 7-9) stole the opening of the show with the sublimely choreographed ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’ and provided
many a comic turn throughout with their torture of Miss Hannigan.
What is also impressive is the ability of the rest of the cast to accommodate these different players on different nights. Joe Reed Hook (Warbucks) and Jack Noonan (Rooster) took all of this in their stride, never missing a beat or faltering in the relationships they created with their co-stars. The same must be said of the ensemble: they are the heart and soul of any show and whether they were down and outs in Hooverville, servants in the Warbucks Mansion or the inhabitants of NYC, they brought colour and life to
every scene.
What a privileged position we are in at HHS to have so much talent in a production that we have to cast
it twice!
A group of friends and I came to see Annie on Friday night. I had told told them to expect great things as The Hemel Hempstead School has a reputation of putting on the most excellent musicals but they
and I were blown away by the performance.
The singing, the acting and the dancing were all absolutely brilliant and the audience were completely absorbed, one of my group even shed a tear! At the end the cast got the most amazing standing ova-
tion which was so so well deserved, you've done it again Hemel.
Huge congratulations to the team behind this, and we're looking forward to the next one in two years
time already. Well done.
Finally, a selection of comments received
from members of the audience:
On Friday 2nd February 2018 we came with our family to the school production of 'Annie' in which our
Grandson was part of the cast.
We had a most enjoyable evening and would like to say congratula-tions to the Students, Staff and all those involved in producing a fantas-
tic performance.
Well done to The Hemel Hempstead
School!
I would like to send my thanks to your amazing Perform-ing Arts team for their support with our daughter during the rehearsals and production of 'Annie'. My daughter had a wonderful time and we were both delighted that she was cast in a role which allowed her to develop her
skills as a performer.
The team, particularly Mrs Heale, Miss Sepala, Ms Barden and Miss Saxby, were so helpful and supportive throughout the process. I was so impressed with the standard of the production and the development I saw in
my daughter’s confidence on stage.
I just wanted to congratulate you and the team for the most fantastic musical perfor-mance of Annie. I know you had a huge cast this year and it must have been quite a challenge, but the resulting performances were brilliant. I have sent an email to Mrs Ambrose saying how much we enjoyed the
show.
I also wanted to thank you for making it such a good experience for my daughter who has had the best time being in the show. Before being involved she said she couldn't sing or dance but loved drama so was going to give it a go at auditioning and I am so pleased she did. She has really grown in confidence through this, has shown herself that she can sing and dance and has made lots of new friends, she’s even going to do drama for her GCSE's now. I couldn't be more proud, so thank you, and all the other teachers involved for making this such a positive experi-ence. Please could you pass these thanks
