Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending John Hanson Community School.
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
You don’t know what you don’t know
I have always been a strong believer that school has to be more than just learning to be able to pass exams at the end of 5 years.
The 5 years of secondary education have got to prepare students for the next stage of their education whilst helping them navigate all the highlights and pitfalls of their teenage years along the journey.
This why at John Hanson so much time and effort goes into making sure when we deliver Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) it is done in a way that has an impact on the lives of the young people we care so much about.
Thursday of this week was the first of this year’s PSHE days. Unlike a normal day of five 1 hour lessons, each year group attended sessions throughout the day centered on a specific theme. Many of these sessions were being run by outside speakers and professionals from all walks of life. Indeed, we welcomed over 100 adult visitors to our school to take part in delivering our PSHE day.
The flagship of today’s PSHE day was the year 11 Careers Day. Every year 11 student had the opportunity to:
Speak to 50+ colleges, universities, local and national employers via our careers fair
Listen to a nationally renowned careers advisor
Have the opportunity, with guidance, to develop a CV and personal statement
And it’s not just us who think this is a valuable experience. We were joined by the year 11 cohorts of 4 of our local secondary schools.
Through a series of talks and practical activities, students across the age range have been challenged to consider many topics and areas of life that they will encounter during their 5 years with us. The ultimate aim being to make sure that they do know what they should know and can therefore make informed decisions on a daily basis now, through their 5 years at John Hanson and long into the future.
I would like to publically thank all my staff for their unrelenting efforts in planning this day and presenting it to our students, and those from other local schools. Specific mention needs to go to Mrs. Hall, my Assistant Headteacher, who had the unenviable job of coordinating the whole thing.
Enjoy your weekend
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
Year 11 Careers Day 2017
More from Year 10 and 11 PSHE Day next week . . . . . .
Year 7 PSHE day.
Year 7 have spent a fantastic day filled with ‘Wonder’- Our Big Read text -‘Wonder’ by P J Palacio.
Working with their tutor groups using the book as a stimulus they considered key themes from the book such as empathy; perspectives; bullying; resolving conflict and self-reflection.
By the end of the day they considered what makes them each ‘special.’
Alongside these activities students took part in a fantastic ‘Blast Off’ workshop focusing on developing effective study habits.
Mrs Webb
Head of Year 7
Year 8 PSHE day
Year 8 took a deep breath of fresh air and looked at the pros and cons of vaping. The verdict? Smells good, but we'll pass! We heard about the benefits of e-cigarettes to those wanting to give up the nasty habit, but we were concerned by the fact that not all ingredients of all brands have been tested.
Dealing with bereavement is a very personal experience - but we can all be good friends to those who may be suffering. Hampshire charity Simon Says offered Year 8s some helpful hints, such as don't be afraid to reach out to someone who is grieving - they may need a shoulder to lean on. Most importantly - listen to them. When someone dies, the impact on families is multi-faceted: home, work, school can all be affected. If you, or someone you know is suffering, pass on the helpline number: 023 8064 7550.
That cheeky picture you post online might turn out to be dangerous. You might send a message to one person, but imagine if they passed it on to strangers? To your parents? To your future employers? The message is clear: nothing on the net is private. Nothing! If someone asks you for inappropriate pictures, block and report.
Feedback from students:
"In the session about self-harm, it was really good to share healthy ways to relieve stress."
"In the session about alcohol, it was interesting to learn about the meaning of units and recommended limits."
"The Simon Says session was really tough for some of us, but it is nice to know that you are not alone and that support is available if something bad happens to someone you love."
"It is really important for us to learn about things like smoking, e-cigarettes, alcohol and sexting, because we need to be informed so that we make safe choices when we get older."
"It was shocking to think how cruel people can be to another person, in the 'Sexting' session. Nobody is perfect. I'm not perfect."
"We are all beautiful in our own way. You can't judge somebody by what they look like. What they are like, as a person, and what they do is what is important."
Year 9 PSHE Day
Year 9 spent PSHE day learning about real life finance. The sessions involved banking, interest rates, creating a monthly budget, furnishing your house on a budget and what you would do if you won the lottery. Throughout the 5 sessions students were challenged to think about prioritising their money and to discuss how they would spend money on a budget.
When speaking to students at the end of the day some of the comments were “The budgeting session was the best because it’s about real life”, “I liked deciding the different things that I would buy for my house with my budget” and one student who recently joined John Hanson said “it is my first PSHE day and I have enjoyed it. I learnt new things and now I properly understand banking and mortgages”
Throughout the day the students gained valuable knowledge about how to prioritise money and learnt about expenses that many of them admitted they would never have even thought about.
Mr Holmes Head of Year 9
Cyber Safety
Last night we held a talk which was delivered by the Lloyd banking group and their Digital Champions on digital safety. This talk was attended by a number Parents/guardians who found the information provided useful. Over the coming months we will try and arrange a practical session to show parents how change privacy settings on their accounts so that they can encourage their sons/daughters to do likewise. Thank you to Lloyds banking group for giving up their time.
Week 5-Honesty Websites/apps
An honesty website/apps are a new platform that allow people to leave anonymous unnamed comments about others. An example of these are Reddit & Sarahah. These new apps are causing great concern among parents, schools & child protection agencies as they are platform for cyberbullying. These apps allow users to send anonymous one way messages to a particular person without the recipient knowing who sent them.
The area for concern surrounding these apps/websites is that they are facilitating cyberbullying. Some teenagers sign up to this app in the hope of hearing positive comments, however, this is rarely the case.
As a school we would ask you to be vigilant and if your son/daughter has an honesty app we would encourage that they delete this as soon as possible for their own wellbeing.
We hope the above information is useful
John Hanson Community School Computing Faculty
End polio now campaign - plant a crocus
On Tuesday Miss Wakeford took 12 KS3 students to plant crocuses with Andover rotary club. This was part of the “end polio now campaign” that the rotary club and bill gates have been involved with this year. Between them the students managed to plant a total of 150 purple crocus bulbs which should bloom in February. We are hoping to plant some crocuses of our own in our school garden – if you have any bulbs you are willing to donate please send them in and we can plant them in one of our many raised beds ready for spring!
The Great John Hanson Bake Off!
For the last four weeks Mrs Taylor has been working with some talented Year 6 students from Balksbury School developing their baking skills.
This culminated this week with an afternoon tea for parents and friends as well as some brothers and sisters.
Our Senior Leadership Team came as well as staff from Balksbury and all were impressed with the quality of the goods produced.
A good time was had by all !
Mrs Julie Taylor
Come and join the John Hanson Music Crew - Choir, and Band
Music rehearsals and activities
School band Mondays 3-4pm (starting 30/10/17)
Music Tech Club - Tuesdays 3-4pm
School Choir Wednesdays 3-4pm
Does your child play a musical instrument?
If so we hope they will come and join a new school band/orchestra that we will be forming.
All musicians are welcome to join – those who learn instruments at school, and those who have lessons outside of school are all invited to take part. It is an important part of their music education to take part in an ensemble group and perform together and we hope their first performance in public will be at the Christmas Concert on 14th December.
We hope that all students who are learning an instrument will involve themselves with the band so that they can expand their musical skills further. (We also encourage our singing students to join the music crew choir on Wednesdays) Students can be in both groups.
Please complete the form on ParentMail or email me direct if your child would like to get involved.
A date for your diary - we will be encouraging as many students as possible to take part - particularly Year 7 and 8. Letters to follow next half-term. A fun evening for all - to kick off the celebrations.
