Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending John Hanson Community School.
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
Hammers and Nails
Abraham Maslow was a guru. He had some profound thoughts and shared some great truths. Here’s one: ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail’. Students need all the tools they can get to be the outstanding achievers we want to be. ‘Students develop daily, not in a day’, said John Maxwell. In an essay, ‘Winning with People’, he offers much sound advice. Teachers can ‘put the wind beneath the sails’ of students or be ‘anchors on their boats’. I know my staff always strive to do the former.
Here are three tools I hope will help students be the best version of themselves:
Be sensitive to others. As teachers at John Hanson we, as often as possible, try to ‘leave our place’ and ‘visit their (the students) place’. We try to see what it is like where ’they’ are.
Often what we decide impacts on others. We are continually attempting to sense how our decisions affect the lives of others and take that into account. Every problem is not a nail!
Be interested in others. Dale Carnegie considered that you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. He had a best seller,’ How to win friends and influence people’, in which he commended talking in terms of other people’s interests and developing serious interest in others who are working with us.
A positive working relationship between staff and students is the backbone of achievement and progress and something all the staff at John Hanson strive to achieve with every class and every student they teach.
Be a Believer. Goethe philosophised Treat a person as they are and you make them worse. But treat a person as if they already were what they potentially could be, and you make them what they should be. That takes a bit of thinking about but it seems an inescapable truth to me that believing in people is going to make most of them significantly better. It is an art. It takes great skill. A skill that the staff at John Hanson attempt to employ every single day.
Enjoy the weekend with your children
Regards
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
Harry Potter Book Night is back!
John Hanson Community School is pleased to let you know that on Thursday 1st, March we will be hosting our popular Harry Potter Book Night for the fourth consecutive!
Year 7 pupils are invited to attend an evening of wizarding fun, frolics and Chocolate Frogs! Moreover, the event will encourage students to work in collaborative groups to develop their literacy skills through various Harry Potter themed activities.
Places are limited, so if you want to join in the fun be sure to see Mrs Almond at break on Monday 26th, February in M11 for your letter.
World Book Day 2018
World Book Day is fast approaching and this year, at John Hanson, we hope to get the whole school involved in the celebrations. World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.
So to celebrate, this year we are inviting all students to come to school dressed as a character from the Beano comic which is celebrating its 80th year of publication in 2018. There will be no fee for taking part in the fancy dress, but we ask that if pupils choose not to participate that they wear their full school uniform. Hopefully we will have a host of Dennis the Menaces and Minnie the Minxes in school for one day only!
Alongside the fancy dress, there will be a host of ‘Beano’ themed activities during the day in the LRC, and most importantly a whole school ‘Beano’ photograph at first break in the Courtyard. All pupils will also be given a free book token, generously donated to the school from the National Book Tokens LTD.
Ski Trip 2018
During February half term the ski trip went, for the first time to America. Students lapped up the unlimited free fizzy drinks on the flight as well as watching the numerous films and some students winning the 1 million pound prize on the ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ game. On our journey to the hotel from Boston airport, students (and trip leader) were pleased to see snow everywhere, which had to mean there was plenty on the slopes!
After little sleep due to the excitement we had our first day skiing in the Cannon resort. Our transfer bus was the Simpsons style bus or so I’m told the bus which Forrest Gump used to catch. We had our second day skiing at Cannon where students battled the icy conditions well, but didn’t conquer the lifts in the same manner!
We then had 3 days at the Loon skiing resort. This is where students started to excel. It was a great resort where even the beginners group could go to the top of the mountain and ski an appropriate route down. Our instructors at Loon really captured the students’ enthusiasm for skiing and even Mr Holmes started to make progress!
Our last day in New Hampshire was a trip tubing which was great fun and then off to the cinema to see Jumanji after our late bus transfer meant we couldn’t see Black Panther. We had numerous entertainment evenings, which included Miss Coomer’s American quiz but students were quite happy to just relax, ready for the next day’s skiing.
Having said prior to the trip that we would never go to America again, I feel because of the experience we had out there in terms of hotel, food consumption and how quiet the slopes were, it seems the best value for money. I am currently trying to negotiate with a few companies about next year’s trip. We had so many positive comments throughout the week about our students’ conduct which were so pleasing but not surprising to hear.
I would personally like to thank the parent/carers for supporting their child to go on the trip, students for their conduct on the trip to make it enjoyable for everyone and the staff for giving up their half term to accompany the trip.
Mr.Green
Thoughts from a student – Bethany Griffiths – Year 8
The John Hanson Ski trip was undoubtedly the best trip I’ve been on with any school so far. The skiing was amazing because not only were there lots of fun slopes with jumps, there were some great instructors too!
I’ll admit that my peers and I did fall over quite a few times but it’s okay when you have someone to laugh it off with. It’s not just about skiing though, it’s about the friendship and memories you make as well. I’ve made so many more friends and become closer with the friends I already had. Without the ski trip, that possibly would not have happened.
The only bad thing about the ski trip was that it didn’t last longer!
Calling all Year 7 and 8s!
Are you friendly, organised and aspirational? Want to get ahead with your Edge awards? Are you creative and have an interest in reading and illustrating?
If so, we need you to join our new Librarian Team. We are seeking creative, motivated and confident pupils to join our team and become a pivotal part of the school community. If you and your friends want to join us come down to the LRC at break time on Thursday 1st, March for further information.
Mrs Almond and Mrs Coward
Calling all parents, carers and family members...
Are you a doctor, plumber, accountant, journalist, librarian, lab technician, dentist, police man, lawyer, midwife, small business owner, tv producer, architect... (the list is endless)
Are you available on Wednesday 7th March?
As part of our extensive careers program here at John Hanson we want to offer Year 8 students the opportunity to explore the world of work by finding out what you do, how you got there and what you love about your chosen career.
If you are passionate about your job and can give up either the morning or afternoon on 7th March, then please send Mrs Hall (Assistant Headteacher and Careers Leader) a short email stating what your job is and what path you took to get there.*
*If we’re inundated with offers we may have to make a selection of a range of jobs this time, and ask you to support us at a future event.
Music News
Our Spring Concert will take place on Thursday 8th March at 7pm. Featuring the school band, choir and solo items performed by students in KS3 and KS4. Tickets free - available via ParentMail now!
The concert will take place in the Drama Studio in the Performing Arts block
Performing Arts in 2018 - Music and Drama Our next Concert will be Thursday 8th March 2018
Our rehearsals will continue next year as detailed below:
School Band Mondays 3-4pm
Music Tech Club - Tuesdays 3-4pm
School Choir Wednesdays 3-4pm
Drama Club Thursdays 3-4pm
8th March
30th March to 13th April 2018
Concert
Easter Break
7th May 2018
School closed – Public Holiday
All Day
28th May to 1st June 2018
Half Term
3rd July 2018
Yr 6 Induction Day
Yr 6 Transition Fair
All Day
1615-1845
Whole School
6th July 2018
School closed for Staff Training
All Day
10th and 11th July 2018
Yr 5 Taster Days
20th July 2018
End of Term
3rd September 2018
School closed for Staff Training
All Day
4th September 2018
1st Day of attendance for all students
Dates for forthcoming Parents' Evenings
Thursday 19th April Parents' Evening 4 (Year 8 focus)
Thursday 17th May Parents' Evening 5 (Year 7 focus)
