Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending John Hanson Community School.
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
Learning is defined as…
Learning is defined as… an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has altered in long-term memory nothing has been learned.’
(Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory (Vol. 1). Springer Science & Business Media)
Dear Parents/Carers
In part 2 of my Learning to Learn series of ‘HEAD’ Lines, I want to move on from my jungle path analogy of last Friday and focus this week on the process of learning.
Learning is being able to apply knowledge or skills long after they have been taught and in a number of different situations.
For this to happen, students have got to become comfortable with discomfort – If they don’t think, they will not learn! By ‘thinking hard’ our brains process information in our working memories and then encode it in to our long-term memory. Only by repeating learning and by doing so in a range of contexts, do we increase the storage strength of the information in our long-term memory.
The better the storage strength, the more readily available will be our knowledge and skills.
To put it in a nutshell, this is about students being able to retain knowledge and doing lots of retrieval practice.
Knowledge retention and retrieval practice has 4 stages:
1. Understand it – learning it in the first place, thinking hard about it and moving it from working (short term) memory to long term memory
2. Condense it – there is no way students will remember every piece of content in the detail they have been taught it. Therefore, they need to condense it in to a manageable form that they can come back to over and over again
3. Memorise it – once they have some condensed content students need to use a series of techniques (look out for details of these in future week’s ‘HEAD’ Lines) to make sure they fully understand what they have been taught over a period of time
4. Review it – This is critical! If knowledge and understanding is not tested, we never really know if we have moved our it from our short-term memory (somewhere that can only retain information for a few hours) to our long-term memory (somewhere that knowledge and understanding can remain forever). Therefore TEST, TEST and TEST again!
Next week, I will start to outline in practical terms what the 4 stages of retention and retrieval practice should look like for students.
Until then, stay safe and well
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
CLICK HEREor on the image below to find out more about the Hampshire and
Isle of Wight Saliva Testing Programme
Raptor Nest Project
Hannah and Campbell from the Conservation and Research team at The Hawk Conservancy recently visited students in Technology lessons to talk about the Raptor Nest Project in alliance with National Nest Box Week.
Students will be building nest boxes as part of their Technology lessons providing nest box homes for Barn Owls, Kestrels, Little Owls and Tawny Owls.
Nest boxes not only provide homes, they also help to monitor birds of prey to allow the conservation team an insight into breeding behaviours and their success at raising chicks.
Year 10 Rugby County Plate success!
The Year 10 boys went into their County Plate final against Salesian knowing that they would need to put in a strong performance to claim the trophy. Salesian dominated the early possession but solid defence especially from Arthur Hobson, Harry Law and Finn Davis kept their opponents at bay. Eventually the pressure told and an unconverted try saw John Hanson trail 5-0. The boys then kicked into gear and solid carrying saw them get into their opponents 22 before Josefa Naigunugunu crashed over from short range to level the scores at 5-5. Salesian then scored again to make it 10-5, before more defensive excellence and a number of turnovers from Captain Rhys Watkins, who was a menace at the breakdown all game made sure their opponents didn’t extend their lead further.
John Hanson started the second half strongly and after sustained pressure were awarded a penalty 5 metres out. Scrumhalf Ed Davis tapped quickly and hit Josefa who powered over the line carrying 4 defenders with him before touching down, Leighton Myhill was on target this time with the conversion to make the score 12-10. Salesian hit back quickly with another unconverted try to see us trail 15-12 before an excellent read by Patrick McDonnell saw him intercept the ball in the opposition 22 before being hauled down a metre short of the line, he then produced a great offload to Finn Davis who crashed over and Myhill added the extras to make the score 19-15.
The boys then produced a spell of dogged defence for over 10 minutes in their own 22 including Tom Warwick and Rhys Watkins twice holding up the opposition over the line before Ed Davis was sent to the bin for cumulative team penalties. The resistance finally broke with only 4 minutes left to play as Salesian scored in the corner to lead 20-19 with their 4th unconverted try. The boys then showed solid resolve and a superb kick chase pinned their opponents in their own half. A couple of mistakes from either team led to a couple of scrums, before an infringement at the ruck saw a penalty awarded to John Hanson just outside the 22. Myhill shouldered the responsibility and calmly slotted the penalty to take the lead 22-20 with 30 seconds to play. The resulting kick off rolled into touch meaning the lineout would be the last play of the game. Watkins hit Myhill at the front who cleared the ball into touch to see John Hanson claim the silverware.
Well done to all of the boys of an excellent performance and a well-deserved victory. A special mention to Rhys Watkins who led fantastically throughout and Man of the Match Josefa Naigungunu for his abrasive carrying and 2 tries. The boys will now turn their attention to 7’s next term and will hope to add to their success.
Mr Holmes
LRC News
Our new and extended 14+ section:
Come and choose one of the new titles that we purchased at our recent book fair. Available to borrow NOW!
Titles include: Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman, Shatter City by Scott Westerfield, Toffee by Sarah Crossan, You’ll be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera and many more….
Red box
If you would like to make a donation to keep our stocks high, we are always looking for the following items:
Size S/M or size 8/10 black Pants and 40 denier plus black tights
Deodorant – male and female
Shampoo and conditioner
Whilst the government funding covers tampons and sanitary towels, it doesn’t cover the smaller panty liners which our girls often require.
Year 9 Option Choices update
Year 9 Options information was published on the website on Thursday 17th February. The booklet became online on that day. Students will be given a printed booklet and form to complete, on Monday 28th February. Deadline for returns will be Friday 4th March.
Memorial Garden
Our garden has had its spring tidy up by the bereavement group and our spring bulbs have sprung! If you’d like to make a donation of plants, or cash for us to buy some, please deliver to reception.
We rely on your generous donations to maintain such a beautiful space
John Hanson Careers Newsletter
We are excited to release our latest John Hanson Careers Newsletter.
Please encourage your son/daughter to use their SCHOOL EMAIL for work rather than their own private email. This is important for safeguarding and also some of our messages for students are being sent to school email addresses.
Think you know – Activity Packs relating to online safety Who’s watching yours? – 17% increase in children livestreaming since lockdown (Advice to help parents/carers minimise risk to children online) Mental health – How to look after your family’s mental health when stuck indoors Houseparty – Everything you need to know.
John Hanson Computing Department
Performing Arts
Our after school activities return as normal starting next week.
Instrumental Lessons
If your son/daughter would like to learn to play a musical instrument please contact Mike Adams - Head of Music and Drama for details. Email - mike.adams@jhanson.hants.sch.uk
Teachers from Hampshire Music Service visit the school and we can offer lessons in Piano, Woodwind, Brass, Guitar, and Percussion (Drumming).
Vacancy for Piano Lessons - please contact for more details.
We have added a page on the website of video How To Guides
