Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending
John Hanson Community School
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
Rising concern about the use of vapes (e-cigarettes)
among children and young people
Dear Parents/Carers
As we break for the end of the first half term of this academic year I want to return to the topic of vaping.
Via Parent Mail please look out for a letter from Simon Bryant, the Director of Public Health in Hampshire and resources booklet for parents on this topic.
Along with our colleagues in Public Health, we grow increasingly concerned about the impact vaping is having on the lives of the young people in our community; on their health, behaviour and education.
Please take the time to read the letter and booklet.
Enjoy the half term break with your children.
Regards
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
On November 10th the school will hold its moment of Remembrance. As always, if your child is a cadet of any kind please do encourage them to wear their uniform.
Sprouts pop up cooking club are back on Halloween.
Pop along on the first Tuesday back 3.05-4.15pm to make some iced spooky shortbread. Voluntary contribution of £1. Bring a container for your shortbread
Year 11 Prom Committee
The y11 prom committee are holding their first fundraising event of the year. The Halloween tombola will be on the first Tuesday back after the half term so remember to bring along cash to have a turn. Prizes include light projectors, sweets and themed inflatables.
Talented poets from across the whole school have now submitted their entries for the Young Writers “This is me” poetry competition. Whilst we’ll have to wait and see about the national competition results, the John Hanson winner will be announced next week when Mrs Ferris will select the very best entries for display on the Reading Room “Poetree”. The overall first place winner will receive a £10 Waterstones Voucher. Very well done and thank you to everyone that took part.
Of course, there is always the wonderful selection of resources in the LRC that can be borrowed all year round!
Mrs Ferris has announced this week the 1st-place winner and runner-up of the John Hanson “This is me” poetry competition. There were some really fantastic entries, but the submissions made by Bethany (1st place) and Isla (runner-up) were truly outstanding; both displaying a superb grasp of the competition objective, and an understanding of some impressive poetic devices. All entries made have now been submitted to the national competition. We should find out in about 6 weeks whether anyone from John Hanson has won, or will be published in the Young Writers book. Well done again to everyone that took part, and never stop writing!
The Autumn Book Giveaway was a great success, with more than a hundred books being snapped up and taken home to enjoy. As usual we will run another giveaway in December when students can take books for themselves or for Christmas gifting! Staff will be on hand to wrap any books that are to be gifted to family or friends. If you have any books at home in excellent condition (and thus suitable for re-gifting or future book giveaways) we would be glad to receive donations.
Christmas Showcase Thursday 14th December 6pm School Hall – Invitation
On Thursday December 14th we will be holding our Christmas Showcase – Sing Up for Christmas. I would like to invite your son/daughter to take part in this event – Christmas songs will be learnt in music lessons and will then feature in the showcase. These will be well known Christmas songs and we hope to make a really big sound as we celebrate the season.
The showcase takes place in the school hall at 6pm and we hope you will come along and join in with this fun Christmas show. We would love to have many students taking part, and a huge audience so that we can really raise the roof and have a fun evening. Funds raised from collection will go towards our school show. We will arrange some after school rehearsals before the event for those who can come along. These will be after school on a Thursday in November.
The tickets for the event will be free and will be available to be booked via ParentMail. So that we know how many children will be taking part please will you please email to confirm - child's name and tutor group - email to mike.adams@jhanson.hants.sch.uk
The showcase will also feature solos, dances, and extracts from our school show Grease which goes on stage in January ’24.
I look forward to receiving your response. We hope we see as many of you as possible on 14th December.
Mike Adams - Head of Performing Arts
Performing Arts - Grease
Show Dates in 2024
Tuesday Jan 30th 2024 Wednesday 31st January 2024 Thursday 1st February 2024
Rehearsals are up and running again. Details in PA block.
Year 7 students wishing to join the choir that will sing in the Christmas Show and in Grease - rehearsals are Wednesdays after school 3.05 to 4.00 pm
Music Groups after School
Due to show rehearsals this term this has changed slightly from our previous plan:
Currently we are meeting as follows:
Monday - Year 10 GCSE Music class Tuesday - Grease rehearsals with cast and chorus Wednesday - Grease rehearsals with cast and Chorus - SCHOOL CHOIR Thursdays - SCHOOL BAND
Performing Arts - Instrumental Lessons at school
If your son/daughter would like to learn to play a musical instrument please contact Mike Adams - Head of Performing Arts for details. Email - mike.adams@jhanson.hants.sch.uk
Teachers from Hampshire Music Service visit the school and we can offer lessons in Piano, Keyboard, Singing, Guitar, and Percussion (Drumming).
Advanced date for your diary - Christmas Showcase - Sing Up for Christmas will take place on Thursday 14th December at 6pm
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
At John Hanson Community School we are committed to providing equality of opportunity for all students and staff, and to providing a working environment free from discrimination, prejudice and harassment.
We encourage respect and consideration for others, and recognise and value the school as a safe place for learning. The staff at John Hanson recognise that inequalities exist in all levels of society and believe, that as educators, we have a crucial role to play in eliminating all forms of discrimination, in particular against anyone with any of the protected characteristic. We promote equality by dealing with bullying and incidents of discrimination immediately and by educating the young people in our care through assemblies, tutor time, PSHE day sessions and group work where appropriate.
This is part of our responsibility in preparing our students for life after school.
Important EDI events over the next week:
International Pronoun day (October 18th)
Words you might not know:
Pronouns are the words we often use to talk about a person when we’re not using their name. These might be he/him, she/her, they/them or other pronouns. Some people use one set of pronouns (eg. Pablo uses he/him pronouns) and some people use more than one (eg. Samira uses she/her and they/them interchangeably). Some people change the pronouns they use at different points in their life, and making sure we use their new ones is an important part of respecting them.
In English, pronouns are gendered, which means that the pronouns we use often refers to that person’s gender. However, because we can’t always tell someone’s gender just from looking at them, we can’t really know what pronouns to use for someone until we ask them.
Asking what someone’s pronouns are might feel odd at first, but it quickly becomes something you do automatically. A good way to start is to offer your own.
Other great ways to offer your pronouns are to include them in your email signature, social media profile, or on your business card. Not only does this mean people will always know to use the correct pronouns for you, but it helps to normalise talking and asking about them.
Please see the latest DEI newsletter on Black History Month below. The DEI team will be producing one of these every month for you and your child to read through. Click on the image to download the newsletter
College Open Events.
Please do check the individual websites for any changes to the schedule before setting off to visit them
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
Want to know more about what’s going on in school? Why not follow us on:
