Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending
John Hanson Community School
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
Lest We Forget
Dear parents/carers
Today, the whole school came together at 11am for an act of remembrance – a minute’s silence and a live rendition of the last post.
Current students, who are part of Cadet Forces in Andover, have also proudly worn their uniform to school today.
As the years tick by and the major conflicts that took so many lives become further ingrained in history, I feel it is incredibly important that the young people that you entrust to us for 5 years don’t forget – At John Hanson we do not let that happen!
Alongside work that students undertake in subjects such as History, we work hard to make sure that human activity in the past is used to help educate future generations.
This year a group of students, under the watchful eye of Miss Trestrail, have produced a wonderful poppy display to support Remembrance.
Enjoy the weekend with your children
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
“Our Poppy display which consisted plastic bottle bottoms were hand painted by pupils across Yr7 and 8. The group largely consisted of pupils who have parents serving in the Forces and we shared how each of them were being affected by the what was happening around the world at the moment.” Miss Trestrail
Samantha Lark performed the Last Post and Reveille
Following the Act of Remembrance a bugler would sound the Last Post, and after a period of silence would then play the Reveille.
In military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest, and at commemorative services such as Remembrance Day and Anzac Day.
As Armed Forces Champion for the school community, may I take this opportunity to thank all the cadets who wore their uniforms so proudly and expertly for our remembrance at John Hanson, today. I would also like to thank all the students who have helped bring the collection tins around school during the week - we appreciate their support and commitment to charitable work for the British Legion. Thanks must also go to Miss Trestrail and all the students who helped to create the poppy display. As always, please know we are thinking of our service families - those who have served and are still serving. Mrs Jones
PSHE day 2: 15th November
For our next PSHE day of the year,
Year 7 will cover Road Safety in their tutor session and follow a carousel of activities including: Puberty (in single sex groups so they can feel totally confident to ask any questions), Who am I – considering their own identity, Vaping and Smoking, Fire Safety, a careers sessions and a Healthy eating session delivered by an external visitor, Stacey Miller.
Year 8 will cover Food Banks in tutor time followed by a carousel of sessions on: Peer pressure, Cyber Safety, Being Me, Understanding Drugs, Health & Safety and Alcoholism.
Year 9 will cover Abortion law in tutor time followed by a carousel of sessions on: NHS careers, Strengths& Attributes, Employability Skills, Gender Equality, Career Pilot and a workshop on Understanding Apprenticeships with external visitors from SUN.
Year 10 will cover Discrimination in the Workplace in tutor time followed by a carousel of sessions on: Career choices, Finance, Body Image and Emotion Coaching. As well as a workshop with BCOT and their Work Experience launch session.
Year 11 will cover Employment Contracts in tutor time followed by a carousel of sessions on: Men & Women’s Health, LGBT+ and Vouyerism. They’ll also have a session where they can apply for post 16 options next year and another with reminders on how they learn and revise. Their other session will be a fitness session with an external visitor. All year 11 students should wear PE kit to school for the day.
If you have any questions or concerns about this PSHE day please do contact your child’s Head of Year in the first instance.
Did you know India is not the only place celebrate Diwali!
This is also widely celebrated in countries like: Singapore, Malesia, Nepal and Fiji.
Did you know that there is 22 separate official languages and it is home to a total of 121 languages and 270 mother tongues!
It's also home to the world's oldest language so that’s why the northern India call Diwali as Deepavali, is a festival celebrated in almost all parts of India.
It is an Indian festival that marks the victory of good over bad (evil).
It is a festival celebrated by Indians with great passion they honour joy, harmony and victory. It also marks the return of Lord Ram from exile, which is described in the epic Ramayana. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word Deepavali which means row of lights. So, this festival is celebrated by lighting lamps (usually earthen lamps) all around the house/office. It also symbolises light as the victory over darkness. Generally, according to the stars, the date for Diwali falls in October or November and is expected to be 20 days after Dussehra. It is celebrated in the Hindu month called Kartika. Diwali is celebrated in honour of Lord Ramchandra because on this day, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. During this exile, he fought with demons and the demon king Ravana, the powerful ruler of Lanka. On Rama’s return, the people of Ayodhya lit diyas to welcome him and celebrate his victory. Since then, Diwali has been celebrated to declare the victory of good over evil.
Happy Diwali 2023! Mrs Ferreira E.A.L Co.
Physical Education / Sports - Summer Newsletter
You can view our Summer Newsletter featuring all the sporting activities by following this link:
Thanks to recent suggestions and requests from our students the LRC has some more great new titles in both the fiction and non-fiction sections. From dystopian thrillers to netball skills, Warrior Cats to mental health, the students have provided some really excellent ideas. The LRC Suggestions and Requests online form can now be found on all of the students’ desktops - but the actual Suggestions Box is still in the LRC if they prefer to use it. The online form simply offers the students another way of sharing what they think should be stocked in the LRC.
On the subject of stocking up, the LRC continues to collect donations for the Andover Foodbank Christmas Hamper appeal until next Friday November 17th. So that we could try and provide complete hampers we had been asking for people to tick which food items they had planned to buy and then bring it in, but all donations are of course very gratefully received.
Items requested for hampers are; crisps, chocolates, tins of ham, Jam/Marmalade, Stuffing/Gravy/Bread Sauce, Hot chocolate and marshmallows, coffee, custard, cheese biscuits, pickle or chutney and Christmas Pudding. Please only donate what you can afford – all contributions, big or small will be massively appreciated.
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
Rehearsals for SINGUP for Christmas -
Thursday 16th and 30th November PA1 3-4pm
Performing Arts - Grease
Show Dates in 2024
Tuesday Jan 30th 2024 Wednesday 31st January 2024 Thursday 1st February 2024
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
Thursdays - SCHOOL BAND and SINGUP singers (16th and 30th November)
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:
World Kindness Day and World Diabetes Day 14th. Rememberance Day. 16th International Day of Tolerance. 12th Divali - Hindu Festival of Light.
Words you might not know:
Mental Health: your general state of well-being and state of mind. This is something that should be looked after. Mental illness: something that disrupts your mental state and interupts how you feel, think, communicate and behave.
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 here 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:
