Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending
John Hanson Community School
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
‘Don’t count the days,
make the days count’
– Muhammad Ali
Dear Parents/Carers
The above is a phrase we often use with students. Its not about counting down to ‘things’ like key assessments or exams, but making the most of each and every lesson of each and every day to make sure you are fully prepared to achieve to the best of your ability.
Every day at school is unique. It will never take place again. What students learn on that day will never happen again. It could be the start of a new topic, the development of key concepts, supported assessment of previously learnt knowledge and skills and much more.
As I outlined in my ‘HEAD’ Lines last week, academic outcome data shows the results of students who make every day count.
Students who attend school regularly make every day count. Those who have poor attendance (below 90%) are not making every day count. As a result, the latter are likely to underachieve.
Thank you for your ongoing support that results in the majority of students realising how important their attitude to learning is each and every day.
Enjoy the weekend with your children.
Regards
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
Performing Arts
Grease
Show Dates in 2024
Tuesday Jan 30th 2024 Wednesday 31st January 2024 Thursday 1st February 2024
Tickets are available now!!
Exact cash please - morning break PA block
PSHE day 3: Friday 19th January This was our third PSHE day of the year, and a busy one as normal! Our students had the opportunity to learn about themselves and others, the world and environment around them, difficult and topical issues, and how to prepare for their futures.
Year 7: A range of vital sessions for life both in and out of school
Tutor session on Parents in Prison: Shockingly, 310,000 children a year have a parent go to prison. Students widened their understanding of such a challenging situation and the best ways to support themselves or others. Nik from Stand Against Violence: Year 7 began their day in the main hall with an external speaker from Stand Against Violence. The session began with clarification of terms such as 'gangs' and 'grooming'. For the main discussion, the speaker took the students through County Lines, giving them an in depth and unfiltered insight into how young people can be coerced and groomed into trouble without knowing it. The students were actively involved in asking thoughtful and reflective questions, securing their understanding of the signs to look out for with County Lines predators. What to do in an unsafe situation: In this session, Year 7 explored the consequences of carrying a knife, and the severity of making an unsafe decision linked to knife crime. They also explored what to do in the event of a knife or terror attack: RUN to safety, HIDE if they can’t, and TELL the police when they're safe. They then had the opportunity to put strategy into practice through an interactive video discussion. Refugees and Human Rights: Today, Year 7 looked at the situation facing refugees in the world today – we looked at who these people are and where they have come from and how hard it must be for them looking particularly at the plight of children (36.5m). Students also discussed the definition of human rights and the different between want versus need. Students looked directly at the Human Rights Declaration and how certain instances do or do not affect our human rights. In the same way, students discussed how some people have their Human Rights unfairly taken and the results of this. British Values: In this session, we looked at the British Values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance which are the corner stones of our society and valuable for all to know. Through discussion, videos and activities Year 7 explored these values and why they are so important. Mental Health: Your Emotions: In this session, Year 7 learned about what we mean by the term 'mental health,' and that we all have mental health, whether positive or negative. They also learned about what negative coping methods looked like, and some positive methods that they could use instead to help them manage their emotions. They were directed towards the wide range of services who specifically support mental health in young people and explored the external factors which impact their emotions. They began to learn how their responses matter, and how to successfully look after their emotional health. Careers: This session involved year 7 being introduced to careers and what their career journey is going to look like over the next 5 years. Students spent the session logging into their Unifrog account, taking personality quizzes and search current job roles in the career job library. Students will build their career journey using the Unifrog platform over the next 5 years.
Year 8: A day of topical and sometimes hard-hitting subjects, exploring our planet and how to take care of it for the future
David Attenborough documentary on Climate Change and understanding our planet: After recent years being recorded as the hottest on record, Sir David Attenborough looks at the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat through a powerful documentary. Students had a worksheet of factual information to answer and select during this documentary viewing to cement the current state our planet is in and identify what we can do to turn things around. Climate Change – what the Government says: This Year 8 session looked at Climate Change from a number of different points of view. This included the Governmental point of view, pressure groups and individual people. It concluded with all students writing a ‘Climate Change pledge’ outlining one change they will personally make. The Plastic Problem: Plastic – brilliant but horrifically damaging our eco-systems. Students learnt about the different types of plastic, biodegrading, and how to reduce our single-use plastic usage. Students successfully identified the key importance in the reduction of this consumption in order to be able to sustain and keep our beautiful eco-systems. Local Nature Reserves: How lucky we are! Students learnt about all the wonderful wildlife are in our local nature reserves – who knew we had the Great Crested Newt. Through some scenarios, the students then learnt how to respect all uses of the parks from visitors, anglers, dog walkers and the many volunteers who upkeep the parks. Recycling: Reduce, reuse recycle! Putting the wrong things in the wrong bin costs HCC £1.2MIL every year! Year 8 discussed landfill, what we throw away and where it ends up, and how to be more mindful in what we do with our rubbish going forward. Recycling can be challenging – knowing what to put into what bins! – and so to help us within the John Hanson community we have launched a competition to design a poster to go into tutor rooms to make the students (and staff!) aware what can go into the recycle bins and not just paper. Grow your own: Vitamins, minerals, fruits and vegetables – the most important things we put into our bodies! In this session, students were able to understand and talk about the importance of healthy nutrients and where we can get them from in our diets. Similarly, students were able to see how easy it is to try and grow our own to promote healthy eating and absorbing goodness from superfoods!
Year 9: A collection of sessions to get students thinking about their futures and what paths they might take Tutor session with Andover and Sparsholt colleges: Year 9 had a session with Andover / Sparsholt Colleges. Whilst students learnt Andover provide traditional A levels, they also told students about B Techs, Vocational courses, Apprenticeships and the new T levels. At Sparsholt, we looked at the huge campus and some of the more unusual courses such as Equine Studies, Horticulture and Outdoor Pursuits. It was a thought-provoking introduction to the colleges Life after John Hanson: During the Life After John Hanson session, students covered possible college courses, apprenticeships and careers that they could embark upon once they have finished their time at our school. Students spent time researching these different options and were supported in making informed decisions about their future
Choices: This activity gave students the opportunity to think about the pathways that they could take to certain career fields. Year 9 investigated the different progression routes for a number of fictious examples before creating a profile of their own strengths and interests. They discovered entry requirements and investigated their own chosen fields through the UCAS website.
The Options Process: In this session students were spoken to about making Options choices for next year. They covered how to make the right choices e.g. not choosing subjects because their friends were, or because they ‘liked’ the teacher. Consideration was also given to the differing assessment methods used by subjects and whether some students would prefer coursework elements to form part of the overall assessment rather than just an exam or exams. We also looked at the draft options booklet which gives information about new subjects they may not have been taught before such as Business Studies and Child Development as well as completing an ‘initial thoughts’ options choice which will help us arrange and finalise our curriculum and options form ready for the Options Evening to help maximise the number of students who can get their first-choice options. Employment: Through discussion students explored different types and patterns of work, including employment, self-employment and voluntary work; that everyone has a different pathway through life, education and work and work pattern types such as, Zero-hours contracts, working from home (for part of the week), Working flexi-time, Shift working, Working while mobile and Job sharing.
Life Skills: The students learnt how important personal qualities such as communication, self-awareness and empathy are and how to develop and use these in real world examples. They then moved onto how they would use their behavioural and critical thinking skills to work effectively together as a team by agreeing what things and in what order of priority they would need from the coastguard if they were lost at sea. Finally, they identified what other life skills they would like to learn more about that will be part of future tutor time sessions.
Year 10: A range of challenging issues and themes to promote safety, maturity and awareness Tutor session on Parents in Prison: Shockingly, 310,000 children a year have a parent go to prison. Students widened their understanding of such a challenging situation and the best ways to support themselves or others. Understanding and Supporting others: Visitor Stacey Miller came into run sessions on understanding and supporting mental health and self-harm, as part of the Year 10 PSHE day. The average age children self-harm is 12 years old and 1 in 12 will do this, although it is believed that this statistic is higher, as not all individuals seek help or report incidents. Stacey spoke about how we can look after ourselves and support each other, as it is likely a friend will need support from us and that early intervention, has the best outcomes. We discussed the ways in which people may self-harm, some of the reasons why and a variety of coping strategies. At the end of the session Stacey shared some websites, social media platforms, apps and help lines that can be useful, if needed. Knife Crime: Students learnt about the prevalence of knife use in Britain, the dangers of carrying knives and the legalities around their purchase and possession. Most importantly they talked about the impact of knife use on the families of both those caught carrying a knife and those who had lost loved ones. Gender based violence: With the number of gender-based crimes in the UK rising year on year - happening to males too, but far more likely to happen to females – year 10 worked on their understanding and awareness of what these crimes could be and how to prevent, reduce and report them. As part of this session, students also discussed the importance of consent, how it applies to gender-based violence, what to do and who to tell. Honour based violence: Today year 10 students studied the challenging topic of honour violence. They examined the different social beliefs that lead to honour violence across the world, coving the range of different spiritual and religious beliefs behind it. Students also gained an understanding of the range of support services available throughout the UK and abroad. Healthy Relationships: This session explored ideas about sexuality, romance, intimacy and consent. Encouraging young people to explore their own ideas about sex and intimacy, preferences and limits, in a healthy and safe way. Mental Health Awareness: In this session, students gained an insight into different mental health conditions, advice on how to deal with them and also what support is available to them should they need it
Year 11: A range of challenging issues and themes to promote safety, maturity and awareness for life in and after John Hanson Tutor session on Knife Crime: Students learnt about the prevalence of knife use in Britain, the dangers of carrying knives and the legalities around their purchase and possession. Most importantly, they talked about the impact of knife use of the families of both those caught carrying a knife and those who had lost loved ones. Is this Coercive Control? Abuse isn’t always physical. Coercive control is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. Through watching a documentary and having an open discussion, year 11 were able to explore the signs and patterns of coercive control and how to spot it in the hopes that they can be more aware for the future. Online Relationships: Year 11 students looked at the dangers of being able to hide behind a computer screen online and how our trust should not so easily be given to those we really do not know. Understanding the dangers of grooming and catfishing, we hope that year 11 will now be more aware and streetwise when using the internet. Condom demonstrations: Year 11 students had the chance to learn how to put on a condom safely and correctly. It is important that students have an awareness of sexual health and how to keep themselves safe and protected. Let's talk about it! Silly Cow: Students found out the impact of a road accident and consider the detrimental impact a lack of awareness and consideration for rules and laws can have on other people. As such, they also learnt about the rules for learning to drive to help them process how to prevent such tragic and possibly fatal incidents from happening. Having a Child: This session explores fertility, top tips on how to support someone through miscarriage or premature birth, as well as alternative options to pregnancy such as fostering and adoption.
I just wanted to reach out to see if you had given much thought to introducing the young people at John Hanson Community School to Kooth: a free, anonymous service that offers one-to-one text-based counselling for young people.
Safeguarding is always our absolute top priority. Which is why all of the content and every single comment on our platform is fully moderated by trained professionals before being published. In addition, no-one on Kooth can send private messages to anyone else on Kooth - and every conversation that happens through forums is moderated to ensure safety.
All of the therapeutic content we create and all articles submitted by children and young people is also age-gated so that only the most relevant and appropriate content is available to each individual.
Kooth has a team of professional practitioners available to offer 1:1 text-chat support. We’re open 7 days a week until 10pm and are accredited by the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy.
We also offer assemblies, in which we can come to your school and explore the topic of mental health with your students, discussing the importance of wellbeing, and signposting the support that is available to them.
I’m sure you’re very busy, so here’s a quick run-down of what teachers and young people think of Kooth:
96% of the young people who use Kooth would recommend us to a friend.
96% of young people told us it was “really important” they could access Kooth after school.
81% of the professionals (teachers, GPs, and mental health professionals) we consulted in recent research told us they’d be “very concerned” if Kooth was no longer available to young people.
Over one million young people have already found support on Kooth – and we’d like the students of John Hanson Community School to join them.
We’re here to help you support your students' mental wellbeing inside and outside of school:
On Thursday Miss Cook announced the winners of the John Hanson short story competition “The Glitch”. There were some really superb entries with Jessica taking first place, and Tilly and Lily taking the 2nd and 3rd spots. All three students were recognised with certificates and book prizes from the LRC. Miss Cook was really impressed with Jessica’s use of vocabulary and remarked that her entry read like the blurb of a published book! We await the outcome of the Young Writer’s national competition, and should find out soon whether our talented John Hanson writers will be published in a Young Writers book. Well done to all students that took part, and never stop writing!
Tuesday Jan 30th 2024 Wednesday 31st January 2024 Thursday 1st February 2024
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:
Chinese New Year. 24th International Day of Education
Words you might not know:
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at John Hanson.
Please find attached the latest DEI newsletter on Men’s Mental Health. The DEI team will be producing one of these every term for you and your parents to read through – if you have any ideas for content please see Mrs Curtis, Mrs Ferris or Mrs Grinstead. 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
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