Welcome to the weekly Newsletter for parents and carers of students attending
John Hanson Community School
Inspire - Care - Succeed
‘HEAD’ Lines
Mobile Phones
Dear Parents/Carers
The introduction of a Phone Free Zone at the beginning of this term has been a real success.
At break and lunchtime, I initially couldn’t figure out why it was so noisy, until I realised it was because students were talking to each other!
The vast majority of students have accepted the fact that not having their phone during the school day will allow them to focus on their education without the distraction that we all know mobile phones create.
As you would expect from over 1000 students, there have been a few issues to deal with from a small number of students, but these have very much been in the minority.
If you see any damage to the locking mechanism of your child’s phone pouch, this would suggest that your child has tried to break in to the pouch. We have made it clear to students that if they damage the pouch such that it no longer works, their parent will have to purchase a new pouch at the cost of £10.
A small number of students are bringing 2 phones in to school – 1 in the pouch and 1 other. If caught, both phones will be confiscated and a parent will have to come in to school and collect the phones. If you have old phones in the house and you realise 1 or more have gone missing, this is potentially why.
A few students are bringing their pouch, but are claiming not to have a phone. We will search these students as in the majority of cases the students in question do have a phone with them.
Please can I remind all parents that the phone pouch is part of every students’ school uniform and should be brought with them to school every day irrespective of whether they have/bring a phone with them.
Further, that if your child forgets to bring their pouch to school they are expected to hand their phone in – they will be able to collect it at the end of the day.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your support with this new initiative and for helping us make sure that your child’s education can take place free from distraction.
Enjoy the weekend with your children
Regards
Russell Stevens
Headteacher
Physical Education / Sports - Summer Newsletter
You can view our Summer Newsletter featuring all the sporting activities by following this link:
We are working on transitioning the Memorial Bereavement Garden from Summer to Autumn, please may we ask if you or someone you know have any unwanted autumn flowers or plants that they would like to donate that we can use for the garden? Thank you very much.
Thank you once again to those people that donated books to our “Sibling Shelf” appeal. As we now have such a wealth of lovely material we can’t take more contributions at this time – we were really delighted and overwhelmed by the response! The new shelf will be launched to the students very soon and we can’t wait for the students of John Hanson to borrow books that can be enjoyed at home with their younger siblings. We also have some fabulous new titles for 11-16 yrs that we couldn’t resist buying from the recent Book Fayre – as always students are encouraged to come and see Mrs Bailey in the LRC to borrow and explore these new books.
The LRC is open to students before school from 8:10am, at break/lunchtimes, and after-school until 4pm for quiet reading and home learning.
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 Thursday - Soloists for Grease
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:
11th - 17th Sexual Health Awareness Week
Words you might not know:
Consent: Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. The Age of Consent in England and Wales is 16. This is the age when young people of any sex, gender or sexual orientation can legally consent to taking part in sexual activity. This means that sexual activity between two or more people is always unlawful if at least one of the people is under the age of 16, as they are not legally old enough to give consent. Contraception: Contraception is the act of preventing pregnancy. Some methods of contraception also provide protection against STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections)
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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