Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
I hope you all had a relaxing Easter break. It was good to welcome students back on Monday to a six week half term (two full weeks…..two shorter weeks (Bank Holidays)…followed by two full weeks). However, Year 11 have just four weeks until Thursday 11th May when their study leave begins. Year 13 also have four weeks of lessons left and their last day is on Friday 12th May.
Year 11 and 13 are on the home straight now with public exams in four weeks’ time – we are thinking of them all at this intense time and appreciate the support that you and the teachers are giving them. The hard work they are putting in now will pay off when they sit their exams.
Year 10 have their PPEs in two weeks’ time, this will the first time they sit their mock GCSEs under exam conditions. Miss Izod ran a successful study skills session for the year group a few weeks ago where students were taught different ways to revise in prep for their PPEs. The updated ‘what to revise’ lists are on the website. https://www.holtschool.co.uk/school-life/year-10-revision/
Year 7,8 and 9 have end of year assessments for two weeks after May half term. The KS3 heads of year are running a study skills information evening for parents on Wednesday 26th April from 6.00pm-7.00pm. We welcome all parents of Year 7, 8 and 9 students. For more information see the website https://www.holtschool.co.uk/download/key-stage-3-parents-information-evening/?wpdmdl=43205&refresh=643e99c992e721681824201.
Year 12 have exams in June too and a letter is coming out from the sixth form team giving more details next week.
This week, Mrs Pearce and I have been delivering assemblies on humility. We remind students that it is ok to make mistakes and to acknowledge weaknesses by asking for advice and support to overcome them. We also talked about the importance of taking on feedback and asking questions to strive to improve. Students were also reminded that when something good has happened they should praise and thank those people who helped them achieve their success; to give credit to others.
Over Easter, Mrs Williams led a ski trip to Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria. She was accompanied by Miss Harris, Mr Fulker and Mr Mosley and 40 students! Luckily, they flew to Austria so were not delayed for over 13 hours on the M20 in Dover. Twenty four of the students were beginners so to ensure they got the most out of ski slopes, Mrs Williams arranged three hours of dry ski slope lessons at Guildford dry ski slope where they became familiar with ski boots, skis and how to control their ability to move on the dry ski slope. Out in Austria, ski lessons were at 9am each day. The lessons were split into two lots of two-hour lessons and were led by very capable ski instructors. Après-ski included T- shirt decoration, an ice cream evening, pizza evening and even an Austrian skittles evening. Mrs Williams said the breakfast and evening meals were excellent and it was great that the hotel provided a packed lunch for everyone to enjoy on the slopes. The students enjoyed their skiing, and the trip was a great success arriving back in the UK on Easter Saturday after an early start with another trouble-free journey. A huge thanks to Mrs Williams, Miss Harris, Mr Mosley and Mr Fulker for giving up their time in the holidays and for sharing their enthusiasm for skiing with the students.
Just before Easter, Mr Gray organised the vocal and woodwind concert involving performances from students of all year groups ranging from soloists to performances by Holt singers and Junior Voices. The students performed brilliantly, and it was great to see the progress they have been making in their singing and instrumental lessons this year. Thank you to Mr Gray for organising and to Mr Beere for supporting.
The extra-curricular timetable is out at the end of this week so please encourage your daughter to attend at least one club this term. We have two new clubs…. a Bollywood song club and a Spanish speaking club as well as all the summer sports clubs. The updated list will be posted on the website https://www.holtschool.co.uk/school-life/extra-curricular-activities/
Thanks
Anne Kennedy
Co headteacher