Y7 - 11 Weekly Newsletter | Autumn Term, Week 11 | Date: 25 Nov 2022
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If you have symptoms of Covid-19 or you have tested positive for Covid-19, you should stay at home and avoid contact with other people.
Symptoms of Covid-19 can include:
- a high temperature or shivering
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
- shortness of breath
- feeling tired or exhausted
- an aching body
- a headache
- a sore throat
- a blocked or runny nose
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea
- feeling sick or being sick
Students under 18 years old who test positive or have symptoms should stay at home for 3 full days. The day you first have symptoms or have a positive test result is Day 0. You may return to school on Day 4 provided you do not have a temperature and feel well enough.
Full government guidance is available here.
We will continue to support the personal choice of students and staff in wearing a face covering. We will also continue to ensure good levels of hygiene and ventilation for everyone here at school, and will maintain appropriate cleaning regimes.
If you have questions regarding official guidance please call 119 for visit the NHS website.
If a student is unwell, regardless of whether Covid-19 is suspected, they should stay away from school and the absence should be reported via our online absence form.
REPORTING STUDENT ABSENCE
We have an online absence reporting form for all absences (whole day or part of the day). If you are unable to use the form you will need to email absence@hgs.herts.sch.uk with the student's name and tutor group, reason for absence and expected return date (if known).
[Every Day - Pasta / Jacket Potatoes & Toppings, Panini of the Day]
** MENU SUBJECT TO CHANGE **
Monday: VEGETABLE HOTPOT (v)(gf), CHEESE & SWEET POTATO PIE (v), CHEESE & TOMATO WRAPS (v), APPLE & BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE (free from eggs, milk)
Tuesday: MINCED BEEF COBBLER, PASTA CHEESE PARCELS (v), VEGGIE BEAN BURGER IN A BUN (v), TOFFEE APPLE TART
Wednesday: BACON, LEEK & POTATO BAKE, VEGGIE MINCE PASTA BOLOGNAISE (v), CHEESE QUICHE (v), CHOCOLATE SCRUMMY
Thursday: BEEF STEW & DUMPLINGS, CURRIED CAULIFLOWER & BROCCOLI CHEESE (v), CHEESE QUICHE (v), CARROT CAKE
Friday: SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN (gf), MACARONI CHEESE (v), BATTERED FISH, FLAPJACK (free from wheat, eggs, milk)
(v) = Vegetarian (gf) = Gluten Free
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SCHOOL NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Message from the Headteacher
Good afternoon.
It's been a shorter week this week, but it has been great to see the Year 13s and Year 11s engaged in some new wellbeing activities. Thank you to Jane Sparks from the Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living for leading Tai Chi, and to meditation & yoga teacher Alex Ritchie for leading the Year 13s in their morning meditation. I had the pleasure of joining a session on Wednesday and it was a wonderful start to the day!
The Year 11s have started their mocks with the French and Spanish speaking exams taking place earlier his week, and the Art exam taking place today - I wish all Year 11 students every success over the next two weeks.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the huge number of families that have engaged with our work on values - I do hope it prompted an interesting discussion. I will close the questionnaire on Monday so if you are yet to consider the school values that are important to you as a family and would like to have your say, then please do submit your thoughts via the form below.
Have a lovely weekend,
James Crowther
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School values survey
As you will know from previous editions of the newsletter, and hopefully through conversations with your child, we have been looking at the values and qualities that are important to us at HGS.
Having received feedback from staff and students, I would now like to hear the views of families.
It would be much appreciated if you could take some time to consider the following values:
Ambition
Community
Compassion
Creativity
Equality
Honesty
Inclusivity
Independence
Kindness
Leadership
Perseverance
Positivity
Resilience
Respect
Supportiveness
Teamwork
Please identify the FIVE you feel are most important to you as a family and submit your choices via this form: https://forms.gle/2kBz1KeagdvzbKns8
Thanks in advance,
James Crowther
Tell us the five values that mean the most to you
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Remember to purchase tickets for
the student Christmas lunch!
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Rosa Rowathon!
For two weeks, as part of Charity Fortnight, the Rosa House Rowathon was underway, with the challenge of collectively rowing as far as possible in aid of the Malaria Consortium.
Students in every year group took part, as well as Mrs Symeou and Mr Mason! Rosa have shown fantastic team spirit and support for one another.
In total, they have rowed 36,954 metres and raised more than £1000 for charity.
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HGS team wins Rotary Design Competition
The Design & Technology Department took three student teams from KS3, KS4 and KS5 to this year's Rotary Design Competition held at The Priory School.
The task was to design something that could fire a projectile three metres into the air, which would then separate and fall to the ground using a parachute.
All students were a credit to the school and displayed exceptional engineering and design skills. The Year 12 Advanced team came first out of six competing schools and against some tough opposition! They also impressed all the judges with their teamwork and design portfolio.
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Wellbeing first
This week we welcomed Jane Sparkes, instructor at the Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living, to introduce our Year 11 and Year 13 students to Qigong, the health and wellbeing version of the martial art Tai Chi. We hope it was a good start to the day for everyone!
And over the past three weeks, each Year 13 form has had a meditation session during form time, including tips on how to build meditation and breathing techniques as a method to de-stress. The feedback from students has been really positive and we will be continuing with weekly sessions. Our thanks to yoga teacher Alex Ritchie for coming in and sharing her techniques with us.
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Library news
Don't miss the Scholastic Book Sale taking place in the Library every lunchtime from 5th to 9th December. There will be a selection of the newest titles and most popular reads for sale, as well as a range of stationery.
Find the latest TikTok trends or discover the books that inspired your favourite Netflix show. It's the perfect place to do some Christmas shopping or treat yourself, with some books at specially discounted prices. Please note that payment will be cash only.
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NOTICEBOARD - HOLIDAY PROVISION / LOCAL EVENTS
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NOTICEBOARD - EDUCATION / CAREERS
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Amazing Apprenticeships have put together a really useful downloadable PDF with a comprehensive list of Higher and Degree level apprenticeships or a 2023 start.
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Applications are now open at MBDA Missile Systems for their work experience weeks taking place next year for Y11 – Y13 students.
The roles are in General Engineering and Software Engineering. Both will allow students to explore MBDA and understand what it takes to work as an engineer at the company.
The provisional weeks are:
- General Engineering - choice of w/c 3 April, w/c 26 June, w/c 3 July, w/c 10 July, w/c 31 July, w/c 7 August
- Software Engineering - choice of w/c 3 April, w/c 10 April, w/c 26 June, w/c 3 July, w/c 10 July, w/c 31 July, w/c 7 August
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About Skills Gap
Skills Gap is a career accelerator that runs insightful workshops for young people aged 15-19 – because it’s never too soon to think about building your skills for a competitive edge in your future studies and career.
We're offering a range of intensive workshops this autumn, all designed specifically for 15-19 year olds and delivered to small groups by experienced industry experts:
Robotics in Space
Saturday 3 December
From exploring the surface of Mars to sizing up metallic asteroids, the race is on to unlock the mysteries of the universe and answer our planet’s biggest challenges. Taught online by robotics experts, this workshop gives a fascinating insight into today’s space industry. Take part in a hands-on exercise to design an autonomous robotic lander to explore Europa and get career tips and advice to get ahead.
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NOTICEBOARD - WELLBEING / SEND / SUPPORT
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