Y7 - 11 Weekly Newsletter | Autumn Term, Week 12 | Date: 2 Dec 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: BLACK BEAN NOODLES (v), VEGETABLE CURRY (v)(gf), CHEESE QUICHE (v), JAM SPONGE
Tuesday: MINCED BEEF & ONION PIE, LEEK & MUSHROOM PASTA (v), VEGETABLE & BEAN BURGER IN A BUN (v), DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP SPONGE
Wednesday: CHICKEN HOTPOT (gf), CURRIED CAULIFLOWER & BROCCOLI CHEESE (v), CHEESE & ONION PASTIES (v), APPLE CRUMBLE (free from eggs, milk)
Thursday: SAUSAGE HOTPOT (gf), PASTA BAKE (v), CHEESE QUICHE (v), ICED SPONGE
Friday: PASTA BOLOGNAISE, QUORN HOTPOT (v), FISHCAKES, CHOCOLATE KRISPIE (free from eggs)
(v) = Vegetarian (gf) = Gluten Free
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SCHOOL NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Message from the Headteacher
Good afternoon.
It has been another exciting week, which began with last year's Year 11s collecting their GCSE certificates at our celebration event. It was great for staff to catch up with returning students and hear how they have been getting on with their new ventures, and for the students to reconnect with their peers in school.
Lunchtimes this week have seen the inter-school Rainbow Laces football matches taking place between ourselves and HBS - staff and students have returned with wonderful accounts of the games, and I look forward to seeing more activities involving the two schools in the future. As you will see from the content below, there has been much else for students to get involved with this week as well.
Finally, thanks again for all the contributions to the values project that we have undertaken. I will be collating the responses with our working group to bring this all together; I look forward to sharing the developments with you in the future.
James Crowther
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Remember to purchase tickets for
the student Christmas lunch!
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Free School Meals - supermarket vouchers
for the Christmas period
Hertfordshire County Council are providing supermarket vouchers for every child who is entitled to benefits-related Free School Meals for the Christmas holiday period.
Each entitled child will receive a digital supermarket voucher to the value of £50. These will be delivered to families via email from 5 December.
Please remember to check your junk folder - emails will be from noreply@edenred.co.uk.
The email will also state the expiry date of the redemption e-code so families must redeem (i.e. choose a supermarket) before this date. If the redemption e-code expires, the school will not be able to reissue the voucher.
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Christmas Food Drive is next Friday
Please see below for items that are particularly needed at the local Food Bank at the moment. Please bring any donations to school on Friday 9 December and place them in the crates in the foyers of the Main School, Lower Block or Woodside Building. Thank you for any support you can give.
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Please tell us your sporting successes!
If you participate in any sport at County level or above please share any successes from this term with us. The PE Department would love to include them in their Sports Report for the HGS community.
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Rainbow Laces
We've had a fantastic week of mixed-team football matches with students from Hitchin Boys' School across the year groups, to champion equality and diversity within sport and beyond.
We are thankful to Tottenham Hotspur FC for donating some cool prizes!
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Regional trampolining competition:
HGS bouncing to the next round!
We saw brilliant performances and great successes at the East Region trampolining competition on Sunday!
Both Inter teams won their respective team competitions. Individually Eve was 1st and Chloe 3rd in the Years 10-14 level, while Freya was 2nd and Izzy 4th in the Years 7-9 level. Lily and Mirelle were both 6th in their respective age groups.
Eve, Chloe, Freya and Izzy have all now qualified individually for the Zonal round in January, as have both of the teams.
Our Novice gymnasts, who have had much less experience, also performed exceptionally well!
Rowan, Isobel, Megan and Lyla finished 2nd in the Years 7-8 team event. Rowan was 3rd individually and Isobel 4th. All have qualified for the Zonal round.
Our Year 7 and Year 10 Novice teams both finished a very creditable 5th in their respective competitions.
Well done everyone, and our thanks go to HBS Revolutions for their continued coaching and support.
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GCSE certificates - celebration event
It was great to see many of last year's Year 11s get together this week, to collect their GCSE certificates, and have a bite to eat and catch-up at the same time.
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Engaging with local politics
The Leader of North Herts District Council, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, and fellow district councillor Daniel Allen came to talk to our student Prefects about local democracy, encouraging an interesting discussion about what makes a good leader. It was a valuable opportunity for our students to engage directly with sitting councillors.
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Library news
Scholastic Book Sale 5 - 9 December
Don't miss the Scholastic Book Sale taking place in the Library at lunchtime on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday next week.
Visit the book sale, have a look at the books and pick up a wish list. If you see a book you would like, write it on the wish list. Then take it home to ask your parent or guardian to pay online using the link bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/pay.
When you've paid, jot down the reference number and book details at the bottom of the wish list. Then bring it back to the Library the next day to order your book.
You will be able to collect your books from the Library by the end of term. Any questions, please contact Mrs Goose.
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The tree is up!
Thank you to our Head Girl and Deputy Head Girls for continuing the annual tradition of decorating the HGS Christmas tree, this year in lovely gold, silver and white.
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Vote for the HGS tree next weekend!
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NOTICEBOARD - LOCAL PROVISION / EVENTS
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NOTICEBOARD - EDUCATION / CAREERS
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Virtual careers conference - the space sector
The National Space Academy will be hosting online careers conferences for students and parents/guardians, thanks to the UK Space Agency. These conferences will allow attendees to find out about some of the most exciting job opportunities within an ever-growing industry.
Jobs within the sector range from working with satellites to help predict the weather, to designing and building rockets and becoming a space lawyer.
The UK space industry has an annual turnover of £16.4 billion and employs more than 45,000 people. It continues to grow year on year. The UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy has a target of achieving 10% of the global space market, which is estimated to be £400 billion by 2030.
These interactive online conferences will explore the range of careers available before delving further into the career choices of three speakers. They will talk about how their journey brought them to where they are today and what it is they do daily. This will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A session with the speakers.
Saturday 3 December
Years 10 and 11 students
10.30 - 12.30
Book here
Saturday 3 December
Years 12 and 13 students
14.00 - 16.00
Book here
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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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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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