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NEWSLINES

Thomas Hardye in the top 5% - again!

The league tables for GCSE and A Level results were published at the beginning of 2009.

It is always interesting to compare our results with those of other schools in Dorset. The School’s 86% 5A*-C was 5% above any other school and our 5A*-C including English and Mathematics (the key indicator of performance) 10% - a wonderful achievement for the year group and in the top 5% in the country.

Those who are unfamiliar with the School often claim we must achieve these results because in some way we ‘select’ our students. This is, of course, rubbish and is demonstrated by our Contextual Value Added (CVA) score of 1020. This is a measure of progress for all students from Key Stage 2 and 4. Once again our score was the highest in the county and in the top 5% in the country. Our CVA score for students in Education Extra was 1040 – wonderful!

At A Level our Average Points Score per Student was 857.2, an exceptional result bearing in mind the size and complexity of our Sixth Form. Easily the highest in Dorset it was especially gratifying to achieve a result that was better than many schools who charge for the privilege of educating young people.

Congratulations to all the students and their teachers for producing exceptional results yet again.

SNOWSNOW If the School is closed because of snow, it will

be announced on local radio stations (Wessex FM, 2CR & Radio Solent) - if there is no an-nouncement, we are open. If possible (and safe) we would ask you to send your children to School. If the School is to be closed during the day as the weather deteriorates, the Headteacher (or his representative) will make the decision and students will be allowed home in a safe and se-cure manner. All stu-dents are asked to con-tact parents by ‘phone and should remain in

School if they are unable to go home. All students are told to go straight home. Please do not telephone the School if the weather may be deteriorating—we will send students home if the situation merits it.


Newslines

Year 9 As you will realise this is a very busy and important term for Year 9. You should have received a letter home before half term, however just in case this has been lost, here are the details again.

The subject teachers are filling in the second Review for your daughter/son. This will be posted home during the week before half-term.

The first day back after half term MONDAY FEBRUARY 23RD is the YEAR 9 OPTIONS EVE-NING which is for parents/guardians only. (We do not have room to fit the students in to the Theatre as well as parents, but rest-assured that the students will have been given Assemblies on the Options system to help them to understand the process, prior to this Evening.)

Half year J – 7-7.45pm (9BL, 9CR, 9EP, 9GH, 9IM, 9JS, 9PM, 9RB, 9TA, 9TF) Half year K - 7.45-8.30pm (9AE, 9AM, 9MG, 9MJ, 9MU, 9MW, 9NG, 9SA, 9SC, 9TR)

Other dates for your diary are the PARENT CONSULTATION EVENINGS—an ideal oppor-tunity to find out how your daughter/son is progressing in their subjects and also to dis-cuss the Option choices they are considering this September.

TUESDAY MARCH 3RD – HALF YEAR ‘J’ THURSDAY MARCH 5TH – HALF YEAR ‘K’

Please contact the School should you have any questions or queries about the above dates. It is essential you attend the evenings as it is important that the students are guided properly with regard to their Option choices, even if you feel you have done this before with older siblings. There have been a number of changes during the last few years and, therefore, if we can all work to-gether to help and support the students we can be sure they have made an informed choice.

Please do not hesitate to contact either my-self, a member of the Year team or their tutor.

Mrs K Chittenden – Year 9 Co-ordinator

It has been extremely encouraging to see the increased sense of direction in the work and attitude of Year 10 students this term. It seems that many students have come to the realisation that now is the time to make changes and focus upon their GSCEs and beyond. This was best seen in the fantastic GSCE Science results that students received in January. Furthermore, from our point of view, to reward both academic and commu-nity achievements with the new ties awarded to outstanding contributors to the School this term has been a pleasure. Alongside this focus on academic achievement, work experience offered to Health and Social Care students has also given many youngsters the opportunity to sample the world of work. This has taken them out of the academic environment and given them the valuable opportunity to interact and serve the local community. Students have attended a num-ber of local schools, nurseries, residential care homes and a variety of other work-places. Each student’s attitude and effort were deemed to be “outstanding” by their respective employers. With an eye on the future, the current Year 10 students also have the opportunity to join

an expedition run by Dorset Skills Overseas that will take place in 2010. If anyone fan-cies themselves as a budding Bear Grylls or a Foglesque adventurer this could be the trip for them. The expedition has been adver-tised in a recent Assembly and represents a fantastic, once in a lifetime opportunity for adventure and self-discovery. Moreover, it could be the perfect antidote for the stress of the summer exams. With an eye on exams, students should be reminded that on 3rd March they have an important Maths exam. They must bring a calculator, ruler, protractor, black pen and pencil. Students will also have a Science exam on 4th March. Parents are reminded that there are Consul-tation Evenings on Tuesday 28 April for Half Year L and Tuesday May 5th for Half Year M. This will be a valuable opportunity to discuss your son or daughters progress with their subject teachers. On a sporting front, last terms Sport for All champions were 10 VW who won the basket-ball competition. This term’s Sport For All activity is volleyball. Wishing you a great half-term, Mr Johnson, Mr Bewley, Mr Goulding and Mrs McNulty.

Year 10


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Year 11 2009 has started on a very positive note for Year 11. Students have had the results of their Maths and Science modular examina-tions. There has been a significant improve-ment in grades—Maths are currently just over 80% and Science (double award) at 76% grade C or above. All students have received their final full Report and had an opportunity to discuss this with relevant teaching staff. If a mem-ber of staff requests your son or daughter to attend coursework sessions after school, please be supportive of this as it impacts significantly on the final examination re-sults.

A rowing challenge, fronted by the Dorset Rowing Association and linked to the 2012 Games is taking place on 11th February. Each tutor group is providing a 4-person team….the aim, to row 2,012m in the fast-est time. Some students will then be se-lected to compete against other school in Dorset. This event is also being used to raise funds for local charity. The recent snow enabled students to have an unexpected day away from school. Un-fortunately, it also resulted in the postpone-ment of the Year Half T’s Subject Consulta-tion Evening. This is now re-scheduled for Tuesday 24th February. Ms T Brook

Always wear appropriate hand and foot protection when clearing snow!


Newslines

Sixth Form

“Special

congratulations go

to the seven

students who have

gained conditional

offers at Oxford

and Cambridge.”

UNIVERSITY OFFERS Over 80% of Year 13 have applied for places in Higher Education this year. Already many have achieved offers. This includes places at some of the best universities in the country including Im-perial College, LSE, UCL, Warwick, Nottingham, Bristol and Southampton. Special congratulations go to the seven students who have gained conditional offers at Oxford and Cambridge

NATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT Students from The Thomas Hardye Sixth Form have been elected to the Parliament for the last three years. This year we have two candidates, Emily Roberts and Dean Thomas. Elections are on Thursday 5th February. RUSSIA Eighty students and eight staff leave on Thursday 12th February on the Sixth Form’s biennial trip to Russia. We are visiting Moscow and St Petersburg. The recent cold and snow should have pre-pared the party well for the experience. SUBJECT PARENTS’ CONSULTATION MEETINGS Year 13 – Wednesday 25th February – 4.30 pm to 7.00 pm Year 12 – Thursday 12th March – 4.30 pm to 7.00 pm WHAT NEXT? Year 12 students will be asked after half term to start considering their course choices for next year in Year 13. Year 12 parents and students are invited to presentations about these important decisions and higher education on Monday 2nd March. All Year 12 students are invited to the Higher Education Fair at Exeter on Thursday 19th March. Money and slips should be handed in to the Sixth Form Office.

Back L to R: Matthew Parvin, Rebecca Gilley, Hannah Orrell,

Front: Remi Oriogun-Williams and Elspeth Cumber

The seven students are Matthew Parvin (Geography: Churchill, Cambridge); Rebecca Gilley (French and Italian: Worcester, Oxford); Hannah Orrell (Medicine: Gonville and Caius, Cambridge); Remi Oriogun Williams (Philosophy: Clare, Cambridge); Elspeth Cumber (Medicine: Worcester, Oxford); Beth Burson (Geography: Churchill, Cambridge); and Jake Stacey (Mathematics: Jesus, Cambridge).


“…Harriet

Walter ...visited

the School to

work with Year

11 and 13

students...”

Newslines

On the 26th November, AS Law Students attended a Law Conference with three local magistrates who dis-cussed their training, work and their importance in the judicial system. Sir Philip Williams, Mr Adrian Downton and Mrs Mary Penfold all kindly answered any ques-tions about the magistrates’ profession and specifically ideas about reforming the system to get more younger

people involved with the local court and the commu-nity as a whole. Cases were presented and the pupils were asked to predict the verdict and sentencing of the court, some of the re-sults were surprising! The experience and knowledge of the magistrates was in-valuable for the students and the whole conference was thoroughly enjoyed by all that attended.

Ben Smith

(12LC)

A Law unto themselves ...

English News We returned for the

spring term to the wonderful news

that Miss Langstone

gave birth to a baby girl dur-ing the Christmas holidays. Weighing over 10lbs, mother and daughter are healthy and flourishing – congratula-tions! Events within the Depart-ment started the first week back when, on the 7th Janu-ary, members of Year 11 went on a theatre trip to see the Royal Shakespeare Company performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Travel-ling to Stratford upon Avon, the students were fortunate enough not only to see an RSC play but to travel to the town where Shakespeare himself lived and worked. Moreover, see-ing the text of the play in per-formance is an invaluable learning experi-ence for all as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a key literature text in the upcoming summer examinations.

On Monday 26th January, Harriet Walter, a renowned and experienced actress and associate artist with the RSC, visited the School to work with Year 11 and 13 students, focusing on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Hamlet’. The visit coincides with the RSC campaign, ‘Stand up for Shakespeare’ which was launched to en-sure that children and young people have a positive ex-perience of Shakespeare in schools. Activities included hot-seating and freeze-framing as students ex-plored themes such as the role of women in Elizabe-than England. Those also

studying Drama were inspired by Ms Walter’s performances as Juliet and Hamlet! Spring term also marks the start of mock exami-nations for Years 11 and 12. In order to practise essay

writing technique over a 2 ¼ hour period, on Monday 9th February, Year 11 will be taking a mock GCSE English

Literature exam which mim-ics the length and rigour of the actual exam. Students will be required to write three essays: one on their poetry texts, one on their prose text and one on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Year 12 students studying A Level English Literature or English Language will have a mock exam opportunity on Wednesday 11th February. These exams will test a range of skills including close analysis, essay writing and the application of criti-cal theory. We wish all stu-dents the best of luck. Year 10 are industriously preparing for the examina-tion section of their GCSE Media Studies qualifica-tions. The topics for this year are animated film and newspapers. Activities in-clude designing a treatment for their very own animated film and researching ‘media moguls’ to inform the stu-dents’ understanding of me-dia organisation. Good luck to all who will take the exam later in the year. Miss Lincoln


Newslines

PE News The Department continues to develop its extensive extra-curricular programme. This term the boys’ focus has been on basketball, football and hockey. All clubs have been well attended and many sports have included ‘B’ teams due to the high level of representa-tion. Football Boys U16 BGS County Cup Quarter 3 – 0 (won) U15 Beaminster (County Cup) 5 – 0 (won) QE (County Cup) 1 – 2 (won) U14 5 a-side ‘A’ Joint 3rd ‘B’ Joint 3rd Ringwood (County Cup Quarter) 5 – 1 (won)

Girls U16 5 a-side ‘A’ 3rd ‘B’ Pool U14 5 a-side ‘A’ Pool ‘B’ 3rd Basketball U15 Intra school THS Tournament Budmouth Friendly 29 – 32 (lost) U14 Intra Year 9 THS Tournament Budmouth Friendly ‘A’ 29 – 31 (lost) ‘B’ 32 – 36 (lost) Hockey U14 Clayesmore Friendly 0 – 0 1st XI Clayesmore Friendly 0 – 4 (lost) Congratulations to:

∗ Ali Vivian, who has been selected to represent Dorset and Wilts Rugby team at Under 18 level.

∗ Sophie Bishop has been selected to represent the South of England Rugby team at Under 18 level.

∗ Sam Powell, Connor Flood, Jamie Hopkins, Dan Floyd and Matt Fry who have all been selected as part of the Under 16 County Football squad.

∗ Nick Burgess, Benjamin Butterworth, Max Buckler, Martin Weston and Jack Pullen who are all attending Under 15 County Football trials.

Events:

∗ On Tuesday 10th February the Department is taking 45 students to see some of the stars of the future when the England Under 19 Football team take on Spain at Dean Court.

∗ On Wednesday 11th February The Thomas Hardye School is hosting the Indoor County Rowing Championships.

Mr G Hughes (Head of PE) Girls Games The girls have been focusing on Netball and football this term. Net-ball Club is taking place on Mondays for all the year groups, and foot-ball takes place on Wednesday with the community coach Matthew Miller. There will be a full match report in the next issue of Newslines. Mrs L Dean (Head of Girls PE)


Newslines

The Year 12 Duke of Edinburgh Gold group have just returned from a weekend of training on Dartmoor. They were dropped off in the dark on Friday evening and had to walk into camp carrying full rucksacks. All 18 students camped in storm force winds, rain and hail and only 4 had to abandon their tents overnight. Saturday night involved a talk on equip-ment followed by a live folk music ses-sion provided by Mr Milner and his accor-dion which accompanied extreme musical chairs! The Sunday morning involved orien-teering with only a few students getting lost. The Year 13 Gold group are currently plan-ning their practice weekend on Dartmoor which will be at the end of April. CROSS COUNTRY Well done to all the competitors at the recent County Championships in Bournemouth. The School had 9 runners involved and special mention needs to go to Verity Ockenden in Year 13 who won the senior girls event. The senior girls team also won the team event. In fact, the entire senior girls team are selected to go through to the south west of Eng-land event in Bristol next month. The next 2 friendly events are relay races at Bryanston and Canford in March. Mr Bendall

Outdoor Education

Indonesia Expedition 2009 This July a group of thirty Year 12 Biology students will be off to Indonesia with Operation Wallacea to research biodiversity and help with conservation schemes. It promises to be an awesome experience and a chance to make a real difference to the environment. The School has already sent an expedition to Honduras with the programme and we’ve heard this was fantastic.

In order to raise money for the trip we are organising an assortment of original fundraising events. On Saturday 28th February a number of us will be trekking three-legged from Dor-chester to Weymouth, so please sponsor anyone you know who’s taking part, and look out for us if you’re in town that day. Other upcoming events include a sponsored sleepless 48 hours and a fashion show scheduled for March. There will also be a good few cake sales in School (in the spine). Please support us! Kate Howard (12PJ)

Honduras 2006

“...students

camped in storm

force winds, rain

and hail and only

4 had to abandon

their tents

overnight.”


Newslines

“...carrying the

team flag in the

International

Junior Science

Olympiad in

Korea ...”

On Friday 23rd January over forty Year 9 students had an early start to make the trip down to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project as part of their Geography and Biology studies. It was hard to believe this place was a barren china clay pit ten years ago, when today it boasts the largest greenhouses in the world and prize-winning horticulture. First the stu-dents explored the Mediterranean Biome, and then attended a workshop called ‘Going to Extremes’ where groups were taken into the Rainforest Biome at 30°C and 100% humidity! After drawing and discussing how plants have adapted to such extremes of envi-ronments, there was time back in the workshop to conclude our find-ings. I would like to thank all the students and teachers who took part in the trip as I believe everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had an interesting and informative day. Miss E McCullough

Eden Project—Year 9 Trip

Science College News Congratulations to Ed Godfrey (silver award), Tom Beauchamp (bronze award) and Law-rence Whatley on their individual successes and carrying the team flag in the Interna-tional Junior Science Olympiad held in Korea in December. Thanks to Mrs Harwood and Mr Day for their help.

Information and a Request The Community Lectures are a hugely successful part of what The Thomas Hardye School does as a Science College within our community. We run a popular marquee at the Dor-chester Show, information evenings on science courses for parents and adult education classes. Dave Morgan, Science Outreach Teacher, works with local schools and also helps local cub scouts with the award of their science and astronomy badges. Judith Wardlaw, Industry Partnership Development Officer, works with schools, industry and uni-versities to organise visits, speakers and other events which benefit the students and the community. One such initiative is ‘Café Science’, where two scientists present viewpoints on a topic to provoke debate and the audience is invited to join in discussion with ques-tions and comments over refreshments. St Osmund’s, St Mary’s, Puddletown and Dorchester Middle Schools are Science Colleges in their own right. They have exciting projects in the pipeline like Industry in Action Days within school, Crime Scene Investigation with Dorset County Hospital Pathology Labora-tory and Police Forensics and Robotics Day at St. Mary’s followed by a session for parents in the evening. Each school is looking at establishing a nature reserve or garden on their premises. All schools run courses for adults like ‘Move On’, literacy and numeracy at Dor-chester Middle and ‘Headstart’ fitness at St Osmund’s.

• We would like to hear from you if you would like to get involved in science/maths/technology-based initiatives and particularly any ideas you have to enrich students’ knowledge, understanding, experience and enthusiasm in these areas.

• We would also like to receive suggestions for clubs, courses, activities or other initiatives that you would like to see in your community that we can support.

Mr Anderson thrilled and delighted a packed house with his demonstration lecture ‘Fire, Flame and Explosion’.

For those of you who were not there we have posted a film on the School website.


If you have any ‘outgrown’ School Uniform we would be very grateful if you would donate it to our Secondhand School Uniform ‘shop’ - please have a look at home. Thank you. Mrs McNulty

Newslines

“...enjoyed being

involved in the

interview

process of the

potential new

headteacher...”

Please contact: Mike Januszewski, Judith Wardlaw, Simon Beatt, Mike Hilborne or Jak Kearney [email protected] : Thomas Hardye School [email protected] : Liaison Officer, Thomas Hardye [email protected]: St Osmund’s School [email protected]: St Mary’s Puddletown [email protected]: Dorchester Middle School Events

• The next Science Café is on ‘Darwin, Religion and Reason’ in the Sixth Form Centre on 11th February at 4.00 pm.

• The next Community Lecture is on ‘Songs of the Stars’ in the Theatre on 26th February at 7.00 pm. Admission by ticket only available from the School Office.

Secondhand Uniform

Student Voice This year Student Voice has enjoyed being involved with a number of things going on in and around the School. ☺ One of our main focuses has been the improvement of the Rewards System; we

took a long time to decide what system would work best and please most people. We have just seen the first of these rewards given out and it seems to have been successful; all those who received an award seemed pleased and proud, and those who did not left the Assembly with the aim of working towards one during the next term.

☺ We also have enjoyed being involved in the interview process of the potential new headteacher; we listened to a presentation by each candidate and then gave our opinion.

☺ At the moment we are looking at the environment; something we are all very inter-ested in. We get regular updates of what is happening around the School and we are waiting for a reply from the Duchy of Cornwall regarding us having a wind tur-bine.

☺ Our next aim is to raise the profile of Student Voice, although we get approached regularly for our opinion with events and processes throughout the School, we feel that the pupils do not really know what we do! We are also looking for students to tell us what they want to happen in their School so we can look into making this happen.

We have all really enjoyed being in Student Voice and regard it as a fantastic opportunity.


Café ScientifiqueAt Dorchester Arts Centre

An informal discussion between a scientist, the public and Thomas Hardye School students-All welcome!

A Sea Change: Has A Sea Change: Has Science Failed to Science Failed to Save Our Oceans?Save Our Oceans?

Speaker: Dr Simon CrippsSpeaker: Dr Simon CrippsDorset Wildlife TrustDorset Wildlife Trust

Friday, 6 March 20097.30 – 10.00 pm debate

followed by Quiz challenge; Buffet & Bar available

More information available……Dorchester Arts Centre [email protected] 266926 or from

Judith Wardlaw01305 266064 x109 [email protected]


IMPORTANT DATES February HALF TERM BEGINS FOR STUDENTS AT 3.30 pm 13th STAFF DAY & THS musicians to Poole Light house Workshop (all day) 23rd RETURN TO SCHOOL Yr 9 Options Evening Yr 12 Reports home this wk 24th Yr 11 Consultation Evening (Subjects—Half Year T) (re-arranged because of weather conditions) 25th Yr 13 Consultation Evening (Subjects) March 2nd Yr 13 Courses Presentation to Yr 12 3rd Yr 10 Maths GCSE Module 1 Exam (pm) Yr 9 Consultation Evening Half Year J 5th Yr 9 Consultation Evening (Subjects) Half Year K 9th Yr 11 Revision Skills Eve ning, Theatre 7.00 pm 12th Yr 12 Consultation Evening (Subjects) 30th Yr 10 Reviews home this week April 3rd TERM ENDS (3.30 pm) 20th TERM BEGINS

If you would like further information on any article in this issue of Newslines, please contact the member of staff concerned.

Queen’s Avenue Dorchester Dorset DT1 2ET

Phone: 01305 266064 Fax: 01305 250510 E-mail: [email protected]

THE THOMAS HARDYE SCHOOL

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