Dear Parents
It has been a busy week with exams, but the young people have settled in to them well and we are very proud of the efforts they are making. There have been numerous trips and fixtures again this week and we have welcomed Richard Pomfrett from Digital Empowerment to talk to Year 7.
Activities Day has been launched to Year 7 and 8 to enable us to finalise plans for the end of term and plans are being made for an exciting sports based fundraising week next term – details to follow!
Please can I remind you to be considerate of our neighbours when dropping off and picking up at the beginning and end of the school day. The drop-off zone should allow for young people to be safely delivered and collected without the need to use local limited access roads such as Old Hardenhuish Lane.
Have a restful weekend.
Lisa Percy
Headteacher
News Items
Focus On……SEN
At Hardenhuish, meeting the needs of every child is central to what we do across the school. This is the same for everyone whenever they may need additional help and support. Some pupils may have an identified / diagnosed SEN and some may not. If you need any help or advice then the best starting point is to see what we have on the website already and take a look at our SEN Information report and the SEN policy. One of the House staff pupils see less of these days is our lovely school dog Rupert who reached the grand age of 12 this year and is now semi-retired. He is generally in school on a Tuesday morning and all day Thursday but is not so keen on stairs these days! If you check out the link below you will see how the provision for pupils with SEN is organised across the school.
SEN & Learning Support – Hardenhuish School
Tickets are now on sale for our next Fundraising event – Summer Wine Festival
Tickets now on sale £30 per person- booking essential and closes 8am Tuesday 28th May to allow us to prep for the event. The price includes sampling 6 different wines and a shared cheese board per table. If you are a parent at the school you can find the tickets in Arbor in the school shop. If you are not a parent at Hardenhuish then you are more than welcome to join us for the evening and tickets can be bought from the reception in the main house at Hardenhuish, Mon- Fri between the hours of 9-4pm, this can be cash or card.
First Tech Robotics challenge
This term Hardenhuish took nine dedicated students from year nine to Aston University in Birmingham to compete for the first time in the First Tech Robotics challenge. Schools that take part in the challenge are given a box of parts from which students must build a robot to fulfil certain tasks. Tuesday after school our team worked cohesively to build a robot capable of picking up and carrying objects across the floor before dropping them off at the in a designated space. This was certainly easier said than done. To accomplish this, students had to do everything from coding two PS4 controllers, assembling a drive train, and creating a claw that could pick up and drop items. In addition, the project also required the team to produce a presentation and create a portfolio. All of this was going to be judged on competition day.
The competition started early Wednesday morning which meant departing Hardenhuish at 05:30! The start of the day was spent frantically adding finishing touches to the robot before being called up for inspection by the judges. Once the robot had passed inspection and the students had delivered their presentation it was game time. Our drivers did an excellent job manoeuvring the robot around the arena to collect as many points as possible, additional bonus points were frequently awarded to the team due to some clever programming which allowed the robot to take part in the autonomous challenge. All in all, it was a brilliant end to a challenging project and I am exceedingly proud of all of them.
School Transport Applications 2024 /25
Wiltshire Council arrange free or assisted transport for eligible school children who live in Wiltshire. You will need to apply for transport for your child at the start of their schooling, when they change school of where there is a change of address, with the exception of post 16 transport where a new application needs to submitted annually.
Please find linked below the relevant application forms, which contain further information regarding the application process:
Under 16 Transport Application 2024 25
Post 16 Transport Application 2024 24
Blake Hill Farm visit
On Monday of this week year 9 students enjoyed a trip to Blake Hill Farm, thanks, in part, to funding from the Hardenhuish Educational Trust. This was hosted by The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Blakehill Farm was once an airfield during the second world war. It is now the UK’s largest grassland restoration project and one of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s largest reserves. While there, the students were able to witness the birth of a calf and then watch the mother encouraging her calf to start walking. During the trip the students took part in a nature hunt and had the chance to discover what is involved in keeping livestock and why the cattle are so important for the Trust’s restoration project. They also enjoyed the opportunity to explore the surrounding meadows and plant, insect and bird life, met the farm workers and learnt about conservation work and routes into agricultural work. The students particularly enjoyed the chance to help feed the in calf cows. This was a wonderful day for all, in which the sun shone too. A big thanks to our hosts and the Trust for funding the trip.
