February 2019

Dear Parents/Carers,

Already we have reached the half-way mark of the current academic year! How time marches on; another set of mock exams are planned for the first week back after half term for our hard-working year 11 students; our year 9s are in the process of choosing their options and our year 7s are well and truly settled into life at Hyde and have already made good academic progress.

It would seem our newsletters are getting longer with even more exciting opportunities and achievements to be celebrated with our students. As ever I am so proud of them and look forward to what the rest of 2019 holds for team Hyde!

I have two important updates to share with you regarding mobile phones and chewing gum….

Mobile phones in school

Many parents/carers will be aware of recent news articles relating to the Minister of State for Schools, Nick Gibb, calling for more schools to exercise their right to ban phones from being brought onto school premises (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47095053). The reasons given for this are many and include online bullying, filming of pupils or staff and the constant distraction caused by the desire to check texts or social media. The vast majority of pupils at Hyde respect our rule that mobiles must be switched off and kept in bags for the duration of the school day, however a small number do cause disruption to learning by choosing to break this rule and use their phone inappropriately.

Having considered the Minister’s report it is also important to consider the opinion of many parents/carers who feel that having a mobile phone with them makes their child safer on the way to and from school. Taking this into account, I do not intend to impose a ban on mobile phones at this time however I would ask for parents/carers to support us by encouraging your child to keep the focus of time in school on the core business of learning and not on what is on their phone. I would like to clarify our rules and consequences relating to mobile phones to avoid any confusion.

Mobile phones must be switched off and kept in a bag (not a pocket) for the full duration of the school day including break and lunchtime.

Any phone seen in school will be confiscated and a parent/carer may need to come in after school to collect it.

If a pupil refuses to hand over their phone immediately and without argument, a parent/carer will need to come into school for a meeting.

Pupils needing to contact parents during the day can do so via Student Services.

Parents needing to communicate urgent messages to their child can do so by calling Reception.

Chewing gum

Just a reminder that chewing gum is banned in school – I’m sure that anyone who has ever had any stuck on their shoe/clothing will understand why. After the half term break, any pupil caught chewing or in possession of chewing gum will be kept after school to carry out community service which may include litter picking or carrying out a task which makes a positive contribution to our school.

On a separate note, I would also like to advise you that our school is part of a new initiative called

‘Operation Encompass’ which will improve the safeguarding of children exposed to domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school's trained Key Adult (Designated Safeguarding Lead) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident, thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child's day better and giving them a better tomorrow.

Operation Encompass directly connects the police with schools to secure better outcomes for children who are subject or witness to police-attended incidents of domestic abuse. Rapid provision of support within the school environment means children are better safeguarded against the short, medium and long-term effects of domestic abuse. It provides an efficient, confidential channel of communication between police forces and Key Adults within schools. This enables the immediate and discrete recognition of the child's situation by the Key Adult, ensuring a secure and sympathetic environment is provided and the broader effects of abuse are addressed.

You can find out more about Operation Encompass here: http://www.operationencompass.org/ and in the meantime, if you would like to speak to someone further about this initiative, or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are committed to working in partnership with local relevant organisations to safeguard, protect and to provide the best possible care and support for our pupils.

Please also be reminded that the last day for students this term is Thursday 14th February as it is a teacher training day on Friday and that school reopens at 8:50am on Monday 25th February. Thank you for your ongoing support. Yours sincerely,

Andrea Radcliffe Headteacher

Read on to see what our amazing pupils have been up to this term…

Year 9 Parents’ Evening is on Thursday 7th March 2019 between 3:45pm and 6:30pm.

The booking system is now open – please visit https://hyde.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/ to book your place!

CERN TRIP Year 11 triple science students had a fantastic trip to see the large hadron collider at CERN, Switzerland in December. They spent 3 days in the beautiful city of Geneva, visiting the old town and the Christmas markets and sampling Swiss fondue accompanied by traditional Swiss music. The highlight of the trip was the behind the scenes tour of the most important nuclear research facility in the world and having the opportunity to ask the scientists involved in the finding of the Higgs boson about their work. A great time was had by all and the students were fantastic ambassadors for the school. Dr Allott

Twelve of our year 9 students are participating in

the Scholars’ Programme for Science (Brilliant Club), which means they are taking part in university-style tutorials. They went to the

launch in January held at Leeds University and were a credit to the school! Miss Nichols

Year 9 Options trip to Salford University Some year 9 students went to Salford University to consider the decisions that they will make throughout their education and to

encourage them to reflect on how their GCSE choices could impact their future. They were fantastic!

Miss Nichols

Year 9 Industry Day Year 9 took part in Industry Day, where they interviewed

employers in small groups to learn more about: qualifications; skills needed; hours of work and different job roles around the

world of work to help with option choices. Miss Amdurer

Emmeline Pankhurst Trip

Ten year 8 girls took part in the ‘Vote 100’

event in December to celebrate the centenary of women getting the vote.

The girls visited the newly unveiled Emmeline Pankhurst statue as well as taking part in a debate at Manchester

Town Hall. The girls really did Hyde proud when they wrote a poem about their vision

for the future of Greater Manchester. They then worked with other schools to

create a social media campaign about their vision.

Mrs Lang

Sports News! The PE Department have been so proud of all the students who have come to extra practices and represented the school over the last few weeks! You have done us proud and most importantly have shown real team spirit.

Table Tennis Tameside schools under-13 and under-15 table tennis competitions were held at Hyde. Whilst our teams didn't medal, the under-13 team came 5th and the under-15 team came 4th. Well done guys! Basketball The under-13 and under-15 boys’ basketball teams travelled to Alder High School to compete in the Tameside Basketball competitions. The under-13 team reached the final but lost 8-0 against a very strong Alder team, but it was an excellent achievement to get the silver medal. The under-15 boys team reached the 3rd/4th place play-off match but lost to Droylsden, so just missed out on a medal. Congratulations boys: amazing playing! Volleyball Next half term we are again the hosts to the volleyball competitions, which is a timely reminder that the under-13 boys’ team are last year’s Greater Manchester champions and so they enter this year’s competition as holders! Off the blocks Well done to all the girls who have participated in the ‘Off The Blocks’ competitions this half term!

Year 9 Boys Bronze! Well done to the Year 9 boys who won bronze at the Tameside Indoor Athletics Competition: Max Y Harry D Oliver H Aqib U Ben C Abu H Jack H Layton W-D Charlie B Daniel L

Year 8 Boys Gold! Congratulations to the Year 8 boys’ team who have won the Tameside Schools Indoor Athletics Championships hosted here at Hyde! Joel O Shaan A Joe S Aiden J Max P Troy F Dominic H Mahir K Jordan W Lewis S Ben C Stanley P Mahi K Jamie M

Half Term Event at Tameside College We have 11 students signed up to the Tameside Hack 6, which is a coding event for people aged 11-18 from Tameside. It is run across two days over half term; students have to hack a solution to a digital challenge to be in with a chance of winning prizes such as Amazon vouchers and a drone. There’s still time to sign up………. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tamesidehack6-registration-52860515224

Battle of the Bands! The Music Department was very fantastically represented at Tameside Music Service's ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition which was held on 23rd January at the Pop Cafe. Our rock band New Revolution, Hyde Rock Band and duo Max and Kaetlyn all performed to a really high standard and were complimented on their performances by the judges. The competition was tough and it came down to a choice between two bands for the winning place, in the

end New Revolution were pipped to 2nd place but should be immensely proud of their achievements – we are!

Congratulations to Joe (Year 7) who has recently passed his Grade 3 Piano exam! We look forward to seeing Joe's talents continue to flourish over the next few years! Mrs Poole

Megan H (y10) has attended a training session recently with Olympian Beth Tweddle doing floor, bars, beam work and a dance performance. Megan, who already competes at a level 6 has been inspired to train even harder!

Well done Megan!

PLEASE REMEMBER TO RETURN ANY OUTSTANDING LIBRARY BOOKS – THANK YOU!

Dates for your diary

Friday 15th February School closed to pupils – INSET Day

Mon 18th Feb – Fri 22nd Feb Half term holiday

Mon 25th Feb – Fri 1st Mar Year 11 Mocks 2

Thursday 28th February Year 9 Options Evening

Thursday 7th March Year 9 Parents’ Evening

Mon 8th Apr – Mon 22nd Apr Easter holiday

Thursday 2nd May Year 8 Parents’ Evening

Monday 6th May Bank Holiday

Mon 27th May – Fri 31st May Half term holiday

Thursday 13th June Year 7 Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 19th June Parent Voice – 4.00pm

Mon 17th – Tues 25th June Year 10 Mocks

Friday 19th July Term ends

TRIPS PLANNED THIS ACADEMIC YEAR Weds 27th February 19

Year 9 Gateways trip to the University of Manchester

Mon 11th March 19

Year 10 trip to the Manchester University for talented students

Weds 3rd April 19 Year 11 trip to the Lowry.

5th April - 13th April 19 Ski Trip – all years

10th – 11th July 2019 Music London Trip

16th – 19th July 2019 Ypres Trip – all years

Year 11 Mocks Year 11 mocks take place from Monday 25th

February – Friday 1st March 2019. Students should be revising hard at home over half term using

resources available, such as GCSE Pod and past papers issued by teachers. Thank you, Mr

Houghton Further information is on our website; https://www.hydecommunitycollege.org.uk/examinations/year-11-mocks/

Your child has access to a service called ‘GCSE Pod’ which provides hundreds of professionally produced mini-lessons in the form of short videos called ‘pods’.

They contain all your child needs for GCSE success. Mrs Mallon

The bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award is

underway…..there still may be places available. Contact

Mr Leadbeater if you are interested.

It’s for anyone aged 14 – 24 wanting a fun adventure and

a major challenge where you can gain new skills and push

boundaries.

Year 11 Art Students

We have 45 Artists in Year 11 working

hard, preparing ideas for their exam. In

the 10 hour exam students create a final

artwork based on all the development

work completed between January and

March on their chosen exam question.

There are some stunning ideas emerging

so far from our creative and talented

students! Mrs Wrigley and Mr Petrucci

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter

Year 7 Performance On Friday 8th February some

children from Year 7 entertained staff and parents

with a performance of ‘Perseus and the

Gorgon’. Well done Year 7- you have made us all very

proud! Mrs Tong

Whole school attendance is currently 95.2%

Well done to all those students who have battled on through

coughs and colds and the recent bad weather!!

301 students managed to attend school every single day in the Autumn term. What a fantastic achievement!!

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that school does not authorise any holidays in term time. School holiday dates can be found on our website and are published well in advance – next year’s dates

are already available.

If you feel there are exceptional circumstances for taking your child out of school you should contact our Senior Attendance Officer, Mrs Lever to discuss this further.

Tameside Local Authority issue fines for unauthorised leave of absence in term time.

So far this year, they have issued 42 penalty notices on behalf of Hyde CC.

Our school attendance target is 100% and we expect all students to have at least 96% attendance where possible.

687 students had at least 96% attendance for the Autumn term.

Thank you for your continued support.

School begins at 8:50am and the building is open to students from 8:30am.

A number of students are regularly arriving late to school. Students who arrive late are expected to attend detention at break time the same day. Where students continue to arrive late to school, parents will be asked

to attend a meeting in school to support them in ensuring that their child gets to school by 8:50am.

Please support your child in getting to school on time.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, BUT NEVER LATE IS BETTER!

Massive congratulations to Megan B

for playing a big role in helping a

Tameside band win the competition

against all the other local Music

Services at Greater Manchester

Battle of the Bands! Mr Anthony.