Nova Hreod
A Specialist College in Science and Mathematics & Computing
Latest News
Dear Parent/s
The Year 7 Parents’ Evening will be held on Tuesday 2 December 2008 from 4:30pm till 9:00pm. In your son/daughter’s planner, there is a page for making appointments with staff. It is possible you will not be able to see all your child’s teachers as some teachers teach several Year 7 groups. Teachers will, however, be pleased to make contact with you at a different time should this occur. Occasionally staff may wish to make an appointment to see you and will make contact either via the planner or by telephone.
It is useful for your son/daughter to come with you to Parents Evening if at all possible. Please sign in at Reception on arrival. It is helpful if you can arrive on time to appointments and keep to your allotted time slot of 5 minutes. If you need to discuss issues further then another appointment may be needed.
Please complete the slip below and return it to the tutor by return.
We look forward to seeing you and hope that you have a beneficial evening.
Yours sincerely
Mr N Mitchell |
Mrs A Clegg |
| (Progress & Quality Leader Y7) | (Deputy Head Progress & Quality) |
___________________________________________________________________________
Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Student name: ______________________________________ Tutor Group: 7_____
Please delete as appropriate:
I will be attending the Year 7 Parents Evening on Tuesday 2 December 2008.
I am unable to attend the Year 7 Parents Evening on Tuesday 2 December 2008.
Parental signature: __________________________________ Date: _____________
Please return to your child’s tutor. Thank you.
To Parents/Carers of Year 11 Students - Posted 07/11/2008
Dear Parent/Carer
Penalties for Unauthorised Absence from School
Year 11 is a vital year for all students and it has been shown that school attendance during this year has a major impact on what is achieved in examinations, qualifications and life after school. We, therefore, need to do everything possible to reduce unnecessary absence and promote good attendance.
Three years ago, the Government introduced Penalty Notices as a way of Local Authorities to deal with some cases when students miss school for reasons which cannot be approved by the school. The issuing of a Penalty Notice gives parents the opportunity of paying a fine instead of going to court. These fines are £50 (if paid within 4 weeks), going up to £100 (if paid between
4 and 6 weeks).
This letter is to inform you that Swindon Borough Council will be issuing Penalty Notices during this year in cases of poor attendance, including taking students on holiday in term time without authorisation.
It is important that students attend school regularly and, if they are unable to do so, that the school is fully aware of the circumstances. However, please remember that schools are very limited in the type of absences that they can accept as authorised and are required to inform the Local Authority of all unauthorised absence.
Yours sincerely
Mrs J Tridgell
Head Teacher
Dear Parent/Guardian/Carers - Posted 06/11/2008
Re : Personal Data
I am required to inform you about the personal data of our students that we hold as a college.
As a college we process personal data about its pupils and is a “data controller” in respect of this for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. It processes this data to:
support its pupils’ teaching and learning;
monitor and report on their progress;
provide appropriate pastoral care, and
assess how well the school as a whole is doing.
This data includes contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information, characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information.
This data may only be used or passed on for specific purposes allowed by law. From time to time the school is required to pass on some of this data to local authorities, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and to agencies that are prescribed by law, such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), Ofsted, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the Department of Health (DH), Primary Care Trusts (PCT), ContactPoint (mentioned above and organisations that require access to data in the Learner Registration System as part of the MIAP (Managing Information Across Partners) programme and Connexions (see below) . All these are data controllers in respect of the data they receive, and are subject to the same legal constraints in how they deal with the data.
The governing body of a maintained school in England is also required by law to supply basic information to ContactPoint. This only includes the name and address of the child, contact details for their parents or carers (with parental responsibility) and the contact details of the school.
Pupils, as data subjects, have certain rights under the Data Protection Act, including a general right to be given access to personal data held about them by any data controller. The presumption is that by the age of 12 a child has sufficient maturity to understand their rights and to make an access request themselves if they wish. A parent would normally be expected to make a request on a child’s behalf if the child is younger.
If you wish to access your personal data, or that of your child, then please contact the relevant organisation in writing. Details of these organisations can be found on the following website www.novahreod.com and/or www.swindon.gov.uk under Council & Democracy, Data Protection) or for those pupils/parents where this is not practical, a hard copy can be obtained from the school our Office Supervisor, Sarah Hollick.
For pupils of 13 years and over, the school is legally required to pass on certain information to Connexions services providers on request. Connexions is the government's support service for all young people aged 13 to 19 in England. This information includes the name and address of the pupil and parent, and any further information relevant to the Connexions services’ role. However parents, or the pupils themselves if aged 16 or over, can ask that no information beyond name and address (for pupil and parent) be passed on to Connexions. If as a parent, or as apupil aged 16 or over, you wish to opt-out and do not want Connexions to receive from the school information beyond name and address, then please contact the school.
Your attention is drawn to (Layer 2) of this Fair Processing Notice, which gives supplementary information about the processing of pupil data by the organisations mentioned above, and gives greater details of how the pupil data is processed and the rights of parents and pupils. This can be viewed here!
If you have any queries regarding this letter and the attached notice or the practice of the college in using personal data, myself or my staff will be happy to try to answer these. Initial contact should be made with our Office Supervisor, Sarah Hollick.
Yours faithfully
Julie Tridgell
Head Teacher
Parents Letter - Posted 24/10/2008
Dear Parents
My first term of the new academic year has been a very exciting and enjoyable experience – particularly as I am getting to meet so many hardworking and delightful young people. We have seen a significant improvement in all aspects of student learning and we, as a staff, are working to ensure we provide the best possible learning environment for your child. We have also seen considerable improvements with regards to punctuality and in student uniform. I am deeply appreciative of the support you as parents provide for the College and our work with your sons/daughters.
Access Road Improvements
You maybe aware that we are having considerable work done on improving the safety aspects of our access road. This is scheduled to be completed by SBC by the end of the October holiday. This will mean that we will be able to separate from each other the three different types of road user – pedestrians, cars and our cyclists. However these changes, which were desperately needed, will have a further impact by slowing down access and egress of cars to the school site at the start and end of the school day. We will of course be briefing our students on the new arrangements at the start of the new term.
As a result of these new arrangements the following changes are being made to car access at the start and the end of the school day following the Risk Assessment undertaken by the College on road safety and site security:
The security gates will now be closing at 8.30 so no cars will be routinely allowed up to the school after that time.
The Staff car park is not available for use for parents dropping off and collecting at the start and end of school.
I would be grateful if you could restrict bringing your cars on to the school site as much as possible at the start and end of the school day.
Please ensure that you do not restrict access for emergency vehicles by double parking
I do appreciate that these new measures will cause some inconvenience to car drivers, however, we are putting these measures in place to minimise risk of accidents and make our school site as safe as is practically possible. We will be reviewing with SBC the impact of the new road layout in December 08 and will advise you if any further alterations or changes are planned to enhance road safety at Nova Hreod.
Term 2 begins on Wednesday 5 th with our normal start time of 8.30am and I hope you have an enjoyable autumn break.
Yours faithfully
Julie Tridgell
Head Teacher
PARENT GOVERNORS - Posted 16/10/2008
Dear Parent or Guardian
ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNORS
The Instrument of Government provides that there shall be elected Parent Governors on the Governing Body of Nova Hreod.
Parent Governors are elected by and from the parents of registered pupils at the school, for a four yearterm.........Read More!
To parents of Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 Students - Posted 24/09/2008
Dear Parent
Homework Timetable 2008-9
Please find attached to this letter the Homework Timetable for your child’s year. In order to follow the timetable, you will need to know your child’s tutor group (8C1, 10S2, etc).
I hope that this will help you to offer support and encouragement in completing this important aspect of learning. The use of ICT and the Internet is encouraged in homework tasks, and facilities can be made available in school to students who do not have this facility at home.
Please be aware that there may be occasional variations to the exact day in which homework is set, depending on the topic studied.
If you have any queries or concerns, please contact the relevant Learning Leader or your child’s tutor, preferably by a note in the planner in the first instance.
Yours faithfully
Mrs J Tridgell
Head Teacher
To parents of Year 7 Students - Posted 24/09/2008
Dear Parent
Homework Timetable 2008-9
As promised at the Year 7 Parents’ Evening on 16 September 2008, please find attached to this letter the Homework Timetable for your child’s year. In order to follow the timetable, you will need to know your child’s tutor group (7S1, 7C2, etc).
I hope that this will help you to offer support and encouragement in completing this important aspect of learning. The use of ICT and the Internet is encouraged in homework tasks, and facilities can be made available in school to students who do not have this facility at home.
Please be aware that there may be occasional variations to the exact day in which homework is set, depending on the topic studied.
If you have any queries or concerns, please contact the relevant Learning Leader or your child’s tutor, preferably by a note in the planner in the first instance.
Yours faithfully
Mrs J Tridgell
Head Teacher
Parent Letter - Posted 25/09/2008
22 September 2008
Dear Parents and Carers
I am extremely honoured to have been appointed as the new Headteacher at Nova Hreod on Mr Fleet’s retirement. I have joined the school with a significant amount of experience as prior to my appointment to Nova Hreod I was a Headteacher at an Oxfordshire School for four years. I have been teaching since 1983 and taught a number of subjects including RE, Science and Food Technology. I live locally with my husband and we have three children; our eldest son is 23 and we have twins aged 22. As a parent I understand how important it is for you as parents and carers to have a positive relationship with your child’s school and I am committed to building further on the good work Nova Hreod has already begun in this respect. I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that my new post offers.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the College on its excellent GSCE and Key Stage 3 results achieved in the summer term. This was a significant 9% increase on our 5A*- C GCSE pass rate and this achievement reflects the hard work of our students and the staff at Nova Hreod.
I believe that our school should be a place where high standards of achievement and behaviour are evident, where our young people are challenged and encouraged to make the most of all the exciting opportunities on offer for them. As Headteacher I am committed to ensure that at Nova Hreod we have a relentless focus on raising achievement, the development of our students as lifelong learners and as responsible and caring young people.
We have had a very positive start to the term and I am grateful for your support as parents in working closely with us as a school. However I have outlined below our school uniform and I would ask for your support in ensuring that your sons/daughters come to school in the appropriate uniform.
Uniform
Our uniform is as follows:
Plain black school trousers or skirt
Plain white polo shirt with no logos
Nova Hreod round necked sweatshirt
Flat plain all black shoes. (These should not have any logos, patterns or stripes or be of a canvas material).
Extremes of fashion in clothing or hairstyle are not permitted. Hair should not have obvious highlights or tram lines.
Jewellery is not to be worn with the exception of a watch and a small, plain pair of stud earrings for those with pierced ears.
Hooded jumpers and cardigans should never be worn during the college day and it would be preferable for students to have a coat to wear at lunch times and for travelling to and from college.
Mobile phones should never be seen during lesson times and should remain switched off with the exception of lunch or break. Should parents need to contact their child during the day, please ring Student Services (549117) who will ensure the message is delivered.
Timings of the College Day
In addition to our uniform expectations we do need to have all our students in school in time for the start of the school day which is 8.30 am. Whilst I appreciate for some parents this presents a significant challenge due to traffic, a punctual start to school cannot be optional – as lateness to school means that students don’t have the best start to the school day. Lateness is also monitored by the College and the Local Authority.
Monday to Thursday the college day ends at 3.10 p.m. Friday there is an earlier finish of 2.50 p.m.
Access Road
I am sure you will be pleased to hear that we are very close to a resolution with Swindon Borough Council over the redesigning of the access road. The new plans will ensure that cars, pedestrians and cyclists are all kept separate and safe. We will be briefing parents and students prior to the works being carried out on the new arrangements. I would appreciate that wherever possible parents do not bring their cars up to the school at the start and end of the school day. This will assist us in making sure that until the road works are completed that the access to and from the school is as safe as we can make it for our young people.
New Parent Governors
There are three vacancies for Parent Governors at Nova Hreod. Any parents, carers or foster parents who would like to be appointed to this role, could you please contact the college for an application form or alternatively visit out website and apply on-line.
Meeting with Parents
I have enjoyed meeting many parents since starting at Nova Hreod at our Year 7 and Year 9 Parents Information evenings and of course our Year 11 students at their evening in July.
I would therefore like to invite Year 10 parents to come into meet me on Tuesday 30 th September at 6.30 p.m. in the Theatre and Year 8 Parents on Monday 13 th October at 6.30 p.m which will also be held in the Theatre.
I look forward to meeting you over the coming months.
Yours sincerely
Julie Tridgell
Head Teacher
Parent Letter - Posted 10/09/2008
Dear Parent
NEW PARENTS’ INFORMATION EVENING – 16 SEPTEMBER 2008
Welcome to Nova Hreod. I hope your child has enjoyed their first week with us and that they have begun to feel at home. I am very impressed by the way this year group has organised themselves and quickly settled down to learning.
I would like to invite you to come and join us for a New Parents Information Evening on
16th September from 6.30pm, for a 7pm start. The venue will be the Theatre at Nova Hreod.
During this session, you will be introduced to the Senior Team and the team specifically working with students in Year 7. The Senior Team will give a brief presentation about certain aspects of the College and answer any questions you may have. Representatives from the Parent Teacher Association and Parent Council will also be present.
After the presentation, the team of 8 tutors will be available for you to meet informally. This is not meant for the tutors to be feeding back any information to you, but more for you to introduce yourself and give the tutor any information that you feel they need to know that may not have been passed on already. Please be aware there is no appointment system and so queues can form. If you cannot wait and wish to speak with the tutor personally, please leave a message on the pad at the signing in desk and they will call you over the next few days.
The Special Needs Co-ordinator, Progress and Quality Leader and Year 7 Learning Mentor will also be available should you wish to introduce yourself.
Most teaching staff will not be present, so parents who wish to bring cars will be able to park in the staff car park. However, space is limited and would therefore ask you to car share where possible.
Please could you complete the slip below to indicate if you can attend the meeting. Slips should be returned to the tutor by the end of 15 September 2008.
I hope you will be able to come along on Tuesday 16 September and look forward to meeting you.
Yours sincerely
Mrs J Tridgell
Head Teacher
NEW PARENTS’ INFORMATION EVENING – 16 SEPTEMBER 2008
I/we will/will not be attending the New Parents’ Information Evening on 16 September 2008.
Child’s Name: _____________________________________
Child’s Tutor Group: ______________________
Number of People Attending: ____________
Signature: _____________________________________
Date: ____________
Please return this slip to Student Services.
Parent Letter - Posted 17/07/2008
Dear Parents
This term has been busy and successful with the completion of the Year 11 study programme and public examinations, Year 10 examinations and Key Stage 3 Literacy assessments. We have also had a series of very successful events including, the Arts Showcase, a Trips Day in which over 700 students went on visits off site and a magnificent Prom for Year 11 Leavers......Read More!
Enrichment Programme Term 1 2008 - Posted 11/09/2008
We are offering a very wide range of enrichment opportunities for students in all year groups again this term. Remember – we encourage all students to take at least four enrichments throughout the year. Either at lunchtime, after school or a mixture of both.
There will be an enrichment market this term during study time on Monday September 15 th for everyone to ‘sign up’ with their enrichment teacher.