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Hope Valley College

Headteacher's update 10 January 2025

Published on 10/01/25

Dear Parents and Carers

I would like to say a genuine and heartfelt thank you for your understanding and support this week. We take for granted the beautiful nature of our surroundings, so when they pose a challenge with the weather it really makes me understand the sheer size of our catchment area. I would also like to thank our young people who have been amazing this week with the uncertainty. They have found being inside frustrating and have even on occasion told me it is too warm in school, but they have worked with us to make this week successful despite the weather. As a school, we will review provision and are going to look at how we can implement some remote live learning should we face such challenges again. This will take us a little time to implement, and we will share details in the coming weeks.

We look forward to welcoming all of our young people back to school next week.

Safety Assemblies

The safety of our students is always a priority for the school and over the course of the next few weeks we will be delivering a safety assembly to students. As part of this, we will cover basic allergy awareness and signs of anaphylaxis, plus a reminder of our emergency safety procedures. We conduct various safety drills throughout the school year so that all students and staff know what to do in case an emergency does happen.

What’s going on in school:

  • Our Christmas bazaar raised a total of £860.51!!! Well done to all our students who came up with inventive ideas for stalls and took part in good spirit. The money will be shared amongst charities chosen by our Student Council: CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), St Wilfred’s, a Sheffield based charity for the homeless, RABI (The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution) who provide mental health and wellbeing support to the farming community, and Just Like Us, the LGBT+ and young people’s charity.
  • Today we had record breaking numbers for Drama Club! Miss Starbuck was overjoyed with the number of KS3 students taking part and is looking forward to creating performances with the direction of our Y10 volunteers.
  • Congratulations to Daniel in Y10 who has been given an accredited award from the Duke of Edinburgh scheme for overcoming challenges to work independently in order to complete his Bronze Award.

Y11 Sheffield 6th Form Applications

The final deadline for applications to Sheffield 6th forms is 31 January. However, as a school we have to check every application. Therefore, we would be grateful if Year 11 students who wish to attend a Sheffield 6th form complete and submit their applications by Monday so that we can submit them in a timely fashion.

Y11 Mock Exams

Mock exams for Y11 students will run from Monday 3 February to Friday 7 February. Please see the link to the timetable below.  Students will be handed their statement of entry nearer the time. 

Y11 Intervention Evening – Tuesday 21 January

The intervention evening on Tuesday 21 January will be for Y11 students by invitation only. We will be in touch with parents and carers of those students involved in this evening next week.

Y9 Subject Evening – Thursday 30 January

The Y9 Subject Evening will take place on Thursday 30 January. This is an opportunity for parents and carers to discuss their young person’s progress with subject teachers. Information regarding booking appointments will be sent out in due course.

Options Process for Y9 students

The options process is an important period for our Year 9 students as they start to think about the courses they will study in Year 10 and 11, and their future education and career paths after they leave Hope Valley College. In the new year, we will be working with Year 9 students to help them to make the right subject choices for their future. We will start the process in January with a launch assembly that will be followed by a series of assemblies outlining the different courses that we offer to our students. For parents/ carers of Year 9 students, there will be an Options Evening in school on 6th March.

PTFA Meeting – Tuesday 14 January

The PTFA are holding a meeting on Tuesday 14 January at 8pm in the Tea Rooms section of the Old Hall Pub in Hope. All welcome – this is a general catch up and planning session for forthcoming evens, including the Hope Valley Adventure Film Festival.

Nut Allergies

A reminder that nuts should not be brought into school. Please refrain from including items that may contain nuts in packed lunches or snacks. Could we also ask you to be vigilant with cosmetic products that may also contain nuts. We have a number of students in school who suffer from nut allergies. Thank you in advance.

Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 21 January – Y11 Intervention Evening (for selected students by invitation)

Thursday 30 January – Y9 Subject Evening

Tuesday 11 February – Y10 Subject Evening

Friday 14 February – break for half term

Monday 24 February – INSET day – school closed to students

Thursday 6 March – Y9 Options Evening

Thank you for reading our communication. Here are some helpful email addresses, should you need to contact us:

Kind regards

Debbie Petts

Headteacher, Hope Valley College
T: 01433 620555

 

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