Principal's update 21 April 2023

As you will be aware, the National Education Union (NEU) will be staging strike action again on Thursday 27^th April and Tuesday 2^nd May 2023. Arrangements for students for these days are as follows:

• Year 7, 8, 9, 10 should stay at home – see information below on remote learning.
• Year 11 should come into school - Language speaking exams will go ahead as planned. Students will have normal timetabled lessons where possible, with supervised revision sessions in between. They will have access to computers and other learning resources. Buses will operate as normal to bring students to and from school. The canteen will be open as usual at break and lunchtime.
• Hope Valley Pathways students will be contacted about the arrangements for Thursday 27^th April but should remain at home on Tuesday 2^nd May.

Arrangements for remote learning

When remote learning, students should:

• Check Classcharts for specific tasks that their teachers have set for completion on the day.
• Next, check the 'Learning from Home' page of the website Learning from home - Hope Valley College (hopevalley-chorustrust.org) for online work in each year group.
• Finally, check the remote login pages for links to Oak Academy, Seneca and GCSE pod resources - Remote login - Hope Valley College (hopevalley-chorustrust.org)
• These further online resources are available to help students work or revise:
  • BBC Bitesize (Years 7-11)

Additional arrangements and actions required

We have a small availability for supervised access to independent learning in school.  This will be prioritised for those in Y7 to Y10 who may be unduly disadvantaged by the circumstances, such as:

• my young person has no internet at home and/or
• my young person is eligible for Free School Meals

Please complete the following online form by 10am on Tuesday 25^th April:  https://forms.office.com/e/AcjxMp3tNL

We will have to prioritise access to this provision according to need and the availability of supervision. Safeguarding, pastoral and reception staff are working as normal and will be available for any urgent concerns or queries. We will notify parents and carers directly if their young person is able to attend school, however, please understand that we may not be able to meet all requests.

I’m sorry that you may have to make alternative arrangements for your young person and that they may experience disruption to their education. 

What’s going on in school:

• On Tuesday evening, we hosted football teams from Glossop. Glossop are regarded as the most challenging school to play in the High Peak as several of their players are academy players. Y8 played amazingly well and drew 2 - 2. Levi Y8 also did an incredible job refereeing the game! Y9 also played well. For most of the match, the score was 1 - 1. However, they conceded 3 goals in the last 15 minutes. The final score was 1 - 4. 

• At the end of last term, our talented wind band and big band travelled to Buxton Pavilion to perform specially arranged songs by Avicii. They were a credit to HVC and sounded amazing!

Mobile phones

Following on from our email a few weeks ago we are reminding students about the rules around mobile phone use.  This week we have shared paper copies of timetables with students so that they have a copy in their school bag.  We are also increasing the number of clocks, including digital clocks, around school.  We are working with students to help them understand the impact mobile phone use has on them and we ask that you continue to share this message with your young people and support school in the rules that we are asking students to follow.

Date for your diary – Saturday 24^th June – Music & Mayhem

To kick off Hope Wakes Week, the PTFA are planning a repeat of last year's inaugural event of Music & Mayhem! 

We will be looking for entries in the 'pantomime horse race' (any homemade creature costume with 4 or more legs!). There will also be a student choir – more information will follow!

PTFA

The termly PTFA meeting is coming up next Tuesday 25^th April. It will be held at 8pm in the Tearooms section of the Old Hall Pub in Hope. We will endeavour to run a virtual session at the same time so if you aren't able to join in person you could join us that way. We will be recapping over recent successful events of Musical and HVAFF and getting some plans for the summer events. We are also looking for any offers of interest for someone to take on the role of treasurer. The pub runs a quiz at 9pm - if you wish to stay for a bit of socialising, we would welcome your company.

Thank you for reading our communication. Here are some helpful email addresses, should you need to contact us: attendance@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report a child’s absence enquiries@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for general enquiries pastoral@hopevalley.chorustrust.org for any issue with a child’s wellbeing principal@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the Principal safeguarding@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to report safeguarding concerns. If a child or any young person is in imminent danger, then please report this to the police. Kind regards Gaynor Jones, Principal Hope Valley College T: 01433 620555