Headteacher's update 31 January 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

We come to the end of January and the first week of term with the snow feels a long time ago now. This week in school has been particularly successful as we celebrate our victory at the inaugural Trust Maths Challenge.

I have no doubt that the other schools will have sent their best mathematicians, so it is a true testament to our young people that we won. We also came first in the first ever High Peak Panathlon - a sports championship for young people with Disabilities. Again, this represents our young people showing their drive and competitive edge. I would also like to thank the staff who have supported our young people in their success.

Also, this week we have taken the time in assemblies to recognise Holocaust Memorial Day which took place on Monday 27 January. I shared with students the reason behind recognising such a day and how kindness and compassion is the part they can play in learning from this moment in history. All of our young people listened attentively, and their behaviour was exemplary in the moment.

Next week sees Mock Exam week for our Year 11 students as they now have 11 school weeks left until they start their GCSEs. We will share more revision tips with Year 11 parents on Monday to help support students through what will be a tiring and tough week for them.

What’s going on in school:

Year 10 geography students are coming to the end of their Rivers topic - learning about the processes, landforms, and flood management of rivers. This week they got to recreate natural and man-made river defences in lesson!
On a cold, damp January Saturday, students travelled to central Derby to take part in the Derbyshire Schools Cross Country event, which is a qualifier for the English Schools Cross Country competition. Huge congratulations to all who took part, with a special mention to Anwen (Y10) and Hannah (Y8), who have now qualified for the English Schools event. Sylvie (Y9) also did really well and narrowly missed out on qualifying. Several students were competing against students who were older than them and their effort was fantastic!

On Tuesday this week, 7 students travelled to Chapel High School for the Derbyshire Panathlon Event. This is a modified event based on the original Pentathlon, with a selection of different physical activities, with the aim to provide students with a high achieving participation. We entered two teams to this event. After a nervous start, our students soon started getting competitive and enjoyed the different challenges! We finished a fantastic 1^st and 3^rd overall and received amazing medals, certificates and trophies! This only added to the enjoyment and confidence our young people felt! It was a fabulous achievement, well done all!
- KS3 students have an opportunity to showcase their art on planters along the Castleton Road in Hope! Over the half term holiday, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 should produce a design for a picture of Hope through the seasons of Spring and Autumn. Please speak to Miss Nicklin for more information.
- This term in PE, we have been focusing on gymnastics and fitness as part of the curriculum. Gymnastics lessons have allowed our students to get creative and explore more aesthetic activities. Our young people have worked well in teams, come up with some fresh ideas and produced some excellent results! We are moving onto vaulting over the next few weeks! Fitness lessons are a great opportunity for young people to try new activities that they may enjoy and inspire them to keep active. This week we have been looking at interval training using rowing machines. In groups, our young people have rowed over 3km in a lesson, with one group reaching 4km in 18 minutes - a brilliant effort.
- Friday 14 February will be a non-uniform day in school with a red or pink theme, raising money for our chosen charities. There is a £1 voluntary suggested donation, which can be paid via ParentPay, or cash can be given to tutors during tutor time.
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 have been given their statement of entry this week. Please remind your young person to bring the correct equipment to each exam as we only have a small number of spares available to lend to students. Exam pencil cases can be purchased from Parentpay and collected from Reception. Exams - Hope Valley College (chorustrust.org)

Y11 Exam Access Arrangements

We have sent Y11 exam access arrangements to parents/carers by email this week. Please complete the Microsoft form sent in the email to confirm that you are aware of these arrangements and to inform us of any concerns.

PE lessons w/c 3 February

For the w/c 3 February only, fitness lessons for all students will be Cross Country. Students will need the following kit: Outdoor PE kit, change of socks, football boots/fell running trainers, gloves, drink, inhaler, layers. We will be going out and running in all conditions! It does not have to be competitive, and we are keen to encourage students to just have a go and enjoy being in the outdoors!

Y10 Subject Evening

The Year 10 Subject Evening will take place in school on Tuesday 11 February. This is an opportunity to talk to teachers about progress, attainment and attitudes to learning. Details on how to book appointments have been emailed to parents and carers this afternoon. Bookings will open at 5pm today.

DofE Training – Session on 20 February cancelled

The DofE training scheduled to take place on Thursday 20 February has been cancelled. This was a mistake on the original list of dates given to parents and carers.

Y11 Prom

The Year 11 Prom has been provisionally booked at The Maynard in Grindleford on Monday 30 June from 6pm – 9pm. Further details and ticket costs will be sent out in due course.

Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 11 February – Y10 Subject Evening

Friday 14 February – Non uniform day – wear red or pink (suggested £1 voluntary donation in support of school charities). Break for half term

Monday 24 February – INSET day – school closed to students

Thursday 6 March – Y9 Options Evening

Tuesday 11 March – Disney Choir Trip meeting for parents and carers (4.30pm)

Wednesday 19 March – CRY screening for Y11 and Y10

Monday 31 March – Thursday 3 April – Music Trip to Paris

Friday 4 April – break for Easter

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
- headteacher@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the Headteacher
- 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.
- ptfahv@hopevalley.chorustrust.org to contact the PTFA
Kind regards

Debbie Petts

Headteacher, Hope Valley College