The highlight of this school week has probably been our school production of Oliver! After a long hiatus following Covid, this is the first time for many years that we have been able to put on a full show such as this. And what a return it was! 

The idea for this production was first put forward back in September when our drama teacher, Miss Foster, came to see me with a proposal. A cast of fifty, a professional set, full music score. It was certainly ambitious. And all I had to say was ‘yes’, and she would take care of it, with the support of the rest of the Performing Arts team; and the students of course. 

Well, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it all came to fruition with three barnstorming performances which brought the house to standing ovations on each night. I was there on Wednesday with my family and both of our children absolutely loved it and my daughter (who has acting ambitions) was singing the songs all the way home. 

There is something magical about live musical theatre. The energy, talent and dedication that lifts the words and notes from a musical script and translates them into a living and breathing performance is surely miraculous. Thank you to everyone involved, including all of the cast, the backstage crew and the staff for giving up so much time to prepare such a wonderful show. 

This week also saw the first of our summer GCSE exams (RE on Thursday). In truth, students have been sitting GCSE assessments in form or another for months (coursework etc) but the reality of that first exam sitting in the sports hall is when the reality of it really lands. As ever, our Year 11 students have handled it with mature aplomb and they have reported that the papers so far (there have been two more today) were fair and accessible. We can ask for no more than that but I am always keen to remind the students are never ‘easy’; if they find them so it is because they have worked so hard to prepare. We have fingers crossed for similar positivity next week and beyond. 

Thank you for continuing to support our high standards of uniform. When the weather changes significantly, it often finds some students making their own adaptations to our uniform but they are quickly picked up by our staff and put right. Please ensure that you son/daughter continues to follow our expectations as this reduces distractions in school. 

Although it was a long weekend last week, the long journey that my wife and I made down to Cardiff was well worth it for an absolutely stunning performance from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. This was my twelfth Bruce concert and definitely in the top three that I have seen. The band played for three hours, churning out the hits and deep cuts one after the other leaving me completely exhausted at the end (I really shouldn’t be dancing and fist-pumping at my age!). The sun is forecast to shine most of the weekend and so it will be a much more relaxing one for the Groaks, hopefully with some time sitting in the garden and firing up the barbecue for the first time this year.  

However you are spending it, enjoy it, and thank you for your support.   

Mr Groak

Headteacher

We have a lot of visitors to school at Hessle. Some of them are specialist educationalists who come into school to support individual students, or for specific tasks such as music tuition and others are obviously parents and carers. We are also pleased whenever our Governors come in (which is increasingly often) and we regularly host teachers, staff and leaders from other schools in our Trust, or from our Central Services Team. Finally, members of the business community also visit us often to share their expertise and experience in order to build the aspirations of our students and to offer careers advice. 

Overwhelmingly, they are impressed by the way in which our students conduct themselves and how they interact with other adults, showing off our school values of respect and kindness. We hear positive feedback all the time and try, where we can, to share this with the students involved and their parents. To promote this, we have recently introduced ‘Bridge Coins’ - these are bespoke tokens that are given to all of our visitors when they arrive and for them to give to students that have particularly impressed them during their time in school. The students then receive a recognition letter for them to keep.  

Our first recipients were Cleo and Phoebe (see below) who received their coins from a visitor recently.  

“The Bridge” is our through-school Personal Development programme which supports our young people throughout their journey at Penshurst and then at Hessle. It encompasses a wide range of activity including assemblies, theme days and tutor activities. The name is inspired by our through-school and the transition we promote between primary and secondary phases; as well, of course, by the Humber Bridge and the notion of ‘a bridge’ being something that brings things, and people together. 

In the weeks and months to come, I will share more of this work with you.  

A reminder that next week sees some changes to our lunch and break arrangements with Year 10 and 11 swapping from early to late, and vice versa. This supports the scheduling of the GCSE exams which formally begin on Thursday 9 May. In between times, of course, there is also the Bank Holiday, when school will be closed on Monday 6 May.  

On the Sunday before that, I will be in Cardiff for the start of Bruce Springsteen’s European Tour. I’ll share more about that next week but be assured that my running playlist has now been honed to what I hope and predict will be the concert set list. Before that, this is a busy sporting weekend with my son’s cricket nets starting tonight, followed by his football match on Sunday lunchtime and then a quick dash to the MKM Stadium on Sunday afternoon to see Hull FC take on Leeds. Apparently, it is going to rain. Great. 

Whatever you are doing this weekend, try to avoid the rain and thank you for your ongoing support.  

Mr Groak

Headteacher

It has been a busy week on the recruitment front at Hessle High School this week. Following a minor restructuring of our safeguarding team, I was delighted to appoint Melanie Lambert to the post of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) on a permanent basis. Mel has been carrying out this role on a temporary basis for nearly two years and has, along with Laura Kelsey, done fantastic work in supporting some of our most vulnerable young people, and their families. The world in which our youngsters grow up now is increasingly complex and challenging and these colleagues play such an important role in ensuring that our students stay safe and supporting them during difficult times in their lives. Mel is a great team player and it is fantastic to have her with us permanently. 

On Thursday, we also added a new member of staff to our PE Department. After finishing his training as a PE teacher, Nathan Parkin has been with us for the past year as a Cover Supervisor (covering lessons when colleagues are absent). But in addition to this role, he has given great support to the PE department with their lessons as well as running sports clubs and fixtures after school. Nathan has now been employed as a full-time PE teacher and we will support him through his Early Career training. We know that he will go onto enjoy a long and successful career at Hessle, when he starts his new role in September. 

Also on Thursday, we were pleased to make an external appointment in the form of Danielle Davies to join us as a Pastoral Officer, working in our Pastoral Centre. She will join another recent appointment, Clare Lancaster, who starts as our Inclusion Manager on Monday. Together, they will provide intensive support for some of our students who don’t always get it right and who need additional support to manage behaviour in school. These vacancies arose from the departures of Karen Maulgue and Stuart Crooks. Karen departed a few weeks ago for a new and exciting position in the NHS, while Stuart is taking up a senior position in the Riverview Trust, working in their Alternative Provision setting. Stuart’s last day is today and he leaves with our grateful best wishes after twelve years of service to the school.  

Turnover of staff at Hessle is generally low which is a good indication that colleagues feel valued and trusted to do their work here. This stability benefits everyone, especially the students. However, it is always nice to have new faces join the team as their enthusiasm and energy can revitalise us and keep us moving forward. We look forward to working with Nathan and Mel for longer, and also seeing what Claire and Danielle can bring to our school.  

Well done to Isabelle Allen (Y9) and Lily Dannatt (Y11) who once again have achieved great success in their dancing careers. After winning British titles before Christmas, they have repeated this success in the European Dancing Championships just before Easter and now hold GOLD in the Ladies Latin Dancing Category as well SILVER in the Ladies Ballroom Category. These are adult competitions and our girls were the youngest by some distance in the event. They have both received a lot of media coverage recently and you may have seen them on Look North at the start of the Easter break. We are very proud of both girls. 

As Friday ends, we are now just nineteen school days away from Year 11’s first exam paper, which is on Monday 13th May. The year group are doing really well at the moment to complete various courseworks and other practical exams in a multitude of subjects. Thank you to all families of Year 11 students for coming them healthy, focused and working hard. I am sure this will bear fruit in the summer, when results are published. 

The first weekend of a new term is always one that I like to keep fairly clear of activity, in order to make sure I’m rested for the long term ahead. Aside from a few work tasks, we have set aside Saturday afternoon for some family cooking. After our trip to Spain over Easter, we’re inspired to make our own tapas. We’ve also saved the first episode of the new series of ‘Race Across The World’ which we all love, especially the kids, so the plan is to sit down on Saturday evening with a range of ‘picky-bits’ and enjoy the show.  

Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope the weather stays dry and warm and you enjoy a relaxing few days. 

Mr Groak

Headteacher

Occasionally, one of our students will ask me, “Sir, what do you actually do? I mean, I know what your job is, but what do you.... do?” 

When I first started in the role, I spent much of my first few weeks speaking to staff to learn more about what they felt about the school, what our priorities should be. After a few weeks, I did sometimes ask myself, ‘what else am I meant to be doing?’. It didn’t last long and soon projects, issues, incidents, celebrations and events filled my diary. Being a Headteacher is a fantastic job and a real privilege. I get to see people at their best and worst, deal with everything from the trivial and the mundane (what colour decorations do you want on the Christmas Tree?) to the life-changing and tragic, when some of our students find themselves in highly dangerous and vulnerable situations. 

Most of the time is just moving from one place to another speaking to people and generally ensuring that everyone has what they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Take today for instance. It began with a morning run. I have tried this year to get my exercise in early and it has definitely helped my energy levels during the day. After a 15 minute shuffle around the streets of Willerby, I’ll get ready for work, have a coffee, chat with the kids and be in school for our Senior Leaders’ meeting at 7.45. In this 15 minute slot, we check on staff absence or events that are happening during the day, make sure that all lessons and duty points are covered and prepare ourselves for the day. At this point in the term, the team are often operating on fumes, and it is an opportunity for us to take support from each other and pull together to lead the rest of the staff. 

I quickly check emails for ten minutes and then put my blue coat on, grab my radio and go out on duty. I’m on the main gate monitoring students arriving from 8.15 to 8.35 and this gives me the chance to wish them good morning and keep an eye on the overall safety and movement on the site at the start of the day. The entrance to our school is a mixed user environment with buses, cars and pedestrians all sharing the same space. The main mitigation to the obvious risk is a 5MPH speed limit and plenty of staff supervision.  

As students arrive they congregate in the spaces designated for them. Year 7s on the tennis court are the ones closest to my duty point and so I get to see how they look at the start of each day; always smart and well behaved which is good to see. 

Tutors come down to these areas at 8.30 and by 8.35, students are going into the building for their tutor period. 

My day today has been packed with meetings and planned phone calls so I squeeze in a quick meeting with Angela, my new Operation Manager. We planned the day, discuss priorities for next week. At 9am, I met with Claire Khan, my Finance Manager. At this time of year, we are looking to set budgets for next year so we spent some time making sure that we had a good idea of likely income and how we proposed to spend it. Our school has a budge in excess of £11million but the bulk of that is spent on staff salaries. Overheads consume most of the rest so there is not a lot of discretionary spending for Headteachers. Nevertheless, staffing has to be carefully managed as a few errors can cause a big problem down the line. 

After break duty, I spent some time on the telephone to Mrs Preston, our Primary Head of School, discussing the progress made by our Year 6 pupils in their recent mock exams. They have done well in Reading and Maths, and we were looking at some extra support we can put in place to improve their writing skills. Leading an all-through school has meant a huge expansion in my responsibility and a widening of my understanding of primary education; similarly some of the methods used to track and assess students at the High School are also leading to improvements in the primary stage. Friday is a busy day for duties so I was back on duty just before 11am for twenty minutes. A minor behaviour incident occurred which caused me to spend some time with the pastoral team sorting it out, before I was back to my office for a meeting with my Head of Sixth Form, Mr Jarman. Our Sixth form is a real strength of the school but there has been a drop in attendance recently of our Year 13s so we spent some time looking at the impact of the strategies he has put into place. This cohort were halfway through Year 9 when the covid pandemic started and faced two years of disruption during their GCSEs. Adolescence has not been straightforward for them at all but they are being well looked after and are on the brink of achieving strong outcomes before going onto their next destination which, for most of them, will be university. 

After Mr Jarman left, I started writing this blog for ten minutes before going back on duty yet again where I also had my lunch standing up in the canteen. Fishcake, chips and mushy peas – you can’t beat it! 

There was a twenty-five minute break between duties in which time I squeezed in another meeting, replied to some emails, approved some staff ordering, set up an agenda for a leaders’ meeting on Monday, added some messages to our weekly staff briefing and had another catch up with Angela.  

The second lunch break gave me the chance to speak to our Year 11s, who picked up their Mock Exam Results last night at Progress evening. There were some glum faces when a few realised that they hadn’t done as well as they had hoped. But – as we always tell them – there is still time to put it right. “The best time to start revising is at the start of Year 10,” we say, “the next best time is right now!”  

After duty, I gave a tour to a lady who has applied for a job in our pastoral centre. It is always a pleasure to show off our school and she was impressed at how quickly over 1200 young people can move around the building and settle into their lessons. Handing her over to my colleagues who were set to interview her, I headed back to my office to tie up the week. There is a staff briefing document for Hessle and Penshurst staff, which we aim to send out by close of play on Friday, this sets up the following week with key events and reminders and allows staff to get themselves organised for the week ahead so that they can switch off and unwind for two days. I write a short intro and make sure everyone else’s content is clear and concise. By this time, it is 2.50 and the first students are beginning to leave the site. I head out to bus duty to see them all off, in exactly the same place that I welcomed them six and a half hours earlier. And I wonder where the time has gone, and what exactly it has that I have done! 

I’m not quite finished as I then go to the main hall to cover a detention duty for a colleague who is still interviewing our prospective candidate. I tend to aim to leave by 4.30 on a Friday to get in a run before seeing the kids. Tonight, I am writing this quickly before leaving a little earlier in order to pick my son up for a dental appointment. Hopefully, we will be home by 5.30 and the weekend can begin. 

I tend not to do any work on Friday night. Instead, I might open a beer and flop in front of the TV with my wife and kids, watching The Apprentice and then possibly whichever Super League game is on TV.  

Tomorrow, we’ll be at the MKM stadium for the Hull FC game and then spending some time relaxing on Sunday before getting ready for another busy week. 

Whatever you are doing this weekend, find time to enjoy it and thank you for your ongoing support. 

Mr Groak

Headteacher

I write this, on Thursday evening, having just booked two tickets to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Sunderland in May. This will mean I will see him three times on the 2024 leg of his World Tour – something I have never managed to do on any previous tour and surely a sign of my recognition that this could be the last time.  

Even better, on the night in Sunderland, I am going with my sister. Joanna is five years younger than me, but I have always been inspired by her utter love for life. At Christmas, after a few glasses of wine, we made a pact for 2024; she would come to a Bruce concert with me. And I would go to see Pink with her (she is nuts for her). I haven’t fulfilled my half of the bargain yet, but surely will do when we get the chance. 

When my son was a few years old, my wife and I spoke at length about when to have another child. We both have younger sisters, and we didn’t want him to miss out on the unique relationship you have with your sibling. And so our daughter came along and the relationship they have together is a joy to watch; not always the best of friends but deeply besotted with each other in their own way.  

Of course, we see siblings and twins passing through our school all the time and it is lovely to see their personalities develop and see them looking out for each other. The sweetest moments come when a new sibling starts school in Year 7 and an older brother or sister suddenly starts to demonstrate a side to their personality which was hitherto unseen.    

This week, we received the names of our new Year 7 intake and – of the 250 new students joining us – over 20 of them are siblings of current students. So, there will be plenty of protective big brother and sisters evident in September! 

I have written before of the number of educational visits that my staff carry out each year and the great opportunities they provide to our students and, this weekend, we have another group of 40 students heading off to France. They left the site early Friday morning and will be back on Monday night. My wife (Head of Languages) is leading the trip and confesses that she is more worried about leaving me alone with the kids than she is about taking 40 other children to France!  

This trip follows on the back of the most recent overseas trip for our Sixth Form students to New York as part of the joint Consortium Sixth Form College trip. Some of those students had never been abroad before and it is not an overstatement to say that those five days of independence will have been life changing for some. Whilst that group were in the USA, we also had a group of Sixth Formers heading to Stratford to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the RSC; another very special cultural opportunity, organised by Mr Burnett. 

And just this week, our school was represented by our student leaders at the second annual TCAT Student Leadership Conference at Hull University. This event involved students from as young as four at our primary schools all the way up to some of our 18-year-old Sixth Formers. The theme was ‘sustainability’ and, speaking to one of our Senior Students (Joe Collins – Year 13), the event culminated in plenty of ideas for us to make our places of learning more environmentally friendly in the future. Great work by our learners and colleagues that organised it. 

Finally, today marks the National Offer Day for Secondary Schools in England. Parents that applied for places at our school from September will begin to find out if they have been successful. By Monday, everyone should have been informed by the Local Authority and I will begin to communicate with our latest groups of families for what will become the ‘Class of 2029’ - the year that they will reach Year 11, or ‘Class of 2031’ for those that go all the way to the Sixth Form. I am delighted that we will once again be full in Year 7 and thank you for everything you do – as current parents/carers - to support us in making us such an attractive choice for parents and families to come. 

Have a lovely weekend and thank you for your ongoing support.

Mr Groak

Headteacher

s we reach the end of the first half of the Spring Term, I have been reflecting on what we have achieved as a school since Christmas. The first thing I always consider is how our exam groups are faring.  

For Year 11, they are doing well. There have completed a week’s worth of Mock Exams this week and will finish them after half term. The attendance to school has been good and their attitude to their exams is really positive. We track them carefully and the data looks healthy; but of course, none of them have sat a formal exam yet nor submitted any coursework. In other words, there’s still a long way to go and nobody is complacent. Next week, some of them will be back in school, completing work and keeping their learning ticking over; their commitment, and that of the staff, is impressive and makes me very proud. 

Our Year 13 are one of the most focused and driven cohorts we have had for many years. The vast majority already have their conditional university offers and are now working hard to achieve the grades they need. It is a pleasure to be amongst them as I was in last night’s Sixth Form Progress Meeting, where I held my own teacher conversations with the students in the class I teach. This is something I really value in my work and hope to always be able to find the time to keep teaching.  

We’ve also been very happy with the continued improvements to behaviour, since we introduced our new behaviour policy in September and I thank you all for your support with this, as well as support with uniform standards. One area in which we continue to seek improvement is in punctuality at the start of the day. We have clear routines each morning which set the students up for the day ahead, and involve lots of PD work. If students arrive late, on a regular basis, this disrupts their preparation for the day and often causes problems later on. Punctuality is also a life skill and we see it as part of our responsibility to instil the importance of being in the right place at the right time if our students are to enjoy successful careers. It is also courteous and good manners to show up on time, wherever you are. 

We expect all students to be on site and in their social spaces by 8.30am. At 8.31am, students sign in with our attendance officer instead and are then given a short lunchtime detention. If the school bus is later or there are extreme traffic and travel problems, then we take this into account. However, normal traffic is always busy at this time of the day and we urge everyone to set off in good time to ensure they arrive on time. Again, your support with ensuring that your child arrives into school on time each day is greatly appreciated. 

The half term break will also mark, for us rugby fans, the start of the Super League season. As in every year, Hull FC start the season joint top and so I always enjoy this moment of optimism, which sadly doesn't usually last long! The season kicks off with a derby game at the MKM Stadium next Thursday and I shall be there with my son, and friends and their kids. My wife and daughter are heading to the in-laws in Surrey on Monday, leaving my son and I to spend some quality time together. His latest sporting obsession is darts. That suits me as I can still beat him at Darts! He has a week of sporting challenges planned for us, which includes golf (I’ll be favourite), badminton (he’ll thrash me), table tennis (him again), garden cricket (depends on the state of the pitch!) and the darts. A proper compendium of sports. “A bit like Superstars?” I said to him, referring to the TV classic of the 1980s. He looked blankly at me. At least I know what I mean. 

Whatever you are doing over the weekend and during half term, enjoy it and hopefully the weather will begin to warm up too, with Spring not far away. 

Thank you as ever for your support this half term. 

Mr Groak

Headteacher