Hello to all my year 7 Students and their families, 

Whoosh... End of term 1A: The longest of the half terms! 

Whilst I am not an avid follower of sport, I do look forward to watching Rugby Union. Under the leadership of Steve Borthwick, I have thoroughly ridden the emotional journey of the England Rugby team in their World Cup campaign and saw the team demonstrate many of the values that we as a school hope to instil in our learners. Their determination, reflection of behaviours and performance and resilience have been tremendous- and I have also seen this in the year group over the past 8 weeks too. 

I will be looking to expand my sport spectatorship in the coming years, as whenever I can, I plan on being out to support our year 7 teams: They are on fire! The various teams are made up by such a diverse range of students and I am seeing friendships change, bonding develop and the camaraderie between then is inspiring: 

Our year 7 girls football team have got through the first two rounds of the National Cup; they played Ormiston Academy (5-2 win) and Humberston Academy (2-1 win) and progressed to the third round that will be played after half-term.  

Some of our Year 7 girls were also represented in a 5-a-side Tigers Trust Tournament on Wednesday and did amazingly well.  Two teams (of girls in Years 7 to 9) were entered and both teams managed to qualify from their groups comfortably.  In the next round, the A Team beat Sirius West 3-0, whilst the B Team triumphed 3-2 over Cottingham; both sides progressing to the semi-finals, where Hessle A won 4-1 against Driffield and Hessle B beat Wolfreton 1-0. 

And so it was an all-Hessle final, with Hessle A victorious but all the girls showed fantastic skill and sportsmanship and are an absolute credit to the school. 

Our Year 7 boys football team also recently won their first fixture at home to Driffield 5-3 in the first round of the East Riding Cup and will face South Holderness School in the next round.   

Our Cross-Country team had their first outing this week and again came home with smiles in abundance. Some of the students will also have the chance to take part in the next event over in Scunthorpe once all the positions have been confirmed. 

Finally, the girls’ Netball team played matches at South Hunsley and were deserving winners of their matches too. 

A huge round of applause to all involved (especially as the temperatures are dropping!) 

Beyond the great outdoors, many Year 7s are now fully immersed in Music lessons: Singing, Piano, Violin, Drum, Guitar, Clarinet... the list continues. Students have joined the choir and will be practicing for our annual Christmas concert and the Hessle Lights’ Switch on. Then, there are the aspiring ‘West End’ actors that have secured roles in the eagerly anticipated school production of Oliver Twist. 

The Dungeons and Dragon club is filling the corridors with laughter and giggles on a Friday when the staff are vacating for the weekend, and many more clubs are starting up as well. 

On the homework front, please keep your eyes on ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter) as staff are starting to share photos of work done by the students. In Geography, I have been around the world in various shoeboxes- looking at the Pyramids, Australian Islands, key landmarks in London and various miniature football stadiums. 

Last week, the year group took part in the NHS’s ‘Restart a Heart’ workshop. Paramedics came in to show students how to give CPR if they ever find themselves in a situation that requires it. They looked at how to check for risks first, check breathing, and how to count- singing along to ‘Baby Shark’ which apparently has the necessary rhythm! 

With regards to testing and assessing students, we have completed CATs and Screening now, whilst baseline assessments are happening in subjects this week and just beyond the half term. Again, I am proud of how students are conducting themselves in these lessons. 

After the half term I will be rewarding students for attendance and positive behaviours. Please keep your eye out for messages when your child is congratulated and check their bags for postcards from teachers. 

It has been a busy and tiring half-term and I know so many of the students and staff are ready to take a breather and recharge their batteries next week. Please remember the clocks go back and that dark nights will be drawing in.  

Please encourage your child to bring a coat, gloves, and a school bag (lots are not using them and filling pockets with their items). They need to be warm and keep dry in the cold and damp climate. Again, I ask that you discuss their trips to and from school to ensure you know which routes they will take and that they do so with others.  

We return on Monday 6th November, and it will be Week A on the timetable. 

Have a wonderful week off; enjoy any Halloween or Bonfire events and stay safe. 

Take Care, 

Mrs Todd

Head of Year 7

Mr Fielden 

Assistant Head of Year 7