Head of Year 7 Blog

WEEK 28 - Friday 26 April 2024

Published 29/04/24

Hello to all Year 7 students and their families,

Wow, these April showers are showing some of our values:

Resilience - to never end;
Responsibility- to ensure the environment is lush and green;
Responsibility- to cover all areas in the UK.

Somebody has reliably informed us that we are actually in Spring, and that summer is close… If you find spring lurking in your area please send it our way, as students are in a complete muddle with their daily attire and are either too warm or too cold, and occasionally damp!

Beyond the ever-changing weather, the year group are doing very well. Having done assemblies that focused on our school values and their futures, students in Year 7 have been discussing ideas of what we could do to keep them off their phones in their free time and are now telling me what the 3 images shown in each assembly mean. Mrs Davies and I have been very impressed by their levels of responsibility and improving belief in themselves.

Respect, kindness and resilience are values that we are encouraging students to promote daily, reminding them that ’Manners do not cost anything’, ‘One kind act leads to another’, and ‘Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'. I have also shared two thought-inspiring videos to the year group, via email, this week and thought I would share them with you as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-HBl2TVtI Kindness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTsvSAItPqA Respect

The kindness video brought a tear to my eyes as I watched the spread of kindness.

As we move forward towards the half term break, and beyond to the end of July, Mrs Davies and I are looking forward to further developing the way we support the year group with things to meet their needs, taking onboard thoughts and ideas. To help us do this I will be giving each tutor group a questionnaire to complete next week. Students will be discussing reward ideas, things that are going well, things that they feel are issues to be addressed, topics they wish to know more about, how many use their school email, and anything else they want us to do or be aware of. Once I have the feedback, I will start looking through responses and discuss the key areas with tutors and their groups next week. I will share their thoughts and ideas in my next blog.

For now, stay warm and dry (Bonkers that I am saying this as we near the May bank holiday!)

Please stay safe, take care, and remember we are here to help all students. If there are any concerns or worries at home please remind your child of this and you can also email us to let us know HOY7@hessleacademy.com

Mrs Todd

Head of Year 7

Mrs Davies

Assistant Head of Year 7

WEEK 26 - Friday 12 April 2024

Published 12/04/24

Hello to all our year 7 students and their families,

I hope you all enjoyed a very relaxing and fun-filled Easter break. The weather was typically ‘April’ but I’m staying positive that the damp start will bring the lovely month of May where the flowers and blossom thrive as we are often told with the phrase ‘April showers bring forth May flowers.’

It will also allow us to re-open the field and the students will start to build memories of lunches in the sunshine, in our stunning grounds- unfortunately it is not quite dry enough at present. Yet, I remain optimistic.

As students returned to school this week, we have had a real focus on reinforcing our values, routines and expectations. Students are embedding these and establishing a positive culture, which makes us proud.

The day starts with routine checks with their tutor; we look for the correct uniform, equipment and planners- those who are consistently awarded house points for adhering to the expectations here are still bringing a school bag and pencil case (small items but allow for better organisation) and always smartly dressed. Please can you encourage your child to prepare the night before and gather what they need. Whilst I understand they are still young, I want them to develop the level of their own responsibility and understand that being prepared an organised is a valuable skill to have in preparation for their futures. From the line-ups, the students then head to tutor rooms.

In tutor we continue to instil the values. Our thought for the week has been, ‘Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.’ Many students are developing resilience well and thinking about the things that matter. There is a lot of effort from students to try and be the best version of themself and to push through even when things are tough; some students come to speak to myself and Mrs Davis and are simply offloading baggage to clear their minds before embarking on the next part of the day. Knowing the students have this level of confidence in us is reassuring that we are building secure relationship now to help us as we navigate the years ahead.

In assembly each week, we now start off with three visual images- Jellybeans, A mug of tea, and some Mechanical cogs. These represent three key assembly themes that the students have had this year: jellybeans represent we are all different and that is ok; the cup of tea is about us realising we are not everybody's cup of tea and to find those who appreciate us for us; and lastly, the cogs represent the fact we need to work together to achieve the things we set out to.

The weekly reminder is again shown to establish routines and allow them to consider whether they are taking this information onboard. They are also asked to consider, ‘Have they been the best version of themself this week?’ We see hands go up and some stay down. Those down are praised for integrity as they are aware of their actions and then reminded to consider how to be better in the coming week.

You may have heard your child tell you that the values I have for the year group are as high as my heels, this is still reinforced when I am wearing flat shoes- with a degree of giggling when I try to stand on my tiptoes to back up what I want them to understand. It is this reason that we are pushing core values and expectations regularly, wanting them to become the norm and make each day with us as positive as it can be.

As you start the weekend, please discuss how they feel routines and expectations make a difference in the wider world and how do they see the advantages of them being so important in school. Perhaps you could also ask them about the images and what they represent. It would be pleasing to learn that they are taking the importance of these images as I strive to achieve a consistently positive culture for the year group and the wider school community

In the weeks to come, Orlando will be hosting their charity day in the coming weeks and our school production, ‘Oliver Twist’ is in the final rehearsal stages and more will be sent out about when you can see the production and how to purchase tickets.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if there is anything we can support your child with. Emails can be sent to, HOY7@hesslacademy.com or we can be reached by phone, using option 7 and then option 1 (Please leave a message if we are not available and we will call you back.

Take care and stay safe,