Dear Parents and Carers,

Year 11

Year 11 continue to approach their exams with maturity and determination. It was good to see so many of them at the Easter Revision School. The exams have begun already, with languages students sitting their speaking exams this week. The exams have been spaced out more this year so that if a student were to miss a paper due to ill health, they would be likely to be better by the time of the next paper in that subject. That means an earlier start, with first papers in English, science and maths all taking place in the week commencing 15th May.

In order to support year 11 students as fully as possible through the exam season we will continue to run all timetabled lessons until Thursday 16th June. Students will be required to attend all lessons up to and including this date. We will ensure that students have adequate resources to use during lessons where they have already completed that course so the most can be made of time during school. Where possible we will look to adapt the timetable to provide additional revision lessons. We will also be holding revision sessions in the canteen before morning exams, where we will provide breakfast and a chance to talk with teachers and have one last look through notes. Details of all those things will be shared with parents as soon as we have them finalised.

We will hold a leaving event for Year 11 on Friday 17th June. They will not be required to wear uniform on this date and there will be a number of celebration activities. Year 11 students will not be required to attend school from Monday 20th June except to attend exams. The Year 11 Prom is on Thursday 7th July at the Arts Centre.

Staffing

We are pleased to welcome some new staff this term. Miss Ryan, teacher of music, has chosen to extend her maternity leave indefinitely and is replaced by Miss Phillips. I’m very grateful for all Miss Ryan’s work for the school and delighted that we have been able to find such a great replacement so quickly. We are also very pleased to welcome Miss Neale in science, who replaces Mr Thomas.

Miss Williams, inclusion officer in Year 9, also left us at the end of last term. We are very pleased to welcome Mrs Chilvers who takes on that important role.

Mrs Tank, who has worked in reprographics for many years, retired last term. We wish her all the best for a long and restful retirement. We are very pleased to welcome Mrs Cheeseman in that role.

Canteen

Since we moved buildings in 2019, we have been working with four food serveries – the main canteen, B-Block breakout, C-Block breakout and the sixth form café. We have recently opened a fifth outdoor servery based in a hut outside the sports hall. That serves what our caterers refer to as grab and go food – pizza, sandwiches, sausage rolls and so on. A range of more traditional hot meals, including pasta, baked potatoes and a meal of the day, is available from the canteen and other larger serveries. The queues for food at lunchtime are generally gone by 1.30, twenty minutes into the break. This extra servery should make the wait for food shorter still.

Year 9 trip to Thorpe Park

It is good to be able to get back to organising trips. The maths department are taking all but a very few students in Year 9 to Thorpe Park next Friday, where they will attend a workshop on speed and acceleration before having an opportunity to see those things in effect on the rides.

Aspire

It was good to see so many students and parents at the Aspire careers event that we held at the Epicentre this week. It was the first time we had held the event out of town – previously we have used the Arts Centre. We were generously offered the use of the space by the team at the Epicentre, who are also working with us to support other events both in and out of school.

The next Aspire event is an “Advice and a Slice” lunchtime meeting where students will be able to talk to an accountant about careers in accountancy, whilst enjoying a slice of free pizza. That event is on Thursday 12th May. Students should see Miss Cavilla for more details.

Keeping Haverhill Happy

Keeping Haverhill Happy, a collection of community groups, are holding a well-being event at Haverhill Leisure centre on Saturday 7th May, from 10.30am to 2.30 pm. Everyone who goes along will receive a free goody bag worth £20 and, if you enter the raffle, you’ll get a chance to win all sorts of prizes, ranging from a year’s free family membership of the leisure centre to an annual cinema pass, a massage, a free coffee or a hamper. You can find Keeping Haverhill Happy on Facebook.

Why we love Haverhill

I mentioned in my last letter about the One Haverhill Partnership campaign to ask people what they like most about Haverhill. That is still open. If you would like to participate, you can do so by visiting https://onehaverhill.co.uk/what-do-you-like-about-haverhill/

Wishing you all an enjoyable bank holiday weekend.  

Andy Hunter

Headteacher