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Woolmer Hill, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 1QB. Tel: 01428 654055
Website: www.woolmerhill.surrey.sch.uk Email: [email protected] Transport: 03456 009009
Attendance: 01428 647062 or [email protected]
14 September 2012 NO.1
DIARY September
Thurs 20 Awards Evening
Tues 25 Year 11 Careers Day & Evening
Thurs 27 Woolmer Hill Has Talent
October
Weds 3 Enrichment Day
Thurs 4 Open Evening
School finishes at 1.25 pm
Tues 9 FOWH AGM 7.00 pm
Thurs 11 Yr 11 PPP Evening
Thurs 18 Yr 7 PPP Tutor Evening
Mon 29 -
November
Fri 2 Half Term
Mon 12 Progress Review Day
Wed 21 Certificate Evening 6.00 pm
Fri 23 Confederation Inset Day
December
13/14/15 Christmas Concert
Fri 21 End of Term 12.15pm
January
Mon 7 Beginning of Spring Term
February
18 - 22 Half Term
March
Fri 22 Inset Day
Mon 25 Progress Review Day
Thurs 28 End of Term 12.15 pm
April
Mon 15 Beginning of Summer Term
May
Mon 6 Bank Holiday
27 - 31 Half Term
June
Fri 7 Inset Day
Fri 28 Inset Day
July
Weds 24 End of Term 12.15 pm
WOOLMER HILL SCHOOL
a specialist in maths and computing an international school and academy
COMMUNICATION DROP
WOOLMER HILL SCHOOL FUND
We are extremely grateful for all the support that our
parents give to the school and we ask for a contribution
of £20 from each parent. The school fund is used for
purposes which directly benefit our pupils, such as
library materials, computer accessories, display materials
and funding for special events for pupils - things which
are not catered for in the budget which we receive as
an Academy.
Please make your payment(s) online, go to
www.woolmerhill.surrey.sch.uk and click on the
link to make online payments. A letter was sent out last
week to all Year 7‟s and new pupils with full internet
access instructions. Cheques should be made payable to
Woolmer Hill School with your child‟s name and tutor
group written on the back.
Thank you for your continued support.
TIME TO BUILD ON OUR
ALL TIME HIGH
Woolmer Hill staff and pupils are
celebrating an outstanding set of
GCSE exam results. 85% of Year
11 pupils achieved 5 A* - C in Eng-
lish and maths. We were delighted
with our average points score
which indicated that many of our
pupils gained higher grades includ-
ing over 20% who achieved 5A*/A. Our school‟s success
is reflected in the fact that almost 95% of our pupils go
on to further studies at Godalming, Alton and Guildford
Colleges and on to prestigious universities.
Outstanding results and well done to the Class of 2012.
We look forward to even better for Class of 2013.
WELCOME BACK TO A NEW YEAR
We are delighted to welcome new members of staff for
this year: Mr Nash (Head of Creative and Performing
Arts), Mrs Rose (Head of Art), Mr Dance (DoL KS4/
Science ), Mr Attwood, (Head of DT),
Miss Bourne (English), Miss On (English),
Ms Swaisland (English), Miss Rudd (Maths), Mrs
Taylor (Maths). Welcome to the Woolmer Hill family.
Sue Bullen, Headteacher
OPEN EVENING
EARLY CLOSURE
Please note the school will close at 1.25
pm on Thursday 4 October for the
Woolmer Hill Open Evening. All pro-
spective pupils and parents, please come
along and see the school from 6.00pm -
8.30pm. We look forward to welcoming
you.
HOMEWORK
CLUB
A Homework
Club is run in the
Library after
school every day
from 3.10 pm -
4.30 pm and from 3.10 pm - 4.00 pm on a
Friday. We are also hoping to open from 8.15
am each morning. Everyone welcome.
Mrs Luck, Study Supervisor
COLLEGE INFORMATION EVENING
TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 7.00 PM
Last week College Information letters were
sent home with Year 11 pupils with an invita-
tion for parents to attend the above meeting.
Please return the reply slip on the letter as
soon as possible and come along to this in-
formative evening with your child.
PE FIXTURES AND NEWS
Mon 17 September
Yr 9 Boys’ Football, Glebelands, H
Tues 18 September
Yr 10/11 Girls’ Football, Robert Mays, ESFA Cup, A
Weds 19 September
Yr 10 Boys’ Football, Glebelands, A
Yr 9/11 Netball, Broadwater, H
Thurs 20 September
Yr 11 Girls’ Football, Glebelands, A
Yr 10 Boys’ Football, Brighton Hill, ESFA Cup, A
Mon 24 September
Yr 8 Boys’ Football, Rodborough, A
Yr 9/10 Netball, Rodborough, H
Tues 25 September
Yr 7 Boys’ Football, Tanbridge House, ESFA Cup, H
Weds 26 September
Yr 11 Boys’ Football, Rodborough, A
Thurs 27 September
Yr 9 Boys’ Football, Rodborough, A
WOOLMER HILL HAS TALENT
The Talent Show will take place on Thursday 27 September at 7.00 pm. Anyone wishing to take part
please see Mr Spicer (PE) or Miss Crenan (PE) at The Edge as soon as possible.
CAR PARK – HEALTH AND SAFETY
Please please ensure that when using the school car park, you only park in a designated parking bay.
Obviously you should not stop inside the yellow hatching area but some drivers are parking just outside
of this area. This is causing a major problem for other drivers, particularly the bus
drivers who have to manoeuvre their vehicles in and out of the coach bays. Also, please do not park
alongside the kerb on the exit route as this not only causes congestion but makes it difficult for the
coaches trying to get out of the car park. Parking here also causes a problem for customers using The
Edge car park and could make it difficult for emergency vehicles trying to access or exit the
facility. Thank you, we would be very grateful for your co-operation with this as we are concerned first
and foremost for your child‟s safety.
Mrs F Crawley, [email protected], Business Manager
HOMEWORK
Year Group Homework Booklets are published termly by year group on our VLE called FROG and can
be found in student resources/homework/Autumn2012. The homework booklets contain detailed infor-
mation on a combination of independent learning projects and information on the themes that subjects
will be studying over the term. Smaller weekly tasks will set on a day to day basis using FROG and can
be accessed via your child's own individual FROG login. Pupils will be made aware when such tasks have
been set and will record this in their planners. If your son or daughter has any problems with the home-
work they should contact their teacher prior to the deadline. For this term only Year 7 have been pro-
vided with a hard copy of the booklet to give an idea of the format. Please see the attached homework
deadline dates.
Mr D Clayton, Assistant Head, [email protected]
DATA COLLECTION SHEETS - YEARS 8, 9, 10 AND 11
These will come home with your child today. Please ensure you check the details and return together
with the attached Parental Consent Form to the tutor by Friday 21 September. Thank you.
ICT AND COMPUTING NEWS
Wow, what a Summer it has been. I am still blown away
by the Olympics and Paralympics, rounded off brilliantly
by Andy Murray at Flushing Meadow this morning! Still,
it‟s great to be back, and there have been some exciting
movements in the world of ICT.
Our new i-Learn Ipad Lab has opened its doors for busi-
ness, boasting a new Wireless backbone (being installed
today), 30 Ipads, 15 desktop PCs, Green Screen and
lights for chromakey work and the school‟s very first
Apple Macs in a mini recording booth. As well has being
great for the GCSE Media course, this will enable some
really exciting and interactive learning experiences.
Alongside this we have upgraded our ICT Hub in Geography from 15 machines to 30 in a new book-
able hub, already being well used by departments.
FROG
All parents should have their usernames for FROG. The password has been reset to „changeme‟ for
all parent users, so please log in and update your password.
We have had a parent portal built by Concept 247 for 3 years, but this product will be replaced this
term by a new FROG based Parent Engagement Portal. Watch this space for more information.
Please be aware that the existing portal will cease to function during the course of this half term. I
am very excited to be moving to the more modern and more flexible FROG system, which also
means we can lose one username and password.
We will be using email to send messages to you this year. Please ensure we have your up to date
email address in our database so that you do not miss out on important information.
Sorry that our school calendar has been slow going online this year- a small change in provision has
slowed it down- it should be there by the time you read this!
Some bad news I am afraid. The OCR course which our Year 9 pupils followed last year has lost its
Ofqual creditation, which means that there is no external certification- i.e, it is no longer a GCSE
equivalent. This is a big shame for all those youngsters who worked so hard last year on it, but out
of our hands. Here‟s to a great year together.
Mr M Toombs, [email protected], Assistant Head, ICT
TO BE COMPLETED/RETURNED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
PARENTAL CONSENT FORM ATTACHED
Please find attached a Parental Consent Form that urgently needs to be completed and returned to
your child‟s tutor. Your co-operation is much appreciated. HOME SCHOOL AGREEMENT
Please sign the Home School Pupil Agreement that is in your child‟s planner sent home last week.
This ensures that you agree and are able to support our policies and ways of working with your
child. Your child‟s tutor will be checking them, the deadline is Monday 17 September at the latest.
COMMUNICATION DROP
Every two weeks there will appear on our website the latest Comms Drop (school newsletter), it is
vital that you access these as important school information is included. Please tick the relevant box
on the parental consent form to indicate that you have acknowledged this important message. If you
have any queries please contact the school office 01428 654055 or [email protected]
LOCKERS
Full details are attached.
SAFEGUARDING - ROAD SAFETY
The school car park area does get busy in the mornings and afternoons, and queues of cars can
build up in the road as a result. When crossing the car park and the roads outside of school, pu-
pils and parents should use the crossings and walk quickly to avoid problems for our pupils and mo-
torists.
Mr K Doherty, Assistant Head, [email protected]
SKI TRIP AUSTRIA 2013
There are places available on this trip (Easter hols 2013) for Years 7
-10. If you would like details, please contact Mrs Bean as soon as
possible.
As there are a number of outstanding payments, pupils who are go-
ing on this trip will receive an account balance in the coming week.
Mrs H Bean, Director of Learning KS3,
LRC NEWS
I‟ve just set up our Scholastic Book Club school group order
online. This means you can now order all the books in your
Book Clubs leaflet and many more at http://clubs-
school.scholastic.co.uk/woolmer-hill and, what's more, you'll be
able to have your books delivered to school for FREE! Books
need to be ordered by Monday 24 September 2012. After that
date, I‟ll confirm that all orders are in and the books will be de-
livered to school for me to hand out in class. For every £1 you
spend 20p goes back to our school to spend on much-needed
books for our library!
Take a look at what‟s on offer here http://clubs-
school.scholastic.co.uk/woolmer-hill – there are some great bar-
gains with books costing as little as £1.99! Please consider buying
early for Christmas through our School Book Club as there are wonderful bargains! A copy of this information will be in the leaf-
let issued to all lower school pupils however in future the infor-
mation will only appear in the Comms Drop.
SAD GOODBYE
After nearly nine years our Chess Club's expert,
Mr. Sobey has moved to North London and is no
longer able to support the club. Is there anyone;
grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt who can help foster
the love of chess. We have an enthusiastic collection
of pupils who meet in the Library, Thursday
lunchtimes.
Mrs J Maclean, School Librarian,
PUPIL SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE TEAM
MESSAGE FROM MR KIERAN DOHERTY, ASSISTANT HEAD As we approach the end of the second week it is wonderful to observe the calm and positive atmosphere around
the school. The behaviour systems which were reviewed last year have been reiterated to both pupils and staff
and will soon appear on our website. Thanks to the support of Mr Wagner we have introduced a new and struc-
tured rewards system which is higher profile and will be a focus point in form time and at assemblies each month,
as well as being an agenda item at our main staff meetings. There are less uniform issues and it is both encourag-
ing and supportive that the few pupils with teething issues in this area have parental notes. Tutors will contact
home next week regarding any uniform issues which persist.
We welcome Mr Julian Dance to the pupil support team as Director of Learning for upper school, who will be
assisted by Mrs Maybury. Mrs Bean remains Director of Learning for the lower school assisted by Miss Chandler.
Attendance matters continue to be dealt with by Mrs Souster, Mrs Toovey and Mrs Fentiman. Together we are
all focused on the progress of pupils ensuring that each is able to reach their potential by offering pastoral sup-
port, interventions and dealing with any emotional and medical needs.
PUPIL ILLNESS OR ABSENCE The school must be notified by 10.00am on the first day of any absence by either phoning the school
on 01428 654055 and pressing 1 or emailing [email protected]. For pupil safety, illness
must be notified on each day of the pupil‟s absence and followed up with a letter to their tutor on return to
school.
PUPIL ILLNESS AT SCHOOL If your child is feeling unwell, they must not simply walk home. As a matter of safety, they should report to the
medical room so that the school can contact you to come and pick them up. Failure to notify the school if your
child comes home feeling unwell will result in an unauthorised absence on their school record. It is Surrey policy
that we cannot give out painkillers to pupils. If your child suffers with headaches and needs medication or they
have been prescribed medication by their doctor, please send some of their preferred medication along with a
letter of consent to the school.
MEDICAL MATTERS Woolmer Hill‟s school nurse, Genny Hobbs, comes into school regularly to meet with selected pupils. She is also
available to any pupil or parent who may want to discuss health issues or concerns with her when she is next in
school. Just contact Pupil Support and they will arrange a convenient time for
Genny to have a chat with you.
Year 8 Girls - HPV vaccinations take place on Wednesday 24 October, Tuesday18 December and Friday 3 May
for further information go to www.immunisation.nhs.uk/hpv
Year 10 - final school booster Wednesday 30 January 2013.
HOLIDAYS Woolmer Hill is part of the Waverley Federation of Secondary Schools which whilst, understanding that it is
tempting to take holidays out of the peak season, recognises that any time away from school has a detrimental
effect on pupil attainment. The Waverley Federation has agreed a consistent approach to requests for absence
for holidays in term time. Requests for holiday absence, unless there are exceptional circumstances, will not be
granted and if pupils are taken out of school regardless of our wishes, they will be marked as unauthorised ab-
sences.
IS YOUR CHILD ENTITLED TO FREE SCHOOL MEALS? Pupils whose parents are in receipt of the following support payments are entitled to receive free school meals:
Income Support (IS)
Income Based Job Seeker‟s Allowance (IBJSA)
Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Child Tax Credit, provided that their annual income is less than £16,190 (as assessed by Her
Majesty‟s Revenue and Customs) and they are not in receipt of Working Tax Credit.
The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
Income Related Employment Support Allowance
If you think you are eligible please complete the green application form available from either Pupil Support or
the School Office and return as soon as possible to [email protected]
Please could we urge you to do this as it also means that we gain extra money for the school.
All done in confidence.
FOWH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
9 OCTOBER 2012 AT 7.00 PM The Friends of Woolmer Hill welcomes all parents to
our Annual General Meeting - wine and nibbles will be
provided!
Well Done Drew!
Last term Drew took the brave decision to shave his locks in aid of
„Help for Heroes‟. Drew raised over £150 for the charity.
Drew, a Year 9 pupil, is also a member of the Army Cadets and
said of his efforts “ The „Help for Heroes‟ charity help those sol-
diers who have been injured in service and the families of those
who have died, I wanted to help too.”
We applaud Drew‟s efforts and the example he has set. Congratulations on raising such a signifi-
cant amount for such a worth while charity Drew!
It’s A Gold!! With the Olympics over and the medals toted up, Woolmer Hill
scoop a much coveted GOLD!
Artsmark England inspected Woolmer Hill School recently and has
again awarded them with the highest accolade – the Artsmark Gold
Award.
Mr Nash, Head of the Creative Arts Faculty said of the award “I am
immensely proud of the staff and pupils alike at Woolmer Hill School.
This award recognises the incredible talent that is harnessed and de-
veloped within the Creative Arts Faculty. I must also thank our many community partners who
offer our performers and artists both experience and the opportunity to learn outside of the
classroom.”
This is the third consecutive Artsmark Gold awarded to Woolmer Hill School, testament to the
high standard of Creative Arts provision.
MAIN GOVERNING BODY MEETINGS
Every year the Governing Body has to review attendance at Main Governing Body meetings. As in
previous years, we agreed that parents could attend meetings, as observers, but would be asked to
leave when confidential items are discussed.
The Main Governing Body Meetings during this academic year will be held on November 15 2012,
March 21 2013 and July 4 2013. If you wish to attend, you must advise the Clerk of Governors,
via the School, at least one week before the meeting. Dates of these meetings will be published
again in the Communications Drop at the start of each term.
Susan Stathers,
Chair of Governors
