News

Hewett School to remain a Foundation Trust School - for now

As you will all be aware, during the last autumn term, Governors consulted on their choice of AET to be the school's Academy Sponsor.

The responses from students, staff and parents to the consultation supported that decision; however at the last moment the Department for Education advised several larger Trusts, including AET, that they would not support them in taking on any new schools pending a national review of the organisation of academies. As a result, the DfE's initial approval of our application to join the AET Academy group was withdrawn for the time being and at least until the current Department for Education review of the larger Academy groups is completed. As Governors felt that AET would offer the school real and worthwhile support in continuing to grow and improve and, as far as they were concerned, unmatched by other potential sponsors, they have decided to defer the process of academy conversion, and monitor future government policies in the interests of the school, its students, staff and the local community.  This means that from 1st September 2013 we will continue to operate as an independent Foundation Trust School.

French Trip Blog

Next week, a group of students will be travelling to France on a school trip. So that parents, grandparents and other students can see how they are getting on and what they are getting up to, a blog has been set up on the internet. The blog will be updated regularly with information and photos. Anyone interested can see the blog at:

hewettinfrance13.blogspot.co.uk

Come to Art House

On Saturday 25th May we will be holding our annual Art House exhibition of student art. This year promises to be an excellent show. Please do drop in to South Site to have a look between 10:00am and 3:00pm.

Non uniform day

On Friday 24th May, the school will be holding a non-uniform day for Macmillan Cancer Support. Students can pay a pound and wear something green for the day. There will be prizes for the best outfits so get behind the challenge to raise as much money as possible for this excellent charity.

Well done Maria

As you may have seen on the front page of the Eastern Evening News on Thursday 16th May, one of our Year 8 students came to the rescue when an elderly lady fell down. The student, Maria, was doing her paper round when she came across an elderly lady on the floor outside her home calling for help. Maria rushed to her aid and asked her parents to contact the ambulance service. Whilst waiting, Maria sat with the lady and helped to keep her calm. Mr Anthony said, “This was only Maria's first week on the job and she did very well. She is clearly well on the way to her chosen career of paramedic. Well done Maria!” If you missed her story, it is still available on the EEN website.

Hay fever alert

This year, levels of hay fever are particularly high. "Typically hay fever sufferers begin to experience symptoms in March. However, the prolonged cold weather has caused the hay fever season to start later than usual," explains pharmacist Nick Kaye. "Unfortunately for sufferers, this means that grasses are producing higher amounts of pollen and when the warmer weather finally does appear the pollen count will sky rocket. Self-help tips It is sometimes possible to prevent the symptoms of hay fever by taking some basic precautions, such as:

• wearing wraparound sunglasses to stop pollen getting in your eyes when you are outdoors
• change your clothes and take a shower after being outdoors to remove the pollen on your body
• try to stay indoors when the pollen count is high (over 50).
• Avoid the playing fields especially if the grass has been cut.
• Ask your local pharmacist about medication available.

Year 7s design 'ideal bedroom' in Skills day

On Tuesday 30th April, Year 7 students brought their maths skills to life with a design task for Skills day. The students were given a budget and had to design their ideal bedroom. Their first task was to decide the things that they would like in their bedroom and the things that they would need. The second was to look through catalogues and on the internet to find out the costs of the items they intended to put into the room. Many of the students were very surprised by the costs and a lot of adjustments were needed to bring the rooms under budget. The final part of the process was to bring the items together in a design. Some students drew scale plans whilst others opted to make models. Some even went as far as designing their own wallpaper by considering reflectional and rotational symmetry. Students also spent some time working out how many rolls of wallpaper and tins of paint they would need to redecorate. Mr Anthony said, “Students spend a long time learning maths and it is very helpful for them to realise that what they do in the classroom will be very helpful in the real world.”

Art House

On Saturday 25th May, we will be holding our art house exhibition. This exhibition brings together artwork from The Hewett School, other local primary schools and Harford Manor. This year the exhibition is also part of the Norfolk-wide Open Studios programme. Please do come along and see what our talented students have created. The show will be in South Hall and is between 10:00am and 3:00pm.

French trip meeting

Parents of students going on the French trip should note that there will be a meeting on Tuesday 7th May in the Walter Roy Theatre from 6:00pm. The meeting will only last for about 45 minutes. Please could parents bring along their son's or daughter's passport and EHIC card.

Creative writing workshop

Last week, several Year 7 students attended a Creative Writing Workshop at The Norwich School, led by esteemed teen fiction author Keith Gray. His speech was hilarious, humble and hugely encouraging. Waving one of his books in the air, he laughed and admitted, 'it's all just one big fib!' For this day, he told some 70 students from all around Norfolk not to worry about grammar or spelling, not to think about the “Painful Humiliation of The Infamous Red Ink Pen”, which teachers wield, but to let their imagination wander freely, as a cloud. Our students are entering 500-word short stories to a competition, which is open to all Year 7s and must be submitted by Friday 14th June. If students are interested in entering, they should talk to Mr Whitehouse in the library.

Year 9 Pathways interviews

Over the next three weeks every student in Year 9 will be interviewed by a member of staff to discuss their subject choices for next year. All the students attending courses at City College, Easton College and OpenOpportunity have now been told whether they have been successful in gaining a place. Mr Anthony said, “we are very pleased that so many of our students were successful in getting places on these courses. Now we need to make sure that all the students are guided to make sensible choices for next year so that they have a Pathway that they will enjoy and be successful at.”

Last opportunity to recommend a student for an award

The journey to the Hewett Awards Ceremony is underway. To get invited to the event students must first be recommended by a member of staff, another student or their parents. We have already started to send out recommendation forms to people connected with the school. More are available on the school's website. If you feel that you know someone who deserves an Award, please complete the form and return it to the school. There are five categories of award: Achievement: students getting the highest grades Attainment: students making the most progress Community Citizenship: students contributing to their local community Citizenship in school: students contributing to the school community Positive attitude: students who are always positive and give their best.

Fundraising Ball, Charity Auction and raffle launched for The Base

On Saturday 15th June, The Base will be holding a Fundraising Ball and Charity Auction at Norwich City Football Club.



The evening will take place at The Top of the Terrace and will include a drinks reception, canapés, a three course meal with wine followed by chocolates and coffee. Entertainment will include a magician and disco. There will also be an auction of prizes. Tickets cost £55 each can can be bought directly from The Base. A raffle has also been launched with prizes of a Norwich City Experience for four people, a House of Fraser shopping experience, an overnight stay at The Swan, Southwold and other prizes. Tickets cost £1 and can be bought from the school shop. Mr Anthony said, “please do help support The Base, they do an excellent job.”

Exam Timetables

Every student should now have a copy of their exam timetable for the summer. If your son or daughter does not know which exams they have or when they are, please ask them to visit the exam's office in East Site. This is next door to Mrs Hawthorn's office.

Year 9 students build Anderson shelter models

As part of their work on World War II, Year 9 students have been studying the impact of war on the home front. They have looked at the different aspects of the war in the UK. One of the projects was to consider the design of Anderson shelters. These were shelters for families, usually built in gardens, which were used to protect from air raids. Year 9 students had a go at building their own model shelters for homework.

Who will you recommend for an award?

The journey to the Hewett Awards Ceremony has started. To get invited to the event students must first be recommended by a member of staff, another student or their parents. We have already started to send out recommendation forms to people connected with the school. More are available on the school's website. If you feel that you know someone who deserves an Award, please complete the form and return it to the school. There are five categories of award: Achievement: students getting the highest grades Attainment: students making the most progress Community Citizenship: students contributing to their local community Citizenship in school: students contributing to the school community Positive attitude: students who are always positive and give their best.

Year 7 storm the Castle using Maths and History skills

On Tuesday 16th April, Year 7 students spent the day at Norwich's Castle Museum where they investigated aspects of a historical siege of the castle. The siege took place in 1216, under the reign of King John and the students looked at the historical and mathematical aspects of this siege. They were split into two groups, one were set the task of trying to defend the castle whilst the other group thought about how to attack it. They considered the types of resources that would be needed both to besiege a castle and to defend against a siege. They calculated the amount of water in the castle's well and how long it would last. They planned how they would spend £300 of medieval money deciding whether to buy food or weapons. Students also had the opportunity to look at different artefacts from medieval times, including armour. The students all said that they had really enjoyed the day and that the trip had really brought the history to life.

Post exams results service

At The Hewett School, we pride ourselves in our Post Results Service - the guidance and support we offer to students after they get their results to ensure they are able to progress onto the most appropriate provision. All Year 11 students will receive a letter entitled 'What Next?' in their Citizenship lesson over the next two weeks, which explains in detail exactly how the Post Results Service works. You can read this letter for yourself on our website and further reminders will be sent home during the summer holidays. We want all students to feel they have support even if their results are not quite what they expected. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions concerning GCSE results and beyond and we will do our best to answer them.

County basketball stars

Following trials for Norfolk's Basketball teams, we are very pleased to report that six of our students have been selected. Huge congratulations to the students who have made their respective Norfolk squads.

Year 12 Saturday Maths session

On Saturday 20th April, Year 12 maths students have been invited to attend an additional session covering the topic of Integration. The session will run between 11:00am and 2:00pm and will take place in A9. Students attending should bring a packed lunch.

Exam Results

Thursday 18th April saw the arrival of some GCSE maths results in school. “We were very pleased with the results,” said Mr Anthony, “these are excellent for our students and the school. Well done to each and every student.”

Theatre Club see Starlight Express

On Wednesday 17th April, members of the school's Theatre Club travelled to The Theatre Royal to watch the touring version of Starlight Express. This musical features actors playing the parts of train engines and carriages in an international race. The conflict between the engines reaches a stunning climax at the end of the show, when the hero, Rusty, realises that he has what it takes to win. With 3D effects used throughout the show, high speed action on roller-skates and memorable songs, Starlight Express is an excellent show to get the Theatre Club rolling. All the students enjoyed the show and looked through the Theatre's brochure to choose other productions to see. Students should keep an eye out for future Theatre Club visits.

Who will you recommend for an award?

The journey to the Hewett Awards Ceremony has started. To get invited to the event students must first be recommended by a member of staff, another student or their parents. We have already started to send out recommendation forms to people connected with the school. More are available on the school's website. If you feel that you know someone who deserves an Award, please complete the form and return it to the school.

There are five categories of award:

• Achievement: students getting the highest grades
• Attainment: students making the most progress
• Community Citizenship: students contributing to their local community
• Citizenship in school: students contributing to the school community
• Positive attitude: students who are always positive and give their best.

Year 9 Pathways

We are slowly getting to hear which of our students have been given places on OpenOpportunity courses. By next week, we should also have been told by City College and Easton College who will be on their courses. Once we have all the information we will tell the students and start the rest of the pathways process. This will involve deciding which GCSE and BTEC courses will run in school and interviewing every Year 9 student to check what they want to do.

Improved homework information

The school has listened to parents' concerns and are setting up a new system of recording homework. All the staff will be getting training on the new web-based system on 25th April. After that, parents should be able to see what homework their son or daughter has received by visiting this new website. The link will be available on the school website.

Year 7's work out whodunnit following 'murder' at the school

On Tuesday 19th March, Year 7 students during their Skills Day were confronted with the dreadful news that Mr Anthony had been 'murdered'. They were given the task of trying to find out whodunnit from a list of suspects. The students spent their day gathering evidence from the scene of the crime and questioning suspects. They also had to carry out scientific tests on a range of substances found at the scene and on the suspects themselves. At the end of the day, students wrote a report explaining who they thought had committed the crime and why they felt that the evidence pointed to the person they were accusing. Well done to all the Year 7 students who correctly identified the murderer.

Key Stage 3 show

Following the massive success of “Parade” last week, work is about to begin on this year's Key Stage Three show, “The Chalk Hill Gang” by Crude Apache. The show is a comic farce set in a dysfunctional school about to undergo an Ofsted inspection. While the eccentric staff and biscuit obsessed head teacher run around in a panic the naughtiest children in school are causing trouble, building a giant robot and generally making a nuisance of themselves in a comedy fashion. The audition workshop is on Monday 25th March at 3:15 p.m. in B85 (the Blue Room). There are loads of parts in this show and anyone attending the audition who is prepared to make the commitment to rehearsals will get a part. For more information students should contact Mr Armishaw.

Raising money for the prom

To raise money for the school prom, Year 11 students will be holding a cake sale on Wednesday next week. They will also have a non-uniform day on the same day, just for Year 11. Year 11 students should bring in at least £1 to take part in the non uniform day. All years should bring in some extra money to buy cakes. We hope these simultaneous fundraising events generate lots of money for the prom.

Students visit County Hall

Students from Year 8, with Miss Gill's debating group, were invited by the Chairman of Norfolk County Council, Mr Ian Monson, to visit County Hall. An exciting morning of activities took place including a debating task, a visit to The Archive Centre and lunch in the restaurant where discussions continued. Topics discussed included how to run a successful campaign. The students were particularly impressed on first seeing the Council Chambers. Skills learnt will be put to the test when the Hewett Community is invited to vote for their choice of charity on March 26th.

Parenting course available

The 'Webster Stratton: Incredible Years' programme is a course for parents and carers of primary school aged children. The course aims to give parents and carers new ideas and strategies for dealing with children's behaviour, both the 'everyday' issues which all parents face, and the more serious behavioural issues. Groups tend to be of around 10 to 12 parents, and this course is being run by the City of Norwich and Hewett School's Parent Support Advisers. It is structured over 12 weeks, and it is important to attend all sessions if possible. Topics we cover in the group include: Spending time with your child, rewards and celebrations, social and emotional coaching, consequences for unwanted behaviour and sibling rivalry. The course is fun, and all of the parents on the last course we ran, reported that they had enjoyed the group, and that their family lives were calmer.

We do our very best to ensure that our courses are very friendly and welcoming - there is always plenty of coffee and biscuits!

If you are interested in the course, please contact Sarah Sporle on 07908202885 or email ssporle4nr5@nsix.org.uk

Charity vote: Have your say

The vote to decide the charity that The Hewett School will be supporting will take place on Tuesday March 26th.

Sixth Formers help to save water

During February half term, two members of the school's eco group attended a Water and Enterprise course run by Norfolk County Council at Holt Hall. Ashlynne and Cherry told Highlights, “we learnt about the real cost of water and the importance of saving it. Did you know that 147 litres of water are needed to make one cup of coffee? The Hewett School is one of the highest water users in Norfolk and we now aim to help reduce our consumption by 10%. Through a number of key presentations and workshops we also developed our mentoring and entrepreneurial skills. These will be valuable to us as we plan to work with some of Hewett's feeder schools and help them to reduce their water consumption too, as well as improving our future career prospects. Along with us, students from six other schools in Norfolk, a college from Norway, and students from the UEA took part in the programme.”

Year 9 present artwork to Carrow Road

On Friday 8th March, eight students from Year 9 presented their design for a work of art to the Disabled Supporters Officer and Study Centre Manager at Carrow Road. The students explained how their artwork was inspired by the American artist Keith Haring and that they have been studying 'the figure in movement.' The staff were very impressed with how the students' design reflected many different aspects of the football game and at how well the class had worked as a team to create this group design. The students will now be working hard to complete their artwork by the end of the football season and aim to have it on display in the Arriva Viewing Gallery for Norwich City's final home game against West Brom. Miss Thompson, who took the students on the trip said, “The students really enjoyed their visit and I feel it was an invaluable boost to their confidence and self-esteem. They delivered their presentation in a professional and confident manner. Well done to all of them.”

Parade is a hit!

The school's production of Parade is proving to be a hit with audiences. This powerful tale of a miscarriage of justice with implicit racist themes has left all who watched it greatly moved. With excellent performances from so many students, the many rehearsals over such a long period of time have really paid off. Well done to all the cast and crew.

Ofsted inspections

As you will know from the local media, Ofsted are arranging visits to 28 different schools over the next week. We have not been contacted so far but might be as we are due to have an inspection sometime this year. If we are inspected, we will send letters home via students explaining what will happen. Mr Anthony said, “we are looking forward to showing Ofsted our improvements and will welcome them whenever they come to see us.”

Students make film for BBC

On Wednesday 13th March, a group of Year 8 students took part in making two films with the BBC. The films will be used for the BBC's School Report project and feature in the Young Film Maker's Festival to be held at Fusion in the summer. The students were involved in a variety of different filming around the site, including news reports and interviews.

Technology Tournament

On Friday 15th March, the school played host to six schools in the annual Technology Tournament. The tournament is a competition run by the Rotary Club for young people which involves designing some machine or object. This year, the students had to design a vehicle that was powered by a falling weight. The event was visited by the Lord Mayor of Norwich and the Sheriff who both spoke to some of the 70 students taking part in the event this year.

Come and join the Parade

For three days next week, the school theatre will be transported to the state of Georgia to witness the true story of a man wrongly accused of murder.

This powerful musical production takes place exactly one hundred years ago in 1913 when Leo Frank, a local Jew, is put on trial for the murder of a 13-year-old girl working for him in his factory. The show explores issues of prejudice and justice and shows how good people can get whipped up into a frenzy of accusation which end up with miscarriages of justice.

This year, performances will take place on Thursday 14th, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th at 7:30pm and tickets are already on sale. They cost £6 for adults and £4.50 for students and concessions.

As with all our productions, demand for tickets will be high. The show has been going in to assemblies all week and the response has been fantastic. Mr Anthony said, “This is going to be an excellent production and I urge everyone to get tickets early.”

Beethoven comes to school

On Tuesday 26th February, The Walter Roy Theatre was filled with the sounds of the famous Elias string quartet. They played a range of music for students involved in the Sistema in Norwich project. This project gives children in Norwich access to musical instruments and lessons and is helping hundreds of local young people to take up an instrument for the first time. As well as playing for those involved in the project the quartet also played for A-Level music and music tech students, even playing and recording a piece written by one of the students.

Year 11 celebrating exam results

This week, Year 11 students have been celebrating after achieving excellent results in their January exams. Many of these exams were modules, small exams which count towards their final result, but some were full GCSEs. Mr Anthony said, “We have looked at the results in so far and we are really pleased with the performance of Year 11 students. This is excellent news for them and for the school. I am really looking forward to see what they will do in the summer.”

Non uniform day

On Friday 15th March we will be holding a non-uniform day to celebrate and raise money for Comic Relief. Students can wear their own clothes for a donation of £1 to the charity. A number of students have already planned other fundraising activities to take place on the day, including sponsored silences and cake selling. We hope to raise a lot of money on the day for Comic Relief, which does such good work for many people.

Hewett team runners up in STEM competition

On Wednesday 6th March, Solenne, Maya, Ruby, Polly and Evie took part in the regional final of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Challenge. Competing against nine other schools the team had to design and build an eco-friendly, battery powered car. The cars were judged on speed and their overall quality of design. After rigorous testing and a grilling by the judges, the Hewett Team came in second place, just missing out on the trophy and £100 prize money. Everyone enjoyed the day and all admitted that they'd learned a great deal from the experience. Well done!

University Tasters

Anglia Ruskin University are running two “Uni4U” Events:

• Saturday 20th April 2013 between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm at Cambridge Campus
• Saturday 11th May 2013 between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm at Chelmsford Campus

These events are for students in Years 7 to 11 and their families, and are designed to give a taste and experience of higher education and how it could help shape their future. Activities will include everything from drama workshops to assisting a surgeon, money matters to forensic science.

Places at either event need to be booked through the website at: www.anglia.ac.uk/uni4u

Art and Photography trip to Barcelona “enjoyed by all”

Last week, a group of students from Years 11, 12 and 13 went to Barcelona for a four day Art and Photography trip. One of the students told Highlights about their trip. The ysaid, “The weather was lush, warm and sunny and with an array of photographic opportunities. Students were inspired by the likes of Miro, Dali, Picasso and Gaudi. Not only did we have a feast for our eyes but we also had all-you-can-eat breakfasts setting us up for busy days. We visited the artists' finest works, homes and galleries. There were high hopes for the swimming pool and a surprise disco but Gaudi's awesome cathedral (still being built 100 years on), Dali's mind-bending paintings and a walk around Gaudi's mosaiced and colourful Parc Guell were some of the highlights. The trip ended on a high with a team quiz on the coach back from the airport, although everyone scored highly the Year 13s shone through with initiative to take the prize. It truly was a trip to remember and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.”

Ofsted Data Dashboard

Parents may like to know that Ofsted have produced a data dashboard for every school in the country. This shows schools' exam results for the last three years in a very easy to read format. It is available at:

www.dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk
“The Hewett's dashboard clearly shows the significant improvement in the exam results over the last few years,” commented Mr Anthony. “Unfortunately, the way Ofsted calculates Science results makes the results look poor, when, in fact they are outstanding. We will be contacting Ofsted to point this out. I know that many other schools nationally have also been affected by this.”

World Book Day

As usual, £1 book tokens for World Book Day have been distributed to all students - these can be exchanged for a free book in all participating bookshops. Students can also download a free WBD Young Adult App. On Thursday lunchtime we will be attempting another (mini) Readathon in the library, reading a whole novella together in just 40 minutes - all students are invited! There will also be a Lucky Dip taking place in the library all next week: students can just bring in an unwanted book in good condition and pick another in exchange.

Year 9 Pathways

All Year 9 students should have handed in their Pathways Preference form. If your son or daughter would like to go on a College course or OpenOpportunity course they should have already received the application forms. These need to be returned to the school as soon as possible. Please do help your son or daughter with these.

International Women's Day

On Friday 8th March, six girls from Key Stage 4 and 5 will be taking part in an exciting event at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library in celebration of International Women's Day. The event has been organised by local writers' group 'Words and Women' in partnership with the library. Earlier this year, girls of The Hewett School were encouraged to submit a piece of creative writing on a subject of their choice. The results were extremely enjoyable, engaging and eclectic, ranging from issues of identity and self-esteem to family relationships and loneliness; all entries provided a great insight into the lives of young women today. The winners of the competition will each receive a free book from publishers Hodder and Stoughton, have their work published in a short anthology alongside the other winners and have been invited to a workshop to help them practice reading their work aloud. You can listen to the girls read from 5:00pm and stay on to hear and see other authors, artists and musicians performing at the event.

Word of the Week

We have recently started to publish a Word of the Week on the Hewett webpage. This can be seen on the home page:

www.hewett.org.uk Each week, we will identify a word which is a useful word to know but which not all of our students will be familiar with. We will be asking staff to use the word in and out of lessons so that students get used to hearing it being used. Next week's word will be prejudice. Parents can help by discussing the word and its many uses and meanings. Clicking on the word on the website will provide further details about the word.

Year 7 PTI

On Tuesday 5th March, we will be holding a Parent-Teacher Interview (PTI) for all our students and their parents. This is usually called “Parents' Evening” in many schools. Each Year 7 student should have a list of appointments that they make with their subject teachers so that parents can come along and find out how their sons and daughters are doing. It is also an excellent opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Please do make sure that your son or daughter has been making appointments for you. If not, please call Miss Pitchell.

Year 7 students learn life saving in Skills Day

On Tuesday 12th February, Year 7 students spent part of their day learning the steps needed to save a life.

The whole day was focused around 'what to do in a medical emergency'. Each session covered a different type of medical emergency. The aim of the day is to give young people some training so that, should the worst happen, they are able to provide assistance until professional medical staff can attend. The students were taught the basics of saving a life which covers doing simple checks to assess a person's health and deciding what action to take. As part of the day, students practised giving CPR to a number of dummies. Mr Anthony said, “we believe it is really important that young people get a chance to learn how to save a life if needed and I really enjoyed seeing Year 7 students practising giving life-saving heart massages whilst they were singing along to 'staying alive', the Bee Gees song. Hopefully they will never need to put this learning into action but, if they do, they will know what to do.”

Charity update

Thank you to all those staff, students and parents who voted to choose the charity that the school will support next year. The results have now been announced and the top three charities are Macmillan Cancer Carers, RSPCA and CLIC Sargent. Each of the charities will be invited into school to talk to students during assemblies about the work that they do. Then members of the school community will have the chance again to vote in a special voting box over the course of the next half term. Further details will be available in future editions of Highlights.

Year 11 Prom date is announced

Following several discussions with Year 11 students and even a vote to settle the issue, a date for the Prom has been announced. Monday 8th July is the date and the venue will be at Dunstan Hall. Year 11 students are thinking about how they can raise money to help to pay for the Prom as any money raised will reduce the ticket prices paid. Details of the tickets will not be confirmed until after Easter as the final prices will depend upon how much is raised.



All students should be aware that they need to pay up all debts to the school before they will be able to buy a ticket. This will include school shop debts, trip monies owed and even any overdue library books. Students that owe money will be informed closer to the time tickets go on sale. A special e-mail address has been set up for students to ask questions, send in ideas or request music. The address is: hewettprom2013@gmail.com

Non-uniform day for Comic Relief

This year, Comic Relief, or red-nose-day takes place on Friday 15th March. We have already agreed that we will hold a non-uniform day to raise money for the event. Students are also planning fund-raising activities. If your son or daughter has an idea to raise money, they should talk it through with a member of staff first to make sure it is sensible.

Year 9 Pathways forms

Thank you to all parents who have helped their son or daughter get their Pathways forms in on time. The few remaining still to be handed in must be in as soon as possible. Information packs about college courses have already been given to those students who have said that they would like to try one of the courses next year.

The Hewett is a 'Healthy School' - it's official!

Last week the school heard that it had been awarded Healthy School status.

Healthy Schools is an award given by the DfE to schools that meet a strict set of criteria. These criteria cover different aspects of the work schools do including personal, social and health education (PSHE), healthy eating, physical activity and emotional health and wellbeing. The school had to demonstrate that it met the standards in all four categories. This was checked by an external assessor who visited the school and looked at all the evidence. Mr Anthony said, “This is a very rigorous process and we are very pleased that our status as a Healthy School has once again been recognised by the DfE.”

SamLearning available to all

SamLearning.com is a website to help students revise. With exams coming up for Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, there has never been a better time to try it out. Every student has their own username and password.



To get on to the site, first go to: www.samlearning.com

At the top right of the homepage is a box and you need to use this to log in. The school's Centre Id is NR1HS. Each student's username is made up from their date of birth and initials. So John Smith born on 1st March 1998 would have a username of 010398JS. When they first log in passwords are the same.

The website is available to all years and has a wide range of material for all subjects.

If your son or daughter hasn't started their revision yet, or even if they have, this is an excellent website for them to use. Research has shown that just 10 hours of use over a revision period can help improve grades by a significant amount - almost two grades per subject!

The Base table top sale

On Saturday 6th April 2013, The Base is holding an Easter Table-Top Sale from 10am to 2pm. This is a chance to 'Rent a Table' for a very competitive rate of £5 and make a little money on things you no longer what or need. There will be teas, coffees and cakes on sale, a raffle and other stalls. Come along and see where we are and have a look around, and maybe get a bargain! Please contact The Base (01603 463121) to book a table and to find out more.

BTEC Check

On Thursday 7th February, the school was visited by an external assessor to check our examination and coursework procedures. This is an annual visit and requires us to produce evidence that we meet the requirements of the exam board and that our grading can be trusted. Mr Anthony said, “I am pleased to report that we received a clean bill of health and can continue to offer a full range of qualifications. This is excellent news.”

Year 9 Pathways

On Thursday 7th February, parents and students came to find out more about the Pathways process in Year 9. The meeting was held to explain the different options available to students and the courses we offer. Some of the courses are offered directly by the school, whilst others are available though our links with City College, Easton College and OpenOpportunity. Mr Anthony explained that whilst most of the curriculum was already spoken for with core subjects such as Maths, English, Science, PE and ICT, students did have some flexibility in the remainder of the time; about a day a week. Students can choose a day-long course or two or three GCSE courses. Year 9 students have already been given their Pathway forms which they need to complete and return by Monday 11th February. These give the school an idea of which courses will run and how many groups of each will be needed.

Free introduction to university life

The Sutton Trust Summer Schools provide the opportunity for high achieving Year 12 students from non-privileged backgrounds to get a taste of student life at a research-led university. The Sutton Trust and the universities will meet all costs incurred by students, including: travel, food, accommodation, all trips and activities. Priority will be given to students who meet all or most of the following criteria:

• First generation of their family to attend university
• Achieved at least 5 A/A*s at GCSE
• Taking relevant subjects in relation to the course they wish to follow
• Are (or have been) looked after or in care

Universities participating in this programme are: University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Durham University, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College, King's College, University of Nottingham, University of St Andrews and University College London.

If your son or daughter would like more information about this scheme they should go and talk to Mr Oxford in the Sixth Form Centre.

Year 9 students create stained glass windows

Fourteen gifted and talented Year 9 students worked on the science of art for two special days before Christmas. Science teacher, Dr McFadyen taught the students the origin of colour. She explained the physics of light waves and how different wavelengths of light are absorbed by different materials. The students then investigated the chemistry of colour by doing flame test experiments. After that, one of the art teachers, Mr Money, worked with the students on design. He explained how artists use different shapes and colours to make different effects. He helped the students explore complementary and contrasting colours. Students then designed stunning images which were painted with special materials to make stained glass windows. Dr McFadyen said, “The effect is amazing!” The artwork is on display in South Site and can be seen from Hall Road.

School has Big Switch off week

The 4th to the 8th February is the eFutures "Big Switch" Week. It is going to be a week when the whole school works together to decrease energy and electricity use around the school. Dr Woodhouse said, “Everyone can help by switching off lights and turning off monitors when they are not being used. If you're in a classroom with several light switches, ask the teacher if they all need to be on. Also, encourage your teachers to turn off projectors when they are not in use. If we could just reduce our energy use by 15% in one week we could save our school £500. Think of what else we could be spending the money on!” If we achieve our target we will receive a £12,500 grant to spend on school improvements.

Year 9 Pathways evening

The Year 9 Pathways Evening which had to be postponed due to the snow has been rescheduled for Thursday 7th February. The talk will be held in the West Hall starting at 7:30pm. All Year 9 parents are welcome to come along and find out about the courses and curriculum available for next year.

Year 9 STEM Day

On Thursday 31st January, South Hall was buzzing with the sound of engineering and creativity. Year 9 students were given a challenge to create a working wind-turbine made out of paper, wood and other simple materials. The day has been organised to help students understand more about STEM subjects - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The students were split into teams and given the task. As well as designing and building a working model of the turbine, students needed to create a presentation to explain its features. The winners had not been announced when Highlights went to press but, whoever they are, they will be invited to a grand final with students from across Norfolk for another STEM challenge.

Peak Week Success

During this week, the school has been holding a Peak Week. This is where we remind the students of our high expectations and insist on them being met all the time, every day. The week was a great success with students ensuring that uniform issues are sorted out and having their six essentials. Mr Anthony said, “this has been a great week and we will maintain these high standards in the future. Well done to all students.”

Concerns over 'rushed' changes

This week the government has announced new changes to A Levels which will affect students currently in Year 10. The plan is to remove all modules and resits and make the AS exam separate to the A Level. At the moment, the AS exam is half of the A Level. Some time ago, the government also announced changes to the qualifications at the end of Year 11 which will affect the current Year 7 students. GCSEs will be scrapped in several subjects and replaced with English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs). These will be assessed at the end of the course with an exam. There will be no coursework, no modules and no resit opportunities. Adding these changes on top of proposed changes to the National Curriculum, at primary and secondary level, changes to league tables and year-on-year changes to the exam system is causing great concern. Cambridge University criticised the A Level changes saying that they would make it harder for them to choose the best students. Ofqual, the exams regulator, has expressed concerns that the proposals are rushed and risk damaging the education system. On Thursday, the Education Select Committee, having considered evidence from many different people and organisations, heavily criticised the changes and the speed of the changes. Mr Anthony said, “whilst everyone in the education system understands some changes are needed, the number of changes planned in the timescale is greatly concerning. Very careful consideration needs to be given to the number of changes being made at any one time and the length of time required to implement them effectively with full public support.”

Keep your child well this winter

As many schools in the area have been reporting, there is a significant increase this year in the Norovirus which causes sickness and diarrhoea. Please remind your son or daughter that they can help prevent this unpleasant illness. Hand washing, particularly after using the toilet and before eating food, is very important. Hot, soapy water is best as alcohol gels and 'wet wipes' do not kill some germs. At home, keep surfaces clean using hot, soapy water and wash towels at 60° to kill germs. If your child has had sickness or diarrhoea please do not send them to school until 48 hours after they were last sick. Thank you.

School closed as snow causes chaos across the country

Despite the massive efforts of the school's site maintenance teams, it was not possible to make the site safe and we had to close for four days. Mr Anthony said, “We do not like to close the school at any time and understand that this decision can cause difficult problems for many families. However, we have to think about the safety of staff and students on the site. As the school has a large site, it takes us a lot longer to clear all the paths. We do have access to a snow plough and enough grit but clearing all the snow and putting down grit takes a long time. We did not want students having to travel to the school whilst cars were slipping on the roads as this is particularly dangerous.” Although there was still snow around this week, the site team did an excellent job of clearing it away from paths and we were able to open as normal on Tuesday. Even though the school was closed to most students, we were able to keep the January exams running for the small number of students taking them.

Basketball success

Our basketball team goes from success to success and recently beat Framingham Earl School 84 to 6. Congratulations to the team.

Cancellations due to the weather

As well as closing the school, a number of activities and events had to be cancelled. These include the Year 9 pathways evening, the Year 8 trip to Norwich Castle and the Year 9 STEM day. We are looking again at all of these to see where we could fit them into our busy calendar. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the weather-related cancellations.

Year 9 Pathways

The Year 9 pathways process has begun. This is the name we give to the process of helping Year 9 students decide which courses they would like to do during Years 10 and 11. We have a wide range of courses both at the school and through our links with OpenOpportunity. Students will be having assemblies and have already received a booklet which explains the whole thing. Parents too have a meeting on Tuesday 15th January at 7:30pm to explain what is available, what isn't available and how it all works. Please do come along.

Getting fit in lunchtime

One of the advantages of having such a big site is that there is plenty to do in lunchtimes. The PE department, along with many other departments, run lunchtime clubs and activities for students. One of the popular clubs makes use of our fitness suite, which was designed, planned and built by the students. Even the money for the equipment was raised by the students. If your son or daughter is interested in getting into the fitness suite at lunchtime, all they have to do is go along to the swimming pool area and get involved. As well as rowing machines the room has a cycle machine, free weights and running machines. This is all supervised to make sure that it is safe. Alternatively, they can chat to any member of the PE staff and request that an activity is put on and it will be considered. Help them to get fit in 2013!

Year 9 involved in STEM day

Forty Year 9 students will be involved in a STEM day on Thursday 17th January. The day has been offered to the school by the John Jarrold Trust and promotes STEM subjects - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Students will be set a design and make challenge which they will have to solve in teams.

KS4 writing competition for girls

The Hewett School has been chosen to take part in a writing competition for International Women's Day celebrations in March 2013. The competition is open to all Key Stage 4 girls and participants are invited to write 500 words on any subject, this could be a short story, a poem or even a playscript. Twelve students will be chosen to read their work at a celebration for International Women's Day at the Forum on Friday 8th March (all students welcome). The successful students will be coached by local writers on performance skills before the event. All applicants must be handed in to Miss Ross by January 30th. If any students would like further information on the competition they should see Miss Ross as soon as possible.

Broken heating fails to halt lessons

Following our return to school after Christmas, one of the main heating pipes serving South Site had sprung a leak. This meant that a large part of the school was without heating.

South Site contains rooms for Art, Photography, Science and Technology which means that it is difficult to move students to other rooms. However we were determined that lessons should be allowed to go ahead despite the lack of heating. The pipe had rusted through and was no longer allowing the hot water to flow to the building. Mr Anthony said, “the pipe was put in when the building was originally built in 1952 so it had done a good job for a long time. We installed additional portable heaters in each of the classrooms and allowed staff and students to keep their outdoor coats on. The mild outdoor temperatures also helped. We were pleased that no lessons had to be cancelled.”

Year 8 BBC Report Day

All Year 8 students have been given consent forms for a special BBC Report Day which will take place on March 21st. Please could parents ensure that these are completed, signed and returned by Wednesday 23rd January. Further details about the day to follow.

Weather problems

Please remember that at this time of year the school has to be prepared for difficult weather causing problems. Many of our staff live a long way from school and a sudden fall in snow means that they might not be able to get to the school. If this happens, we have to take a decision about whether to close the school. This decision is never taken lightly and we carefully assess our ability to supervise over 900 children with a reduced number of staff. If we do take the decision that the school cannot open, we put this information on Norfolk County Council's school closure website. This information is also given out on local radio. We will also put a message on our own website and on Twitter and Facebook. This year, the County Council is also offering an e-mail or text service, for a small charge. You can register for the service at: www.norfolk.gov.uk/disruptions You can provide details of how they can contact you and which schools you are interest in knowing about. If the school is closed they will contact you directly.

Gifted and Talented event

Fourteen gifted and talented students in Year 9 will be taking part in a special science and art event on Monday and Tuesday next week. Further details will be in next week's Highlights.

Water polo

Ninety Year 7 and 8 students will be taking part in a mini-water polo competition next week. On Tuesday 18th December Year 8 will have their competition whilst Year 7 will have theirs on Friday 21st December. This promises to be an excellent event.

Students make a good START to businesses

On Tuesday 11th December over 80 Hewett students went down to The Forum in Norwich for our annual START sale. The students had made lots of different items for sale, including cakes, biscuits and other foodstuff. Sales were brisk all day with students making between £20 and £150 on the day. Particularly good sellers included origami sculptures and fruit cosies, hand- knitted designed to protect fruit when carried to and from school or work. Ms Marsom, Assistant Headteacher said, “the students were wonderful. They had clearly put a lot of effort into the whole event, including some spending all of Monday cooking their food ready to sell. Many people commented on the excellent displays and products. Well done to all students.”

Getting ready for Christmas

Although Christmas is still a few weeks away, the school is once again gearing up for a celebration in our own style.

On Tuesday 11th December, staff and students will be going to the Forum to sell cakes, biscuits, arts and crafts to the people of Norwich as part of the START 2012 event. Our school choir will be present singing carols to entertain the crowds.

On the evening of the 19th December we will be holding our Celebration of Christmas at St Mark's Church in Lakenham. There will be drinks and mince pies from 7:00pm and the celebration starts at 7:30pm. All parents, staff and students are welcome to join in this festive treat, there's no need to book and it's free!

End of Term

Thursday 20th December will be the last day for Year 12 and 13 students. On Friday 21st December all students will leave at 12:15 unless there is an outstanding issue. In this case students will stay in the Learning Centre + until the issue is resolved.

Year 7s get free books

Last half-term all our Year 7 students chose a book from a list of specially selected titles as part of a new reading programme supported by Booktrust and children's book publishers, and paid for by the school. The books have now been delivered and we hope our Year 7s enjoy reading them and completing their reading challenge over the year. More information about the scheme is available at www.bookbuzz.org.uk.

Weather problems

The North wind shall blow and we might have snow…

At this time of year the school has to be prepared for difficult weather causing problems. Many of our staff live a long way from school and a sudden fall in snow means that they might not be able to get to the school. If this happens, we have to take a decision about whether to close the school. This decision is never taken lightly and we carefully assess our ability to supervise over 900 children with a reduced number of staff.

If we do take the decision that the school cannot open, we put this information on Norfolk County Council's school closure website. This information is also given out on local radio. We will also put a message on our own website and on Twitter and Facebook.

This year, the County Council is also offering an e-mail or text service. You can register for the service at:

www.norfolk.gov.uk/disruptions

You can provide details of how they can contact you and which schools you are interest in knowing about. If the school is closed they will contact you directly.

What's your favourite Mo?

This November saw several staff take part in Movember, a charitable activity to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancers. Each person getting involved, called a 'Mo Bro' has to grow a moustache from scratch (no pun intended). Each Mo Bro is sponsored and money is raised to help people with male cancers. Some impressive moustaches were grown and groomed over the month. Nearly £100 was raised for cancer research. The winner of the best Mo went to Mr Muir for his handlebar-1970s special. A well-deserved accolade voted for by the students. Thank you to all staff taking part.

Academy consultation: Get the right information

It has come to our attention that a local political party have circulated leaflets about our consultation on conversion to Academy status. Whilst we are pleased that they are taking an interest, the leaflet contains some factual inaccuracies and does not provide a balanced view.

The leaflets do point out that, “over the last few years the Hewett School has made huge strides forward” and that our exam results are the best they have ever been. This much is true. What they do not recognise is that these improvements have been since we became a Foundation Trust school. They present the choice as being between becoming an Academy or staying a Local Authority school. They also imply that any change to Academy Status will see the school employ unqualified teachers, will prevent the local community from being involved in the school and divert money to, “lawyers, consultants and fat cat executives.” Mr Samain, the Headteacher said, “These claims are simply alarmist and inaccurate. The school's governors have agreed to consult on becoming an Academy so that we can continue our school improvement and become an Outstanding school. Talk of privatising the school or implying that anyone will profit from this change is nonsense. The Academies Enterprise Trust is a non-profit making charity and everyone involved in this change believes that education should not be run for profit. We are part of the local community and wish to continue our excellent relationships with the community. This will continue whether we are an Academy or a Foundation Trust school. Our mission is to provide the opportunity and incentive for every student to Aspire, Achieve and Advance and we will go on doing that.” Anyone involved with the school is encouraged to respond to the consultation. Further details are available on the school's website. Mr Samain concluded by saying, “we do want everyone to have their say and be involved in the consultation but we also want everyone to be properly informed and to get the true picture.”

The consultation runs until Thursday 6th December and responses should be returned to the School Reception by this date.

Get ready to START Christmas

The Hewett School will be holding its sixth Student and Community Art Fair on Tuesday 11th December at The Forum from 10am until 5pm.

Everyone is welcome to come along and view the wide range of items for sale, including sweets, cakes, Christmas cards and decorations, jewellery and homemade crafts which students, staff and parents have been working hard making in preparation for the event. With the event a few weeks before Christmas these make perfect gifts.

The Hewett School Choir will also be there singing a selection of popular festive songs and carols. We have built a reputation for a lovely event with real community and festive spirit. We look forward to seeing you!

Ms Marsom, Assistant Headteacher said, “I really love this event. The students always stun us with their ability to design products, and commit themselves fully to this enterprise.”

Bilbo Baggins and the adventure in the library

Last Friday, to raise money for Children in Need, staff and students from every year group took a quest upon themselves, namely to read the entirety of J R R Tolkien's “the Hobbit”. This heroic challenge was undertaken in the library where the brave readers, taking five-minute turns, read non-stop whilst others listened, many following the story in the many copies of the novel provided by the library. Sadly they were unable to complete the whole thing but they managed to get though more than two thirds by the time they finished at four o'clock. Everyone involved had a great time and plans are already under consideration for a non-stop poetry day next term.

Hewett undefeated in Basketball

Various year groups have made a fantastic start to the season. Results so far: Year 8 beat Sewell Park 28-16 Year 9 beat Framingham Earl 62-12 Year 11 beat North Walsham 48-28 Year 11 beat Hethersett 55-14 Congratulations to all the teams.

3 Hewett Tycoons in National Top 20

Tycoon in Schools is a National competition and we are very pleased to see that The Hewett teams are currently 4th - Retro Sweets/Sweety Pies (Georgia, Lola), 8th - Brain Jacks (Anna, Mia) and Annie's Attic (Emily) is 12th, this is an amazing achievement with about 100 teams entered from across the country. Ms Marsom said, “Well done to all The Hewett teams and with one week of trading left let's give it one last big push!” You can help support all the teams by going to the Hewett website www.hewett.org.uk/tycoon.html and clicking on the 'like' images next to the team names, this will take you to the Tycoon in Schools' website.

START 2012

The Hewett School will be holding its sixth Student and Community Art Fair at the Forum on Tuesday 11th December from 10am until 5pm.
Everyone is welcome to come along and view the wide range of items for sale, including sweets, cakes, Christmas cards and decorations, jewellery and homemade crafts which students, staff and parents have working hard making in preparation for the event.

For more information about START 2012, please see our START 2012 page.

Year 11 Students get on the "Road to Success"

On Wednesday 14th November, the whole of Year 11 participated in the annual Road to Success event. Forty business mentors from the local community worked alongside small groups of our students focussing on choices and pathways post 16. This year, students were asked to dress as if they were attending an interview. Mr Anthony said, “the students all looked fantastic and had really made an effort to impress, which they did.” Each student received a booklet and worked on individual career aspirations, completed a CV and a letter of application and took part in a short interview in the afternoon with a mentor. The day involved mentors from businesses, charities and public service bodies and all of the mentors worked with a small group of Year 11 students. Together they looked at creating CVs, filling in application forms to Post 16 education and to work-based training providers as well as taking part in mock interviews. “The purpose of the day is to equip our students with the skills they will need in the next phase of their life, whether it is applying for a place in the sixth form or trying to get a job,” said Mrs Atherton. “We are always grateful that companies are willing to send us mentors to help our Year 11 students.” You can also see more about the Road to Success day on our Road to Success page.

Gifted and Talented Trip

Mr Elmy and Dr Taylor recently took twenty Year 9 students to a gifted and talented workshop at The Curve auditorium in The Forum in Norwich. The event was organised by the Microbiology department of the NHS. The students participated in some interactive activities and listened to a series of talks about Pathology, Microbiology and hospital laboratories. These talks largely centred on new developments of diagnosis with cancer treatments such as mapping faulty genes to assess people's chances of getting certain cancer types, how science laboratories are run and what various NHS careers from these disciplines involve. All of the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves learning about new science developments which were presented at a very advanced level.

Business Breakfast at The Base

On the morning of Thursday 22nd November, over 60 business representatives attended a breakfast meeting to hear about the work of the school's family centre, The Base, and to encourage them to get involved. David McNally, Norwich City's Chief Executive and a trustee on The Base's charity, spoke very positively and explained why he supported the work The Base was doing.

Year 11 Mock Tests

All Year 11 students should now have a timetable showing them when their mock tests are taking place. Art students have their two day mock tests on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th December but the main block of tests starts the following week on Monday 10th December. There are exams for English, French, Science, Maths, Child Development, Geography and PE. Some other subjects, such as Music, will be holding their tests in lesson time. Mocks are an important part of the year and must be treated seriously. Students will need to bring their exam equipment for the whole week.

Key Stage 3 Art Club

The Art Club has started again for this year with lots of interesting and unusual projects and challenges lined up for students. This half term we are learning to use inks in many different ways, building up a collection of art to exhibit in school at the end of each half term. Art Club is open to all Year 7, 8 and 9 students, running on Wednesdays after school in B143 with Miss Mills, Mr Money and Miss Cooper. "Art club is a really good opportunity for students to enhance their skills in art and try some unusual techniques they may not have come across before, giving the opportunity to complete challenges with group projects as well their own individual work."

Year 11 Progression Interviews

Every student in Year 11 is being interviewed over the next few weeks to find out what they intend to do next year. Whilst many of them will be choosing to come to do A-Levels at the Sixth Form, some may be looking to go to college or try to get an apprenticeship. So that we can best support each student into the next phase of their education we will be talking with all of them about their plans, what they can do to make them happen and how we can help.

Tycoon on Facebook

Our young entrepreneurs, Tycoon, are doing really well selling their products. A day at The Forum on Wednesday 21st November helped to boost sales. We have also set up a Tycoon page on the website.
Part of the competition is to generate 'likes' on Facebook. We have put links to all the tycoons on our website at:
www.hewett.org.uk/tycoon.html
If you use Facebook, please do go along and 'Like' them.

Academy consultation meeting seeks answers

On Wednesday 14th November, the school held two consultation events in The Walter Roy Theatre.

At 3:30pm, the staff had the opportunity to question David Fuller, the National Director of the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) and Mr Samain. At 7:30pm, parents and members of the public came along to ask their own questions about the possible change. Mr Samain said, “There have been concerns expressed locally about some of the academy conversions that have taken place and members of the audience wanted to be reassured about our plans. There were some robust questions which were addressed at the meetings.”

Why change?

One question was whether becoming an Academy meant that the school was in difficulties. It was pointed out that, whilst originally it was only schools in difficulty that became Academies, this had changed and many schools were looking to make the change and becoming an Academy was no longer a sign of failure. A second person wanted to know why the school was considering the change. They were told that the school has made amazing strides in improvements over the last few years and that we always seek out partners who can help us continue that development. It is felt that AET provide the best opportunity to help the school improve into the future.

Uniform?

Another questioner wanted to know whether the school would have to change its uniform as part of the change. The answer was given that this was a decision for the governing body and that the sponsor, AET, would not impose such a change on the school if it was not wanted.

Profit?

Some concern was expressed that Mr Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, had indicated that schools could be run for profit in the future and would this affect The Hewett School. The answer given was that AET are a charitable Trust and are not allowed, by law, to make a profit.

Change of sponsor

Several people wanted to know the process for removing the sponsor if they did not perform as expected. It was made clear that the Secretary of State for Education has the power to remove any sponsor if he or she felt this was necessary.

Sponsor support

Parents and staff both wanted details of the support that AET would offer the school. They were told about the training opportunities for teachers as well as the professional and technical assistance available to schools sponsored by AET.

Additional money

Some wondered whether the school would receive additional money as an Academy. They heard that the main difference between a maintained school and an Academy is that the money comes via the sponsor rather than the Local Authority. The sponsor takes a cut of 4% of the money to pay for the services it offers to schools but this is usually far lower than the amount taken by the Local Authority meaning that more money reaches the school.

SEN support

A parent wanted to be reassured that the school's work for SEN students would not be affected by the change and they were reassured that, if anything, it would be improved.

Thank you to everyone who attended the meetings. The consultation continues until Thursday 6th December and the consultation documents are available on the Home Page.

Energy saving campaign

Students: Are you interested in the environment? Do you care about the future of the planet? Would you be interested in helping make your school a more sustainable place, by reducing energy waste and cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions? Would you like to learn new skills? On Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th December, The National Trust will be running a two-day programme in school with up to 20 students from Years 7 to 10. You could be part of a team that leads a whole school energy saving campaign. For more information, please go to B29 (West Site) at 1:30 (lunchtime) on Tuesday 20th November.

My Meme T-Shirts

MyMemes is a business project for Tycoon in Schools, which aims to bring the concept of the 'meme' – comic strips / panels which are about anything, and are, and can, easily be created by anyone. They are usually little pictures to make you chuckle as you scroll down your News Feed on Facebook. The goal is to bring them out of the depths of the internet and make them mainstream and start some new clothing trends! MyMemes is doing this by putting Memes onto T-shirts and selling them. They are currently half price at £5 each.

Events at The Base

For a full list of activities and events at The Base, the school's family centre, please check out the link on the left had menu of the school website. There is lots to do, so don't miss out.

Or visit their page here.. www.hewett.org.uk/thebase.html

Tycoons get selling in competition

Students in Hewett Tycoon are busy selling the products they have made to staff, students and members of the public. All this week, the Tycoons have been selling their products in school. On Thursday 8th November, they took their goods to a special event at The Forum in Norwich to sell directly to members of the public. Each mini-company has been given business cards and badges to promote themselves by Peter Jones, the entrepreneur behind the competition. The items being sold have already proved very popular with everyone at the school. Cakes, flapjacks, sweets and craft items are all on sale with t-shirts joining the list shortly. Ms Marsom said, “The students are doing a fantastic job of making, selling and re-stocking their products.” The competition lasts for a month and winners will be chosen from the whole country.

Peter Jones' Tycoon in schools

Last week we told you that we were submitting several business plans to the Tycoon in Schools competition run by Peter Jones. Now we have heard that six out of the seven team business plans we entered into the competition have been successful. They have been awarded the investment they requested by the Peter Jones Foundation, ranging from £40 to £1000. They will begin trading from 5th November 2012 for a month. Ms Marsom said, “I would like to congratulate the students for getting through to the next round of this competition. All the students have worked hard on their ideas and business plans but now they need to make their products and get selling!” The teams are:

• 'My Meme' T-shirts incorporating innovative meme designs.
• 'Annie's Attic' An eclectic mix of hand-made, vintage-feel craft gifts.
• 'Sweetie Pie' Retro weigh out sweets and treats.
• 'Oatinuts' Oat and coconut biscuits made from an original recipe.
• 'Brain Jacks' health-conscious flapjacks to build up your brain power.
• 'Raww!' T-Shirts Innovative t-shirts featuring original laser cut badges, each one unique.

From 6th November, students will be selling their products every lunchtime in South Site Foyer. Please encourage other students to buy from them. We are also giving these students the chance to sell on two days at the Forum, Norwich on Thursday 8th November and Wednesday 21st November. Ms Marsom commented, “The students are committing a lot of their free time, lunchtimes, after school and weekends to the venture. I am sure they will be successful. Please encourage your son or daughter to buy some of the products - they make ideal Christmas presents!”

Academy consultation

On Wednesday 14th November at 7:30pm, we will be holding a public meeting for anyone who wants to find out more about our plans to become an Academy. There will be representatives from the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) who are the governors' preferred sponsor. Parents are welcome to come along to hear what is planned. There is no need to book.

Sixth Form open evening packs hall

On Thursday 18th October, the South Hall was packed with young people and their families attending our Sixth Form open evening. The evening is our opportunity to tell students currently in Year 11 about our Sixth Form and the courses available. The evening was a great success with hundreds of young people attending. As well as students from our own school, there were many students from schools across the county attending the event. Following a short talk by Mr Anthony, the students and their families walked around the site talking to staff and students about the courses. Mr Anthony said, “I spoke to many people on the evening and they were greatly impressed by the facilities and the positive approaches of the staff.” After the event we received letters and e-mails praising the school, one said, “Just wanted to say a big thank you to you, the staff and students for a brilliant 6th Form Open Evening last night which we attended with our son. The very positive atmosphere, the lovely welcome and the opportunity to talk in some depth with subject Tutors, the Head of Year, the Senco and the many student guides left our son very much wanting to join your Sixth Form.” Students currently in Year 11 at The Hewett School who wish to apply should collect an application form and return it before Christmas.

Charity support decision

The school often holds charity fundraisers for local charities. In the past, the charities have been chosen by the school from our own ideas. Now we would like parents, students and everyone connected with the school to suggest charities that they would like us to raise money for. If you have a favourite local charity, please let us know and we will consider it when we put forward our next fundraiser.

Year 9 get motivated

On Monday 15th October all of Year 9 had an extended assembly with Amanda from The Fix Up Team. This is an organisation which helps young people get motivated and aim high. The assembly showed the students how some people face extreme hardships and yet, choose to overcome them with a positive attitude. Students were encouraged to think about their lives and what they wanted to achieve and then believe that they can achieve their dreams with the right attitude and hard work. They agreed that it was a thought-provoking assembly and would have an impact on their motivation.

Dance show delights theatre audience

On Wednesday evening, The Walter Roy Theatre was packed with delighted staff, students and parents as this year's dance show demonstrated the wide range of dance talent at the school. The show was opened by a group of Year 7 students dancing with Year 12 students. Ms Powell said, “It was really lovely to see our newest students, who have only been with us for six weeks, dancing with students who have been here for five years.” All the dance pieces were well received with the Year 13 piece being particularly praised by an audience member who described it as “professional standard”. The 'Lovable Rascals', six boys from Year 7 and 8 brought the house down with their interpretation of Gangnam style. “This was an outstanding show,” said Ms Powell, “well done to all.”

Year 11 at Financial Industry Group (FIG) conference

On Tuesday 16th October, a group of Year 11 students were offered the opportunity to take part in a stimulating event that highlighted some of the exciting aspects of a career in finance. The event was held at the prestigious Financial Skills Academy in Norwich and the companies attending were AVIVA, Alan Boswell Group, Marsh and Swiss Re. There were also representatives from City College and Norfolk Apprenticeships. The format of the day was very fun and fast-moving; a bit like 'speed dating'. The students attending enjoyed the event and the opportunity to learn more about the different roles and career paths within the financial industry.

Author visit

Last Thursday, Year 8 were entertained by the author Andy Briggs who spoke about his writing, his work in Hollywood, jungle survival, and his latest adventure story 'Tarzan, Jungle Warrior'. Book Club members described the event as 'inspirational and full-on', and 'enthusiastic and very interactive'. Andy's books are all available to borrow in the school library of course.

ERIC at The Hewett

Every week, all staff and students spend some time reading. This is known in school as ERIC - Everyone Reads In Class. This mainly happens in form time but also happens in lesson times. In order to ensure that all students can take part could parents please make sure that their son or daughter has something to read; preferably a book, but magazines are also suitable.

Young tycoons pitch their ideas

On Friday 12th October, the Dragon's Den came to the school. Teams of students from all years pitched their business ideas to a panel made up of staff and Sixth Form Business Studies students. Each team was hoping to gain a place in the national Tycoon competition organised by Peter Jones. Mr Anthony, who was one of the judges, said, “there was a superb range of ideas from selling sweets and cakes to the advanced use of technology to create clothing designs. I was incredibly impressed by the high standard of presentations and it was clear that the students had done a lot of work and research in a short space of time to get ready.” Seven teams were put through to the next round based on their business ideas and the quality of their business plan. “I am looking forward to seeing how well they do in the next round,” concluded Mr Anthony.

Banham Zoo Trip

On Thursday 18th October a group of Year 10 students visited Banham Zoo to complete preparatory work for their creative arts courses. Students from GCSE Graphics, BTEC Visual Arts, GCSE Art and GCSE Photography went on the trip and gathered some excellent visual material for use on their courses. Ms Marsom said, “this is an important part of their course and the students have done really well.”

The Hewett Bake Off cooks up a tasty treat

Wednesday saw the second year of The Hewett Bake Off get off to a stunning start. With twice as many teams and twice as many cakes, biscuits and cookies this year was double the fun.

In the Bake Off, one member of staff teams up with one student and each team have to produce two baked items in just one hour. This year, twice as many teams wanted to get involved with the event, which is fast becoming a Hewett favourite. This meant that both of the Food Technology rooms had to be used and the smell of baking filled the whole of West Site. Some teams made cupcakes whilst others produced biscuits and cookies. Chocolate featured heavily in many recipes though other flavours were in evidence. Mr Anthony, who visited the event said, “it was truly wonderful to see staff and students working together and having fun. Everything looked very tasty and some of the cookies were so enormous that they were bigger than my head!” Ms Atherton and Crystal Cox were declared the eventual winners. On Thursday, the food was all sold off at lunch time to raise money for EACH.

Hewett students take part in climate run

On Thursday 4th October, 10 students took part in the 3km run at the Norfolk Showground. They also had the opportunity to meet employers from local companies and learn about environmental issues. A particular well done to Josh Easter who completed the course in just over 11 minutes coming in the top fifty out of well over 1000 runners.

School Trip to France

We are organising a trip to Normandy for Year 8 students in May 2013. Any Year 8 students who are interested in coming should see their French teacher for a letter.

Early closure

On Thursday 18th October, we will be holding our Open Evening for prospective Sixth Form students. In order to have time to get all the displays ready for the evening we will close the school at 1:20pm. School meals will still be available in the restaurant. If this early closure causes difficulties for any parent, please contact Sue Millions, the Headteacher's PA, and alternative arrangements can be made for individual students.

Theatre Club: some places left

There are still some places left at the shows organised by the Theatre Club. We will be taking groups of students to see performances at The Theatre Royal on Wednesday afternoons. The Ladykillers is a classic black comedy and is on Wednesday 6th March. Tickets cost £8.00. The second show is Starlight Express, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, on Wednesday 17th April and costs £19.50. Finally, the longest running whodunnit, The Mousetrap, comes to Norwich on Wednesday 24th April and will cost £10.00. Further information is available from the school shop and tickets are limited so if your son or daughter would like to go to one of these shows they need to act fast.

Dance Show

There is to be a Dance Show on Wednesday 17th October at 7.30pm in the Walter Roy Theatre. This involves pupils from Year 7 to Year 13, and includes a wide range of dance styles from Contemporary to Urban. Tickets are available from the School Shop at £2.50 for concessions and £4.00 for adults. The show will last roughly an hour.

Theatre Club

The school has launched a Theatre Club for students of all ages. We will be taking groups of students to see matinée performances of shows at The Theatre Royal on Wednesday afternoons. The first three shows are already available to book. The Ladykillers is a classic black comedy and tells the story of a little old lady pitted against a gang of criminals. This will be on Wednesday 6th March and tickets cost £8.00. Our second show is Starlight Express, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and features amazing choreography and actors on roller skates. This is on Wednesday 17th April and costs £19.50. Finally, the longest running whodunnit, The Mousetrap, comes to Norwich on Wednesday 24th April and will cost £10.00. Further information is available from the school shop and tickets are limited so if your son or daughter would like to go to one of these shows they need to act fast.

Library celebrates National Poetry Day

Thursday 4th October was National Poetry Day and to celebrate, the school library held a lunchtime poetry reading. This year, the day had the theme of 'stars' so many of the poems were either about stars in the sky or stars on our TV. Several staff joined the students to read out their poems. Some were written by students themselves whilst others were by well-known and not-so-well-known poets. One student even read out a poem in Russian. The event was a great success and with chocolates thrown in, everyone agreed that it had been a fantastic celebration of poetry and poets.

Year 8 students make a PACT against crime

On Wednesday 26th September, Year 8 students had an all-day workshop with the Partners Against Crime Taskforce explaining the criminal justice system and how it works.

The workshops involved people from all aspects of the criminal justice system, including magistrates, prison officers and a prisoner from Norwich prison. The project, which has run in nine other Norfolk schools, was a great success and taught the students how to avoid getting into trouble with the law as well as how to avoid becoming a victim of crime. The day involved PC Jessop and other members of the Police Service and students also heard members of the Fire Service discuss issues around arson. In addition, students had a demonstration of resuscitation techniques by the local Red Cross. The students were most shocked about the conditions in prison, told to them by a serving prisoner. He described what life was like for inmates. “The day was a great success and the students learned a huge amount about the workings of our criminal justice system,” said Assistant Head, Ms Atherton. “There is always a lot to think about on these days and we are very grateful to all the people from all the different organisation who came in to help our students.”

Get ready to START

'Start' (Student and Community Art) is an annual event which gives all our students an opportunity to design, source, make and present their own products for sale at the Forum in Norwich. This year it will take place on Tuesday 11th December and is being launched alongside a national competition set up by the Peter Jones Foundation, called Tycoon in Schools. Initially, this will involve teams or individual students coming up with a business plan for their ideas, and some of these will be submitted to the PJ Foundation. Then a number will be selected nationally to receive £1000 to take their ideas forward over four weeks. Final reports will then be submitted and national winners selected, with an awards ceremony in London, and additional funding to sustain the winning businesses.

Raising money for EACH

The school has decided to raise money for EACH, the East Anglian Childrens' Hospice. On Friday 5th October we will be holding a non-uniform day and students may come to school out of uniform for a donation of £1 to EACH. On Sunday 7th October, we will be hosting the premiere of Angelis, a new musical. Tickets are on sale for £8 from the school shop. “EACH is a charity that cares for very sick children and their families. They do incredible work and it is a pleasure to be able to support them.” said Mr Anthony.

Academy consultation

All parents should have received a letter this week explaining about a possible conversion to Academy status. The school changed to Foundation Trust status several years ago and this has led to many positive changes at the school, including the new Goals Soccer pitches and the all-weather hockey pitch. The change also allowed us to build links with local businesses and other educational partners. Now we feel that the time is right to consider how we can build upon those successes into the future. The government is keen to see all schools become academies and it is estimated that almost all of the secondary schools will be academies within the next few years. Our Governors have decided to investigate the possibility of converting to an academy with the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET). The Governors believe that this group is most likely to assist the school with significant improvements to the quality of education. Please do take time to read the letter fully.

Parents at packed out open evening are “very impressed”

On Tuesday 25th September, the school welcomed families from many different primary schools to our annual open evening. The most used comment by parents was, “very impressed!” The open evening is set up to show families what we do and how we work as a school. It is part of the transfer process and families usually visit several schools before making up their mind about which school to send their children to. Our event started with a performance by students in the Walter Roy Theatre followed by a talk from Mr Samain. In the talk he highlighted the improvements made in the school leading to record exam results and predicted even better to come. The families spent the rest of the evening touring around the school and talking to staff and students. Mr Samain said, “I spoke to many parents on the evening and they were all very impressed with the work that the school has done, the excellent exam results and the atmosphere of the school. We know that The Hewett is a good school and it is a pleasure to be able to share it with local families.”

Exam Results update

We are pleased to announce that our percentage of Students achieving 5A*-C including English and Mathematics has been confirmed as 52% by the DfE.

Hewett Cluster meets to boost student achievement even further

On Tuesday 18th September, the Headteachers and key staff at all of the schools and organisations in The Hewett Cluster spent a day discussing ideas for boosting the achievement of students. The cluster is a group of primaries, The Hewett School, The East City Children's Centre and Harford Manor School. All the schools are improving rapidly and we decided that working even closer together than we have for a number of years would increase the rate of improvement even more. The day involved looking at all aspects of the work done by members of the cluster and identifying ways of improving them. Associate Head Teacher, Mr Anthony said, “many positive ideas came out of the meeting and I was really inspired by the enthusiasm of everyone there to help drive future changes. If only a small number of the changes that were suggested are put into place they will have a significant impact upon all the students and their families in the cluster, which is excellent news.”

CCTV in schools

Some parents will have seen that the issue of CCTV cameras in schools has been raised by an organisation called, “Big Brother Watch”. Following a Freedom of Information request, the school gave the number of CCTV cameras to Big Brother Watch and this was turned into a press story. Our school was highlighted for two reasons. One was the number of cameras we have per student and the other was that we have cameras in the public areas of the toilets. Mr Anthony said, “we are aware that CCTV in schools can be a sensitive issue, this is why the governors have a policy on the use of cameras. Our cameras are used to protect the students and our property and we have a large number of cameras because we have a large site. Our policy says that cameras in the toilets have to be “fixed cameras focused on the communal areas and must not cover urinals or cubicles. Where cameras are fitted in toilets, specific warning notices must be displayed clearly.” Parents can see a full copy of the school's CCTV policy on our website. If anyone is concerned about the use of CCTV in the school they can contact us to discuss the matter.

Disposal of playing fields

Following the success of the Olympics there were many concerns expressed nationally about the sale of playing fields. The Hewett School was named as a school which had 'sold off' some playing fields. This is not accurate as we have leased our land to Goals Soccer and the land still belongs to the Foundation Trust. In addition, the money we receive from Goals Soccer is put into improving sports facilities at the school. We also get access to the Goals centre during the school day. Mr Anthony said, “We believe that the deal we made with Goals Soccer is in the best interests of the school, its students and the local community.”

Outstanding exam results break records

This year's exam results were, once again, amazing for our GCSE and A-Level students. The A-Level results were the best for three years and the GCSE results were the best ever. The GCSE results were particularly pleasing with 70% of our students achieving 5A*-C and over 93% of them getting 5A*-G, a significant improvement on last year's excellent results. Even more pleasing was the rise in the 'gold standard' measure 5A*-C including English and Mathematics. This rose to an all-time high of 51% which is an increase of 15 percentage points on last year. “What was very pleasing was the wide range of subjects which improved their results this year showing that we are getting even better at helping our students to achieve,” said Mr Anthony. The A-Level results were fantastic with a rise again in the overall pass rate and the average point scores. “Well done to all staff and students for their hard work to make these excellent results possible,” concluded Mr Anthony. The national problems with this year's exam results has affected a very small number of our students and we are considering whether to appeal these results. Mr Anthony said, “It is clear that something has gone badly wrong with the GCSE results nationally, particularly in English. It is not fair that some students have been given a lower GCSE grade than others with the same standard of work. It is vital that a full enquiry is held and that this issue is sorted out quickly.”