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Dear Parent/Carer

We have entered the final term of another busy and exciting academic year. This term is particularly exciting as it will be the term when we move into our brand new, ICT rich, state of the art, school building. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Recently our Student Council visited the new building and they came back full of enthusiasm and anticipation. It will be fantastic to see these emotions replicated across the whole student population.

The building programme has been slightly delayed, mainly due to the bad weather we experienced across the winter. This means that we need to finish early for the summer holidays and open slightly late in September to facilitate packing, unpacking and making the new building safe for children. The following dates are therefore very important:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your patience and support during the two years of the building project. I am confident that all our efforts will be rewarded when we see our young people learning in a beautiful new school building.

Can I remind everyone that every school day, every lesson, every study class, every assembly and every tutor time are vitally important to the future success of your child? It is essential that he/she is in school by 8:45am every single day. We want all children to be in our 95%+ attendance club for the Summer Term 2011. We know that regular attendance at school is one of the most important features of a successful student. I want to congratulate the 139 young people who achieved 100% attendance in Spring Term 2011.

The external examination period for some Year 10 students and all Year 11 begins on Monday 9 May and ends on Friday 24 June. Every student has an external examination timetable. Make sure this is kept in a prominent place and your child is prepared and on time for every examination. Remind your child that it is important to eat properly and get a good night’s sleep before every examination. A special timetable including revision classes and exam slams will be put in place to help Year 11 students make important and final preparations. You can help by making sure your son/daughter has a quiet place to complete coursework and to revise at home. Year 12 and 13 students are already engaged in final examinations which are taking place on the Heworth Comprehensive School site. I wish every student taking external examinations great success. I am looking forward to the results days in August.

Can I remind everyone that the uniform and equipment necessary for school includes:

Every student has a planner which contains all the important information about the school. It also contains achievement targets, attendance tracking, reward signatures and spaces to record homework. As a parent/carer you can check this planner on a weekly basis and discuss the contents with your son/daughter. If he/she is not using it properly then please encourage him/her to do so.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Parent/Carer Consultation Day on Wednesday 13 April. If you were unable to attend and wish to discuss your child’s report then please contact his/her Achievement Leader.                    282 parents/carers completed our exit survey on this day which told us that:

We know that working in partnership with parents/carers is the best way to achieve success for all our young people. Our Achievement Team Leaders and Learning Mentors are here to work with you to achieve the best for your child. The Achievement Teams can be contacted through the main school switch board:

Year 7

Mrs E Myers - Achievement Leader

Miss J Taplin - Learning Mentor

Year 8 & 9

Mr S Carlton - Achievement Leader

Mrs M Olusunmade - Learning Mentor

Years 10 & 11

Mrs J Thoburn - Achievement Leader

Mrs A Lydon - Learning Mentor

Yours sincerely

Mrs J Barker

Headteacher

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The event started with two of our students interviewing award winning children's author, Dame Jacqueline Wilson asking questions they had prepared themselves earlier in the day.

On the Saturday the students worked extremely hard to try and find views on the theme of the festival - ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’. A recent report claimed that the UK is one of the unhappiest places to live - they worked hard finding out what made people happy in order to disprove that claim!

They had another opportunity to interview an award winning author - Frank Cottrell Boyce the curator of the festival - this was an unexpected interview so our reporters had to think on their feet and put to work all of the reporting skills developed over the two days!

It was an unforgettable experience for us all and we will be broadcasting the reports as part of the annual BBC School Report day in March 2011.

For more information on BBC School Report click here

The Thomas Hepburn Community School requires an enthusiastic and committed individual to help us deliver One-to-One tuition in English and Mathematics.  A qualified teacher, you will be able to help our Year 7 pupils secure a Level 4 in both English and Mathematics.  You will work closely with our English and Mathematics departments to highlight each individual’s personal needs.

If you are interested in this post please contact Sam Read at samread@gateshead.gov.uk for more information.   Applications from NQT's are welcome and a full program of training and support will be provided

Closing date for applications: Friday 10th September

From the 19th April 2010, a two course “special” lunch will          cost £1.85, a “Main course only” will cost £1.20 and a “Meal Deal of the Day” will cost £1.85 - there will also be increases on the general tariff.

11th March 2010 was BBC School Report day, where the BBC open up their news feeds to school pupils all across the country. We took 7 students to Gateshead CLC where they worked with professional standard TV and Radio recording equipment to produce some fantastic news reports. It was a fantastic success, we even made the 6 o'clock news!

Our students produced a video looking at education in the present, this fit into their LIVE web broadcast where they interviewed Noel Jackson from the Life centre in Newcastle.

Some of our students were involved in a news report created by the BBC and shown on the 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock national news! We also had a couple of students interview Maggie Atkinson live on the radio.

Click on the link to the right to see some highlights from the day.

Good attendance at The Thomas Hepburn Community School continues to be very rewarding!

Metrocentre vouchers:

There are more Metrocentre vouchers for both students and their parents/carers who are in the 95% club this term.

Disneyland Paris:

Gateshead Education Welfare Service has a 3-night break for a family of four to Disneyland Paris as a prize draw for students across the borough achieving 100% attendance and punctuality from Monday 19th April until

Friday 9th July 2010. 

Britain’s Got Talent!

Students with 100% attendance next term (Summer Term) demonstrating acceptable behaviour and punctuality will be entered into a prize draw for tickets to see Britain’s Got Talent Live at the Metro Radio Arena.

Please see posters around the school for further details.  Remember – You’ve got to be in it to win it!

And Finally…….

Hooray! The Attendance Derby is here! All tutor groups now have their chance to take part in the most talked about race of the year.

Up until Easter we are running a race for the best attending tutor group to win a Pizza Party lunch for their whole tutor group.

Further races will take place during the year, and more prizes will be won!

As you are aware we are currently in the middle of a very exciting BSF project. We will soon have in place a dedicated student newsteam who will be updating our new BSF page regularly - documenting the whole process. In the meantime we have put some images here for you to see the progress so far. To find out more about those involved in the BSF project click here to visit the Inspired Spaces website.

School will re-open for Years 10, 11 & 12 on Monday and OPEN AS NORMAL from Tuesday 12th January 2010.

Arrangements for Monday are as follows:

Staff - arrive for 10.30am

Key Stage 4 & 5 (yrs 10, 11 & 12) - 11am start - all students assemble in the canteen

Key Stage 3 (yrs 7, 8 & 9) - School Closed

All students refer to previous post for activities that can be completed at home.

School will remain closed on Friday 8th January and re-open for Years 10, 11 & 12 on Monday

Arrangements for Monday are as follows:

Staff - arrive for 10.30am

Key Stage 4 & 5 (yrs 10, 11 & 12) - 11am start - all students assemble in the canteen

Key Stage 3 (yrs 7, 8 & 9) - School Closed

All students refer to previous post for activities that can be completed at home.

Class of 2009

The rain stopped, the sun shone and out they came! Stepping from limousines to the flash of cameras into the stunning grounds of Lumley Castle.

The girls would have given the contestants of Britain's Next Top Model a run for their money! Their outfits were spectacular! The boys looked sharp and sophisticated in their tuxedos.

The photographer took formal shots of the students then the highland piper began to play at the comer of the castle. He led the procession around and into the castle to be greeted by staff before entering the dining room.

After the four course meal Mrs Barker gave the formal address and then...THE PARTY STARTED!

The music began and the students took to the floor until 12:30am!

It was a truly wonderful night - a huge thank you to the Class of 2009 - you are stars!