As we complete the first part of the school year, I wanted to say thank you for all of your support and encouragement of your children. We have been overwhelmed by the number of students who have stayed behind for after-school clubs. Year 11 have shown great diligence in attending subject clinics, taking the responsibility of being in an exam year seriously. Year 7 have made a superb start, impressing us all with their enthusiasm and the speed with which they have got used to the school site.
I have already given out 18 Headteacher Awards and attended afternoon tea with the 100 students who reached this award by the end of last academic year. It was such a pleasure to see them enjoy their tea, chatting away to other students in their year.
Our Open Events have been very well attended, including over 900 people on site for our Open Evening. I would like to thank our Student Leaders for their exemplary hosting duties on this evening. I had many complimentary comments about their kind and courteous behaviour and our Year 8 students, who hosted the morning events, impressed our prospective families with their knowledge of the school. By the time you receive this newsletter, over 1400 visitors will have attended our Open Events.
One of our ambitious projects that will span over three years is the construction of a new Sanctuary Garden that is being created to support the well-being of our community on site at The Henry Beaufort School. Phase one begins this year and will involve the establishment of a green space with raised beds for growing flowers and vegetables. We are very grateful for the design work undertaken by Mrs Drew in Learning Support and Mr Pounsett, our Site Manager.
The school is planning to put the fencing in place over the coming half-term, but if you can or know of anyone who would be prepared to sponsor us with a donation or a gift in kind, we would be most grateful.
I have included below the items we are looking for in order to complete Phase One by the summer term.
The Henry Beaufort School is celebrating excellent results that are in line with expected outcomes and as we anticipated, a significant number of subjects have results that are above the grades achieved in 2019.
Maths and English continue what is now a five-year trend of above 80% for grades 4-9. The school is committed to a broad and balanced range of GCSE choices, and it is particularly satisfying to see expressive arts subjects such Music and Photography at 90% grade 4 to 9. Equally the school’s focus on languages has seen another set of outstanding results with French and Spanish at 91% and 85% respectively.
80% of all grades achieved were grades 9-4.
Sue Hearle, Headteacher said, ‘This has been another excellent year for The Henry Beaufort School and is evidence of our consistently high performance as a school.
Despite lost learning time in lockdown, our young people have risen to the challenge and worked with my incredible, highly skilled colleagues to secure successful future opportunities in education and the workplace.
Well done to our Year 11 students, they have shown that hard work, resilience, and determination lead to very well-deserved success.’
Freshers Fayre
On Friday 15th September we held a Freshers Fayre. The fayre was an opportunity for all students a chance to visit to look and sign up for our extensive range of extra-curricular clubs. All clubs are supported by Teaching and Support staff and are always very well attended.
Henry Beaufort Primary Sports Festival
On Tuesday 27th June 2023, Henry Beaufort hosted the first Henry Beaufort Primary Sports Festival which involved 220 Year 5 students from local feeder schools attending Henry Beaufort for a morning of sport. The purpose of the day was to get pupils from local feeder schools to work as a team with pupils from other schools and to all compete in an activity in order to get a stamp in recognition for completing their activity. Throughout the day, all pupils competed in 2 different athletics events and had the opportunity to try a range of different sporting challenges. After competing in their activities, the event ended with a tug-of-war competition and presentation which recognised and rewarded pupils who demonstrated the four core values. The core values of the day were based around courage, creativity, compassion and curiosity. There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout that day, and it was great to see so many students and staff working collectively as a group of cluster schools.
The schools that attended were Harestock, Weeke, Itchen Abbas, Sparsholt, Micheldever and South Wonston. Due to the success of this event, this will now become an annual event and build into our school’s transition programme and strengthen our primary links with our local schools and students.
Trips
Friday 20th October 2023 - Battlefields Trip
Monday 30th October 2023 - Year 11 Place of Worship Visit
Tuesday 7th November 2023 - Year 8 Army Flying Museum
Wednesday 8th November 2023 - Year 9 Portsmouth (Cultural Capital Day)
Wednesday 8th November 2023 - Year 10 Winchester University Tour (Cultural Capital Day)
Monday 27th November 2023 - Year 9 Treasury Museum
Tuesday 28th November 2023 - Year 9 Treasury museum
Year 11 Exam Updates
Mock Exam Dates
Year 11 Mock Exam MFL Orals Starting Monday 9th October 2023
Year 11 Mock Exams Starting Monday 6th November 2023
Year 11 Photography Mock 4th & 5th December 2023
Year 11 Art Mock 11th & 12th December 2023
Please click here to view Exam Notice and Timetables.
The Henry Beaufort House System
At the start of this academic year, we relaunched the House System at Henry Beaufort, and we believe this is the start of something special for our school community. At the end of the last academic year, we launched the colours of each house on Sports Day. Students really got behind their house and represented their colour by wearing the colour that represents their house. The atmosphere on the school field was fantastic with pupils in their house areas, cheering other students on and were passionate to represent their house. The colours for each house are Athens – Red, Berlin – Orange, Luxembourg – Yellow, Moscow – Green, Prague – Blue, Rome – Purple, Warsaw – Pink. Throughout the year, all students will be trying to get the most points for their house. Points for houses are accumulated from stamp totals, HBX stamps for attending extra-curricular clubs or clinics, attendance and there will be a range of different competitions throughout the school year that pupils can participate in to gain extra points for their house. Competition’s will be based on year groups, subject areas as well as whole school competitions. Some of the competition's pupils can look forward to is the Year 9 Festival of Sport, Year 7 languages ‘cultural challenge’ during Cultural Capital day, Christmas Card Competition, Pi Day with the Maths Department and many more are to be announced.
We are hoping for a successful and healthy competition between all the houses all year around and to create a culture of ambition and pride through our house competitions and house system.
All houses are working towards being the first house to have their colour ribbon and house engraved into the trophy which will be presented at the final Whole School Assembly of the academic year.
House Leaderboard from September
Extra-curricular Activities
We have many wonderful clubs for students to come along and experience. All Extra-curricular activities can be viewed on the website by clicking here.
Sporting Success
As a school, we take pride in celebrating the success and achievements of our young people because of their achievements in school and outside of school. We have launched a Sporting Success “Let us know” form for parents and students to let us know their achievements, so we can recognise and celebrate these in school. It's been great to see so many great responses and here are some of them:
Imogen“Qualified and competed in The Cheerleading World Championships in Florida”.
Toby“Was the first rider on a small wheeled 85cc motorbike to clear a 25meter jump, which no other rider has done before”.
Charlie“Scoring a 109 not out in cricket in a Saturday League game for his club”.
Ethan“was selected to play at the England Draft Showcase in Ice Hockey and got ranked 13th overall out of all the competitors from England and Wales. This tournament is a pathway to represent his country”.
Sam“Selected to play for South East England in the Under 16 Inter Regions with his team coming second overall and progressing to take part in the Under 16 England Water Polo Talent Centre Games, where the team came second whilst competing at a national level”.
Lily“Currently Hampshire Athletics Under 15 Girls pentathlon champion and is part of the Winchester and District athletics 4x300m team who are currently ranked number 1 in the UK”.
The autumn timetable is available for students. Clinics will be 30 minutes long and will be highly intensive sessions that reflect a productive timeframe to revise effectively. There will be a five-minute movement time to allow students to then approach another clinic for the second 30 minutes. Each clinic will be run twice, every 30 minutes, on a specific night as per the timetable. Students will be able to select which clinic they go to 1st or 2nd but must always go to two different clinics. To ensure students are revising for all of their subjects, we expect students to attend two different clinics on an evening. Students will need to study the clinic programme carefully and ensure they are prioritising their revision needs. Students should not leave the school site until the end of the second clinic and must be strictly punctual to all clinics. Bells will sound across the school site to support this change in culture and drive to high intensity preparation and revision. 14:45 15:15 15:20 15:50 (allowing students time to catch the late bus as applicable. The timetable can be viewed on the website by clicking here.
Music
What a wonderful start to the term we’ve had in the Music Department. It has been lovely to see so many students continuing with instrumental/vocal lessons and to see such good attendance. It has also been brilliant to meet the Year 7’s and to get them continuing or starting their musical journey through school. If you are interested in starting lessons, then please go to the school website where you can find all the details and sign up for lessons: The Henry Beaufort School - Music Lessons
I would like to thank all students who have been attending our after-school clubs so far this term. The attendance has been great, and the focus, high level of musicianship displayed, and the real buzz in the rehearsals have been a joy to experience. It is not too late to start, and new students are always welcome to attend after-school activities in the Music Department from 2:45-3:45pm:
Jazz Band on Mondays
Orchestra on Wednesdays
Chamber on Wednesdays
‘Resonate’ Choir on Thursdays
All of these ensembles are working towards our Christmas Concert on Tuesday 12th December. The poster and letter for tickets will follow soon. Key dates in the Music Department Calendar 2023-2024 are:
Tuesday 12th December 2023 – Christmas Concert at 6pm in the Sports Hall
January 2024 – open auditions for our next whole school production (to be staged October 2024) – more details to follow.
Tuesday 6th February 2024 – performance by The Henry Beaufort School Jazz Band at Winchester Cathedral including the premiere of a piece composed by our very own Mr Wilson
Thursday 7th March 2024 – Music Department Spring Concert
Tuesday 2nd July 2024 – Music Department Summer Concert
Celebrating Sporting Success stories of two Year 8 pupils
We are extremely proud of the achievements of two of our current Year 8 pupils, Jacey W and Harry B, who have both been competing on the international stage in their sport.
Harry is a gifted and extremely talented tumbler. Tumbling involves completing a series of acrobatic skills down a 25-metre sprung track. After a successful competition season, Harry was selected and is part of the British Gymnastic Junior tumbling squad. Harry has recently been away in Portugal with Team GB competing in the Scalabis Cup, which was his first international competition representing Great Britain, where he came third, achieving the bronze medal, and then, with his Under 12 team, won gold for Team Great Britain. In September, Harry also competed in the British Championships in Birmingham and had a hugely successful event and won gold and became the new Youth British Tumbling Champion for 2023.
Harry said the following “I have been tumbling for the last 5 years with my club, Andover Gymnastics Club. Since starting, my goal was always to represent Great Britain in my sport and I have been working so hard to achieve this. This year has been my breakthrough year for me since winning the National age groups, to being a part of the Team GB tumbling team in Portugal and becoming British Champion. My next goal is to compete at the World Championship in 2025”.
Jacey said the following "I have been so lucky to have competed in two International Competitions this year, and it has taught me how to be a stronger person. You can win or lose with your team, but it is how you react that really matters. I intend to work harder in 2024 and hope to be selected for the Aerobic World championships in Italy.
Train to Teach
Browse the website to find out how to begin your exciting new career in teaching or to find out more about training at The Henry Beaufort School please contact andy.applin@staff.beaufort.hants.sch.uk
Arbor Update
Thank you for your support and understanding around our migration to Arbor. We hope you appreciate our vision for the future to align as many parent engagement tools into one place will be of benefit, even if there are a few things we still need to iron out in Arbor. If you notice something that could be better or have a query, we welcome this to the ‘Arbor Communications inbox’Arbor@beaufort.hants.sch.uk
We are aware of the teething issue around home learning “assignments” and the submission. The new system is a learning curve for us all, and we are working on getting unstuck with this. If you are at all unsure, please contact the child’s teacher in the first instance regarding home learning queries and whether your child has submitted it.
One of our biggest challenges with the move to Arbor was relating to the Schools Cash Office, which links in to HCC through our finance team. It is really pleasing to see that this has transitioned smoothly and if you have any queries please use the email above or contact our school finance office.
Currently, we are preparing for our school data drops to monitor student progress, and also building the reporting element for parents that will be released later this term.
I am pleased to report that we have 96% of current students whose parents have logged on at least once! Please note that using the parent app (not available to students yet) and setting up notifications will mean that information can be shared promptly with you regarding your child. Of course, if you do not have a smartphone or opt not to use the notifications, then emails can be viewed through your internet browser.
Mr Naisbitt will shortly be sending a questionnaire to review communication with parents as a primary stakeholder. It is important we have your views, including those on Arbor.
Online Safety
For parent information and award-winning online safety guides on the latest apps, games, devices and risks, please use the following link:
We are excited to introduce our new Senior Student Leaders for the upcoming academic year. These outstanding individuals have been carefully chosen based on their exceptional performance as student leaders and the strong reputation they've earned within our school community. They bring a great deal of dedication and enthusiasm to their roles, and we have every confidence that they will make a significant impact during their tenure. We eagerly anticipate the positive changes they will help bring about in our school, while also setting a great example for their peers. Please join us in congratulating them on their well-deserved appointments. Their commitment to our school's values and their fellow students is truly impressive.
Get to know your Governors
My prior governorship at a primary level school in the safeguarding role brought me to Henry Beaufort. As a governor, you spend a good portion of time reading and training, so after investing that time you want to put it to good use. In my safeguarding capacity, I try to attend a meeting at school each term and be present when we audit an important database called the single central register and discuss the safeguarding initiatives the school employ. I like to attend the welfare committee as often as I can so feed into them the safeguarding updates I receive. Being able to hear from the young people in a student's voice is one of my most favorite governor tasks.
My other role is the Chair of the Resources committee. We as a team have specific responsibility for reviews of the school budgets,, and premises and also health and safety. We are guardians of the schools' resources and very much work in conjunction with the Bursar and SLT to ensure the school is solvent and making best use of the resources at its disposal. I am very proud of how well the school and staff work so hard to make each £ count and impact our student community so positively.
My link governor relationship is with the awesome science department. I very much enjoy the visits and days I get involved in lessons and staff meetings. It's an absolute pleasure to see the teaching in action, talk with the young people and staff about the School Improvement Plan and how they look to bring positive change.
In my work life I am a Chartered Management Accountant and work as a Finnace manager for Merlin Entertainments. I have 2 children currently attending Henry Beaufort and one who has been through the school and now through college and university also. My passion is for personal development and community service. I believe in the compounded effect of giving back your skills and seeing how collectively we can all make a huge difference.