Newsflash 19 Friday 30th January 2015 Mossley Hollins is an outstanding high school OfSTED APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED BY EARLY CLOSURE DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS: 29TH JANUARY We are so sorry about the inconvenience caused by the decision we felt we had to make yesterday. Our instructions from the Local Authority – with which we agreed – are that we should not make any decision about school closure too early in the morning and if we do have to shut we should build in time to alert parents. At 5am there was no problem when we first checked. Carillion and our Facilities Manager, Phil Maynard, had done a superb job, making the school safe and the road clear. At 7am Stuart Marshall did a check with Phil and we also did a local and regional weather check. Conditions were good and the roads and paths were clear. However, at 8.50am, the situation was much more difficult and the snow was heavy. The safety of students is our priority at these times. We checked with bus companies, weather forecasts and the problems on site. At 9.10am we realised that we had no real choice but to close the school. We put the message on the website and sent a text-message to each parent. Tameside Schools’ email server was down so we could not write or receive emails. A team of staff manned all phones to deal with all calls coming in and we contacted parents who had let us know they needed a contact. Children who needed to stay behind were treated to hot-chocolate as they worked in our conference room until they could be collected later. Some buses did not get to school and dropped the students off: we contacted the families of any student who did not arrive. We know this will have caused inconvenience but we cannot thank enough the huge number of parents who complimented us on our communication or who helped us during the day. Our teaching and support staff were mopping floors and supporting students throughout their arrival and our children were unbelievably supportive and mature throughout the period. Thanks to all. YEAR 8 PARENTS’ EVENING: TO BE RE-SCHEDULED We apologise for having to postpone Year 8 Parents’ Evening. We are currently planning a new date and the appointments’ will take place at the same time. Parents and carers have already received appointment sheets for the evening and so we would just run with exactly the same appointment times. We will inform you of the new date for the evening as soon as possible. Do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible if there are any concerns or issues. MHHS IS THE TOP PERFORMING ‘SIMILAR’ SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY It’s Official: Mossley Hollins is the top performing ‘SIMILAR’ school in the country This week we can reveal officially one of the best bits of news in our long history. The school was informed on Thursday 29th January 2015 that its 2014 Academic Performance (Progress and Attainment) made it the TOP ‘similar’ SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY, when measured against schools with a similar intake profile. The question is: “Given where they started, how well did the pupils do by the time they left, after 5 years at school.” We came top, 6% above the 2nd placed ‘similar’ school, Waddeston Church of England School in Buckinghamshire. Congratulations and thank you to all students, parents, carers, staff, governors and partners for this wonderful achievement. This should give us all confidence in our determination to continue to get the very best for as many young learners as possible. By following our values of MANNERS, HARD WORK AND HONESTY we succeed because we learn together. ECO CLUB UPDATE We want your rubbish! If anyone has any glossy magazines and/or plastic bottle tops (preferably coloured ones - like off juice/milk bottles) lying around at home, then please could you send them in for our eco-club? Please send them in with your son/daughter and take them to Miss Morrison. Eco-club takes place in room 2.03, during lunchtime, every Wednesday. Pupils from all year groups are very welcome to attend. CHESS CLUB Due to popular demand, we are looking for people to donate chess boards and pieces. If anyone has a chess board in the attic or one that they no longer use, please could you bring it into school? We have a few spare pieces so don’t worry if you haven’t got the full set. Thank you for any help you can give. Miss Patten and the Wednesday Chess Club. PREP IN THE LIBRARY ALL WELCOME MONDAYS, TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS AFTER SCHOOL FOR ANY SUBJECT IN THE LIBRARY & NURTURE ROOM (1st FLOOR) WITH TWO TEACHERS TO SUPPORT YOU IF YOU NEED IT After school on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday the school can now offer a place for students to do homework, prepare for projects and controlled assessments or to find out more about the work they are doing in a subject. WHY NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PREP IN ANY SUBJECT ON A MONDAY, TUESDAY OR THURSDAY AFTER SCHOOL VERY IMPORTANT YEAR 9 EXAM WEEK: 9TH – 13TH FEBRUARY As we are approaching the exam week for year 9 it would be really helpful if you could support and encourage your son/daughter in their on-going preparations and revision for the exams. Their subject teachers will be highlighting areas to focus on over the coming weeks in class and homework may be focussed on revising specific areas. Thank you so much for your continued support. Andrea Din Deputy Headteacher SPORT RESULTS Table Tennis Year 9 and 10 The Year 9 and Year 10 table tennis teams played in a tournament on Tuesday 27th January, against 4 other schools in Tameside. The boys played in both single and double games and showed excellent levels of skill and ability to win a number a number of individual and team matches. The boys will be continuing the tournament next week. Congratulations and well done to the following pupils. Year 10 Leon James Reece Tom Srisamutr Lawton Graham Atkinson Year 9 Joshua Fraser Nathan Ciaran Jackson Dallas Laycock McQuillian ROCK STARS NEWS Every week 6 students enter our Rock Stars Hall of Fame. These students are either our top performers from each form or the most improved from each form. This week the 6 most improved performers in each form are: Student's forename Student's surname Form Cameron Quinn M Devonte Tsapayi O Jack Heyes S Jack Morris L Joshua Platt E Dean Knott Y Interestingly, it was 6 boys who were the most improved! Girls- make sure you don’t get left behind next week. Parents, please ensure your child is completing 30 minutes of their Rock Stars handbook each week to prepare them for the challenge. Don’t forget you can check out the full chart run down on www.mossleyhollins.weebly.com Follow the link through faculties, maths, rockstars. LUNCHTIME HOMEWORK CLUBS 2015 The lunchtime homework clubs are open for all students at MHHS. If you need time or a computer to complete work then please come along to one of our clubs: Faculty Homework Clubs for all pupils      Monday - Science in 3.07 Tuesday - Technology in 4.06 and Humanities in 2.04 Wednesday - English and MFL in 2.10 Thursday - Mathematics in 3.03 Friday - Arts and Sport in G.01 Year 7 and 8 Homework Club will be running daily at lunchtime in the OBC. Pupils can also come and work in a quiet supportive environment in the Library at lunchtime and after school. IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Monday 2nd – Thursday 5th February Tuesday 3rd February Wednesday 4th February Thursday 5th February MFL Controlled Assessments 50 Year 7 pupils to the Halle Orchestra Geography Booster session Walking Talking Mock Maths Monday 9th – Friday 13th February Monday 9th February Wednesday 11th February Year 9 Exam week Year 11 Dual Science resits Year 10 GCSE Graphics group to the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester PLEASE UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS WITH US If you have a new e-mail address please could you contact [email protected] We send our newsflash out weekly ‘on line’ and there are other important emails that we may wish to send to you. Thank you for your help in this matter.