Dear Parent/Carer,
It seems a little while now since the term got off to a very cold and icy start back in January. Thank you to parents and carers for the efforts made to bring students to school during the first week of term – and for your understanding of the different arrangements that had to be in place because of the weather. Please note that it should always be assumed that school will be open unless announced otherwise via our website, social media and/or e-mail to parents and carers.
Since the snowy start, the term has once again been very busy over the last 6 weeks – please see our latest newsletter for a round-up of all the exciting ventures that our students have been involved in since the start of 2025 …
Helsby High School – Half-Term Newsletter
February Half-Term Household Support Fund Payments
Cheshire West and Chester Council are continuing to support students in receipt of Free School Meals over the February half-term holiday. Hence please look out for the £17.50 Tesco e-voucher per eligible student, which will be e-mailed out to parents on Saturday 15th February.
Please note that the school is able to check eligibility for our students’ families and hence do please get in touch us with us (via admin@helsbyhigh.org.uk) if you would like us to check out eligibility for Free School Meals for students and also for Household Support Fund vouchers over school holidays.
Key Spring Term Dates
Please see below for details of key events for next half-term:
Monday 24th February – Students return after half-term break
Thursday 27th February – Year 9 Options Evening (in school)
Friday 28th February – Year 8 Author Visit
Thursday 6th March – World Book Day
Monday 10th March – Year 11 and Year 13 PPE2 Reports issued
Thursday 20th March – Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening (on-line)
Thursday 27th March – Year 13 Parent Consultation Evening (on-line)
Tuesday 1st April – National Theatre Evening Performance
Wednesday 2nd April – Year 11 Information Evening (on-line)
Friday 4th April – Last day of term*
*Please note that the Summer Term begins (for students and staff) on Wednesday 23rd April.
School Website
A reminder that our school website hopefully contains all the information parents and carers would need to know to support their child at school. In particular, I would just like to highlight a few pages on the website which have been recently updated (please click on the links to open the webpages) …
Our Curriculum and Schemes of Learning- Helsby High School
Details of what learning is covered, and when, in all year groups and in all subjects.
Curriculum Support – Helsby High School
A ‘one-stop shop’ containing links to all the information provided by the school to support students’ learning, including Information Evening presentations, examination timetables and revision materials.
Contacting School – Helsby High School
Information to support contact with school, including the seniorteam@helsbyhigh.org address to contact the Senior Leadership Team directly.
2024-25 SDP Key Priorities
A summary of our School Development Plan (SDP) priorities for this academic year, as we strive to continue improving our provision for our students and families.
Kingsley Bus Meeting
Please note that a meeting has been arranged for parents and carers of non-pass holder students affected by the recent change to the school bus service from Kingsley. The meeting will take place in school at 5.30pm on Tuesday 25th February.
Update from our Attendance Team (Years 7-11)
We would firstly like to thank all parents and carers that are now contacting the school via the attendance@helsbyhigh.org e-mail address to advise us of absence and appointments. This is really helpful for the school as it enables us to get messages to students and teachers via registers and saves time for everyone involved.
As part of our safeguarding responsibilities in school, we have to be aware of where our students are at all times. This is why it is so important to let us know if your child is going to be off ill that day and every day that follows. We have to mark the registers as present or absent for every student. If your child has not arrived at school and we have not heard from you, then we have to mark your child as absent and start the process of trying to contact you to find out where they are.
Our school policy for absence and appointments is as follows:
If your child is unwell and you feel that they would not be able to complete a day at school, please e-mail attendance@helsbyhigh.org saying who your child is and what specifically is wrong with them. If this illness continues for more than a day then you need to contact the Attendance Team on the same e-mail every day, explaining that your child is still unwell.
If your child has an appointment in school time, you again need to e-mail attendance@helsbyhigh.org with 48 hours’ notice, advising us who your child is and the day and time of their appointment. We can then add this to registers and your child can be reminded on the day by their Form Tutor and subsequent class teachers.
Thank you in advance for your co-operation with the above – Mrs Nixon, Education Welfare and Attendance Officer.
Update from our Sixth Form Attendance Team
Please note the above attendance policies should also be followed by students in the Sixth Form. In the event of absence for Year 12 and 13 students, our Sixth Form Attendance Team should be contacted via 6thformadmin@helsbyhigh.org or khoughton@helsbyhigh.org.
Very best wishes,
Martin Hill
Headteacher