Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that our students and their families had a very relaxing and enjoyable time over the summer holidays. The start of a new school year is always an exciting time in schools and I would like to wish everybody all the very best for the new term and academic year.
Summer Results Days
It was wonderful to see last year’s Year 11 and 13 students receiving, and enjoying, their very well-deserved success when they received their examination results last month. For further information and photographs from both Results Days please see the following links on our website:
Year 13 Results Day – Thursday 15th August 2024 – Helsby High School
Year 11 Results Day – 22nd August 2024 – Helsby High School
New Build
Thanks to the hard work of all involved, we are delighted that our 4 new English classrooms have been completed and are ready for the start of the new term. I am sure that students will be excited to use the new rooms for the first time this month and, as a result of the completion of the work, there will no longer be any restrictions on parking on site. Thank you for your support of our parking arrangements whilst the building work was taking place during the spring and summer terms.
Autumn Term Enrichment Programme
I hope that all students will be able to participate in at least one of our enrichment activities this academic year. The benefits of experiencing opportunities beyond the dayto-day timetable in school are universally acknowledged and full details of our wide ranging enrichment programme can be found on our website at https://helsbyhigh.org.uk/students/enrichment/.
Open Evenings
The start of the Autumn Term is always a time when students in their final year of school, either Primary or Secondary, begin to think about their next steps at the end of this academic year. Attending Open Evenings is a key component of this process and hence please note our following events this half-term:
Thursday 26th September: Year 6 Open Evening, see Year 6 Open Evening
Thursday 10th October: Sixth Form Open Evening, see Welcome to our Sixth Form
Autumn Term Diary Dates
A reminder of some other key dates in this very busy term:
Thursday 12th September – Year 12 Information Evening (in school)
Wednesday 18th September – Year 7 Photographs
Thursday 19th September – Year 11 and 13 Photographs
Thursday 19th September – Pastoral Evening (remote meetings with Form Tutors)
Wednesday 25th September – Year 13 Information Evening (remote)
Friday 27th September – Community Macmillan Coffee Morning (in school)
Thursday 3rd October – Year 11 Information Evening (in school)
Monday 14th October – Year 7 Information Evening (in school)
Monday 21st October – Year 11 PPE1 Examinations begin (NB Finish Friday 8th November)
Wednesday 23rd October – Year 8 Information Evening (remote)
Friday 25th October – Finish for Half-Term
Monday 4th November – INSET Day
Tuesday 5th November – Students return to school
Tuesday 5th November – Year 13 PPE1 Examinations begin (NB Finish Friday 15th)
Monday 18th November – Start of (2-week) Year 7 and 8 Assessment Window
Thursday 21st November – Year 10 Information Evening (in school)
Thursday 28th November – Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening (in school)
Thursday 5th December – Year 13 Parent Consultation Evening (in school)
Friday 6th December – Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party (in school)
Friday 6th December – Year 7 Christmas Panto Trip
Monday 9th December – Year 9 Information Evening (remote)
Monday 9th December – Year 12 Information Evening (remote)
Thursday 12th December – ‘Bound in Sound’ Christmas Concert at Chester Cathedral
Thursday 19th December – Annual Awards Evening & Year 13 Celebration Event
Friday 20th December – End of Term (NB 12.45pm Finish)
School Day Timings
Please note that we have made one, very small, change to our school day this year. Break will now be at the end of Period 2, at 11.05am, throughout the whole school year (as it was in June and July due to the GCSE and A-Level examinations taking place). This will mean that the timings of the school day do not need to change during the year. All other timings remain unchanged.
Parental Communication with School
I wrote in my July letter about some of changes we have made to further improve our support of our students’ parents and carers. Please see Contact Information – Helsby High School for guidance which will hopefully enable any queries or concerns to be responded to as quickly and effectively as possible.
Student Attendance
Parents will probably already be aware via the national media of the new government’s concern over attendance at school since the pandemic and the introduction of new statutory guidance for schools and parents which came into force ahead of the start of this term. Please see the separate letter attached to this correspondence which provides further details.
Staff Welcome
A very warm welcome to the following new colleagues, who have joined the staff team at Helsby at the start of this term:
– Miss Gawne, who has joined the Geography Department.
– Miss Henshall and Ms Kersley-Jukes, who have joined the Mathematics Department.
– Miss Nicholls, who has joined the Social Sciences Department.
– Miss Clancy and Mrs Wilson, who have joined our Teaching Assistant team.
– Mr Rochell, who has joined our IT Technician Support team.
Staff Role Changes
We also wish the following Helsby High colleagues all the very best as they begin new
roles in school from September:
– Mr Lawless, SEND Deputy Department Leader.
– Mrs Ramage, Mathematics Deputy Department Leader.
– Miss Whitby, Mathematics Assistant Department Leader.
– Miss Collier, Physics Department Leader.
– Mr Sykes, Key Stage 3 Science Leader.
– Miss Snowden, Modern Foreign Languages Deputy Department Leader.
– Mrs Barrett, Social Sciences Deputy Department Leader.
– Mr Callaghan, PHSCE and Careers Leader.
– Miss Harrison, PHSCE and Careers Deputy Department Leader.
– Miss Kavanagh, Year 7 Progress and Pastoral Leader. Mrs Witcher, supported by Dr
Pritchard-Roberts, will take over the progress and pastoral leadership of Year 11 as they
begin their final year at the school.
– Miss Dalrymple, Year 7 Student Support Co-ordinator.
– Mrs Gobin, Year 8 Student Support Co-ordinator.
– Miss Nixon, Education Welfare and Attendance Officer.
– Miss King, Teaching Assistant.
In addition, thank you to Mrs Dawson and Mr Howe for their leadership of Chemistry and Attendance respectively as they both now step down from those roles at the start of this term. Both have led their areas with dedication and commitment over many years and will continue to contribute significantly to the school through their teaching roles. Thank you also to Mr Singh and Mr Sheppey for their work as Department Leader and Deputy Department Leader respectively since January – work that has now ended with Mrs Ratcliffe’s return from maternity leave.
Staff Name Changes
Many congratulations to Miss Collier, Miss Parker, Miss Pugh and Miss Taylor on their weddings over the summer holidays. Please note that Miss Collier will now be known as Mrs Collier-Jones, Miss Parker as Mrs Dunn, Miss Pugh as Mrs Manning and Miss Taylor as Mrs Barnett.
Finally, I would like to give a particularly warm welcome to all of our new students and parents/carers, particularly in our new Year 7 cohort. I very much hope that our students enjoy the excitement of their first few weeks at the school and we look forward to meeting their parents again very soon.
Best wishes,
Martin Hill
Headteacher