Here we go… the busiest exam week of the season! I can barely contain my excitement because I know that once this one is over our students are close to the longest and best summer of their lives. Keep going everyone, once you reach that last exam you’ll be thankful for every last ounce of effort you put in.

See below for GCSE Week Ahead schedule for 04 June – 08 June and plan your time well. There’s loads of optional opportunities and you just have to take them!

What. A. Start.

We’ve had over 150 students on Monday and over 100 students today (Tuesday) who have turned up for 0800-0840am optional sessions. It is so hard to explain just how proud we are of how well our Y11s have started! Next week things get harder (followed by the sweet release of half-term) so just keep going.

Attached is the GCSE Week Ahead plan showing you the optional sessions you can attend next week and the compulsory ones as well. It is a bit more complicated so read it carefully…

Here we are in yet another exam season at Yateley School! With teachers and students working hard to get the best grades possible we’ve launched a very helpful resource to let everyone know all the opportunities in and out of school to help support students in this tricky time! GCSE Week Ahead is published the week before each exam week and you won’t be short of opportunities for help if you need them. Here you’ll see out letter to parents with important dates/times and also a menu of all the help on offer. Make the right choices for you!

Another well attended Y11 Parents’ Information Evening gave attendees some good food for thought on how to best support their teen through these testing times! Managing stress, revision, exam technique, pastoral support, careers and college all featured on the agenda, with ample opportunity for parents to ask the questions that really matter. The resources for the evening can be found via the link below and if you have further questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Google Drive Folder

Note: Not all materials are shown – some sessions were practical!

Our student star of the week this week is Mary Upshall in 10NN. Mary has spent a huge amount of her own time organising tutor group charity activity, giving huge support to the charity rep. She has given of her time, money and organisation and importantly shown herself to be a very effective salesperson, selling huge numbers of the sweet bags that she’d put together. A great act of compassion – well done Mary!

We are once again making superb progress with the UK Rock Challenge Dance competition. As a South of England premier school, we are through to the national finals competition and have recently showcased our talented dancers in the Guildhall in Portsmouth. Mrs Wearing and her team, including Mrs Evans, have worked tirelessly in rehearsing and choreographing and the emerging work is stunning. We have already been awarded many certificates of achievement and hope that even greater accolade is on its way. Well done team Yateley! Having won the competition last year we have every reason to be confident…

YATELEY SCHOOL IS A GOOD SCHOOL and the SIXTH FORM IS OUTSTANDING

Staff, Students and Governors at Yateley School are delighted to announce the publication of their most recent Ofsted report. Inspectors visited the school on 30 and 31 January and declared the school as good in all areas and outstanding in the Sixth Form. Results have been above national averages for the last three years and are amongst the best in Hampshire. This is a wonderful achievement and the product of hard work and determination by the whole team since the previous inspection.

Headteacher Paul German said “I am absolutely thrilled with this superb and highly complimentary report. It validates the improvements made across the school and will give our local community complete confidence in the great quality of education that we have on offer at Yateley School. The report also gives us the springboard to continue our rapid and ambitious improvement.” Mr German went on to say that “as the only 11-18 school in the Hart area, we have a unique offer with the opportunity and welcome to come and join our outstanding Sixth Form”. As the inspectors commented “outcomes for students in the sixth form are now well above the national average for students studying A’ level courses, including disadvantaged students. Students studying vocational courses do equally well.” “Teaching in the sixth form is invariably very strong, and often exemplary.”

Inspectors noted throughout the school that “the curriculum is broad and balanced and enables pupils to pursue their interests. Creative, technical and performing arts are particularly strong and the extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities are highly valued by pupils”.

It is an excellent commentary about Yateley School that “pupils invariably behave well in lessons and around the school site, having respect both for each other and for adults alike.” Safeguarding is highly effective; “pupils enjoy school, feel safe, and know how to keep themselves safe”.

Although the school is proud to offer such a strong and proven education, it is ambitious for more and has clear plans for future growth and improvement – a great school with great ambitions living its motto, ‘Learning together – Empowered for life’.

Paul German

HEADTEACHER

Some of you have kindly said you would be pleased to volunteer to help at events for Yateley Jubilee celebrations! The help we are particularly looking for at the moment is (plenty more to come!):

• Marshals at Fun run event (8 July)
• Helping with refreshments at various events – serving teas, cakes etc (various throughout July)
• Selling raffle tickets (draw in September)

We are also sourcing quality raffle prizes – if you are linked to an organisation who you think may be in a position to donate a good prize we would be delighted if you could ask on our behalf.  All of the funds raised at the raffle and other birthday events will be going to purchase a significant item for the benefit of the school and its students which could not normally be funded out of its local authority budget.

If you haven’t yet joined our Facebook group with over 1,500 signed up so far then do so here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2000215740241051/

The Steering Committee

May I remind you that the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) survey is live until Friday 9th February and we would really welcome your views on its strengths and weaknesses as a scheme before we take a firm view in our future planning? There are many arguments for and against such a scheme, a number of which are included in the attached document (link). I would therefore be very grateful if you would talk to them and spend a few minutes completing the questions on this survey. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VCHD36F.
Learning together – Empowered for life
Mr P Hill

What a difference a week makes… When I wrote to you last week, we were anticipating an Ofsted inspection in the not too distant future. We’ve now had the inspection and lived to tell the tale! It was a gruelling two days, but led and managed by a strong, thoughtful and positive team of inspectors. You will no doubt be aware that I am not permitted to disclose the outcome of the inspection until after publication of the report (probably in about three weeks). This is because the document has legal status and needs to be quality assured first. Suffice it to say that we are very pleased with the inspection and believe that it allows us to move forward securely and confidently towards a great future. The inspectors recognised the quality, strength and depth of our students, staff and community and were very fair in their analysis. They’ve recognised the improvements that have been made and the extent to which this is embedded. As a community you have been brilliant and I am very proud of our school. Now we can get on with the real work of improving the community we serve!
Mr P German