Dear Parent/Carer Welcome to our weekly Highlights! Last week was very busy as well as very memorable. The highlight was the official opening of the expansion of our sports hall, with its gym, dance studio and new classroom, by the Manager of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, Gareth Ainsworth (article on page 3). He really was an excellent ambassador for the football club, giving of his time freely to chat with staff and students alike. He took part in a Q&A session with students spending much longer than the time that we had originally asked for, and he also took time to sign shirts and have photographs taken with students. It really was a pleasure having him here with us for the afternoon and I wish him all the best for the season ahead. Plans are currently underway to bring in two other celebrity special guests to officially open our new canteen and Sixth Form Centre watch this space to find out who! On Thursday evening we held Settling In meetings for our new Year 7 parents and our new cohort of Sixth Form students. It was nice to chat to so many of you on the evening and I hope that you found the discussion with your child s Form Tutor useful. Also, in our assemblies last week, we listened to the speeches from the prospective Head Girl, Head Boy, Deputy Head Girl and Deputy Head Boy. All twelve candidates spoke with confidence and clarity and each of them should be very proud of themselves. A whole school vote has taken place and at the time of writing, the votes are being counted and verified. The successful students will be revealed in next week s bulletin. Here s to the week ahead! Mr G Burke 1-5 October 2018 This Week s Theme: Litter #CleanuptheCrest Student Help Form E-Safety Weekly Tip: Use different passwords for different accounts. It might seem basic, but many are still not taking this important step. If you can t keep track, use a password manager such as LastPass. Clubs - Autumn 2018 Sporting Fixtures Monday 1 October: Year 8 Boys Football v Great Marlow (Home) Tuesday 2 October: Year 9 Boys Football v Sir William Ramsay (Home) Year 11 Boys Football v Bourne End Academy (Away) Results Year 11 Boys Football v Sir William Ramsay: Won 3-1 Year 8 Boys County Cup Football v Cottesloe: Lost 3-4 After extra time You will receive a text/email prior to fixture with all necessary information.
Year 7: N B Continual hard work and respect shown to all Students. Year 8: C S For representing the school in football for the first time and always being positive and polite. Year 9: V M For her excellent start to her new school. Year 10: K S Consistently polite and focused. Year 11: J B For putting in so much effort into his studies this term as well as wider school life. Sixth Form: S B For volunteering his time for Law Club. Last weeks answer: Farmer takes goat across (leaving wolf and cabbage behind) Farmer returns alone Farmer takes wolf across Farmer returns with goat *We now have the farmer, cabbage and goat on one side and the wolf on the other. Farmer takes cabbage across Farmer returns alone Farmer takes goat across
Thursday marked a very special occasion at Highcrest, with the opening of our brand new sports facilities including a fitness suite and fully equipped gym. We were delighted that Wycombe Wanderers Manager Gareth Ainsworth offered to open the facility his appearance certainly caused a stir with many Wycombe Wanderers fans attending to meet their hero who signed shirts and took lots of selfies! The facility, which is open to students from all year groups every morning from 7.30am, is already extremely busy and is a key part of improving what we have to offer our wonderful students. Mr P Shaw, Assistant Headteacher Highcrest s School Charity for 2018/2019 A number of House Captains and School Reporters took on the task of choosing our school charity for this academic year. In a Dragons Den style event, three local charities were invited in to pitch their charity to our students. These were The Epilepsy Society, The Horse Trust and Wycombe Homeless Connection. After a number of insightful questions and much deliberation, we are pleased to report that the chosen charity this year is The Horse Trust. The Horse Trust provides retirement and respite for working horses and ponies. The charity also provides sanctuary to horses, ponies and donkeys who have suffered from cruelty or neglect and who are in desperate need of specialist treatment and care. For more information, please visit www.horsetrust.org.uk A big thank you to all three charities for taking the time to come in and here s to another fantastic year of fundraising! Mr J Clarke, Assistant Headteacher
Forthcoming Exams Mon 1 Oct - 9.30am 10:30am Tues 2 Oct - 1.50pm 3:20pm Fri 5 Oct - 9.30am 10:30am Tue 9 Oct - 9.30am 11:00am Thur 11 Oct - 9.30am 11:00am Mon 5 Nov - 9.00am 10:45am Tue 6 Nov - 9.00am 10:30am Tue 6 Nov - 1:30pm 3:30pm Wed 7 Nov - 9.00am 10:45am Wed 7 Nov - 1:30pm 3:30pm Thur 8 Nov - 9.00am 10:30am Mon 12 Nov - 9.00am 10:30am Y11 NCFE Business Actual Exam 1 of 4 Y11 & 6th Form re-sit GCSE Maths Trial Paper 3 Y11 NCFE Business Actual Exam 2 of 4 Y11 NCFE Business Actual Exam 3 of 4 Y11 NCFE Business Actual Exam 4 of 4 6th Form GCSE English Paper 1 Re-Sit Actual Exam 6th Form GCSE Maths Paper 1 Re-Sit Actual Exam Y11 NCFE Food & Cookery Actual Exam 6th Form GCSE English Paper 2 Re-Sit Actual Exam Y11 Health & Fitness Actual Exam 6th Form GCSE Maths Paper 2 Re-Sit Actual Exam 6th Form GCSE Maths Paper 3 Re-Sit Actual Exam Mon 19 Nov Fri 30 Nov 6th Form & Y11 Mock Exams Please note that on the occasions when assemblies are scheduled for the afternoon, they may over run by a few minutes. We avoid afternoon assemblies as much as we can.
Admissions for 2019 - Year 7 (click for more information) Banding tests dates and application form are now available. Click here for the banding test form Year 12 Settling In Evening Thank you to all the parents who came to the Year 12 Settling In evening. It was a well-attended event and it was great to meet such a supportive group of parents. I look forward to seeing you all at Academic Review later this month. Mrs A Bannister, Head of Sixth Form Year 7 Settling In Evening Last week was a huge success with parents attending the Settling In evening to meet their child's Form Tutor and discuss their progress with their transition to secondary school. As a year group I have been extremely impressed with their work ethic and attitude. The support from parents working with teachers was excellent and any questions you raised with the Form Tutor will have a response later this week. Once again, I thank you for your support and look forward to discussing your child's academic progress in a few week s time. Mr Merrick, Senior Head of Learning
Yearly Percentage Attendance Time Missed from school Lessons Missed 98% Less than 4 days Less than 24 95% Less than 10 days Less than 55 90% 4 weeks absent 52 85% 5½ weeks absent 173 80% 7½ weeks absent (Equivalent to 1 day per week!) 235 If a student had 85-90% attendance each year from Years 7-11, this means they would be having about half a year off school. If a student had 80% attendance each year, this equates to one whole school year missed! The Academy appreciates that children are unwell from time to time and that there can be exceptional circumstances for absences, but asks that parents think carefully about keeping their children out of school. There is a strong connection between4 attendance and achievement at school. Absence is proven to have a significantly negative impact upon a child s educational attainment and future opportunities in life. If your child is absent from school because of medical reasons (eg unwell or a dental appointment), you will usually be required to provide the medical evidence in order for the Principal to authorise the absence. This could be an appointment card, 4 medical prescriptions or the medication box with the child s details and date on it. Longer periods of absence for on-going medical issues may require further evidence such as a letter from the doctor to confirm that your child is unfit to attend school on a regular basis. Should this be the case, we would need to involve alternative provisions such as The Home Tuition Service to ensure that the student receives the education that they are entitled to. 5Mrs J Hunt, Attendance Officer 2 October 2018: Rock of Ages @ Wycombe Swan (Performing Arts Trip) 8-11 October 2018: Naples Geography Trip 18 October 2018: Design Museum, London (Technology Trip) 19 October 2018: Fright Night, Thorpe Park (Sixth Form) 29 October 2018: Porgy & Bess, London (Performing Arts Trip) 8 November 2018: Rotary Club Technology Tournament @ John Hampden (Technology Trip) 15 November 2018: Safe drive, Stay alive @ Wycombe Swan (Sixth Form Driving Awareness Course) 1 December 2018: Bar Mock Competition @ Reading Crown Court (Law Club) 12 December 2018: Snow White Pantomime @ Wycombe Swan (Year 7 Performing Arts Trip) 18-26 January 2020: Ski Trip to Aosta Valley, Italy
October 2018 House Competition: Art & MFL October 2018 House Competition: Art Graphics
Austen S K A Y Year 10 performed Blood Brothers after school and all the students were fantastic! Blood Brothers is their set text and they need to understand how it should be performed, so this was an excellent showcase. Well done! M P Mrs Toohey-Knowles, Head of Performing Arts Curie R Ahtar B L Z A Einstein S B T B Galileo N H J B Nightingale B S E M-R Wordsworth
Open to ALL students in ALL year groups! Year 11 students who are interested will get their deposit returned in full if they do not return to Highcrest for Sixth Form. The Highcrest Academy, Hatters Lane, High Wycombe, HP13 7NQ T. 01494 529866 F. 01494 472850 E. office@highcrestacademy.org.uk www.highcrestacademy.org.uk Principal: Mr G Burke