Attendance

Overall attendance in this year group is good but clearly needs to be maintained. There is a strong

correlation between good attendance and ultimate success at GCSE level and we ask that no holiday is

booked or taken during term time. March 2013 will see year 9 taking their first set of exams in the large

exam halls and they need to be as prepared for these as possible. A number of students will be completing

GCSE courses through the year and all will start their GCSE studies in the core subjects at Easter.

Good attendance is vital if students are to perform to their best in all their subjects

Uniform

Uniform is much improved from last year across the school. We still have a number of students who break

the rules and we ask you to support us in ensuring that your son/daughter returns to school wearing the

correct uniform. This includes students not wearing make-up. The school website has details of the uniform

rules for all students. It also has a link to the Price and Buckland Website where school uniform can now be

purchased online.

Mobile phones, IPODs etc. will continue to be confiscated if used within the school and grounds during the

school day

School Site

We are currently undergoing widespread building and maintenance work which is intended to improve the

site and safety of our students. We would like to remind students that they are not allowed on the school

site out of hours, unless they are attending a club or formally organised activity. Unauthorised access is

treated as trespass.

Options

Students will complete the process of selecting GCSE options during the spring term. This is an important

process and students as well as parents and carers will be provided with as much information as possible

to make it easier. As part of this there are two dates that I would like to highlight at this early stage:

The Options Evening for parents will be on Thursday 31st January 2013. This is an opportunity to discuss

the structure and content of courses to help assess their suitability for the student.

The year 9 Parents’ Evening will be on Monday 4th February. This will allow you to discuss progress and

attainment with your son / daughter’s teachers. It will also be a useful chance to discuss the suitability of

proposed options choices.

Communicating with School

If you are reading this as a hard copy then you can still register for Parent Mail which keeps you

immediately updated with the news and events in school. Likewise, our newly updated website

www.hinchingbrookeschool.net is excellent and worth logging in to regularly.

All staff can be emailed using the generic email address prefixed with the relevant staff initials e.g.

amd@hinchbk.cambs.sch.uk You are very welcome to contact us at any time and we appreciate any

updates on student success and other more administrative matters. Please do inform us immediately of any

change of contact details so we can maintain the accuracy of our records.

For changes in contact details and registration for ParentMail and +Pay (online payment and cashless

catering) please contact communications@hinchbk.cambs.sch.uk

Staff initials can be found on the school website under Contact us> Staff Contact Details

Finally

We hope that you have a very pleasant summer break and look forward to welcoming our new Year 9

team on Thursday 6th September.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Yours sincerely,

Alistair Dewar

Key Stage Three Manager

Tel 01480 375700 Ext 5260

amd@hinchbk.cambs.sch.uk