Hordle

Staff at Hordle Walhampton have been subjected to close scrutiny this week by six inspectors sent from the Independent Schools Inspectorate as part of their six-yearly cycle. They studied responses on questionnaires from pupils and parents, held interviews with staff, parents and pupils, looked closely at a range of books, inspected our premises and ensured we were up to scratch with the 300+ regulations introduced since 2003. In addition, they visited boarding houses and over 45 lessons before considering their judgements.  The feedback we have received so far has been positive but we will have to wait until the report is available in January before fully relaxing. All parents will receive a copy of the report which will also be published on this website.

If you took part in the inspection, thank you.

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The Mercury, 31st October

Our pupils have been wrapping Christmas presents a little early this year. Not for themselves or their close friends but for the needy children of Tanzania, Albania and Montenegro.

One hundred and sixty-one brightly Christmas-paper wrapped shoeboxes containing a selection of appropriate toys, toiletries, pencils, books and other appropriate gifts were recently collected from school by Meg Ryves, Lymington’s Rotary International shoe box co-ordinator.

To fill the boxes, we were able to choose gifts suitable for either a boy or girl within one of four different age groups; one-three years, four-seven years, eight-11 years and 12-15 years. We all had great fun choosing a wide variety of gifts that we thought the children would enjoy and appreciate.

The boxes will now be shipped out and distributed to the children in good time for Christmas.

Year Four’s teacher, Mrs Arrowsmith, who organised our collection, said: “Over the past few weeks my classroom has resembled Santa’s Grotto as the pile of Christmas Boxes grew daily. I am grateful to all our children, parents, grandparents, teachers, staff and neighbours who joined in this thoroughly worthwhile scheme that will give 162 children a very happy Christmas.”

To access this week’s Mercury online, please click on the link below.

You will need a username and password to access the Mercury – you should use your child’s school username and password to login.

The site may throw an invalid certificate error – this is something we are aware of and are in the process of rectifying.

The Mercury

We were delighted to welcome Mrs Janet Rae to the ranks of the academic staff today. For the past five years Mrs Rae has been teaching at Salisbury Cathedral School and only left this summer when her husband found a new post. Mrs Rae will be covering Miss Beamish’s maternity leave in Year Three and will introduce herself to parents at this week’s meetings .

All this week our Pre-Prep children are enjoying and participating in ‘Dance Week’. This is designed as part of our Physical Education programme and accesses the curriculum through fun, enjoyment and participation.

Specialist dance teaching encourages all the children to actively take part and to use dance for freedom of expression and movement. It is the creative strand of Early Years Foundation Stage.

Dance Week gives each child the opportunity of experiencing performing in front of others and as our photos, taken on the first day, show everyone is thoroughly enjoying developing their dance skills.

Our Open Morning on Saturday proved to be a great success with a large number of prospective parents and children enjoying Hordle Walhampton at its very best on a gloriously sunny day.

Our visitors were taken on a tour of the school, the facilities and grounds by our Year Eight guides, many of whom were complimented for the interesting and professional way they explained and described life at Hordle Walhampton.

During the tour our visitors saw a wide variety of our Saturday Activities, including a Dressage Competition in the Equestrian Centre, an exciting Rugby Clinic, Archery in the Sports Hall, Art & Pottery and Music. They also had the opportunity of visiting Pre-Prep and the Boarding Houses.

After the tour, our visitors joined Mr and Mrs Philips and members of staff on the Terrace for coffee and pastries.

Teachers are often critical of continuous repetition but our staff in the Pre-Prep department were delighted by the constant use of the word ‘Outstanding’ in their recent Ofsted Report.

The sixteen members of the Early Years staff, who care for 82 children between the ages of two and five years, were described as ‘dynamic and strongly motivated’. The report recognised that the children were warmly praised, involved in finding solutions to problems and had their ideas and suggestions valued.

Very good language skills, ‘exceptional’ mathematical knowledge and the children’s fascination with learning were also positively identified by the Ofsted inspector, who complimented the department on the children’s courteous and exemplary behaviour, both to each other and to the staff.

Hordle Walhampton’s partnership with its Pre-Prep parents was also rated as ‘outstanding’, with particular mention being made of the department’s open door system that welcomes parents on both a formal and informal basis. The inspector particularly reported on information about the curriculum and activities being posted outside classrooms, thereby allowing parents to see at a glance what is planned and so giving them the opportunity to compliment this at home.

Mrs Beth Morris, head of Pre Prep, said: “All of the Early Years team are justly proud of this Ofsted grading. It is so rewarding to know that all of our expertise, care and professionalism has been recognised.”