Dear Danebury School Community,

As we approach the end of term, it's important that we carry out summative assessments across the curriculum. We've been impressed by pupils’ attitudes to learning during their assessment windows this week. Staff are currently busy marking, moderating, and completing data drops. As Parents and Carers, you will receive your child's report next week. As always, if you have any questions, please do get in contact.

Unfortunately, seasonal illnesses have hit our school community hard over the last week, but I hope we're over the worst of it and everyone is feeling brighter for the last 4 days of term next week.

Highlights of the week

I'm delighted to celebrate some fantastic achievements this week. We had 80 pupils nominated for Excellence Awards, and to reward them, they were treated to a trip to Stockbridge Cinema. Many thanks to Paul Kidd from Stockbridge Cinema for gifting us the tickets – a good time was had by all. Thanks to Miss Barton for organising this.

Our netball teams have been making us proud too. Congratulations to the U16 and U14 Girls Netball Teams for their brilliant performances against The Clere School. Our U16 team secured a convincing win of 17-7, while our Under 14 team battled hard against strong opposition. We're incredibly proud of both teams, and we're especially excited that our U16 team is just one game away from becoming league champions. Thanks to Mrs Elgar for leading this.

Our LORIC Oracy project concluded on Friday. We came together as a school to listen to the speeches that had been nominated by each class. We were blown away by the bravery of the pupils who were presenting to such a large audience. They all spoke about their chosen subject with knowledge and passion; we are incredibly proud of them all and the courage they showed. Many thanks to Mrs Martin for organising the project. Next term we move back to the LORIC projects. Pupils will receive an email this week, outlining the 15 projects on offer next term. They will need to identify their top 3 choices on the Microsoft form link shared with them. Projects start in January. If you have a project you'd be interested in running and have a spare hour 2-3pm on a Friday, please do get in touch. I'd love to increase the range of projects on offer to our pupils.

The week ahead

First, we are inviting all pupils to the KS3 Disco on Monday 15th December from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Pupils can pay at the door, and you can find more details on the flyer in our school blog.

On Tuesday, we'll hold our annual whole school Christmas luncheon. Pupils are invited to wear their Christmas jumpers for the day. We've already ordered the lunches, but if you didn't manage to sign up and would like your child to have one, please email office@danebury.hispmat.org.

Wednesday evening brings our annual Carol Concert at St. Peter's Church. It promises to be a magical evening that's guaranteed to get you into the Christmas spirit. Doors open at 6:45pm, with the concert running from 7:00-8:30pm.

We'll conclude our term with our End of Term Awards Assembly on Thursday, celebrating the excellence, resilience, kindness, and empowerment of our wonderful pupils. School will finish at 1pm on Thursday 18th December, and buses have been notified of the earlier finish.

Finally, our PTA are drawing this year’s Christmas Raffle on Monday 15^th December after school. Pupils were offered books of raffle tickets to take home for you to purchase. First prize is £100; there are many more amazing prizes to be won. Pupils will need to hand the purchased raffle ticket stubs to reception on Monday morning ahead of the draw. Good Luck!

Have a good weekend.

Nicky Goodridge 
Head Teacher