Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope this newsletter finds you well.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new families who've joined us over the last two weeks. The school continues to grow week on week, with pupil numbers increasing by 18% compared to this time last year – which is incredible! I know many of you champion us and recommend us to others, and I want to say thank you so much for helping us to grow. We are very grateful for your support.
Many thanks to those of you who came along or emailed me to share your thoughts on the proposed Resource Provision. The consultation has now closed, and I will ensure I share the feedback with Hampshire County Council and the Department for Education. I was really touched by the level of support for this vital provision. Our vision has been and always will be to create pathways for all pupils to thrive socially and academically. We will work in partnership with the Trust and HCC to ensure the provision is well planned and built to meet the needs of the pupils who attend next academic year.
Every year we participate in the #BeeWell Survey. This year 21.1k young people from Years 7 and 10 across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton took part in the survey. I'm very pleased to share our results:
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Pupils' scores are average in domains like Life Satisfaction, Understanding Yourself, Environment and Society, Hobbies and Entertainment, and Emotions.
The graph below puts Danebury 4th out of 89 schools in Hampshire in terms of the perceived strength in relationships. We are passionate about strengthening connections between pupils and staff and are proud of our relational approach.
Here is the link to some of the other results within the survey #BellWell School Data. We only received the results on Friday, further analysis will be carried out, and I will share a more comprehensive report in due course.
We are really pleased with all the results. However, there are two areas where more work needs to be done: peer pressure and the time pupils are spending on social media. As we lock phones away in the school day, they don’t have access to social media. We would like to work in partnership with you to reduce the amount of time children spend on social media during their leisure time. We know from the media that this is coming from a government level as well as something us as parents want to tackle.
Things to celebrate!
What a phenomenal week for our performing arts! Congratulations to the cast and crew of Oliver – a brilliant performance, with so much talent. We are so very proud of you all. Huge thanks to our wonderful Mrs Brush for directing the show and to the PTA for supporting with refreshments. On Tuesday, we hosted nearly 100 pupils from our local primary schools who loved watching the dress rehearsal. Mrs Brush is already planning next year's production and will do the big reveal after half-term – it's going to be so much fun!
I'm thrilled to share an incredible opportunity for some of our pupils. On Monday, a group of 30 pupils spent the day at the Army Aviation Centre for a virtual gliding experience, and the feedback was excellent. We've been informed that 12 of our pupils will be offered a Gliding Scholarship, which means they'll be taking to the skies to gain the full gliding experience – wow! Many thanks to Mrs Ablett, who is incredible at providing opportunities for our pupils to learn beyond the classroom and promote careers.
Our KS4 Boys Basketball team played a strong side from Kings, and once again the team dug deep and showed great sportsmanship. The Netball team also had a brilliant performance against The Clere School, resulting in a win – congratulations! We are very proud of both teams. Well done.
On Friday, Mr Falkingham and Mr Thomas took a group of pupils to Basingstoke to watch a game of Ice hockey. A good time was had by all. Thanks to both staff members for taking them.
A special mention to our LORIC Community group who raised over £350 with their bake sale and non-uniform day on Friday. The group will be purchasing toys for the children's ward at Winchester hospital - special thanks to Ellie (and her parents) for going above and beyond with the baking!
Important notices
Good luck to Year 11 who start their last round of GCSE Mock Exams straight after half-term. They are on the home straight and locked into their learning!
We look forward to seeing all our Parents / Carers and Year 9 pupils at our Consultation evening on 26th March 2026.
I hope you have a good half-term; the weather is looking a little brighter! We look forward to welcoming our Danebury Community back on Monday 23rd February.
Warm wishes
Nicky Goodridge
Head Teacher
