Principal's Letters
| Letters | ||
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 22nd February 2010 | View» |  Download |
| Principal's end of term letter - 30th June 2009 | View» | Download |
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 17th December 2008 | View» | Download |
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 2nd July 2008 | View» | Download |
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 17th December 2007 | View» | Download |
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 9th July 2007 | View» | Download |
Principal's End of Term Letter - 22nd February 2010
Dear Parents
Being the Principal at Hulme is overwhelmingly a positive experience; however, alongside the many high moments, there are lows. One such moment this term was when we received the news of the death of a not so old, Old Boy. James Oakland was a twenty-six year old corporal in the Royal Military Police who was killed on 22 October whilst serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. James attended Hulme from 1994 to 1999. He was a conscientious pupil who never gave less than his best. James had a nice sense of humour and related well to both his peers and his teachers. He enjoyed a successful career in the School’s CCF Contingent and it was here that he first demonstrated his leadership potential which was to bear fruit in his chosen career. Many colleagues have fond memories of James and indeed his older brother Daniel who will pass out from R.M.A. Sandhurst before the end of the year. Given the nature of the Hulme community I am sure that we will all keep James and his family in our thoughts and prayers particularly over this Christmas season.
During the course of the 2nd World War Hulme played host to boys and masters from the States of Guernsey Intermediate School [now known as Guernsey Grammar School]. This hospitality was recognised at Speech Day in 1953 when the Bailiff, Sir Ambrose Sherwill C.B.E., M.C. presented the Captain of School [Head Boy] with a “…handsome silver shield bearing the Island Arms of the three Norman leopards and an appropriate inscription…” The Guernsey Shield currently resides in the Principal’s study. Summer 2010 will mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the island of Guernsey and as part of the celebrations two Hulme soccer squads will fly to Guernsey on 16 December to compete once again against the Guernsey Boys! They will play both the Grammar School and Elizabeth College on consecutive days.
As we returned from the summer break another new chapter opened in the life of Hulme. Autumn 2009 heralded the day when the Nursery children could move to the fabulous Thornycroft site and their bespoke accommodation. Our new Nursery is already proving to be extremely popular with the children, staff and prospective parents, and in all likelihood we will have reached its capacity in January.
Another important project was the restructuring of the Chamber Road entrance to the Senior School in order to create a new Reception and Administration Office. The work got under way straight after the Open Day weekend and although the development has taken longer than planned, I am sure that these new facilities will enhance our service.
Once again the Parents’ Association has been very active this term with their main focus being the Christmas Fair. A very healthy crowd was entertained by the Wind Band, parted from their money via a myriad of stalls and even visited by Father Christmas! A sum in the region of £2500 was raised and, just as important, a great deal of fun was had by all. The Bags2school enterprise made a staggering £656 for the Association’s coffers whilst to date the Christmas Draw brought in a further £1600. Early in the New Year the Association will be collecting those old mobile phones which you or yours have replaced with the latest model. Please bring your discarded phones into school so that the PA can turn them into cash!
Staff
At the end of the Christmas term we will being saying farewell to three colleagues: Mr Billy Bolton who is moving to Hampton School as Head of P.E.; Miss Emma Crozier who moves to Hertfordshire to teach English at the Royal Masonic School for Girls; and Mrs Mel Garlick who is crossing the Pennines to Lead Inclusion at Upperthong J & I School. They have all contributed a great deal to Hulme both inside and beyond the classroom and we wish them success and happiness in their new roles.
At the start of October we were delighted to welcome our new language assistant Mademoiselle Anne Rozieres to our MFL team. In January Mrs Andrea Howarth will become the Head of Learning Support at Hulme. Andrea joins us from Greenbank Prep. School, Cheadle Hulme where she is the S.E.N. Co-ordinator. The new Head of P.E. (Boys) will be Angus Hurst who is currently second in the department at Crompton House.
Pupil News
a) Biathlon
On 8 November two teams from Hulme (Y7 & Y10) competed for the first time in the Great Britain Biathlon Championships held in Liverpool. The younger girls had to complete a 50m swim and run 500m whilst the older pupils had to cope with twice these distances. The Y7 team achieved a creditable 2nd place, but Y10 won their competition and now wait to find out if their performance qualifies the team for the National Finals in March.
b) Chess
For the second year in succession Hulme was delighted to host the recent AJIS Chess Competition. It was excellent to see nine independent schools pitting their wits against one another and even more pleasing to witness Hulme Court once again taking first place and retaining the Gold Team Shield.
c) Table Tennis
Table tennis goes from strength to strength at Hulme, but on this occasion it is our younger boys who have been crowned Greater Manchester Champions. The Under 11 team travelled to Stockport in November and returned with the title.
d) Music
The Autumn Concert took place on Wednesday 20th October in the Girls’ Hall. There were contributions from the Brass Brand (trained by Mrs Kent) interspersed with Soloists – pupils from across the age spectrum and ranging in ability from Grade 1 to Grade 8+. The concert was well received by a strong audience.
A Choral Concert of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” took place on the evenings of Thursday and Friday, 5th/6th November. A Choir of 112 (boys, girls, staff and friends) was accompanied by two pianists, Mr Stan Baty and Mrs Sarah Massey, and soloists from the RNCM. The dedicated choir worked very hard and presented a concert of a very high standard to two enthusiastic and appreciative audiences.
For the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Anne’s Church, Royton last Sunday the Choir of 70 voices was conducted by Mr Gary Hulme and accompanied by Mr Derrick Cantrell (Organist Emeritus of Manchester Cathedral) at the organ.
The Hulme Singers performed to much acclaim at Friezland Church on Friday, 13 November. The concert had something for everyone – from the Beatles to Purcell and from Lionel Bart to Eva Cassidy! On Tuesday, 8 December our Junior Choir joined with thousands of other pupils from Greater Manchester to perform in the Young Voices concert at the MEN Arena.
e) Classics
In October the Classics Department took 30 students from Years 10 & 11 on a study trip to Pompeii. An intensive three days took in visits to Herculaneum, Pompeii, the National Archaeological Museum in Naples and the less well-known, but equally stunningly well-preserved, Greek temples of Paestum. As well as this, the group greatly impressed the hotel staff and guests with their talented musical performances in the evenings.
(f) Netball
In November the U14 & U16 squads competed in the regional round of the National Schools competition at Bolton School. The U16 team progressed to the semi-final stage where they met Loreto School and unfortunately lost 13-8. The U14 won their semi-final match and went on to lose by the narrowest of margins to Altrincham; however, as runners-up they will represent Greater Manchester in the NW competition in Blackpool early in the New Year.
(g) Cross-Country
On a rather muddy Chadderton Park in November sixteen boys and girls from Hulme Court and Estcourt competed in the Oldham Schools Cross Country Championships. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won the Y3/4 trophy. Tom Andrew came in 1st overall in the Y5/6 competition and contributed to the collective win of the Oldham Schools Cross Country Primary Champions Cup for 2009.
With three Middleton Harriers Cross Country races under our belt Estcourt and Hulme Court are currently in First Place. In total there are 28 schools across Oldham, Rochdale and Middleton competing in the series. Fingers crossed for a strong finish on the final race of the series on Saturday, 16th January 2010 and the annual individual race on Saturday, 27th February 2010.
Dates for your diary
January 2010 Mobile Phone Collection
20 January Main School Entrance Examinations
9 February Music Festival (Boys), 9.30 a.m. – 3.45 p.m., Main Hall
11 March Spring Concert (Boys), 7.30 p.m., Main Hall
24 – 27 March Thoroughly Modern Millie, Main Hall
Term Dates
These detailed term dates for 2010 –11 warrant additional explanation. The major changes are the introduction of a two week Half-term break in the Autumn Term and an additional teaching week in the second half of the Summer Term.
A growing number of North West independent schools [eg Bury, Stockport, MGS, Cheadle Hulme, QEGS] have already implemented a longer break in the Autumn: their experience (and indeed my own from my previous school) is that pupils and staff find the quality of the time spent in the classroom is enhanced, particularly as Christmas beckons. Pupils, especially the younger ones, find our current length of term to be overwhelming; they tire and consequently the quality of their work is affected.
By adding a teaching week at the end of the Summer Term the balance of the two halves is improved; although we still have to contend with the moveable feast which is Easter!
Autumn Term 2010
Term begins for staff Tue 31 August
Term begins for pupils Wed 1 September
Half-term Mon 18 October - Fri 29 October inclusive
Term ends Fri 17 December: 12 noon
Spring Term 2011
Term begins Wed 5 January
Half-term Mon 21 February – Fri 25 February inclusive
Term ends Fri 15 April: 3.45pm
Summer Term 2011
Term begins Tue 3 May
Half-term Mon 30 May – Fri 3 Jun inclusive
Term ends Fri 8 July : 12 noon
Autumn Term 2011
Term begins for staff Tue 30 August
Term begins for pupils Wed 31 August
Half-term Mon 17 October - Fri 28 October inclusive
Term ends Fri 16 December: 12 noon
We wish our footballers every success in Guernsey; our linguists safe and profitable visits to France, Flanders and Berlin; and we can all look forward to next term and the delights of Thoroughly Modern Millie!
With best wishes to you all for an enjoyable and peaceful Christmas Season and a Happy New Year.
Yours sincerely
Dr Paul G. Neeson BSc PhD
Principal
