Principal's Letters
| Letters | ||
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 2nd July 2010 | View» |  Download |
| Principal's End of Term Letter - 18th December 2009 | 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 - 30th June 2009
Dear Parents
This week is Activities Week which heralds the start of the summer holidays and the end of another very eventful academic year. In September the Kindergarten children, minus our three year olds, moved into their new residence at Thornycroft and although initially somewhat overwhelmed by the splendour of the surroundings they very quickly settled in. Then two weeks later we were knocked back by the rejection of our planning application for the new Nursery on the same site; however, the New Year heralded the news that the Secretary of State’s Planning Inspector had overturned OMBC’s original decision and now we look forward to completing this project by the end of August. In many ways this has been an extraordinary year!
During the last fortnight we were delighted once again to receive recognition from the Good Schools Guide for the splendid results achieved in no less than three curriculum areas over the last three years. Hulme achieved the best results compared to all English Independent Schools in Business Studies (AS), Human Biology (A2) and Food Technology (GCSE). This is the second year running for Food Technology and the English department achieved this accolade in 2006 (A2 English Literature).
The anti bullying Peer Mentoring programme has gone from strength to strength in recent years under the direction of Mrs Dawn Wheldrick. In September Miss Abigail Danson will take over the lead role. A Peer Mentors Conference ‘Are you a Listening School?’ is currently being organised by Hulme and all secondary schools in Oldham will be invited to attend. The aim of the conference will be for delegates to return to their school and set up a peer mentoring scheme of their own. Emma Washington (Y13) and Charlotte Goode (Y13) have recently received prestigious Diana Anti-Bullying Awards. These were established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, to recognise outstanding work by young people to help overcome bullying. Former Head Girl, Emma, has been presented with the individual award for her work with the North West Anti-Bullying Alliance. Charlotte is also a member of the alliance, made up of pupils from across the region. As part of their work as trained peer mentors, both Emma and Charlotte help younger pupils and support them with any problems they may have. They have also taken part in several larger schemes including planning and running a themed conference in Blackpool.
On Tuesday 19th May we were delighted to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Oldham as they visited the CCF. The Mayor presented 22 Cadets with letters of appreciation for their help and support during his tenure of office: in particular with the Remembrance Day Parade and the Poppy Day Appeal. Later the same month we had a mixed team of 4 Cadets attend the North West Regional St John First Aid competition at Altcar. After an exciting day, and against considerable opposition Sergeant Bluer, Corporals Lawton and Foy and Sergeant Richardson were judged to be “Excellent” and winners of the 2009 NW Region First Aid competition. We wish them continued success as they go forward to compete in the National St John First Aid competition to be held at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in early October.
Staff
As is often the case at this time of year a number of colleagues are easing towards a well-earned retirement and others are moving on to pastures new.
Mrs Ann Richards stands down as Head of Kindergarten having achieved her goal to successfully move our youngest pupils to their new home at Thornycroft. During her ten years at Hulme she has created a caring community where the children are stimulated and encouraged to produce first class results. Miss Erica White joins Kindergarten in September as successor to Mrs Joan Wood as Deputy Head, whilst Mrs Wood takes over the mantle from Mrs Richards.
In addition there are four very experienced teaching colleagues retiring this summer who between them have served the Schools for an incredible 94 years! Mrs Janet Harrison, Mr Garry Hepworth and Mr John Spalding retire from the Maths department and will be replaced by Miss Rebecca Turner ,who comes with a first class degree in Mathematics from Loughborough University and Miss Nicola Taylor who is currently a PGCE student from Manchester University on placement here at Hulme. Mr Adam Smith will take on the role as 2nd in the Maths department. Mrs Sue Toole was the first joint Head of Department to be appointed in the autumn of 2006 following the untimely death of Iain Coulton. Mrs Toole is a very able biologist and an efficient manager who created a template for other new Heads of Department to use as they in turn moulded their new teams. In September we will be welcoming Mr William Atkins,who joins us from Loughborough Grammar School, as Head of Biology.
Mr Mike Lomas and Mr David Beirne will both be leaving Hulme at the end of this term having served the Modern Languages Department for a total of 18 years. Their replacements are Mr David Murray (teacher i/c Spanish) and Mr Mark Goodwin (Spanish & French) respectively. We also say farewell and thank you to Ms Sandra Green, Miss Jessica Dixon and Ms Jo Thomas who have been in school covering colleagues on maternity leave.
We wish all our colleagues every success in their new ventures.
Pupil News
Netball – On Saturday 28th February 2009, Hulme hosted and participated in the U14 Greater Manchester Schools’ Netball tournament. It was a great honour for us to host this prestigious netball tournament and was a fantastic spectacle for the supporters with 15 teams taking part. At the end of the morning, with a goal difference of +72, we took the title!
The U14 team have enjoyed an extremely successful season: Oldham Schools’ Knock out Cup winners and Rally Champions, Greater Manchester County Champions, North West Champions and Bronze Medal winners at the All England Schools’ Championships. In addition the National Schools Top Shooters Awards were won by Alice Travis and Shannon Westwood and the squad received the Pat Greenwood Award from FOSSA for the best netball team in Oldham.
The Y7 team became the County Champions on 29 March with the Y8 team placed runners up in their tournament – the Y8 team then went on to be the Oldham Schools’ Cup Final winners in April with Alice Travis named player of the match.
Estcourt became AJIS Netball Champions in a tournament which hosts 22 independent school teams from across the North West and the winning team consisted of Bethany Clinch, Ezinne Emeka-Enechi, Xanthe Hadfield, Rebecca Hope, Antonia Jameson, Ella Kay, Helen Schofield and Robyn Jenia Wilcha. Having won this title twice and been runners up over the previous four seasons the results are a clear indication of how strong netball is at Estcourt. Two pupils in Year 5 have also made huge contributions to the success on the courts this year, both Faye Harrison and Holly Philmore have played in the team and show great potential for the future! The team also won the Primary Schools’ Netball festival hosted by Hulme last week. We wish them the best of luck representing Oldham in the Mini Games on Friday 3 July at Bolton Sports Arena.
Athletics - Congratulations to the Years 3,4,5 & 6 who competed in the Middleton Harriers Cross Country series. Overall Estcourt and Hulme Court finished as runners-up. In the Oldham Schools’ Cross Country Championships Jane Augsburger came 1st. The Y10/11 girls team also came 1st with the Y7 team coming 3rd. Hulme Boys finished 3rd overall in the Oldham Schools’ Championships without our Y10 team who could not compete due to exams. Olivia Green (Y4) has had an incredible year on the cross country circuit - winning the Under 9's Oldham Schools’ Race and finishing 3rd in the Middleton Harriers Event!
In May Brogan Crowley competed in the English Independent Schools Athletics Championships in Gateshead and won the 100m and Long Jump events.
Some 20 Hulme athletes represented Oldham at the Greater Manchester Athletics Championships held on 13 June at Longford Park, Stretford – individual medal winners included:
Boys - Juniors Ryan Greenwood 3rd 800m - Inters Alex Bellis 3rd Triple Jump, Sam Booth 3rd High Jump - Seniors Nathan Mills 1st 100m Hurdles and High Jump - Girls - Juniors Lauren Cunliffe 1st discus - Inters Brogan Crowley 3rd 300m National standard time. Ryan, Alex, Lauren and Brogan all competed for Greater Manchester recently in Birmingham at the Inter-County Championships and Brogan confirmed her place in the English Schools finals which take place in July.
Art – Farhana Anjum was chosen as one of thirteen winners out of hundreds of entries for the 2009 IFAW Calendar Art Competition. Her work will feature in the Animal Action Week 2009 calendar – the theme of the calendar is ‘Under one sky: why animals matter’.
Cricket – Hulme cricketers were put through their paces in the pre-season by Lancashire all-rounder Kyle Hogg and partner in his cricket academy Andy Gleave (minor counties - currently with Micklehurst CC). Kyle agreed to help coach the teams before he started the competitive season with Lancashire and also hosted a cricket camp at Hulme from Monday, 6th to Wednesday, 8th April. Y7, 8, 9 and 10 teams have been entered into the Lancashire Schools’ Cup competition and three out of the four teams are still in the competition.
The 1st XI played their annual fixture against the MCC on Monday, 22 June at Werneth CC. Victory was achieved when Hulme hit the required 3 runs from the last over of the game. This splendid result was due in no small measure to Adam Johnson’s marvellous 111 not out! As a centurion the MCC will reward Adam with a day in the President’s box at Lords!
Golf – Hulme has entered into a partnership with Werneth Golf Club which allows pupils to play at the club through the golf season. Some of our senior boys have utilised this opportunity and played golf on Wednesday afternoon games sessions. This is an excellent opportunity for our students and one we hope to develop in future years. Fixtures to come are the Eglin Trophy on Wednesday, 1 July at Saddleworth GC and the Oldham Chronicle Golf Cup on Friday, 3 July.
Rugby- Last month the Y10 girls’ rugby team finished as runners-up at the North West Carnegie Girls’ Schools’ Rugby Festival.
Drama - Reception and Year one Kindergarten children had a treat in February when they were entertained by the Year 8 Drama Group. They performed a story from 'Jungle Book' and all their favourite characters were there. More recently the Nursery were entertained by Y12 drama students with their version of Peter Pan.
Table Tennis – Hulme were yet again well represented at the Oldham Schools' Table Tennis Championships, this time at the individual competition. Tom Farrell (Y10) made the quarter-finals with some excellent play. Andrew Tarpey (Y9) and Callum Jones (Y11) managed to avoid each other having been placed in separate halves of the draw for the knockout stages. Both made the final with convincing victories over Crompton House opponents. Andrew was ultimately the victor.
Tennis - Hulme Junior Girls’ Tennis Tournament was held on Saturday, 9 May. Despite some pretty cold and blustery conditions, the rain held off and play went ahead. 3rd Place Bronze Medals went to Jessica Whitworth & Jordan Flitcroft. 2nd Place Silver Medals were awarded to Bethany Quimby & Charlotte Robinson and 1st Place Gold Medals were awarded to Jessica Illingworth & Francesca Chiappe.
Both the Junior and Senior boys teams are through to the finals of the Oldham Schools’ Tennis Championships.
Charity - On Wednesday 4th March 5 boys from Year 8, Joe Durr, George Tilley, Matthew Rooney, Jack Nutter and Joe Gledhill raised over £700 by cycling from Saddleworth to School and back again. The idea was created by Matthew Rooney following a family member being cared for and treated at Christie’s Hospital in Manchester.
Visits/Trips –The Y9 Boys’ French Trip over half term started with an early morning ferry journey arriving in France in time for a picnic on the beach at Wimereux. There was a visit to a bunker remaining from Hitler's 'Atlantic Wall' defences, to discover how this corner of France was affected by the two world wars. Saturday began with a visit to the baker's where everyone had the chance to practise their croissant-making skills and to eat delicious 'pain au chocolat' then off to the 'cristallerie 'at Arques where we had a noisy visit (earplugs provided) to see how glass is made. On Sunday they went underground at La Coupole, the German V2 rocket base from WW2, a modern and fascinating museum, with excellent slide-shows and exhibits. The town trail in Le Touquet followed. All the boys did the trail on their own in French, without getting lost, and were able to interview shop-keepers on the way. Finally, boys were able to gain an understanding of the numbers killed in WW1 and to appreciate the calm and beauty of the moving British Cemetery at Etaples. The highlight of the trip for many was the chance to taste snails and frogs' legs on the last night! Thanks to Mrs Murray, Mrs Garside, Mr Dalziel and Mr Bakht for making it such an enjoyable trip!
On Friday 3rd April 2009, 33 pupils and 5 staff set off to the beautiful city of Madrid. The first day was spent exploring the city, travelling by Metro and visiting the Sorolla Museum and the Royal Palace. They also visited the Ventas Bullring, which seats 25,000 and were lucky to have a guided tour of the bullring. Sunday was spent 204km north of Madrid in the historical city of Salamanca visiting the Roman Bridge, Casa Lis, Casa de las Conchas and the Cathedral. They were able to watch the Palm Sunday parades, marking the start of Semana Santa. The last day was taken up with some last minute sightseeing on an open-top bus. The Madrid trip was a tremendous success and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Thanks to Mrs Kershaw and Miss Shepherd who led the trip.
After a busy year of trading, the two Young Enterprise companies called “Identity” and “Roulette” have been rewarded for all their efforts. The highlight of the year-long programme culminated in the Tameside, Rochdale and Oldham Area Final which took place on 1st April 2009 at ‘Brother UK’ headquarters. Both companies worked incredibly hard in preparation for this prestigious event. They had to prepare a company report, put together a final presentation and show a trade stand – all of which were to be judged at the final. Following a buffet dinner both teams were rewarded for their hard work and dedication. “Identity” won the hotly contested ‘Best Trade Stand’ award and “Roulette” was awarded the trophy for the ‘Best Company Report’. The final award of the evening was for the ‘Best Overall Company’ which also brought with it the chance for the winning team to continue towards the ‘Best International Company’ competition - “Roulette” were announced the winners!
Four pupils representing a cross-section of the school were chosen to form the Chemquiz Team 2009. The competition was held on 2nd April at the Manchester Metropolitan University and the day was split into three parts for the 38 teams to participate in each of the three sections of the competition. Each team had to perform a laboratory practical, do a multi-media exercise and participate in the chemistry quiz at the end of the day. Congratulations go to Elliot Holland (Y11), Bartholomew Edge (Y10), Lynda Onuoha (Y9) and Eleanor Millington (Y8), the team came first in the Quiz Section and fourth overall.
The election for new Prefects took place amongst staff and Year 12 students in late March and the new team of 24 boys and 25 girls were duly installed as Prefects by the Principal during special school assemblies. This year the Head Boy and Head Girl and their Deputies were the first Prefect leaders to be presented with new specially commissioned badges for their roles. This is another sign that, since its formation 5 years ago, the mixed sixth form is one entity. We are fortunate to have such first class students who work together to assist the smooth running of many school occasions.
Ashleigh Durr, our Head Girl, started at Hulme in Year 7 and had already held a variety of positions of responsibility at school before her selection for high office. She became a Peer Mentor before entering the 6th form, attending anti-bullying alliance meetings for the North West. She is a Form Helper to a Year 8 class of girls and is close to completing a course in Sports Leadership. Ashleigh gives a considerable amount of time to voluntary work, spending 3 hours per week at Dr Kershaw’s Hospice and 2 hours per week at both St Anne’s Primary School, Lydgate and Coppice Care Home. She is studying Human Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Maths, at AS level, with a view to studying Medicine at university. In addition, she is studying an Open University module. Out of school she is working on her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, plays netball and still finds time for a part-time job.
James Summers, our new Head Boy, also started at Hulme in Year 7 and participates in a wide range of activities, involving him in almost every aspect of school life. On the sports scene, he is a member of the 1st XI football team and also plays rugby and takes part in athletics. He is in the CCF and whilst on camp last summer prevented a diabetic boy from falling into a coma, using his knowledge of basic first aid techniques, for which he received national recognition when he was presented with the ‘Young First Aider of the Year’ award by St. John Ambulance. On the arts front, he sings in the school choir and had the major part of Bill Sykes in this year’s school production of “Oliver.” Like Ashleigh, he is also pursuing his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Before his selection as Head Boy, his responsibilities included being an Academic Mentor to a younger pupil in the Senior School and helping out with younger pupils at events such as the lower school disco. James is studying Economics, English Literature, Politics and Drama at AS level and intends to study Economics at university.
Dates for you diary:
Thursday, 20 August A Level results
Thursday, 27 August GCSE results
Tuesday, 1 September Start of the Autumn Term for Staff
Wednesday, 2 September Term starts for Pupils
I wish you all a relaxing summer and look forward to welcoming our pupils and colleagues back to Hulme in September.
With best wishes
Yours sincerely
Dr Paul G. Neeson BSc PhD
Principal
