Hurstmere School

At Hurstmere, we will be looking to instil the following core values:

• Self-Belief

• Teamwork

• Ambition

• Integrity

• Leadership

• Respect

• Resilience

Your son will need to show all of these as he makes his way through years 8-11

Staff at Hurstmere are here to support pupils as they make their way through the school. We offer a range of support from informal discussions with pupils to more structured interventions such as Peer Mentoring and Place to be. We are eager to help our pupils and rely on open communications to ensure we can quickly deal with any issues that may arise.

Please contact your son’s form tutor in the first instance if you have something you wish to discuss with us. Remember “if we don’t know about it, we can’t help you deal with it.” If your son feels uncomfortable talking to someone in person, he can email hereforyou@hurstmere.org.uk Accordion content

Pupil achievements are recognised and rewarded in several ways in Year 8. In order to consistently reward students, we use SIMS to reward pupils with ‘House Points' for excellent effort and work. Each week the top ten pupils will receive a reward postcard from the Raising Standard Lead as recognition of their hard work.

Pupils who perform consistently throughout each term will be invited to take part in reward trips. Pupils can also receive points towards the annual House competition. Be sure to look out for opportunities throughout the year to contribute to the success of your House. 

Your son will receive homework from his subject teachers, and this should be recorded in his planner. To support the boys, teachers will also place details of homework onto a website called teams. To make the most of his studies at home a revision timetable should be created. There should be a good balance between academic studies and free time.

Every pupil is issued with a school planner at the start of the academic year which becomes their responsibility. This is an excellent resource for pupils to keep themselves organised. It also is a useful vehicle for maintaining close contact between home and school.

Teachers may use the planner to communicate with you and you are of course welcome to do the same. Please ensure you check your son’s planner EVERY DAY and that you sign your son’s planner every week. All members of staff can of course be contacted on the main school number.

Staff at Hurstmere are here to support pupils as they make their way through the school. We offer a range of support from informal discussions with pupils to more structured interventions such as Peer Mentoring. We are eager to help our students and rely on open communications to ensure we can quickly deal with any issues that may arise.

Please contact your son’s form tutor in the first instance if you have something you wish to discuss with us. We also provide a support service via e-mail for your son to contact us if they need assistance in dealing with issues.

They can contact hereforyou@hurstmere.org.uk . We are also associated with Kooth, which is an online and anonymous counselling and support service www.kooth.com

At Hurstmere, we are a telling school and members of staff are only too willing to assist students in resolving any issues they have during their school day. Students can speak with their classroom teachers for issues that occur during lessons.

During their 20-minute registration boys can also liaise with their form tutors and inform them of any issues they may have in the corridors, between lessons and to or from school. As teachers we can work with your son to get the best out of them, we ask that you support us in what we are trying to achieve. You can do this by taking an interest in what they are studying, assisting them in completing homework and resolving conflicts that may occur during the school year.

Remember “if we don’t know about it, we can’t help you deal with it!”

The school provides a wide range of activities outside of conventional classroom time and it is important that pupils make the most of the opportunities on offer. This helps pupils to settle into the new school year, make new friends and develop their social skills. Most departments in the school have additional sessions that further engage students and developing their knowledge and understanding. T

hese are a great way to learn more in a specific area and make new friends with similar interests. Activities take place before school, during break time/lunchtimes and after school. The extracurricular timetable can be found on the school website and is on the Extra Curricular noticeboard in school. It is recommended that all pupils take part in some form of extra-curricular activity to help them feel part of their school.

Pupil achievements are recognised and rewarded in several ways. In order to consistently reward students, we use SIMS to reward pupils with ‘Achievement points' for excellent effort and work. Each week the top ten pupils will receive a reward postcard from their Raising Standards Lead, as recognition of their hard work.

Pupils who perform consistently throughout each term will be invited to take part in reward trips and celebrations at specific points in the year. Be sure to look out for opportunities throughout the year to contribute to the success of your House by showing the RTRAILS in your lessons. Pupils in Year 10 can also receive letters and praise postcards from teachers and form tutors for their efforts.

Your son will receive homework from his subject teachers, and this should be recorded in his school planner. To support the pupils, teachers will also place details of the homework onto Teams, identified as HWK.

As a parent, please download the Teams app and use your son’s login details to gain access and track what homework your son is to complete. This will enable you to support your son with their homework, organisation and meeting deadlines.

Some departments use other homework platforms, and these can be accessed by your son at home using their individual login details. Usually, the same details they use to log into the school computers. If you have any issues with specific platforms, please liaise with the classroom teacher for support.

Every pupil is issued with a school planner at the start of the academic year which becomes their responsibility. This is an excellent resource for pupils to keep themselves organised. On their first day, their form tutor will have issued them with their lesson timetable and this needs to be stuck into the planner in the timetable section. It also is a useful vehicle for maintaining close contact between home and school. Teachers may use the planner to communicate with you and you are of course welcome to do the same.

Please ensure you check your son’s planner regularly and that you sign your son’s planner once every week prior to the Pastoral Monitoring day. All members of staff can of course be contacted on the main school number or via e-mail info@hurstmere.org.uk .

As part of the home school contact, we have implemented the use of the SIMS Parent app which will enable us to keep you up to date with the achievement points and behaviour points on a daily basis. This platform is also how you will be able to check your sons attendance and punctuality along with their tracking reports.

Please could I ask that you request login information by e-mailing SIMSsupport@hurstmere.org.uk you will then be able to download the SIMS Parent app from either the Apple App store or the Google Play store and this is a free app. Please engage with this and prompt conversations with your son about his day in school.

Students should be looking for a work experience placement to complete from XX May 2025 – XX May 2025.

All students must provide their own work experience placement and the relevant paperwork needs to be completed and handed into Mrs Watson (school office). Your son can complete his work experience in more than one facility but paperwork for both locations will need to be submitted. As we are not the only school in the local borough who complete work experience, places are limited and can be very competitive; we advise students to seek and confirm their placement as early as possible.

The deadline for completed paperwork for all year 10 pupils will be XXXXX.