Hampton Court House

Get out of my Facebook: Social Media Forum for Parents

Guy Holloway — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:44:48 +0000

One of our greatest challenges is to ensure that our children are equipped (technically and emotionally) to use the internet safely. You may have noticed from your child’s Almanack that the evening of Monday 27 February (7pm) has been set aside for you to engage with the School on this subject. The evening is open to all parents (Upper and Lower School).

At Hampton Court House we pride ourselves on being a family school – which means the close interaction of pupils, staff and parents. Indeed I have long believed in that wise African proverb ‘it takes a village to raise a child’; it is essential that School and parents have a common set of values in relation to online use and social media in particular. Ideally you will be having conversations at home which complement the many seminars and assemblies that we hold on this issue.

There is no doubt that this is one of the most pressing issues we face. Indeed, we read on an almost daily basis of careers being ruined as a result of ill-advised tweets and online postings. I am convinced that the best way to ensure that our children have a healthy and enriching online life is for us to be seen to working closely together on this issue whilst they are still young, in order that they internalise values which will keep them in good stead throughout their lives.

There will also be an opportunity for some Q&A and for you to share your views with other parents. I would be very grateful if you could rsvp to reception@hchnet.co.uk to indicate that you are planning to attend this important forum.

With all best wishes

Guy Holloway

PS: BBC’s Panorama tackled the topic of online bullying. Click here to view.

Super Poke.

Young Enterprise: The Mid-Year Briefing

Ben Ruddin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:57:05 +0000

Young Enterprise Mid-Year Briefing

Marat Guysin, Alyssia Everest and Adam Barrs (below) represented Hampton Court House at Tiffin Girls School on a cold Tuesday evening to listen to talks on finance, reporting and stall merchandising. They also encountered an Old Courtier (OC) Rupert Sadler who is now involved with the Young Enterprise group at Kingston Grammar School Sixth Form.

Marat Guysin, Alyssia Everest and Adam Barrs and Old Courtier (OC) Rupert Sadler.

“Why do I have to learn spreadsheets? I’m never going to use them.”

Carl Turland — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:27:49 +0000

I hear students say something similar to the above quote so often. In the past I have struggled to give an answer that I have been entirely happy with. I have tried the poor parent answer, “because you have to,” all the way to trying to place a way the student may use spreadsheets in their future job, “as a footballer you may need to… work out your finances?”. I have always felt a slight lack of satisfaction in my response.

The Toughest Place to be a Binman

This week, having just watched the first 30 minutes of the show “The Toughest Place to be a Binman” with my form group, on the way out of my class one of my students asked another which lesson was next. “Maths,”, he replied. “Oh no… not algebra! It’s pointless, I’m never going to need to use it.”

The next day in our life skills lesson I brought the subject up again. I asked them to think about the programme we had seen and how the binman in Jakarta worked. He worked harder than anyone in the room will likely have to work in their lifetime. He put his life on the line every day clearing away dangerous rubbish – sometimes walking over glass and metal without shoes knowing if he is injured their is no national health. He is ignored and unappreciated by the majority of people he cleans up for and only makes around £15 a month. I asked my students why? “Because he has no choice,” one replied. “Exactly,” I said. “He has no choice, unlike everyone in this room. We have the opportunity to do whatever we like with our lives. We are educated and have the skills and knowledge to choose a path for our career. We get to dream and live those dreams though hard work and determination. This binman in Jakarta may have dreams, but those dreams are just that and will always be just dreams. He didn’t get the chance to learn algebra or spreadsheets. He only works so his family can live. He only puts up with the poorly paid and unappreciated job because if he didn’t his children would starve and there is always a queue to replace him in his job if he leaves. We are so lucky to have these opportunities to make a path for our lives. If we had been born somewhere else, it may not have been the case.”

As we were leaving the class I spoke to the boy who had mentioned algebra being pointless. I said I hope it didn’t seem like I was aiming my conversation at him personally, but I had heard so many students utter something similar since being a teacher and it always bugged me. “It’s ok” he said, “I really understood what you were getting at. You are right, I’m incredibly lucky to be at this school.”

Maybe I have finally found the answer.

La Chandeleur

Caroline Géhin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:28:40 +0000

Aujourd’hui, avec la classe des Année 7, nous avons célébré la Chandeleur. En France, nous célébrons la présentation du Christ au temple en faisant des crêpes. Traditionnellement, il faut garder dans la main une pièce en or – un Louis- tout en faisant sauter la crêpe! Les élèves ont passé un bon moment à préparer la pâte à crêpe et ils ont surveillé de près la cuisson! Tous étaient d’accord pour dire que la dégustation fut le moment préféré de cet après-midi. Une recette rapide: 250g de farine ; 3 oeufs ; about 1/2 l de lait; 3 cuillères à soupe d’huile de tournesol et une pincée de sel. Bonne dégustation!

Lord of the Flies: Auditions

Guy Holloway — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:16:38 +0000

Spring Term school play: LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding. Auditions for this term’s play (to take place on Monday 12 March and Tuesday 13 March) started today at lunch time. A group of about twenty students arrived for the first workshop, and improvised various scenes. It’s clearly going to be a difficult job to cast the main roles with so much talent to choose from. Workshops and auditions continue throughout this week and next. The play is aimed primarily at Years 5-8, though younger and older children are also most welcome to attend if they wish.

Open Evening

Jon Hind — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:21:48 +0000

Last night we held a very successful open evening thanks to the help of so many students. As Guy mentioned in his speech, it isn’t the building that makes a school, but the people in it. Thank you all for making the school last night.

DON’T TEACH YOUR CHILDREN CHESS … until you’ve read this.

Richard James — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:23:22 +0000

HCH chess teacher Richard James is passionate about promoting chess to children and passionate about ensuring that every child who learns chess gets the best possible start. The first chess lesson you give your child, says Richard, is the most important lesson they’ll ever have. Experts on chess for young children across three continents all agree that chess is best taught to young children step by step, one piece at a time and one concept at a time. The longer they spend on this, experts agree, the more they will get out of the game and the more likely it is they will go on to become strong players. After all, if you’re teaching maths to young children, you wouldn’t try to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication and division all in one go, and still less would you expect them, after their first lesson, to go away and perform some differential calculus. Much of this is already outlined on Richard’s website chessKIDS academy (www.chesskids.com) and in his best-selling chess book Chess for Kids. After half term Richard is starting a new lunchtime chess group for beginners in the Lower School based on these principles. The emphasis will be on having fun playing simple but challenging games using a few pieces and solving puzzles designed to develop a wide range of cognitive skills. If you’d like your children to take part in this group please email me at rjames@hchnet.co.uk to book a place.

HCH At the forefront of Computer Science in Education

Carl Turland — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:45:36 +0000

Hampton Court House is looking to get a head start on other schools by investing in a set of Raspberry Pi computers. Developed in the UK, the Raspberry Pi has been designed as a modern day replacement for the BBC Micro which was used by so many in the 1980s to learn how computers work and how to develop applications for them. When the BBC Micro died out, and the PC that we all know today came in, schools moved towards a more software orientated curriculum where students learnt how to be computer users rather than creators. With the recent news that the government plans to bring Computer Science back into schools (something that HCH has already started this year) the Raspberry Pi could not have come at a better time.

The Raspberry Pi

The hope is that students will love working with them and will consider buying their own allowing them to customise them and adapt them to work in a number of different ways. HCH also has plans to bring other new technology into the school in 2012, including the Microsoft Kinect controller which would allow students from year 6 and above to develop applications that are ‘controller-less’ and respond instead to human gesture, and Lego MindStorm which allows students to build robots to carry out tasks like security scanning and cleaning the floor! It is a really exciting time to be involved in the ICT and Computing department at the moment and HCH is leading the way in the UK when it comes to introducing new and exciting technology for students to learn and master.

HCH Kenya Trip – Year 7-11

Naomi Owen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:32:38 +0000

Just a reminder that the Kenya evening for information regarding the trip will take place on Monday (30th January) at 6.30pm.

Please feel free to attend even if you have not returned the form. I hope it will give me a chance to show what an amazing opportunity the trip would be for your child and give you a chance to ask any questions you may have.

If you cannot make it but would like further information, please feel free to email me.

Kind Regards

Carl

Kenya Letter

Y6 Assessment Results

Jon Hind — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:32:08 +0000

The results of the Y6 Assessment Tests will be emailed out to parents on Saturday 28th January, in line with the ISEB guidelines.