One of the new schemes we have implemented to keep our students’ spirits high is the new Student of the Week award.

One boy and one girl from each tutor group who are going above and beyond in the classroom and in their learning are nominated to have hot chocolate with me, the head teacher!

It’s great that I get a chance to speak to students personally who are working really hard on something positive, such as outstanding work within the classroom or lunchtime activities they are taking part in that have stood out.

“As you can imagine, I spend a lot of my day working on different things that are not always positive, so this scheme allows me to have conversations with students who are doing the right thing. It means we’ve got something positive to focus on in the school rather than just talking about Covid; having these weekly meetings with students has really boosted morale.

At the school, we have also introduced a range of performing arts awards that will be going out to students who have performed exceptionally well within this subject.

What’s been great is that we had a virtual whole school assembly at the end of last half term where we could give these awards to the children.

Normally we would come together in the hall, but doing it virtually meant we had a lot more children wanting to take part in performing than we have had in the past.

“We also had awards presented, performances from students during the assembly and the best thing about it was having us all come by together as a community, and the children really appreciated that time together to celebrate.

Students in years 7, 8 and 9 were also kept busy during October half term with a book review competition. Students who took part were tasked with writing up a review on their favourite book, with awards for the best reviews given out.

We found this really helped in keeping the children excited about writing during their time off and further boosting a sense of school spirit when they returned.

With these new schemes and events in school, attitudes to learning and school life have remained high.

Our attendance is still above the national average and students are making good progress in their work, despite the challenges we are facing.

We’ve certainly seen a Hassenbrook spirit which shows just how the children are rising to meet the challenges we face. We’ve seen that in their positive attitudes, and we hope that this will continue for the rest of this school year.”

For the Christmas period, Ortu Hassenbrook Academy are planning on holding their Christmas market virtually, which began on the 23rd of November and will continue until Friday the 4th of December. More information on this can be found on the Ortu Hassenbrook Academy website http://www.ortuhassenbrook.org/