Posted on: 2/04/2024Education For LifeMr Millard, EfL Co-ordinator Opportunities abound During the Spring term we held a number of careers-based events, which were targeted towards students in Key Stage 4. On Friday 23 February Year 10 students took part in the 'Mock Interview Day', where local businesses came in and interviewed each student for a job that they had shown interest in. Each student will be given feedback in their upcoming careers EfL lessons. At the end of the day the interviewers praised the students saying that they were 'Engaged and polite... confident and prepared... and professional young people'. The second careers event we held was the Careers Fair, which started with a carousel of activities which the students took part in. These involved a wide range of careers and future education courses, which involved snails, a hedgehog, robots, the police and a stranded submarine to name just a few! Alongside this, students found out about the ever-growing number of apprenticeships which are on offer. After school we held the fair where more businesses, colleges and universities joined us to give the students an opportunity to ask questions and help them with their on-going careers education. To help inspire students to interact with the exhibitors we set up a challenge in which all students could take part. If a student asked a meaningful question to a visitor they received stamp on a bingo card, and after the event three completed cards were selected at random with students winning a brand new laptop. These laptops were given to us by The Careers and Enterprise Company, who put on a parental talk about careers alongside the Fair - there will be another parental talk around careers later in the school year. The laptops were presented to students by Mr Jeckells. Mr Jeckells also awarded another Careers Fair prize to a student who had won an Amazon voucher donated by local accountancy firm Sheen Stickland. Thank you to our these organisations for helping to inspire our students. Health and Wellbeing Spring has been quite a term for ‘Education for Life’ with a number of events and enrichment activities alongside lessons which have covered many important topics. The first of which was a series of sessions run by the fantastic Tj Power. Tj spoke to students and parents about the importance of wellbeing; whilst exploring how our minds worked, students left sessions with small achievable tasks to help improve their mental and physical health. See page 15 for more details on this. These topics were also looked at by Year 7 who have been studying 'Health and Puberty', looking at the importance of sleep and healthy eating, whilst connecting it to mental health. Year 10 have also looked into this theme by finishing off their studies of substance misuse, with the visit of the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation. Students heard the powerful story of the misuse of substances and were given guidance on how to make safe choices.View Article
Posted on: 12/07/2023Students have once again been awarded a coveted Eco-Schools Green FlagStudents have once again been awarded a coveted Eco-Schools Green Flag. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an international accreditation that recognises efforts to raise environmental awareness amongst young people, whilst taking action to make their school more sustainable. Amery Hill School is proud to announce that it has retained its status as an accredited Eco-School. The Eco-Schools programme was established in 1994 and is now delivered in more than 70 countries across the globe. The programme prompts young people to explore a variety of environmental issues, including climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Students are then empowered to plan and deliver environmental actions in their school, local community, and beyond. This year, the Eco-Union has continued to build on the strong foundations set out at the start of the school’s Eco-Schools journey and in recent months has completed an Environmental Review. This has really highlighted the scope and positive impact of many eco initiatives implemented over the past three years. Promotion of earth day, numerous recycling initiatives, eco competitions and fundraising for key climate change charities are just some of the work the Eco-Union has spearheaded. “The Eco-Schools Green Flag award is an internationally recognised symbol of high environmental standards. The students and school staff are to be commended and deserve immense credit for their hard work, determination, and creativity to retain the school’s status as an accredited Eco-School. They are an inspiration to us all.” Mr Mann.View Article
Posted on: 26/06/2023Amery Hill School Announces New HeadteacherAmery Hill School in Alton is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Headteacher, Mr Rob Jeckells, who will take up the position, in September 2023, after the summer holidays. Mr Jeckells is a highly experienced Deputy Headteacher from Kings’ School in Winchester. The comprehensive recruitment process included seeking external independent advice as well as involving a broad cross-section of Trustees, staff and students in the school. One of our objectives was to find a Headteacher who understands and shares our outlook, which is rooted in strong values. Throughout our discussions it was clear that Mr Jeckells, not only shares our focus on academic excellence and high achievement for all, but will continue to develop our ethos and vision in the future. We would like to congratulate Mr Mann, our current Headteacher, who has been appointed as CEO of Wildern Academy Trust and will take up his new position in September. Rob Jeckells said: ‘It will be my honour and privilege to lead Amery Hill School. I am a strong believer in the power of education to transform lives, and I’m ambitious to build upon the work of the current Headteacher and staff. The opportunity to lead Amery Hill School and serve the whole community is hugely exciting for me and I’m looking forward to leading the school into the next phase of its history.’ Lorna Vickery, Chair of Trustees, said ‘We are very sad to see Mr Mann depart and thank him for all the hard work and dedication he has shown to ensure the very best for the students at Amery Hill School. Mr Mann has worked tirelessly with the Senior Leadership Team, staff and Trustees over the last five years to strengthen the academic excellence of our school and maintain our caring ethos, whilst steering the school through the Covid pandemic. We look forward to a bright future for the school with Mr Jeckells, whilst wishing Mr Mann every success, health and happiness with his future career.’View Article
Posted on: 12/07/2024A Time for ReflectionTwo weeks before the end of the summer term, 45 GCSE History students, along with Mr Eaton, Dr Lewis-Vidler, Mrs Stanley and Mr White, visited the battlefields of the First World War in Belgium and Northern France. We went not only to visit the sites of major events in the conflict but also to pay our respects and commemorate those who so bravely put their lives on the line. We visited many locations that students have learnt about in class and our guides were brilliant at taking us to places when men from Alton lost their lives and were buried, such as Hawthorn Ridge and Crater. On the trip we visited many cemeteries and memorials of soldiers and it was extremely touching for us to hear a few of the personal stories of the people who have their final resting place abroad, so far from home. Particularly impactful were the large memorials including the Menin Gate, where we saw the Last Post ceremony take place on the first day, Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Battle of the Somme and Tyne Cot cemetery, which we visited on our final day. It was an honour for us to be able to lay a wreath on behalf of the school. Each student placed their hand on a name of a missing soldier, to take their memory home and ensure that we will remember them. As well as reinforcing classroom-based curriculum study, we also managed to fit in time for some more recreational activities as well on our trip. On the first day, students were able to visit shops selling famous Belgian chocolate, as well as having some time to explore the rebuilt city of Ypres. We arrived at our accommodation on Wednesday just in time to watch the European Football Championship semi-final victory for England together in the Hostel conference room. Students also took the opportunity to visit the duty-free shops whilst waiting for our shuttle to and from the European continent. All of our students conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and both our guides, as well as the coach driver, remarked on how impressed they were with their behaviour. All in all, it was a brilliant learning experience, as well as being fantastic fun for everyone involved! “It was very tranquil at Tyne Cot when we placed our wreath to commemorate the dead.” Ed W “It showed us the footsteps of the people that came before us, so we can prevent anything like this happening again. It brought it to reality.” Toby M “I really enjoyed learning about what the people did and all the different places we went to.” Grace S View Article
Posted on: 12/07/2024A Time for ReflectionTwo weeks before the end of the summer term, 45 GCSE History students, along with Mr Eaton, Dr Lewis-Vidler, Mrs Stanley and Mr White, visited the battlefields of the First World War in Belgium and Northern France. We went not only to visit the sites of major events in the conflict but also to pay our respects and commemorate those who so bravely put their lives on the line. We visited many locations that students have learnt about in class and our guides were brilliant at taking us to places when men from Alton lost their lives and were buried, such as Hawthorn Ridge and Crater. On the trip we visited many cemeteries and memorials of soldiers and it was extremely touching for us to hear a few of the personal stories of the people who have their final resting place abroad, so far from home. Particularly impactful were the large memorials including the Menin Gate, where we saw the Last Post ceremony take place on the first day, Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Battle of the Somme and Tyne Cot cemetery, which we visited on our final day. It was an honour for us to be able to lay a wreath on behalf of the school. Each student placed their hand on a name of a missing soldier, to take their memory home and ensure that we will remember them. As well as reinforcing classroom-based curriculum study, we also managed to fit in time for some more recreational activities as well on our trip. On the first day, students were able to visit shops selling famous Belgian chocolate, as well as having some time to explore the rebuilt city of Ypres. We arrived at our accommodation on Wednesday just in time to watch the European Football Championship semi-final victory for England together in the Hostel conference room. Students also took the opportunity to visit the duty-free shops whilst waiting for our shuttle to and from the European continent. All of our students conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and both our guides, as well as the coach driver, remarked on how impressed they were with their behaviour. All in all, it was a brilliant learning experience, as well as being fantastic fun for everyone involved! “It was very tranquil at Tyne Cot when we placed our wreath to commemorate the dead.” Ed W “It showed us the footsteps of the people that came before us, so we can prevent anything like this happening again. It brought it to reality.” Toby M “I really enjoyed learning about what the people did and all the different places we went to.” Grace S View Article
Posted on: 26/06/2023Amery Hill School Announces New HeadteacherAmery Hill School in Alton is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Headteacher, Mr Rob Jeckells, who will take up the position, in September 2023, after the summer holidays. Mr Jeckells is a highly experienced Deputy Headteacher from Kings’ School in Winchester. The comprehensive recruitment process included seeking external independent advice as well as involving a broad cross-section of Trustees, staff and students in the school. One of our objectives was to find a Headteacher who understands and shares our outlook, which is rooted in strong values. Throughout our discussions it was clear that Mr Jeckells, not only shares our focus on academic excellence and high achievement for all, but will continue to develop our ethos and vision in the future. We would like to congratulate Mr Mann, our current Headteacher, who has been appointed as CEO of Wildern Academy Trust and will take up his new position in September. Rob Jeckells said: ‘It will be my honour and privilege to lead Amery Hill School. I am a strong believer in the power of education to transform lives, and I’m ambitious to build upon the work of the current Headteacher and staff. The opportunity to lead Amery Hill School and serve the whole community is hugely exciting for me and I’m looking forward to leading the school into the next phase of its history.’ Lorna Vickery, Chair of Trustees, said ‘We are very sad to see Mr Mann depart and thank him for all the hard work and dedication he has shown to ensure the very best for the students at Amery Hill School. Mr Mann has worked tirelessly with the Senior Leadership Team, staff and Trustees over the last five years to strengthen the academic excellence of our school and maintain our caring ethos, whilst steering the school through the Covid pandemic. We look forward to a bright future for the school with Mr Jeckells, whilst wishing Mr Mann every success, health and happiness with his future career.’View Article
