End of Autumn Term message
Posted 18th December 2025
We have been impressed with how positively students have embraced their learning over the first half term. We have also been delighted to see so many wider curricular activities taking place. It was a privilege to see all the celebration assemblies this week where our Head Students, Sophie and Alex delivered outstanding speeches about their time in school. We also hosted our annual celebration evening on Wednesday evening, and it was a real joy to see our Year 11, and Year 13 Leavers collect their special prizes.
Curriculum summaries and reading
Our curriculum summaries have been updated for next term and can be found by clicking here. Parents often ask about how they can help their child at home and ask about what they are learning next. The curriculum summaries are designed to give an overview of what is being taught over the next term.
We continue to encourage reading across our school and have a number of initiatives taking place:
- Form time reading takes place weekly on Sparx Reader, complimented by at least 50 minutes of independent Home Reading for students in Years 7 to 10. This is focused reading on Sparx Reader has seen students read 3,008 books this academic year already, this equates to 8,931 hours of careful reading.
- The paired reading programme in Yr7 takes place every Tuesday and Wednesday where Yr12 students listen to, guide and praise students in Yr7. This programme has a huge impact in improving reading ability.
- Years 7 and 8 have experienced a range of author talks and workshops in their fortnightly library lesson.
- Reading is celebrated in assemblies and book recommendations can be found linked in our newsletters and accessed via our website.
Please click here for some book stocking fillers.
We also wanted to mention how well our students are doing with Sparx Maths. Consistent work on Sparx Maths has been evidenced to dramatically increase outcomes at GCSE. We are therefore incredibly pleased that our pupils have been rigorously applying themselves to their Sparx Maths home learning this term. Their hard work each week has led to our school consistently having the highest Sparx Maths completion rate in Harrogate. This has also resulted in our school having the second highest completion rate across the region of 43 secondary schools.
Changing rooms
We would like to thank all the parents who have contributed to the refurbishment of the boys’ changing rooms. This project has been entirely paid for by fundraising, and all the work has been completed by our own site team. In the new year, we will begin work on the girls’ changing rooms and we will be carrying out more fundraising. If you haven’t purchased a ticket yet, please support us in our efforts to update the changing rooms by joining us for Burns Night.
We would also like to thank the six parents who came forward to support our PTA and prevent its dissolution. We really appreciate this response from our community and look forward to some exciting projects in the new year to enhance our school environment.
Year 9 Options and Outward Bounds
We look forward to welcoming Year 9 parents into school on Thursday 15 January to hear more about the Year 9 options process. Year 9 students have already attended an assembly about this exciting chapter for them and further information about the Year 9 options process can be found here. We look forward to receiving their final choices by Monday 26 January.
We were very pleased with the Outward-Bound trip to the Lake District, including nearly the whole year group. We were impressed with how students embraced this adventure, showed such commitment in the harsh weather and how they worked respectfully in their groups. Colleagues at Outward Bound were delighted to work with our students and their feedback was very positive.
Year 11
We have been incredibly impressed with how Year 11 approached their mock examinations, and they deserve credit for their conduct and hard work. We felt that it was highly effective for the mock results day to be on the same day as the in-person parent consultation evening. We look forward to welcoming Year 11 parents (parents only) into school on the evening of Tuesday 10 February to find out more about the important months ahead as Year 11 prepare for their GCSE exams.
We also look forward to welcoming Year 11 students to the Sixth Form taster day on Monday 12 January, and the Open Afternoon on Saturday 17 January. We ask students to complete their applications by the deadline of Friday 23 January.
Year 13 University Applications
This term has been the peak in the year for completing university applications. This year so far, the Sixth Form team have processed 250 UCAS applications. Our students have applied for places at universities all over the UK for a range of courses. In the New Year, we will turn our efforts to supporting students seeking apprenticeships and alternative options to university. In January, Year 13 students will sit their mock examinations, supported with home study leave.
Ofsted
In March 2026 it will be four years since our last inspection. This means that we are due to be inspected. Ofsted has introduced a new report card system to give parents more detailed information about their child’s education. Instead of a single overall judgement like “outstanding,” inspectors now assign colour-coded grades to key areas such as attendance and behaviour, achievement, personal development and wellbeing, sixth form, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance and inclusion, using a five-point scale – exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention and urgent improvement – and also report whether safeguarding is met.
These report cards include short explanations of what inspectors found and contextual data to help you understand strengths and areas for improvement. Exceptional grades will be awarded only in rare cases where provision goes well beyond what is typically expected. The expected standard is likely to be more common than the strong standard and is seen as a very high standard. Further, the new report cards may have more variation in gradings across the different areas than before.
Department of Education Guidance - Understanding Ofsted report cards and grades
And finally…
Our first term has been incredibly busy, and our students will be ready for a break by the time they leave this afternoon. I do hope that our students will take time with their families to relax this Christmas and make sure that they are fully rested and refreshed for the New Year. We all want our young people to be successful, but more than anything, we want them to be safe, happy, and healthy. Getting the balance right is sometimes difficult for young people and for us, as parents and teachers. I hope that this Christmas, you find that balance and are able to enjoy the festivities to the full.
The start of the new year is an opportunity for students to start something new. Our aim remains for all children to engage in at least one wider activity outside of the classroom. Please click here to see the opportunities for next term.
We have been growing our social media platforms to share some of the student experience in school. Some of our posts and reels have had a large number of views. If you do not follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, we welcome your support via the following links.
I thank you for your continued support and wish you a very happy Christmas from all of us at HGS.
Mr Neil Renton – Headteacher
