Amery Hill School

Newsletter
Spring term 2016

Photo courtesy of Nick Scott Photography

UK Rock Challenge
We are so proud of our first entry to UK Rock Performing at the Southampton Guildhall allowed
Challenge. This was a truly memorable experience for students to experience being at a professional venue.
the 87 students who took part as well as the staff The setting has played host to some of the most famous
involved and the parents who came to support and artists in the world and we showed a very professional
watch the final performance. attitude throughout. All of our Rock Challenge performers
and back
Miss Hayes and Miss Perkins did a fantastic job of s t a g e
creating and choreographing our performance, titled helpers
’Should we press play?’ The students worked with great can be
commitment to produce a superb representation of the immensely
difficulties and horrors of modern film and the mental proud of all
anguish it can cause. that was
achieved.

Year 11 Boys Rugby team

retain Hampshire Cup
A letter from our Headteacher
Mrs Wylie
We are extremely proud of the recently published
summary report from Ofsted and the DfE which has
revealed that our ‘Value Added’ score for 2015 is the
highest it has ever been for Amery Hill School. This is a
Progress Measure that reflects the overall progress that a
student makes from the time they arrive to when they
leave Amery Hill School.
Our ‘Value Added’ score puts Amery Hill School in the top
16th percentile of schools nationally – with our
Mathematics team performing so fantastically well that
they are in the top 6th percentile of schools’ Mathematics
departments nationally. Our Humanities departments of
Geography and History have also reached the top 10 th
percentile. These results reflect the hard work,
continuous effort and dedication that are shown by
students and staff. More on this and photographs of our
ex-Blue Year Presentation Evening on Page 22.
Success in H&S Compliance
We are delighted by the results of our recent independent
Health and Safety Audit and to receive our Compliance
Award Certificate. The audit looked at the effectiveness
and performance of the school in many areas, including
the school’s H&S governance and management system,
welfare and monitoring arrangements, risk management,
fire safety/emergency arrangements and management of
the school’s facilities.
Talking about the audit, consultant Ray West commented
“This is an impressive achievement and the staff and
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UK Rock Challenge Awards
Not only did everyone have a fantastic time, they also
came away with a number of Awards for Excellence for
Positive Inclusion, Choreography, Performance Skill,
Soundtrack, Entertainment, Lighting, Video Performance
and overall fourth place. This is a really impressive
achievement for a first-time entry.
Head’s Open Mornings
Following the successful introduction of this informal
drop in, I will be continuing these into the Summer term.
I would like to invite parents to come and meet me to
discuss anything they wish, the last Thursday of each
New website launched
Take a look at our new website which was launched this
week at www.ameryhill.hants.sch.uk. With the new
format parents can access information easily and quickly
on their tablet, PC or mobile phones. Keep up to date,
wherever you are!
governors who have contributed to such a result should
be delighted with their success. This hard work and
achievement should not be underestimated – a huge
accomplishment of which to be proud!” He continued
“This score represents a serious and high commitment to
health and safety management.”
The school first achieved the Compliance Award in 2012
and was the first Hampshire school to achieve over 95%.
Rock Challenge - a dazzling performance

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Blue Year News
Mrs Elliott, Year 7 Progress Leader
The start of the spring term has seen Blue Year really and overall school attendance. These will be awarded in
settle and find their feet at Amery Hill. It has been the last assembly of the term. Keep working hard Blue
fantastic to see so many of them involved in events such Year!
as Rock Challenge, Voice in a Million, sporting fixtures
and World Book Day.
Year 7 Textiles Club
Many of the year group are striving towards their gold The group learned how to use the sewing machines and
and platinum merit point certificates; a great made a set of fleece fabric ‘Juggles’ (they now just need
achievement for this stage in the year! Keep collecting! to learn how to juggle!) and a printed drawstring bag in
which to keep them. Many thanks to Mrs Andrews who
There are some exciting events that are fast came into school to run the club.
approaching for the year group including Sport Relief
and the Stubbs Farm visits before Easter. It would be
great to see as many of
Blue Year involved in
these events as possible.

The Blue Year tutors and

I will soon be deciding on
our Stars and Diamonds
of this term. We will be
taking into account all
aspects of life at Amery
Hill including effort in
lessons, involvement in
extra-curricular activities

Freeman Library News

Ms Thoma and Mrs Hearse, Librarians
writing because he couldn’t find any books about people
Visiting author entertains like him and he was determined to remedy that. He
2016 started off in great style for The Freeman Library at stressed the importance of writing about what you know.
Amery Hill School with a visit from the multi-award He told us some very funny stories about his
winning children’s and Young Adult author, Bali Rai. observations of others and demonstrated that everything
in his books comes from someone he has met,
He spoke animatedly to students about his something that
life, growing up in inner city Leicester where has happened
you had to be part of a gang to survive, his to him or he
Sikh family and his racist granddad and his has heard
passionate love of reading. He started about.

After a busy
Media Department News book signing
s es s i o n at
Mrs Winch, Head of Media break time,
Bali ran two
We are looking forward to hosting our third annual BBC w r i t i n g
School report event on Thursday 10th March. Around 30 workshops
Year 9 and 10 students will be experiencing a journalist's where he
workload for the day and working against the clock to ...and in full flow shared some
publish their news reports by 3pm. More in next term’s tips on creating
newsletter. believable characters and talked students through
the way in which a story is structured. From the
number of Bali Rai’s books sold and the huge
increase in borrowing of his books, I think that his
visit can be judged a resounding success!

Bali Rai at the book signing...

4
Red Year News
Mr Gibson, Year 8 Progress Leader
There have been several highlights for Red Year in these
last few weeks. The end of last term was a busy time for
us, not least for the many musicians in the year group,
who juggled commitments such as the Carol Service and
Christmas Concert admirably. A lot of fun was had by all
at our Christmas Celebration Assembly, at which many
individuals were recognised for their efforts at school and
their contribution to its wider life. Notable winners of
awards included Grace Christer (R7) for gaining the most
Praise Points in the year-group, Emma Vines (R4) who
won Star of the Term, and Caitlyn Dinsmore (R4) who
won Most Improved Student.
This term Red Year have had a Focus Afternoon with
their tutors, exploring the topic of online safety. Students
shared their experiences of problems of all kinds with
social media and wider internet use, before designing
Encouraging the birds
A group of Year 11 students have recently
undertaken a project to design and construct
a variety of bird nest boxes. Their on-line
research revealed the need for different
designs of boxes for different birds and they
diversified their interest into Bee Houses, both
box types being constructed for examination assessment
work. The first batch of boxes were put up in trees around
the school grounds during National Nest Box Week (14-
21 February), an event arranged by the British Trust for
Ornithology to promote biodiversity and conservation of
our breeding birds and wildlife.
Alton Lions’ SpecTrek
Spectrek is one of the global recycling
projects organised by Lions Clubs
International and involves collecting and
redistributing spectacles no longer required
to new users in developing
countries. Millions of people have already
benefited from the scheme.
For children, clear vision means a
better educ ation, healthier
development. For adults, it means
greater employment opportunity
and economic strength and for
seniors it means less dependence
on others. It costs Lions Clubs
less than 5p to supply a pair of
recycled spectacles to change
someone’s life.
Spectacles collected by the school
have been collected and sent for
sorting, cleaning, grading and shipping directly to
developing countries where local Lions Clubs organise
the testing and distribution. Well done to everyone who
has been involved.
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visual and audio-visual advice to younger children about
staying safe online.
There were many Red Year faces at Amery Hill’s Got
Talent. Well done to them all for braving the spotlight; and
particular congratulations are due to Nick (R3) and Tao
(R1) who wowed us with their contest-winning entry - an
original rap on the theme of anti-bullying. Nick has also
been busy alongside Taran (R2), Jake (R3) and Marcus
(R6), developing a youth-led charity group in the school,
with the support of the charity Phase Worldwide. They
aim to work together to develop a variety of fundraising
projects inside and outside school in the coming
years, with the help of fellow members of Red Year. We
wish them luck with that challenge. Finally, I would like to
extend a big welcome to Jayda and Megan - both of
whom have joined the year group this term in R7.
Bespoke Avian Homes
Production Team
Young Leaders in Service
Awards
Alton Lions president Lion Peter Bacon recently
presented Amelia Sanders with her Lions Young
Leaders in Service Silver Award, accompanied by Mrs
Riley, Assistant Head responsible for pastoral affairs.
The award took place at the end of a week of
presentations on volunteering and community service by
Mrs Riley and Lion Derek
Shaw to relaunch the Lions
Young Leaders in Service
scheme at the school. Gold
and Silver awards provide
international recognition for
voluntary service in the
community and are seen as
an extremely useful
enhancement to CVs for
employment and university
applications.
Yellow Year News
Mr O Lewis, Year 9 Progress Leader
2016 has started with a bang and we have been working
hard in Yellow Year to ensure excellent progress in all
aspects of our work. This term the students have chosen
their options for GCSE; with current educational thinking
changing rapidly there is a lot to consider and I thank
those parents able to attend the Options evening.
nothing but praise for our students.
Yellow Year were busy supporting and organising a
number of activities for Sport Relief and I am always
impressed with our young people’s dedication to those
less fortunate and raising money for good causes.

The English Department were able to welcome a theatre We always seem to fit a lot into the spring term, and with
company into school to deliver a performance of Romeo the weather starting to get warmer and the days slightly
and Juliet and over in Drama the Year 9 students worked longer we are already looking forward to the opportunities
closely with University of Winchester students who had that the summer term will bring.

The workshop made the play incredibly humorous. I even

Shakespeare: alive and well? managed to laugh myself after the play.
Article by Henry Collins, Year 9 Student
Is Shakespeare a good traveller? Is he history or can we Perhaps the reason why Shakespeare’s plays have stood
bring him on a journey through time into the modern day? the test of time is because they are tales of love,
If Shakespeare was alive today what would his plays be ambition, war and death, jealousy, greed: the things
like? Does he still have a place in modern society? What which make us human. I wonder what would
if we shook up the genres - how would Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare write about modern day issues? Perhaps
sound as a comedy? What would it look like as a science he would write a sonnet about the Syrian crisis? What
fiction? would his opinion be on EU referendum? Shakespeare
speaks to us through time, and over 400 years later at
In February, Year 9 students were treated to a morning Amery Hill School we hear him!
workshop presented by the Young Shakespeare
Company where they were invited to explore the concept
of Romeo and Juliet as a modern play across a vast
range of genres. The questions prompted further
discussion afterwards in class. This, along with the
workshop’s translation, also helped to further understand
Shakespeare’s script: the workshop helped bring the
script to life.

In the workshop the Young Shakespeare Company asked

us how they should conduct their performance and
Year 9 responded enthusiastically. Many ideas were put
forward by students many of which were performed by
the workshop actors. The balcony scene acted by
Batman and Robin was hilarious! Scenes from the
original play were acted out and some techniques shown
to students, making this not only educational in English
but also taught us some drama techniques.

As one of the participants of the play, as Paris, I

thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It helped to bring
Romeo and Juliet alive and I saw the play in a new light.

6
Green Year News
Miss Keen, Year 10 Progress Leader
As we approached Christmas many Year 10 students
were involved in musical concerts, visits and end of term
activities which culminated in our end of term celebration
assembly where I was able to acknowledge members of
the year group through a variety of awards.
Prizes were given to students with the most Praise Points
and extra-curricular points. I was able to recognise
Paloma Sims as our star of the half term. Alisha Frost
was credited with the community volunteer award and
Asher Smart and Nathan Longman were given academic
achievement awards for the term. 57 Green Year
students were praised for their 100% attendance and we
held the teacher raffle where all teaching staff in the
school were able to make two nominations for students
who had stood out in some way this term. We were able
to give three prizes of £20, £10 and £5 in gift vouchers.
The New Year brought with it the challenge of preparing
for Mock exams. Green Year applied themselves well
and faced the mock exam fortnight with determination. I
7
was proud of them for getting through it and responding
well to our advice about revision and looking after
themselves.
More recently I have been pleased to congratulate some
students on their involvement with the ‘Youth Speaks’
debating competition. Another cause for recognition has
been the fact that some students delivered lessons to
primary students in an initiative led by the English
Department. Perhaps most notable has been the Green
Year involvement with the Amery Hill entry to Rock
Challenge. I was delighted that members of the year
group were willing to be performers as well as back stage
support. Special mentions go to Emily Coates and Callan
Dicker who played major roles.
Excitingly, we have launched the Prefect application
process and I am looking forward to receiving student
applications. We are looking for a diverse set of prefects
and I would ask parents to encourage some of our more
reticent students to apply.
Year 9 Batik art work
World Book Day
Our celebrations for World Book Day were inspired by
Mrs Hearse’s visit to the Tom Phillips exhibition at the
Royal Academy last summer and promised to be an
exciting blend of words and art. All students in Years 7,8
and 9 were given a page of Much Ado about Nothing
from which they selected words or phrases to make a
poetic phrase or poem. They decorated the page in a
way that illustrated the exposed words. The result is a
wonderful display of artwork which will be open to all.
Students unpacking new library books purchased with
funds kindly donated by the AHA
Orange Year News
Mrs Miller, Year 11 Progress Leader
At this time of year we can see that the end is in sight for We have started to look forward to being able to
Year 11. As we go to print there are only 12 weeks of celebrate the end of Orange Year’s five memorable years
school left before Orange Year leavers’ day. I am pleased at Amery Hill. The Year Book is underway and details will
to say that the vast majority of students are working hard be coming out soon. The date for the Leavers Prom has
to get their Controlled Assessment work completed and now been confirmed as Wednesday 22 nd June, hopefully
are working purposefully in lessons to prepare for the with an arrival parade at school before the main event at
coming GCSEs. Students and parents should now have The Barn at Bury Court. The Year 11 official school photo
the after school intervention and revision session will be taken on Thursday 24th March.
timetable that runs up to 27th May. Some students will be
targeted to attend the intervention sessions by their Huge congratulations are due to the Year 11 Rugby
subject teachers but other sessions are on offer to all. It is squad who triumphed again in The Hampshire Cup
not intended that Year 11s should try to attend all the tournament – a fantastic achievement!
sessions on offer but that they should prioritise those that
they will find most beneficial. Students should be The Orange Year trophy for our Tutor Group Quiz was
organising their own study schedule and revision awarded to O2 last half term and O3 continue to be
timetable once they get the exact dates of the exams they unbeatable in the number of extra-curricular points they
are taking. collect, retaining the trophy. Well done to both tutor
groups.
All the staff remain committed to supporting Orange Year
to achieve their full potential and continued parental
support is, of course, much appreciated in this. My
message of ‘short term pain for long term gain’ is very
applicable now as students need to be fully focused on
their studies over the few months. Excellent attendance
will also be the key to success.

Can you dig it?

Gardening Club
The aptly named ‘Can you dig it?’ Gardening Club chose
just about the coldest day we have had this winter to start
gardening! But they donned their hats and coats and
with a warming hot chocolate they got to work in Chloe’s
Garden. Under the supervision of Mrs Riley, not
previously known for her horticultural expertise, they got
to work tidying and clearing. Fortunately for our keen
student gardeners, they now have Mrs Anne Foulkes who
has kindly volunteered to come
and help and share her
extensive knowledge of fruit and
vegetable growing.

8
Sport Relief—fundraising fun!

Students rose to the challenge for Sport Relief organising
and participating in a number of fundraising activities.
With spin bikes kindly donated by Results Gym in Alton
the students cycled throughout the day and a number of
local fitness instructors put the students through their
paces; our thanks to Paul Beer, Teresa Reynolds, Natalie
Elliott, Emma and Kate Sadler of Alton Zumba.
Sainsbury’s kindly donated bananas and water to keep
students hydrated and energised! Other activities
included a girls touch rugby game, a Year 8 tombola with
some fantastic prizes, a basketball and football
challenge, a bake sale, the Sport Relief half mile and staff
karaoke. The school also welcomed some of the local
primary schools to join in with the fun.
say a huge thank you on behalf of the school to Results
Gym, Alton Zumba and Sainsbury’s for supporting our
Sport Relief event and a special thanks to Mike Scott of
Scott to Go for logistical support with the spinning bikes.”
A massive thank you also to local businesses and
parents for supporting the Year 8 tombola by donating
prizes: Alton Sports, Bottega dei Sapori, Cranks Cycles,
Headcase Barbers, Joyce and Lucas butchers, Kidz
Driving School, London Irish Rugby tickets, Murats
Kebab Shop and Pizza Express.

Following a hugely successful day Amanda Denton, the

school’s Development Officer commented “I would like to

Total raised so far

£1,179.36

9
Homework Survey Results

Thank you to all of the parents who completed our on-line
homework survey. We have analysed your responses
and the key findings are as follows. One of the key things
that stood out was the variation in the results. A lot of the
questions prompted a wide range of responses.
Q1. What do you think about the amount of
homework your child gets? While many parents (36%)
think that we set just the right amount of homework, 49%
think that there is either too little or too much homework
and 13% think the amount set is too variable to comment.
Q2. My child knows what he/she needs to do for
homework. In general there is greater consistency about
how effectively homework is communicated to students
and parents with 92% indicating they always or usually
know what they need to do. This is an area that we have
tried to improve this year by recording homework tasks
on the VLE and it is good that this change has resulted in
improvement.
Always

Usually

Al
Sometimes
w…
Usually too much
Never
UsuallyJust about
too much right
Just about right
UsuallyUsually
too little too little Not sure
Varies too much to say
Not sure
Varies too much to say

Not sure

We will use your feedback to ensure that homework is

used as an effective tool for maximising learning and
progress for all children.

Our Community

Charity Zumbathon
The school opened its doors earlier this month to a
charity Zumbathon in aid of Cancer Reserarch UK, which
was organised by Alton Zumba instructor Kate Sadler. It
was officially opened by Alton Mayor Pam Jones who cut
a ribbon to start the session before yelling “Go Zumba!”,
which brought 120 dancers, including Amery Hill students
dressed in pink to the floor of the sports hall. Kate and
her fellow instructors put the dancers through their paces
watched by a crowd of visitors who enjoyed homemade
cakes and refreshments, as well as buying raffle and
tombola tickets. Kate and Stephanie Wright, from Alton’s
Cancer Research shop thanked the dancers, fundraisers
and local businesses for supporting the event which is
expected to raise over £4,000 for Cancer Research UK.”
Congratulations to Kate and her team!

10
Drama Department News
Mr Lewis, Head of Drama Department

Drama Club Showcase Talking about the students’

At the start of the spring term we saw the culmination of performance at The
Drama Club’s hard work. Rehearsing weekly over the Haymarket, Louie Keen,
previous term, the students were able to showcase their Shakespeare School’s
talents in the form of prepared improvisations with Festival Director commented: “Congratulations to the cast
hilarious results. Thank you to the friends and family that and crew of Amery Hill School on their wonderful
were able to join us for the evening. Great fun was had by production of The Merchant of Venice at the Haymarket
all. I must take this opportunity to thank our Drama Club Theatre. This was an accomplished and original
Ambassadors for working so closely with our younger production and the character development was brilliant,
students, inspiring and celebrating with them. enhanced by intelligently-drawn relationships between
characters. Huge congratulations to all the cast and
crew.”
Public performance for the Bard
Following on from the successful performances at The The live music which
Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke, Shakespeare lovers accompanied the
will have the chance to see Amery Hill School students in performance was
action again when they perform in Alton’s Town Council also highly praised,
Gardens on Saturday 23rd April, from 12-2.30pm. They “providing an
have been asked to perform their abridged version of the i m m e d i a t e
classic The Merchant of Venice as part of the connection with the
Shakespeare Festival marking 400 years of the of the audience and added
Bard’s creative legacy. This is a free event, just bring a great depth to the
your picnic blankets/chairs and enjoy the performance. story.“
There will be food available, a coffee and ice cream van
or if you prefer bring your own picnic.

Amery Hill’s Got Talent

Live Final
On February 9th we held our annual live
final of Amery Hill’s Got Talent. I am
always so impressed with the level of talent we see from
our young people and for 2016 we had a record number
audition. This year we had 15 live finalists. In first place
were Year 8 students, Nick Barrett and Tao Carter-
Vannini, for their original rap, with a strong anti-bullying
message. They were spending their winnings before
they’d left the Sports Hall. In second place was Year 9
student Holly Tarrant for her excellent baton twirling skills Congratulations to all
and in joint third place was singer/musician Eleanor of this year’s
Austin and contemporary dancer, Samantha Hall. I am so finalists—such talent!
proud to work with such a talented bunch of young
people. I am already looking forward to next year.

11
STEM students visit IBM
Mr Willcocks, Head of ICT

Bright Sparks and Blue Fusion

The week before half term, two groups, one from Year 10
the other from Year 8, took part for the first time in IBM’s
Blue Sparks and Blue Fusion events. Up against other
schools, both teams had to take part in a number of
challenges in which they collected points depending on
how they performed.

The Year 8 group, made up of Ethan Aspinwall, Sam

Bridger, Catherine Groom, Iona Hickman, Eleanor Smith
and Zac West undertook challenges such as flying a
drone using Twitter, code breaking and programming
physical and virtual robots. They all performed
excellently; topping some of the challenges during the
day and finishing just outside the top three places.

The Year 10 group

comprising of Monty
Moran, Siriol Whomsley,
Emily West, Lewis Diment,
Joel Diarra and Lucy
Bayliss competed in the
Blue Fusion event made up
of the same tasks. Apart
from a technical issue in
their first challenge the
team performed amazingly
well, finishing third and
only a few points behind
the eventual winners.

Overall it was a great day

out with lots of challenge and excellent performances by
both year groups.

Our Year 10 students outside Hursley Park, Headqua

Swiss teachers visit Amery Hill

We have recently hosted a group of trainee teachers from
the University of Winchester and la Haute école
pédagogique du canton de Vaud, Lausanne, Switzerland
in support of an EU trainee teacher exchange
programme. The Erasmus Programme provides foreign
exchange opportunities for students from and involves
many of the best universities in Europe.

The visiting trainee teachers observed a Year 10 Spanish

lesson, led by the school’s Spanish teacher Mrs
Culebras, and then took on the role of teacher to deliver a
lesson at Four Lanes Community Junior School in
Basingstoke. Speaking about the experience, Mrs
Culebras commented “The programme provides a great
opportunity for hosting schools to work collaboratively
with leading educational establishments and share best
practice. The experience has been thoroughly worthwhile
for all involved with both the trainee teachers, students,
and Amery Hill School benefitting from the experience.”

12
 Modern Foreign Languages Department News
Mrs Hlavaty, Head of MFL
Trip to the Rhineland
It was with great excitement that a group of thirty students
(Years 9 to 11) set off on our extended Christmas market
trip in December. Although we did not have a lot of time
in Germany, we certainly made the most of it.
We stayed in the youth hostel Köln Riehl which is a very
modern and comfortable hostel, quite close to the centre
of the city. The breakfast buffet, in particular, was
excellent and every evening meal always included a
salad bar as well as a choice of main meal and dessert.
During the day we tried to see as much as possible of
Köln and the surrounding area. My personal highlight was
“Die Marksburg” which is the only medieval castle in the
Rhine area that was never destroyed. The castle
was well preserved and the interior rooms were
fascinating. You got a real feeling of what life was
like in medieval times, although our students were
not too impressed with the then (very modern)
toilet facilities.
valley and the pretty scenery. What we had not expected
was to go onto a boat, transformed into a winter
wonderland, with live music (Christmas carols) and
Father Christmas handing out chocolate Santas to every
child onboard. As a German teacher I was proud that our
students had a go at speaking German to him and, I
think, even Year 11 students were keen to have a selfie
with him!
And what else did our students get up to? Well, they had
to order a meal in a lovely pizzeria as well as having to
find the nicest Christmas tree decoration for 5 euros and
last but not least we had a very demanding quiz night on
the second night of our stay, which Mr Carpenter had
prepared in advance.
I would like to thank Mrs Lee and Mr Carpenter for giving
up their time to come with us and I would like to thank all
our students for being such a lovely, well-behaved group
on our trip. It was a pleasure to be with them and they
were a credit to Amery Hill School and of course to their
parents!

Most students, no doubt, would name the Lindt

chocolate museum and the two Christmas
markets as their personal favourites. At the first,
we found out about the production of chocolate as
we know it, and being able to have a taste from
the huge chocolate fountain was a treat! The
Christmas markets were a real insight into how
Germans decorate their house with
traditional wooden and glass tree
decorations.

Mr Carpenter, who kindly came on this

trip with us, was amazed by the leisure
arters of IBM pool. We were all looking forward to
slides, whirlpools and an indoor as well
as an outdoor heated pool, but
unbeknown to us, at 8pm the lights were turned
down and a laser show began!

I think the highlight for Mrs Lee (our third

member of staff on the trip) was the Christmas
cruise on the Rhine. We had booked a 2 hour
trip on the Rhine, expecting to see the Rhine

13
Extra-curricular Activities
All activities are from 3:00pm to 4:00pm unless specified.
Homework Club takes place daily from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in SH1, IT2 and SH2.
Teaching Assistants are on hand to help.

Monday
Student Hub 8:15a.m - Spelling Group -Yr 7 in SH1
Music: Lunchtime - Double Trouble
Brass Ensemble in MU2 all brass players welcome
GCSE Surgery in MU2
PE: Athletics Club - All Years
MFL: German Club, KS4 support group
Media: Film Making Club - Yrs 7, 8 & 9 in the Media Suite 3-3:50pm
Amery Hill News Reporters Club
Library: Muggles Book Club (by invitation)
DofE: Award Group Meeting - SCI 7

Tuesday
Student Hub 8:15a.m - Spelling Group - Yrs 9, 10 & 11 in SH1
Music: Lunchtime - Choir - in MU2, all welcome
Percussion Ensemble/Steel Pans in MU2 & MU3
PE: Cricket - Yrs 9, 10 & 11
Rounders - Yrs 7 & 8
American Football
Drama: Drama Club
MFL: German 12:45 - 1pm
RS: “Thunks” Philosophy Club - Yrs 7 & 8 (RS2); Yrs 9, 10 & 11 (RS1)
Maths: Advanced Board Games MA1
DofE: Award Group Meeting - SCI 7

Wednesday
Student Hub From 8:15a.m - Handwriting Club - All Yrs - SH2
Music: Guitar Ensemble - 8am
Lunchtime - Liquorice Sticks Clarinet Choir
Orchestra Grade 4 upwards in MU2
4-5pm - Music Theory Group in MU2
PE: Athletics Club - All Years
Tennis - Yrs 9, 10 & 11
Library: Reading Group - Open to all
Manga Club - lunchtime EN1 (by invitation)
MFL: Spanish &French Club

Thursday
Student Hub 8:15a.m - Spelling Group - Yr 8
Drop in session - Student Hub
Afterschool drop in support session - open to all
Music: Jazz / Wind Band Grade 4 upwards in MU2
3.15-4.30pm String Ensemble in MU1 (violin, viola, cello and double bass)
All welcome, Grade 1 & above (includes primary schools from 4pm)
PE: Cricket - Yrs 7 & 8
Rounders - Yrs 9, 10 & 11
Geog: Film Club - Yrs 7, 8 & 9

Friday
Student Hub 8:15a.m - Drop in session - Student Hub
Music: Lunchtime - Choir in MU1 - all welcome
Concert Orchestra Grade 1 to 4 in MU2
Tutti Flutie/Wacky Wind invite only in MU1
GCSE Aid in MU2/Office
PE: Cheerleading
Tennis - Yrs 7 & 8

”The Angry Society” (Debating Society) - Meets monthly - dates to be advised

14
English Department News
Mrs Pretsell, Head of English
The 19th Century Project
Cholera Outbreak at Amery! ...Quack Medicine Fails to
Prevent Death on a Massive Scale!!
These are fairly scary headlines. Thanks goodness they
were just part of a school project rather than real life.
As part of their preparation for the study of 'The Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', our Year 10 students
completed a 19th Century project where they researched
the period, its science, discoveries, crime and
punishments, contrasts between rich and poor and the
impact on our society now. In order to consolidate the
students learning, we asked them to create lesson plans
that would allow them to share their ideas with younger
students. Each class voted on the best and we invited
two of our feeder schools to come in.
On their visit, Wootey’s Junior school learnt all about life
in the 19th Century. There were two sessions. The first
put the pupils in the role of detectives and they had to
solve the source of a cholera epidemic in good old
London town. They had to piece together the clues,
perform the real life testimony of the tragedy and then
show us their death scenes in the most fantastic, Oscars
worthy fashion. The other session allowed the students
to make "medicine", typical of the miracle cures offered at
the time; constructed of ingredients as appetising and
delightful as snail slime - don't worry we substituted this
15
with cooking oil (no snails were harmed in the making of
this project!). They then performed the death scenes that
this medicine failed to prevent. These were all enacted
like a silent movie and once again award winning death
and despair filled our gym.
All of the ideas, the lesson plans, the organisation and
the teaching was undertaken by our Year 10 students. It
was my job to supervise and to marvel at how mature,
thoughtful and kind our students were and also feel a little
threatened - they were excellent teachers and I'm
definitely stealing their stuff!
It was a great morning for all: our Year 10 students
learned so much contextual detail and background to
help them prepare for the challenges of answering a
question on a 19th century text in their GCSE exam;
Wootey’s reinforced their knowledge of the era and had
great fun, and Bentworth's Year 4 and 5
pupils discovered how difficult it is to be Dr Frankenstein
and create your own monster!
Once again, I was filled with pride about how great our
students are.
PE Department News
Mr Board, Head of PE
Our rugby is looking good
If anyone is wondering if Amery Hill has had some
additional rugby input lately they’d be right!
Thirty lucky students recently attended one of the
England Mens Six Nations training sessions at
Twickenham. While some of them worked their way
through a huge scrum to get Dylan Hartley’s autograph,
Mr Dudley and Mrs Digby made notes so they could try
some of the drills at future training sessions!

Year 9 and 10 Girls at the Basingstoke

Tournament
Girls Rugby
The Year 9 girls attended a development day at
Basingstoke Rugby Club on a freezing cold and horribly
wet Tuesday. Despite the mud, or maybe because of the
mud, they had a great time and got their first taste of full
contact against other schools. Again from being slightly
stand-offish at the start of the afternoon, by the end they
had improved immensely and were getting stuck in with
tackles and scoring tries. No one moaned about the
conditions except Mrs Digby who felt she had the right as
all the other teachers sat inside drinking tea!

Our Year 7 girls also attended their first development day Year 7 and 8 Girls at their first Rugby Tournament
at Basingstoke Rugby Club and also had their first taste
of full contact rugby. Plenty of tries were scored and the
Basingstoke coaches were very keen to get some of them
to join their club. Well done all the girls who have got
stuck into rugby this year!

Boys Football
The Year 9 Football team are moving from strength to
strength. The boys suffered their first defeat of the
season but are looking forward to a good run in the cup
where they are currently due to play Yateley in the
quarter finals.

Year 7 Girls who participated in the Development Day

Netball Round-up
We have had some great successes recently. The
Year 7 team beat Robert Mays A and B team and the
Year 8 team won against Alton Convent and Frogmore
College. Although the Year 9 team was not victorious
against Bohunt, they put up a robust performance against
a formidable side,
Year 7 football team win against Robert Mays, Salesian College only losing by a small
margin. Year 10 won
and Farnham Heath End. Well done boys!
against Alton
Convent and our
Earn your team colours Year
triumphed
11 team
over
This year you have the opportunity to earn your team
Frensham Heights
colours. The PE Department will be awarding students
School. Well done
who show dedication, commitment and passion for their girls!
sport with a badge at the end of the year.

16
Team triumph in Hampshire Cup...again!
Hampshire Cup Winners, U15 (2015) and U16 (2016)
On 11th February, the Year 11 boys travelled to the
Wellington Sports Ground in Southampton, to contest the
Hampshire Cup Final against Portsmouth Grammar
School. PGS had beaten Amery Hill in the group stages
of the competition and the boys were determined to avoid
a repeat of this outcome. Having won the Hampshire
Cup in Year 10, they were extremely focused on retaining
the title – a feat not previously achieved by a state
school. The teams were very evenly matched for the first
10 minutes before Amery started to gain the upper hand
thanks to some excellent tactical kicking, strong forward
play and fine finishing from the backline. Despite a
strong performance by PGS in the second half, Amery
Hill were victorious and rounded off their competitive
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Mr Cross, DofE Co-ordinator
The school was the proud host of the East Hampshire
Award Committee Presentation Evening recently when
Alton’s Lady Mayor, Councillor Pam Jones, presented
certificates to local youngsters, including a number of
current and former Amery Hill students who had
completed Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.
Whilst the Year 11 students are finishing off odd bits of
their awards, back in January the new Year 10 group
Quick - look interested he’s got his camera out again
17
appearances for Amery Hill in style with a 34 - 20 win.
Winning the Hampshire Cup is a tremendous
achievement. For a state school side to win back to back
U15 and U16 titles is unprecedented.
On 9th March, the boys attended the Hampshire 7 a-side
Championship. They faced Kings School, Winchester in
the semi-finals and despite being 14-0 down, scored two
tries in the last minutes of the game to secure the win.
The final was a repeat of last year’s – Amery Hill vs PGS,
although this year the team came away with a win, 26 –
5. Amery Hill U16’s 2015/16 – Double County
Champions! Congratulations to all!
made a start on their Bronze award and on the last
weekend in February they spent a morning practising
their map and compass skills on an accompanied walk in
the local countryside. The ability of being in the right
place at the appropriate time is a useful skill for
expedition work and our groups seemed pleased that
they had mastered the basics!
Rest breaks are an opportunity to check one’s boots &
have a drink
Music Department News
Ms Worwood, Head of Music
Jazz Café Recital Evening and Results
Jazz groups from Amery Hill, Alton College and Eggar’s We recently had the opportunity to share the hard work of
joined together in a concert to share an evening of jazz at our students taking ABRSM exams at the Recital Evening.
Amery. It was an enjoyable evening with some excellent We also used our new piano for the first time that was
performances. purchased after 18 months of fundraising and following a
generous donation from Councillor Robert Saunders. We
wish all the students the best in their exams this month and
congratulate the following students on their recent success.

Candidate Instrument Grade Result

Zofeyah Aspinwall Piano 6 Pass

Katrina Cave Cello 1 Pass
Hannah Gay Theory 5 Merit
Seren Irwin Flute 6 Merit
Lex La-Vey Drums 4 Merit
James Lipscombe B Flat Cornet 6 Pass
Emily Neil Singing 5 Merit
Shona Robertson Alto Saxophone 1 Merit
Niamh Taylor Clarinet 4 Pass
Emma Vines Clarinet 4 Merit
GCSE Music Showcase Florence Wall Piano 3 Merit
This evening was about the celebration of the Year 11
students who are coming to the end of their performances Ben Williams Alto Saxophone 3 Merit
for their exams. All Year 11 GCSE students performed as
solos or ensembles and it was a great evening. We raised
money for the Year 11 Prom, Canvas Fund and the
Ugandan Children’s Trust. Another enjoyable evening and
well done to all the students.

Voice in a Million
Following their successful audition earlier this
term, 47 members of the school choir
performed at Wembley Arena as part of a
massed choir in the ‘Voice in a Million’ event.
More than eighty schools auditioned for a
place on the main stage so it was fantastic
that their talent and hard work was
recognised; they shared the main stage with
just three other school choirs. With guest
performers Bars and Melody and Callum
Scott, of Britain’s got Talent fame,
participating the choir thoroughly enjoyed the
event. Talking about the experience Mrs Lee, Assistant
Headteacher, commented "The choir have been
rehearsing really hard to prepare for this event; they had
a fantastic day and the evening performance was
outstanding. Well done everyone !”

18
Can you help?
Amery Hill School Trust
Haven’t yet signed up? It’s not too late - just visit the
school website or call in to pick up a donation form.
Thank you so much to parents, past and present, who are
already contributing. As a registered charity the aim of the
Trust is to raise funds to support the school achieve their
vision to provide all students with an ‘Education for life’.
Managed by an elected committee, the School Trust
enables us to buy equipment, develop facilities and
enhance experiences to inspire students that would not
otherwise be possible. Our aim this year is to raise funds
to improve our sports facilities, provide additional
instruments for the Music Department and purchase new
equipment for the Science Department. Thank you!
Bag 2 School Fundraiser
Our next fundraiser is a bag2school collection which will
be taking place at the end of April. Bag2school
specialises in collecting and paying for unwanted textiles
in good condition which are then sold to export markets
worldwide. Items which can be donated include clothing,
paired shoes, handbags, hats, bags, scarves, ties,
jewellery and soft toys. Collection bags will be coming
home with students before Easter so you can have a
good
Amerysort
Hill out
Choirover the holidays!
perform at WembleyPlease
Arena send in or drop
Amery Hill Association News
The Autumn and Spring term saw our volunteers busy
supporting school events. As well as the parent
consultation evenings, our active members organised
drinks and refreshments for staff and returning Year 11
students and their parents at their Presentation Evening
in December.
Quiz
Another very enjoyable Amery Hill Association Quiz was
held this month. The bar did a roaring trade – perhaps
not surprising with Alton’s Pride and Moondance at such
good prices and there was a popular raffle with prizes
described as ‘beyond belief’.
Thank you to Tony Cross for being the Quiz Master and
keeping us all entertained for the evening, whilst his
associates ‘Samantha & Sven’ (aka Angela Cross and
Bob Booker - all three being part of the winning team
from last year’s quiz) kept score and cued in the audio
rounds featuring an idiosyncratic Voices of the Century
and popular Film Night soundtracks.
It was an ‘interesting learning experience’, in the best
traditions of Amery Hill School, encompassing amongst
many topics the longevity of the Archers and Casualty,
the association of Flora Thompson with Liphook and the
80th anniversary of the first flight of Britain’s iconic
aeroplane, the Spitfire. Well – I suppose that’s just the
sort of thing one ought to expect with a former Museum
Curator setting the questions.
19
Lego Therapy
Some of our Teaching Assistants
will be undergoing Lego Therapy
training by our Specialist Teacher
Advisor for Speech, Language and Communication. This
knowledge will benefit students with an autistic spectrum
condition or ADHD by helping promote co-operative/
communication skills. Results from this therapy can
be impressive and it is becoming more widely used
across Hampshire schools. To enable us to roll this out
we will need a good stock of Lego. If you have any bricks
which you no longer need, we would be very grateful for
your donation. Please send in to school for the attention
of Mrs Walker in the Student Hub. Thanks for your help.
off your filled bags on Monday 25th or Tuesday 26th
April. More information to follow in our weekly e-mail
home.
The quiz night raised over
£700 which will be used to
cover the AHA’s PTA
membership and insurance,
purchase refreshments and
prizes for our current Year 11’s
Presentation Evening with the
remaining money helping to
subsidise the Leavers’ Ball.
Summer Fundraiser
If making tea and coffee isn't your thing and you don't
have time to attend meetings, maybe you could help out
by coming up with a fundraising idea?
The small number of current active AHA members have
committed as much time as they are able, volunteering
hours to support events already on the calendar.
However, as a charitable organisation we are legally
allowed to fundraise up to £5,000 a year. Our projected
fundraising for this year is £2,000 so we have some
scope to raise some more money! Any additional funds
raised would be donated to the school’s registered charity
and main fundraising organisation, The Amery Hill School
Trust.
If you are interested in getting together a group of friends
and organising a fundraiser we'd love to hear from you!
The AHA committee will be on hand to answer any
logistical questions and support you. If you would like to
know more about the AHA or how to get involved please
contact Jane Isaac (Chair) janeaisaac@gmail.com or
Ange Bray (Secretary) ange.bray@btinternet.com.
Amery Hill Development Update

As our Alumni Association takes shape we wanted to

shout out the success of some of our ex-students. See
page 23 for our where are they now feature.

Our ‘Can You Dig It’ gardening club is really starting to

take shape with the fantastic help of Alton Allotment
Association and community volunteers and a generous
donation of £240 from Councillor Robert Saunders to go
towards much needed equipment, compost and plants..
Now all we need is the sunshine!

We have also just recently hosted a Careers Café at

school for our students. A number of Alumni volunteered
their time to come in and speak to the students about life
after education. Mr Robert Martin brought his wealth of
expertise in the financial sector at Glaxo Smith Kline to
the students and in particular his career development
through their graduate scheme. Robert said it was a
great experience being able to give something back to
the students, especially knowing it was something he
would have benefitted from when he was in their shoes.

If this is something that you would like to help us with in

the future, please get in touch at
alumni@ameryhill.hants.sch.uk

For our Alumni focus this term we have had the pleasure
of interviewing Rob Price (opposite page), Director of
Homes Estate Agents and our football kit sponsor. I’m
sure he will be happy to see his Year 8 school photo back
in print!
Community Support and Grant Funding
Bassil Shippam & Alsford Charitable Trust have
Radian helps fund disability  given the school a grant of £500 for our community
outreach project involving Alton Community
sports equipment Hospital
We were lucky enough to be given a grant from Radian to
buy some sports equipment to give our students the
experience of some of the disability sports which are  Donation of £240 from Councillor Robert Saunders
for our ‘Can you dig it?’ Gardening Club
available. Students have an opportunity in PE to have a
go at New Age Kurling (yes, that is how it is spelt) and
Boccia. It’s great to be able to give our physically disabled
youngsters the chance to play these sports alongside their
 Spinning bikes donated by Results Gym in Alton

Top Marks kindly provided the coach for the Year

able bodied peers. Many thanks, Radian.
 11 Prefects trip to Winchester

 The school has been gifted a defibrillator by Alton

Hockey Club and Humbly Grove Energy

20
Amery Hill Alumni
Interview with Rob Price of Homes Estate Agents,
Alton
Can you tell me about your career to date including
the few years straight after Amery?
Having left Amery Hill I attended Alton College and spent
2 years studying for A-Levels. At the time I was still a little
unsure as to what to do as a career but was ready to
work rather than attend university. The property industry
and sales was attractive because of the varied role and
the target/commission driven environment attracted me
being part of my competitive nature. Straight from college
I was employed by an independent estate agency
covering Farnham, Aldershot and the surrounding areas.
Did you ever predict doing this while you were at
Amery Hill? I didn’t, however I always had a pretty
strong desire to really push myself career wise and knew
that once I had found the right path I would go all out to
make it a success. I would say that my time at Amery Hill
certainly helped to build my confidence in my personal
ability to achieve goals. I always remember my tutor (Mrs
Amor of G4), said to me, ‘Robert, you’d make a very good
estate agent’ I’m not quite sure whether that was a
compliment or not!!
Did you enjoy your time at Amery? I absolutely loved
my time at Amery Hill!! I went to St Lawrence Primary
(great school too) then on to Amery. I met plenty of new
friends and never looked back. My son is at Amery now in
Year 8 and I always say to him, make the most of your
time at Amery Hill, as you won’t realise how fantastic
school is until you’ve left. Probably falls on deaf ears!!
What were your goals when you were at school? My
main goal at school was to get through my exams as best
as I could given the fact that I wasn’t the most committed
student academically and always received the ‘could do
better’ and ‘not fulfilling his true potential report
comments! Too much time trying to be ‘jack the lad’ I
think!! The teachers at school worked very hard to ensure
they kept me driven and focused.
What was your most memorable moment as a
student? My most memorable moment was GCSE
results day. I just about managed to obtain the results
needed to progress to my chosen A-Levels which was a
great result. One of my fellow leavers was looking a little
upset on the bench outside school, so I went and asked
her if she was OK, the response was, ‘well Rob, I’m really
disappointed, I got 10 A*’s and 1 A……… I wanted 11
A*’s...” Unbelievable!
Bag 2 School Fundraiser
Our next fundraiser is a bag2school collection which will
be taking place at the end of April. Bag2school
specialises in collecting and paying for unwanted textiles
in good condition which are then sold to export markets
worldwide. Items which can be donated include clothing,
paired shoes, handbags, hats, bags, scarves, ties,
jewellery and soft toys. Collection bags will be coming
home with students before Easter so you can have a
21
What lessons from Amery Hill stuck with you through
the rest of your career? My PE lessons would be what I
remember most. Mr Marshall was the head of PE at the
time and he also ran the Rugby and Footie sides that I
used to play for too. He had an infectious winning
mentality and really used to drive the teams and get the
lads motivated to win. Sport and business have plenty of
similarities, teamwork, support, drive to succeed, hard
work, confidence and positive leadership, these are all
important in both fields!
Your company Homes Estate Agents have kindly
offered to sponsor our school football teams with
new sports kit. What inspiring words can you give to
these teams and indeed the rest of the students at
Amery Hill? I’m really proud to support the football teams
at Amery Hill having been a student at the school and a
local business owner. My biggest piece of advice to is to
have confidence in yourself. If you have the confidence,
desire and a hardworking mentality, you can achieve your
goals no matter what/who knocks you along the way! I
believe that applies to plenty of aspects of life, whether it
be academic work, sporting or business.
What motivates you to become an Amery Hill Alumni
and get actively involved? It’s great for me to be an
Amery Alumni as I hope many students can relate to my
path so far. School is so much more than simply exam
results (although that is very important). In my opinion it’s
about developing yourself and building a firm support to
go from and be successful at college, university and the
working environment. A slight regret of mine is not fully
embracing how important it was to fulfil my potential at
school, but I have used this learning experience to propel
my working life and business to be a success .
Back then...
And now...
good sort out over the
holidays! Please send in
or drop off your filled bags
on Monday 25th or
Tuesday 26th April. More
information to follow in our
weekly e-mail home.
Presentation Evening at the Maltings
Amery Hill School’s annual Presentation Evening took
place in December, which gave the school an opportunity
to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of the
Class of 2015 and to thank parents and teachers who
have helped them over the last five years.
Students received their well deserved GCSE certificates
with many of them recognised for their hard work and
effort through Subject Achievement prizes. Other
students, including Nicholas Budd and Georgia Head,
were commended for their academic and personal
achievements through the Governors’ and Head of Year
prizes respectively. Emily White was also congratulated
on the astonishing achievement of 100% attendance over
her five years at the school. Mrs Riley, Progress Leader
22
for the year group, expressed immense pride as she
celebrated the group’s successes with them.
The evening proved a fitting end to the time this year
group have spent at Amery Hill. Guest speaker, Charlie
Walker, shared his experience of cycling 43,000 miles
through 61 countries. Having taken four years to
complete his epic adventure, he cycled the equivalent of
twice round the planet. His speech was an inspiration to
the Class of 2015 and a testament to the rewards which
hard work and effort can yield.
Our thanks to the Amery Hill Association for providing
refreshments for the evening.
Keeping in touch

Our alumni - where are they now? Scholarships for Excellence 2016
News of former Amery Hill School students continues to The 14th Scholarships for Excellence Awards took place
reach us with a number of recent success stories. at Alton College in February and we were delighted to
see ex-Amery Hill School students being presented with
Matthew Burton-Thorne started at St Hugh's College, five of the twenty
Oxford in October 2015 and is studying for an MEng awards. Other
degree. (Matthew left Amery Hill in 2013) awards went to
students from
Ellen Drewe is currently studying A level Music and the Bohunt, Robert
BTEC level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Music (Jazz) at Alton May's, Court Moor,
College. Ellen has been offered places at Trinity Laban The Petersfield
Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Guildhall School School, Portsmouth Grammar, Farnborough Hill,
of Music and Drama to study Composition. Trinity only Weydon, Peter Symonds, Midhurst Rother and
offer seven people a place to study composition each Godalming Colleges. Our congratulations to them all.
year and Ellen was offered a place on the spot. She said The awards were as follows:
'I wasn't too nervous in my interview as my teachers had
spent so much time working with us on our applications The Alton Decorative and Fine
and technique so we knew what to expect. (Ellen left Arts Society (ADFAS)
Amery Hill in 2014) Scholarship was presented to
Nathan Ward by Niven Baird,
Chyna Fairclough-Jones, currently at Peter Symonds Chairman of the Society. Last
College has received a conditional place to read Law at Autumn Nathan’s picture, Man
Robinson, Cambridge. (Chyna left Amery Hill in 2014.) with Apple was selected for a
prestigious national exhibition
Chris Hughes, currently at Alton College, has taken part entitled The Rising Stars, at
in a nationwide Maths Challenge with his Alton College Lloyds Register Gallery in the
team mates. The team finished an exceptional 13 th out of City of London last month. His
86 teams in the National Finals of the UK Senior Team work, along with that of 17
Maths Challenge in London recently. Chris has also just others, then transferred to the
been offered a place to study Maths at St John’s College Royal Society of British Artists
Cambridge and secured a scholarship from The Dischma annual show at the Mall
Trust. His completion of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Galleries in London which runs
Award was recognised at the recent area presentation at from 17 March to 2 April, where
Amery Hill and an invitation to the palace, to be it is displayed alongside works
presented with his badge and certificate, will soon arrive. by professional artists.
(Chris left Amery Hill in 2014)

Laura Jurd, world-renowned Jazz trumpeter, is now The Dischma Trust Scholarships
teaching Jazz at Alton College. Laura has studied Music for Excellence were presented
by Sir Simon Robertson to Sara
and Dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and is
Arm strong (Art), Sam uel
currently recording a new album with her band Dinosaur.
Thomas (Geography), Chris
(Laura left Amery Hill in 2007).
Hughes (Mathematics) and
We wish our alumni every success in their studies and Megan Coates (Performing
chosen career paths. Arts).

Attendance
Good attendance is essential if students are to achieve
their full potential. To report an absence please contact
Mr Stanbridge, our Attendance Officer, directly on 01420
81301 or e-mail student.absence@ameryhill.hants.sch.uk.
We will text/e-mail you if your child has not registered in
school and we have not heard from you as to the reason
for their absence. Please ensure that we have up-to-date
contact details for you to enable this system to work
effectively.

23
 School Calendar

Monday 11th April First day of summer term

Wednesday 20th April Amery Hill Association meeting

Thursday 21st April 7:00pm Orchestra Evening

Tuesday 26th April Yr 10 Art trip to Marwell Zoo

Thursday 28th April Yrs 7 and 8 Junior Maths Challenge

Friday 29th April Prefect presentation assembly

Amery Hill Association meeting
w/c Tuesday 3rd May Yrs 7 and 8 core exams week; GCSE Art exams

Monday 9th May GCSE exams begin

Thursday 12th May 4:00pm to 7:00pm Yr 8 parents evening

Saturday 14th May Yr 10 Duke of Edinburgh practice expeditions

Friday 27th May Last day before half term holiday

Monday 6th June First day of second half of summer term

Friday 10th June Yr 7 day trip to France

Monday 20th June Summer concert

Tuesday 21st June Yr 9 core exams start

Wednesday 22nd June Yr 11 prom

Thursday 23rd June Trip to CERN

Monday 27th June INSET day

Tuesday 28th June Yrs 8 and 9 Maths trip to Bletchley Park

4:00pm to 7:00pm Yr 7 Parents evening

Wednesday 29th June Sports Day

Friday 1st July Yr 6 induction day

Tuesday 5th July 6:00pm to 9:00pm Open evening

Thurs 7th and Fri 8th July Yr 10 Geography trip to Thorpe Park

Monday 11th July Yr 6 parents’ information evening

Thursday 14th July 7:00pm Sports Presentation Evening

Wednesday 20th July Final day of summer term

For up to date information, please refer to the calendar

on the website which is updated regularly

24