I write my blog this week on Thursday evening, looking back to the annual Year 11 whole year group photograph that took place this morning. I know that not every school does this anymore, but I really like the tradition of getting the whole of Year 11 together alongside their form tutors and pastoral staff for a huge picture. It always amazes me how well organised the whole thing is, starting off with getting 300 teenagers in height order (I look after the tall section, obviously), seeing them fill the temporary scaffold staging and then the inevitable tension of trying to get so many people to all look at the camera and smile at the same time. I have to say that the students were fantastic today, despite the distinctly average weather of intermittent rain and barely 6 degrees in temperature. At least today there wasn’t any wind to speak of and so the photographer only had to shout ‘hands down’ five times rather than 500. There were a few worried faces and hushed conversations about frizzy hair though but the members of staff concerned just had to put up with it.

Also today half of our Year 10 students took part in mock interviews with volunteers from around 40 businesses. It can daunting going for an interview and this experience is a great way to dispel some of the myths about what it is really like. The feedback from the interviewers has been fantastic with the students a real credit to the school. I am sure the second half of the cohort will do equally well on Friday.

On top of all this of course we crack on with the core business of teaching students in every year group. I’ve spent quite a bit of time this week visiting lessons and am always impressed with the positive relationships on show between students and staff. It’s one of the things that makes our school what it is, and never fails to make me smile.

Have a lovely weekend,

Joe Barker

Ok…so the rain, hail and strong winds might not have felt much like summer…but it’s the summer term nonetheless!

Like all schools we have a lot to look forward to this term. Amongst many other highlights our fantastic Year 11 cohort get to show off their knowledge and skills in their exams and practical assessments (PE moderation day TODAY!), our Year 9 students complete a qualification in either MFL, Sports Studies or Food Technology, our Year 10 cohort take part in mock interviews and work experience, Years 7-9 take part in enrichment week and the whole school community will come together for our summer ‘Spark’ day in mid-July. Not only that, but we get to meet next year’s Year 7 on the transition day in early July, always one of my favourite days of the year.

It’s a busy term but we like busy, which is just as well!

Before I go today, a reminder that the consultation on changing the holiday pattern around Christmas 2024 closes on Friday 26th April. For all the details please follow this link: Proposal to change term dates 2024-2025 – Marple Hall School

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

A very quick blog to wish all members of our school community a happy holiday, whether celebrating a religious festival such as Easter or Eid, spending time with friends and family or just looking forward to eating more chocolate than is sensible! Year 11 students in particular, please make sure you do some work but also have a rest too, balance is important.

Thanks to everyone for all your support since the new term started back on January 8th. Here’s looking forward to doing it all again from Monday 15th April onwards.

Best wishes

Joe Barker

I am using this week’s blog to highlight a consultation that has opened today regarding the school term dates for next academic year. Information about the proposal has been sent home to parents and carers today electronically, as well as being posted on the school website here.

The proposal is for a limited but (we think!) beneficial change to the published terms dates, specifically around the Christmas break of Dec 2024 to Jan 2025. As a maintained school we are obliged to follow the Stockport holiday pattern, available here: School term dates – Stockport Council

However, we believe that the following changes would benefit our students and staff:

1. Extend the Autumn term by one day, meaning school is open up to and including Friday 20^th December (rather than Thursday 19^th as currently planned)
2. Delay the official start of the Spring 2025 term to Friday 3^rd January (rather than the 2^nd as currently planned).

We would then use an INSET day to mean that the actual start date of the Spring term would be Monday 6^th January.

These relatively minor changes, which will mean the weeks either side of the holiday will be full weeks, will help is to maximise student attendance as we know that ‘split’ or ‘part’ weeks often lead to lower attendance overall. The changes will also provide the whole school community a prolonged break after New Year, which in recent years has proven popular and beneficial.

As a maintained school we are not able to make this change. However, as an academy we are able to do so, and as we will be an academy by the Autumn term we plan to make the changes outlined above. The reason for a consultation now is to give all members of the community as much notice as possible. Local Authority colleagues are aware of our plans and the rationale for consulting well in advance of the dates. The proposal is relevant to Marple Hall School only.

All comments are welcome via this email address: MHStermdates2425@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk

The consultation period is open now and closes on Friday 26^th April 2024. The MHS Governing body will then review all responses and make a final decision.

Best wishes

Joe Barker

My phone does that thing where each morning it shows me a picture from ‘this day x years ago’. Recently it’s been showing me images from four years ago that are very much reminding me of the covid pandemic. Aside from being amazed that it’s been four years (really???), the images remind me of those weeks leading up to what then became the first lockdown. A friend showing off that he’s bought 9 toilet rolls…that kind of thing.

This fortnight our Year 10s, the class of 2025, are sitting their first full set of trial exams. This cohort, along with the class of 2020 who were in year 11 when the lockdowns started, will always remind me of covid. Our year tens were the cohort who didn’t get to complete Year 6 properly, didn’t get all the usual transition activities to get ready for high school, and then had the most challenging start to life at MHS that you could possibly imagine. Therefore I’ll confess that I have been more than a little proud to note how well the students have coped with the demands of Key Stage 4. Attendance is up and rising, teachers report that Year 10 are working really hard in the vast majority of classes, and the exams team have been full of praise for their attitude during this first week of formal trial examinations. Young people are a lot more resilient and adaptable than some elements of the media would have you know.

So, well done Year 10. Keep up the good work and together we’ll help you realise your goals.

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

I can’t let yesterday’s World Book Day go by without using it as a way to once again promote the benefits of reading. Research shows that reading – and in particular reading fiction – has a positive effect on a person’s educational outcomes. Not only do literacy skills improve, but so does a person’s knowledge of the wider world, helping them to make connections and better understand the whole curriculum delivered in school. Students don’t just benefit in English either…the research shows that students who read often also achieve more highly in science and maths. Given that reading is fun, relaxing and beneficial…what’s not to love?

At MHS we do World Book Day a little differently. Not a fan of getting staff to dress up as fictional characters, instead we want to dedicate the time to exposing students to actual stories. That’s why for the past couple of years we have instead chosen to read a short story to every class throughout the day, each teacher pitching in with a different part until the story comes to an end in the afternoons. Alongside quizzes and competitions, we hope that this makes WBD at MHS a more intereactive and reading focussed experience. The stories chosen for this year were gripping and surprisingly brutal…you should ask your sons/daughters/wards what story they heard and what they thought of it.

We know that reading makes a difference, and we hope that by working together with families we can encourage all our students to develop a love of reading that will stay with them for life.

Have a great weekend

Joe Barker

This week saw the 2024 instalment of the now well-established MHS Dance Show. Deputy Headteacher Claire Gregory has kindly sent me the following to share on the blog:

The third Marple Hall annual Dance show 2024 was a roaring success! From the aptly named opening number ‘Superstar’, to the poignant “Social Media Storm’  and  the energetic finale ‘I Believe’, there was a wealth of talent on show; the culmination of much hard work and dedication from all concerned.

It was wonderful to see so many new dancers in the Year 7 and 8  ‘Collision Dance Club’ being so encouraged and supported by their peers and families.  Likewise, it was fantastic to see the Year 9 students who had graduated this year to join the talented Year 10 and 11 students in the ‘Motion Dance Club.’

A number of students also danced solo or in pairs, exuding confidence, creativity and commitment that belied their years, as well as that Marple Hall spark that we talk about so often in school.

Participation in extracurricular activities helps students to feel a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school. We encourage all students to attend at least one activity in school where possible and have recently established our ‘Digital Discoveries’ activities for students who are unable to stay after school but want to be part of something extracurricular. We would love it if you could encourage your child to join in with any activity. Dancing may not be for everyone but I am confident there is an activity to suit every student in school!

I’ll end by saying a big well done to all the students who made last night such a successful and enjoyable evening; a big thank you to all parents and carers who supported the event and of course to all the staff team, especially Miss Griffies who made the event possible.

Have a great weekend!

Joe Barker

As you will already know, we have been given the green light by the Department for Education to form a multi academy Trust with Romiley Primary School. It was a long process to get to this point, but now that things are starting to happen we thought it a good time to give you an update. Our new multi academy trust will be called ‘Helix Academies Trust’. A helix has connotations to DNA, and we want to form a trust where our vision for our schools and community runs through our DNA. We will be “Nurturing learners to influence, challenge and lead the communities in which they live.”

We believe there is a difference between equipping learners to fit in to society and nurturing learners who understand that whoever they are and whatever they end up doing, they influence the world around them. Every learner, both adult and child, has a unique and powerful voice.

The name is also a nod to Stockport’s industrial past of hat making (HAT). We believe it is also significant because the more strands there are to a helix, the stronger it becomes. Through a closer working relationship, we will become stronger.

After our proposal was granted, we have had monthly meetings with the DfE and the local authority. Contrary to the belief that some still hold, we are working closely with the local authority and will continue to do so after converting to academy status. The local authority is supportive of our plans. We have now registered Helix Academies Trust with Companies House and have set our target conversion date as 1^st September. September is a good time to start a new academy trust, as an academy’s financial year runs from September to August, in line with the academic year.

There is still lots to do before then, but if there are any more updates, we’ll keep you informed.

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

No, not a quote from one of my school reports, but instead a summary of this half term. A short ‘five-weeker’, but in that time we’ve squeezed in a full set of Year 11 trial exams, helped 300+ Year nine students choose their options for next year and raised attendance to the highest sustained level since September. We’ve done a lot more besides of course, and in particular we’ve been really encouraged to see the number of books loaned from the Hub (our Library) continue to rise too. I may have said it before, but if students ‘turn up and read’ then they are half way there!

Today though I’d like to focus on our Year 11 cohort who have, like I say, just completed their full set of trial exams. Students have collectively sat over 3000 exam papers, giving them a good impression of what the ‘real thing’ looks like. The vast majority of the year group have taken the tests really seriously indeed. This has been shown by the increased attendance, the comments from the invigilation team and the early feedback from Year 11 teachers who report that levels of effort in answering the questions have been high. This is so important as it means we can give proper, meaningful feedback to students to help them in the coming months. Years ago, I’d say that too many of our Year 11s didn’t take the old ‘mock’ exams seriously enough. ‘I’ll try for the real thing‘, they would wishfully say to themselves to make themselves feel better. I’m increasingly confident that we have tackled that dangerous attitude head on, and that the current Year 11s are leading by example.

Before I finish on the theme of the trial exams, a final thank you to my colleagues for all the hours of marking and feedback preparation. I know all too well how long it takes to do this job properly, and so thank you.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support,

Have a great week,

Joe Barker

Last week I mentioned how our Year 11 cohort have really risen to the challenge of the Trial Exams, both in terms of their efforts in the exams themselves and in their attendance too. More broadly, there’s really positive news about attendance overall. Whilst attendance tends to go up and down over a school year, often starting high at the start of a term and then dropping off, at MHS we’ve been bucking that trend recently. Not only were the last couple of weeks before Christmas really strong, but the first three weeks of the new year have been very positive too and improving week by week. To be a percentage point above the national rate doesn’t sound like much, but in attendance terms it is and we’ve been at that level for most of the year since September. However this term MHS attendance is rising, with the school almost a full three percentage points above national rates last week – and over five points above in one year group. That’s massive! Also, the percentage of students classed as persistently absent (with an attendance of under 90% across the year to date) is over 6% points below other secondary schools. We’re not complacent though, and there are definitely areas that we need to work on, but we should also recognise positives where they exist.

Well done to everyone who is contributing to this excellent and very encouraging picture. And it’s not just those with 100% or nearly 100% attendance who deserve the credit – well done to all those who have struggled with attendance and who have managed to improve recently. That’s just as important and just as significant. If we can keep this up then EVERYONE WINS, so fingers crossed. If the key to success in school is to ‘Turn up and read’ (and it really is) then more and more MHS students are at least half way there.

One week to go until half term, let’s make it a good one. Turn up and read!

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker