March 2024

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Looking back over the second half of this short term, what strikes me is how much has been accomplished and enjoyed on all fronts, making me proud in equal measure of our impressive students and staff.

On the academic front, I must commend Year 11 for conducting themselves with such focus and ambition throughout their GCSE mocks, and for the way the boys are responding to the areas for development they have highlighted. I am also delighted with this year’s two offers from Oxford: for Jack I and for Volodymyr V, who joined us midway through Year 11 in 2022 from Ukraine.

Of our many and varied co-curricular endeavours, I would like to congratulate Hockey for the successful season they have enjoyed; our Acceleracers for reaching the F1 in Schools final a year younger than any other competitors; our talented actors and musicians for a stunning production of Lucky Stiff, our annual musical, and for their performances in the music competition, which culminated in a superb Spring Concert last week. Having mentioned to the Barbershop group my fondness for ‘Only You’ by The Flying Pickets back in January, imagine my surprise and delight to be treated to a rendition which they had been secretly preparing ever since!

It has also been a thoroughly enriching term for those participating in the trips that have been offered and run so generously by my colleagues: for the Year 13 Hispanists, the 100 who went on the Ski Trip to Austria, as well as those about to depart for Barcelona and Costa Rica during the Easter holiday. What wonderful opportunities for those boys to broaden their cultural horizons; speaking of which, I hope everyone enjoys the culture days which will take place when they return from the Easter holiday.

I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that work on our Five Year Strategic Development Plan continues apace since I first wrote to you in January. Having conducted one-to-one meetings with 80% of the staff to date, together with weekly pupil focus groups, we will continue to seek input from parents through parental surveys, as well as continuing to take informal soundings pitch-side or at other school events.

Thank you for your continued support of the school: your attendance at events and matches, your appreciative comments, and not least your trust in our processes as we work together to guide your sons into adulthood as confident, well-adjusted and responsible young men.

I look forward to welcoming the boys back after the holidays and, in the meantime, wish you and your families a restful Easter, mindful of the blessings of hope and a fresh start:

Every day is a fresh beginning;
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain,
And, spite of old sorrow and older sinning,
And puzzles forecasted and possible pain,
Take heart with the day, and begin again.
(Susan Coolidge)
Mr Bennett, Head Teacher

Coming up

Over the next few weeks

House points

As of 25 Mar 2024

School news

House Round-Up
The end of the spring term has seen a flurry of House activities, from sporting to music to Scrabble. The House badminton and table tennis were organized by the PE Department and the rewards spread across all four Houses. In the badminton the winners were Year 10 Radcliffe, Year 9 Skynner, Year 8 and Year 7 Mattocke. In table tennis the winners were Year 10 Pierson, Year 9 Skynner, Year 8 Radcliffe and Year 7 Mattocke.
 
Overall. Radcliffe and Skynner claimed joint first for badminton followed by Mattocke then Pierson. In the table tennis Skynner were the combined victors followed by Pierson, and Radcliffe and Mattocke with joint bronze. Well done to all the players. The eagerly anticipated House hockey is being played this week and the results will be out in the summer term.
 
The Music Competition is a huge undertaking and a real showcase of the talents of our able musicians and singers at HBS. Mrs Strachan and the team enjoyed listening to all the performers and the standard was incredibly high. The results of the competition can be found elsewhere in this newsletter, but in terms of overall participation there was a tie between Skynner and Pierson, with Radcliffe then followed by Mattocke. Thank you to all in the Music Department who worked so hard to put on this annual event.
 
Mr Cook undertook the organisation of the Scrabble competition. Year 11 have yet to play but the other years have been busy puzzling out words to confound their rivals. In both Year 7 and Year 8 the overall winners were Pierson. In Year 9 and Year 10 Mattocke seized victory.
 
In the MFL World Book Day Competition the winners were Finley in Year 7 (Skynner), Reuben in Year 8 (Pierson), and Samuel in Year 10 (Radcliffe). Thank you to the MFL department for their termly competitions and support for the House system at HBS.
 
Last but not least, the reward points for the last two weeks' of term have been added up, boosted by the R3 and R4 end of term achievements. Radcliffe were on top, followed by Pierson, Mattocke and then Skynner.
 
Drum roll please …… when all the points have been added up for this last busy period and then added to the previous totals there has been a shift in the rankings. A stunning half term by Pierson have pushed them to 229 points, with Radcliffe in second on 217, Mattocke hard on their heels with 213 and Skynner valiantly bringing up the rear with 148.
 
The summer term has the promise of Sports Day, the Swimming Gala and so much more – all still to strive for! Per ardua ad alta.
 
Ms Rogers, House Coordinator
 

Puzzling over the best word

Many students took part in the music competition

  • 26 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

HBS Book Club
The next meeting of HBS Book Club will take place on Wednesday 27th March at 7pm at Kite at the Red Hart, Bucklersbury, Hitchin. The book to read this time is Monsieur Linh and His Child by Philippe Claudel, and all are welcome. Contact Ms Seabrook on the email address below for more information.
 

March Book Club

  • 25 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

International Women’s Day Assemblies
For a number of years now Hitchin Boys’ School has celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8th March. This year’s theme from the United Nations was ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’. This was celebrated across the world, and in the UK an International Women’s day charity focused on ‘Inspire Inclusion’.  
 
On Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th March the school welcomed Mrs Pilon from Microsoft, where she is a commercial director and co-chair of a subcommittee working towards equality in the workplace. Mrs Pilon gave us an insightful presentation. Gender equality remains the greatest human rights challenge, and it is anticipated that full gender equality will not be achieved for another 300 years. So how do Microsoft with their 221,000 employees strive towards equality? They use diverse representations and equitable participation in meetings to give everyone an equal opportunity to have their say. We also heard how Microsoft is trying to embed ‘Allyship’ into their organisation. By adopting allyships within an organisation we can learn to support and accept each other as individuals. 
 
Mrs Dare focused on how recent examples in football highlight that there are still issues. 95% of players in the 2022 Women’s Euro tournament wore boots designed for men and of course there was the unwarranted kiss Spanish player Jenni Hermoso suffered in the World Cup last year from the Spanish Federation’s president. 
 
On Thursday 14th March we were delighted to listen to a really interesting assembly for IWD. The first presentation from Mrs Dinley, who works for Glaxo Smith-Kline, was about how women are underrepresented in medical and scientific research, and the second presentation was from Mrs Mercado, who is an engineer in the railway industry. We learnt about the gender data gap, when most testing is done on males instead of females, leading to medicines being developed that would be less effective for women because most of the tests are done and recorded by men. As AI begins to help with medicines and with learning, this will lead to gaps in its knowledge about medicines to help women. In the car industry, women are much less likely to get into a crash, but are 17% more likely to die from one, and 73% more likely to be seriously injured. This is because when most companies do a crash test, they use a male dummy. Mrs Mercado spoke about her role models in the engineering industry, who were Amelia Earhart, the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 and Ada Lovelace, a pioneering mathematician who discussed the concept of computers and was arguably the first computer programmer. 
 
UN global statistics from the presentation (UK statistics are more positive):
 
  • 300 years until full gender equality is achieved
  • 286 years to close gaps in legal protection & remove discriminatory laws.
  • 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of both power & leadership in the workplace.
  • 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.
Hitchin Boys’ School would like to thank Mrs Pilon, Mrs Dare, Mrs Dinley and Mrs Mercado for their time and wonderful presentations. 
 
Rory O’R (Year 10) and Laurie N (Year 8) 
 

Mrs Pilon presents to years 9 and 10

  • 25 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Local MP visits HBS
Local MP Bim Afolami visited HBS on Friday 22nd March. He held a question and answer session on politics with a wide range of students from all year groups, and he also met the F1 in Schools Acceleracers team to hear about their experiences at the national finals last week. Finally, Bim talked to Year 12 students about the importance of engaging with politics. The visit was organised by Year 12 Government & Politics students Dylan M and Liban B - thanks to both of them for arranging the event.
 

Bim met the Acceleracers team

He also talked to Year 12 students

  • 22 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Library News
NHSBA
On Friday 15th March, members of The Brilliant Book Club went to the Girls’ School to met up with the dozen other schools in our libraries’ group to decide which of this year’s books shortlisted for the North Herts Schools’ Book Awards should win. There were two categories, younger and older, and the winners were Until the Road Ends by Phil Earle in the younger age group, and by a landslide, Boy Like Me by Simon James Green in the older. For those with a love of 90’s music there’s a Spotify playlist that accompanies Simon’s book. We enticed Mr. McCallion away from Computer Science to join us and he got an insight into just how much fun we have at these events.
 
We were treated to a visit from last year’s older age group winner, Yasmin Khan, who talked about doing an MA in creative writing in secret, and why writing books featuring characters and experiences that reflect her life as a South Asian Muslim is so important.
 
WORLD BOOK DAY
There was an amazing buzz around on World Book Day this year, it seemed to put everyone in a good mood. Mr. Root recorded and edited six of our Library Champions reading the beginnings of six amazing books. There were some brilliant costumes - I was particularly impressed that Humanities went non-fiction and dressed as Tim Marshall’s Prisoners of Geography, and English transformed J Block into Jurassic Park. The lunchtime quiz had the best turnout ever: the library was packed!
Mr. Bennett had the unenviable task of choosing our Spud-U-Lit winner, and eventually chose the beauty below from Jack in year 10 as our overall winner, so he gets the Easter egg (it was the nearest thing I could get to a chocolate potato).
 
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS
We’ve recently subscribed to a few magazines that are proving a hit already. I consulted with Library Champions and other library regulars and the ones below are those we finally settled on. They will be delivered each month until the end of the year, and if they’re popular we’ll keep them on next year.
 
ROBIN INCE/WORLD BOOK NIGHT 23RD APRIL
As mentioned last month, Robin Ince from Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage will be coming to talk to us in the library on the evening of 23rd April. We will kick off at 7pm, and Next Page Books will be bringing some of Robin’s books to sell that you can have signed. Knowing Robin, he’ll pop a book recommendation in there if you ask him, too. This is being held in the library, so space will be limited. It’s a free event, so to make sure you get a seat, can you email me on jbaugh@hitchinboys.co.uk with the subject line ‘Robin Ince’ and let me know how many places you need. You can see his books here, so if you would definitely like to buy any let me know so that I can give Liz and Julie at Next Page a rough idea of what to bring. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Dead Funny 1 or 2 are available, but the others are. The significance of it being World Book Night (completely coincidentally, by the way) will become clear once you’ve booked your place.
 
Have a wonderful Easter break, and don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter/X  @HBSLibrary
 
Mrs Baugh, Librarian
 

The Brilliant Book Club

The winning Spud-U-Lit

A selection of the new subscription magazines

  • 21 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Funds roll in for Comic Relief
Friday 15th March was Comic Relief Red Nose Day, and students were able to come to school in non-uniform attire for a suggested donation of £2 to the charity. Talented students from the Creative Arts department also entertained Hitchin shoppers by busking in the square to raise additional funds during the morning and at lunchtime. The final figures are now in, and altogether HBS students raised a total of £1,941.67 from the day's activities. Thank you to everyone who donated!
 

Eli getting ready to set off

Busking in the square

The brass group

  • 21 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Music Round-Up
Earlier in March, our annual two-day Music Competition took place, with students and staff competing in a number of different categories. At the end, winners were chosen and the cups awarded:
 
Woodwind Cup: Isaac H
Brass Cup: Tommy S
Singing Cup: Kit B
Piano Cup: Matthew G
String Cup: Orin S
Percussion Cup: Eli M
Guitar Cup: Charlie P
Composers' Award: Charlie P
Junior Cup: Kit B
Overall Music Cup: Eli M
 
Year 11 band The Frenzy recently gave up a Saturday to record a set in London which is to be used as fundraising for the charity Warchild (https://www.warchild.org.uk/). Their set will be premiered online through HotVox soon; details to follow via the @HBSCreativearts feed on X. Details of a fundraiser page will be posted here, too. 
 
Mrs Strachan, Head of Music

  • 18 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Careers Update
National Careers Week took place earlier this month, from 4th - 9th March. The Parents' Guide To... website produced a useful NCW guide for parents, which you can download here. They have also produced a number of free guides to help students with upcoming revision, including The Parents' Guide to creating a revision timetable and The Parents' Guide to teaching your teen to revise well.
 
The February Parents and Carers Pack from ASK Apprenticeships was also published at the end of last month and can be downloaded below. The latest Higher and Degree Apprenticeship listing was also published recently - it is published twice a year and contains details of over 1,400 apprenticeship vacanicies. The latest list can also be downloaded below.
 
Don't forget HOP, the Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal, which contains information on the latest resources, news and opportunities in Hertfordshire to help young people achieve their careers goals. In partnership with Amazing Apprenticeships they are running a survey to gauge thoughts and perceptions about apprenticeships, T Levels, College and post-16 options. If you follow this link you will find a long list of participating schools – just find the school that your child attends and follow their respective link to the survey. Surveys will remain open until Friday 5th April 2024. The main HOP website can be found at https://www.hopinto.co.uk/.

  • 18 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

World Book Day
World Book Day took place earlier this month, and along with quizzes and other activities for students, many staff got involved with themed departments across the school. Staff decorated classroom doors and dressed up as book characters, and students then had the opportunity to vote for their favourites. In first place for decorations, with 30.8% of the vote, was 'Jurassic J-block', and in first place for costumes, with 46.2% of the vote, was History and the Three Musketeers.
 
A gallery of photos from the day can be viewed over on our website here.
 

History's Three Musketeers

Jurassic J-Block

  • 15 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Y13 Media BFI trip
The British Film Institute (BFI) runs an annual revision day for A Level Media Studies classes: the presenter covered several of the important topics and theories needed for a top level answer. Our students were engaged with the learning opportunity and enjoyed their visit to London's Southbank.
 
Ms Seabrook, Media Studies Teacher
 

Y13 Media students at the BFI.

  • 15 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Nut Allergy Reminder
Just a reminder to please not send your children into school with nuts or any products containing nuts, as we have a number of students within school who are extremely allergic to a variety of different nuts. Thank you for your support.

  • 15 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Spanish trip to Andalucia
Over February half term, Year 13 Spanish students from both HGS and HBS visited Andalucia on a cultural trip. Students were hosted by local families and had the opportunity to teach English to school children. The visit to Granada and the exploration of the palace of La Alhambra, with its Arabic heritage, was the highlight of the trip. Additionally, enjoying tapas in Malaga, visiting local museums, shops, and spending time at "La Malagueta" beach gave students a well-rounded exposure to the region's lifestyle. Cultural trips such as this can contribute significantly to students' personal growth and understanding of the world around them.
 

Students visited beautiful Andalucia

They enjoyed Spanish culture

  • 14 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Useful local courses
Local organisation Supporting Links have launched their range of courses for the summer term. The courses start in April and June - each one runs over 6 weekly sessions and is offered FREE of charge to parents thanks to funding from Herts County Council. Bookings can be made via email at bookings@supportinglinks.co.uk, or by calling 07512 709556.
 

Talking Anxiety in Teens

Talking Dads

Talking Families

Talking Teens

Talking Additional Needs

Talking Anger in Families

  • 13 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Interested in karate?
Goshin Karate is a new karate club in Letchworth, offering self-defence karate classes for children, teens and adults. Their karate classes are designed to help increase students' personal fitness levels, developing both physical and mental sharpness. In addition to regular karate training, they also offer a range of different courses and events, including a women’s self-defence beginners course, and community outreach activities.
 
More information is available at https://www.goshinkarateuk.com/ and on the flyers below.
 

Goshin Karate

Special Offer

  • 13 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Fundraising events
The Golden Mile Children's Run takes place on Sunday 5th May in Hitchin. It is a brand new run that will form part of the main Hitchin 10km event, where the children will start their race once the adults event has commenced. The children's course will take place along fully marshalled closed roads with a market square finish! Every penny from every entry will go directly to The Lister Hospital Neonatal Unit as part of their campaign to help refurbish their facilities to help the parents who have preterm babies in the unit, in aid of the East & North Herts Hospital's Charity, who do such amazing work. Every child who takes part will have a race bib, chip time, get a medal, and the winners from each category get a trophy too! For more information click here or see the flyer below.
 
There is another fundraising opportunity in June with the brainstrust Bass Belle 10km, which will be held for the first time on Sunday 23rd June 2024.  The race will start and finish at Bassingbourn Village College and is open to everyone aged 15 and over. Every day 30 people in the Uk will get diagnosed with a brain tumour and it is the biggest cancer in the under 40s. 100% of all proceeds will go to the brainstrust. More information here or on the flyer below.
 
Finally, earlier this year a sponsored walk took place in London to raise funds for ex-HBS student Steven Ackroyd, who was a pupil at Hitchin Boys' School from 1987-1994. Some parents of current students may well remember him from that time. Since leaving university, Steve went on to become an editor, working on shows such as Catastrophe, Inside Man and Sex Education.  
 
Steve was diagnosed in summer 2022 with a brain tumour - stage 4 glioblastoma - and the prognosis was very poor.  He exhausted all of the treatment options available on the NHS, including going through 27 rounds of chemo and radiotherapy.  However, his wife, Fran, undertook extensive research and discovered a pioneering treatment available in Germany; a form of immunotherapy.  Miraculously, this treatment seems to be having an effect, but the treatment is of course hugely expensive, and Steve's family and friends have been fundraising throughout. 
 
Due to half term week we didn't find out about the walk until after the event, but if anyone would like to make a donation towards Steve's ongoing treatment, his family and friends would be extremely grateful.  There is a link here to the fundraising page itself and attached here is an article from the Brain Tumour Research charity, which gives more information on Steve's story and the treatment he is having.
 

The Golden Mile run

Bass Belle 2024

  • 12 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Parent Information Event
DSPL1 are holding a Parent Information Event on Thursday 25th April from 9.15am to 2.45pm at The Icknield Centre in Letchworth. There will be lots of information from local groups and organisations supporting parents, children and young people with SEND, Mental Health and Wellbeing. All are welcome and you do not need to stay for the whole day, but booking is essential. More details of the organisations taking part and the timings for the event can be found on the flyer below. To book a place, click here.
 

Download the flyer below

  • 12 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

BeeZee Bodies Spring Programme
BeeZee Bodies help Hertfordshire residents make long term sustainable changes towards a healthier lifestyle through weight management, fitness, nutrition learning and loads of top tips and handy strategies to crack those bad habits and replace them with healthy ones. They work with families and young people and have launched their April programmes - the next sessions start on Wednesday 22nd April from 5.30 - 7.30pm at The Oval Community Centre in Stevenage, or you can join the 12-week programme online. More information can be found on the flyer below and on their website at http://www.beezeebodies.com/.  Eligibility criteria applies - please check the website for details.
 

BeeZee Bodies programme starts in April

  • 08 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

School Nursing Team newsletter
The latest newsletter from the School Nursing Team can be downloaded below. They are also keen to get some feedback from parents and students via the QR code below on what they would like to see covered in future newsletters.
 
The School Nursing Team ar also holding their first live Q&A on Instagram during the Easter Holidays, on 10th April at 3pm.  Two school nurses will host the session and will be able to answer questions submitted on the day. The session is aimed at parents, children and young people who have questions about our service or health and wellbeing. More details on the flyer below.
 

Survey link

Instagram Q&A

  • 08 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope

Fancy trying table tennis?
eBaTT Shefford Table Tennis Club currently run a dedicated Table Tennis Centre in London and have recently opened a local club in Shefford. They provide coaching and open play sessions for children and adults.
 
Please see the leaflet below or their website (https://ebatt.co.uk/ebatt-shefford/) for further class details and details how to book, if you are interested.
 

eBaTT Table Tennis Club

  • 07 Mar 2024
  • Mrs C Hope