Category: Latest News

Please see the following video in response to the 2022 Parent Survey…

A Winter Evening with the Arts – This event is now SOLD OUT! 8th December 2022 at 7pm. A Christmassy array of music, dance, drama and art work brought to you by the pupils at Swanmore College. £6.00 per adult – £3.50 per child. Tickets available on Scopay.

Congratulations to one of our Year 8 Teams who attended the i-construct event hosted at CETC and CEMAST in Fareham. They were awarded a trophy and other goodies in the category of “Best Team Work” sponsored by P.T Contractors Ltd who visited us to present the trophy. Future collaborations are planned with this company to bring real life STEM projects to Swanmore Pupils

There is an exciting opportunity for Year 9 and 10 students to be involved in a national research project with the Royal Wooton Bassett Association (RWBA).
The project will involve students partaking in guided research surrounding the BBC documentary– My Family, the Holocaust and Me? following five, second or third generation British Jews on a journey to discover the Holocaust related past of their families. The first meeting will be Thursday 3rd November for an induction with the RWBA and the meetings will then run on Wednesdays thereafter.

If you wish for your child to be involved, please email enquires, Miss Sutherland to give permission.

Miss Sutherland (History teacher)

October is RESPECT Month at Swanmore College. All pupils and staff have been challenged to participate in small acts of Respect and ideas are included on our Respect Calendar.

This is a whole school challenge set by The Anti–Bullying Committee which is working towards the RESPECT Badge from The Diana Award.

Please find below the Year 11 Mock Exams timetable for October 2022:

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to you all following a week of joy at having all our pupils on site, sadness at the loss of our Queen and frustration at the disruption to some of our bus services.

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
I am sure that last night’s news is starting to sink in and that we all share a feeling of sorrow following our Queen’s death. Of course, I appreciate that many of us have different views about the monarchy and the way we each feel will be personal to us all. Many of us have lived our lives with the Queen at the helm and we have communicated to our pupils the historical importance, the sadness and the symbolism of this occasion. We have done our best to explain the significance of what has happened with respect and care, and colleagues provided resources for the morning tutor period to ensure children had an opportunity for reflection at the start of the day.

Once thing is certain, the values the Queen displayed with regard to family and duty are beyond reproach and something to be admired. Through significant difficulties at various moments in her life, she always faced these challenges head on and continued with her duty. A mark of true greatness.

Swanmore College joined the nation in silence at 12 Noon and two of our pupils played the Last Post to commemorate the passing of our beloved sovereign.

BUSES
Portsmouth City Coaches
Because of the current delays in Botley, and to ensure that pupils are able to arrive on time each morning, Portsmouth City Coaches will collect pupils, from their allocated stop, 15 minutes earlier with effect from Monday 12 September 2022. This arrangement will be in place for the duration of the disruption. An email has been sent to those pupils affected by the change.

X9A
Punctuality – this service is a partly HCC funded service that operates from Fair Oak to Swanmore College via Hedge End and Botley. At the moment, the service is having to divert via Bubb Lane in Hedge End due to the closure of Winchester Road between Boorley Green and Botley. This diversion has added approximately 20 minutes onto the journey each day and unfortunately, Xelabus have been left with absolutely no alternative. The map attached shows the closure and the time period HCC suggest it is closed for. You can see that the road is due to be opened on Monday. If this is the case, fantastic – we expect the service to return to its usual punctual operation. If this does not happen, we will need to adjust the starting time of the service to allow for the additional run time. Any changes will be communicated to you should this be the case.

Capacity – in previous years, the service has operated AM and PM with a 74-90 seater double decker. This week, every morning and afternoon the service has operated with a 90 seater double decker, proven by the onboard vehicle tracking device system. The bus is the largest of its kind in the area and has been full every day, with some passengers being left behind. Unfortunately, as Xelabus are using the largest bus available, they have no ability to increase the capacity. However, if HCC are able to fund a duplicate bus, they may be in a position to operate a second ‘back-up’ vehicle, to assist with loadings. We believe the increase in numbers stems from the change in the HCC funded X9 service which has been reduced from hourly to two-hourly, leaving our pupils unable to access Swanmore College at the necessary times and having to rely on the X9A. Xelabus are meeting with HCC Transport on Monday to try and find a solution to this issue.

In addition, Xelabus amended their timetable to accommodate the early closure on a Monday, with the service departing Swanmore College at 1413 on Mondays and 1508 Tuesday to Friday. For any pupil who misses these buses, there is another bus passing the college at 1527 each day. A copy of this new timetable is attached for your reference as the bus stop timetables have not yet been updated. Xelabus and are doing all they can to deliver a service whilst dealing with road closures and high passenger numbers.

YEAR 7
Congratulations and well done to our Year 7 pupils who have completed their first full week at Swanmore College. What a wonderful addition they are to the college community. They have approached their start with enthusiasm and great courage, finding their way around, getting to lessons on time and actively participating in class. Well done Year 7.

SIMS
There is an issue at present with the attendance section of the Parent App. SIMS will notify us as soon as the fault is fixed.

All that remains is for me to wish you a happy and restful weekend.

Kind regards

R K Jonathan
Headteacher