Year Groups

Fifth Year

A message from the Head of Fifth Year: Mr D J Fendley

Letter to all Fifth Year Parents

September 2009

Dear Fifth Year Parent

I hope that you and your family have had a really enjoyable summer break and that your son has now returned to School refreshed and invigorated, ready for all the hard work that lies ahead!

May I first draw your attention to the following hyperlink which will take you straight to the Fifth Year information page on the School’s website.  I shall endeavour to keep this page updated for you over the course of the year:

www.hamptonschool.org.uk/news/yeargroups/fifth.shtml

Last year, I was extremely pleased with how the vast majority of boys worked and behaved and I am confident that they can build on their successes this year.  Those boys who took one or two GCSEs early achieved fantastic results this summer, with almost 80% of the grades awarded at A*.  I hope that the rest of the year group can continue in the same vein this year and aspire to these grand heights.

As I said at the beginning of the Fourth Year, we at Hampton regard the pastoral care of your sons to be of paramount importance.  Please feel free to contact your son’s Form Tutor, Assistant Head of Year or me at any time if you have concerns.  The forms and Tutors this year are as follows:

In addition Mrs J Dibden and Mr B Ruse will be ‘shadowing’ Ms Holmes in 5A and Mr Martucci in 5G respectively.  They are both very experienced Form Tutors at Hampton and will work closely with these forms’ main tutors.

As I am sure you will appreciate, this is the start of a very important year for your son, with the emphasis clearly on completing any coursework to a high standard and preparing effectively for examinations.  I would strongly advise your son to pace himself sensibly over this term, and not leave work to the last minute.  I have included an attachment giving details of coursework requirements and deadlines (which must be adhered to), which I hope you will find helpful.  I must also restate that any copying of coursework, or passing off other’s work as one’s own, is a breach of examination regulations and could lead to disqualification of the candidate concerned – this is how seriously the examination boards regard plagiarism.   

Your son will have received two copies of this term’s School Calendar and should have given you one of them.  In his copy he will have filled in both his School and homework timetables and for your information I have also attached the Fifth Year Homework Timetable with this email.  At this stage in their school career we expect boys to spend approximately 40 minutes per subject on their homework.  If for any reason a homework is not set when it could have been, your son would be well advised to spend some time consolidating and revising.  The Mock GCSE Examinations take place in January, straight after the Christmas holiday, and it is worth reminding your sons of this on a fairly regular basis.  Those who leave all of their revision to the holiday may well run out of time and not do as well as they might have done.

Please consult the School Calendar to find out about any events that are taking place.  Of course, more information about various events will be sent nearer the time, but for your information the Fifth Year Parents’ Evening will be held just after Half Term on Tuesday 3 November 2009.

The main focus of the Autumn Term’s PHSE programme is geared towards A-Level option choices and careers advice, including giving the boys vital practice at writing personal statements and letters of application.  To coincide with this there will be an A-Level Information Evening during the second half of the Autumn Term, which is always very popular for both parents and boys.

My optimism about this year group last year was well founded with the majority working hard and showing a pleasing commitment to both their studies and extra-curricular interests.  They are a highly-achieving, very pleasant group of young men and I look forward to my continued contact with them.  Once again, may I remind you that should you like to speak to us about your son, the first point of contact should normally be his Form Tutor.  All staff are easily contactable at School via email using the format initial.surname@hamptonschool.org.uk.  If you do have any further questions, then please do contact the appropriate Assistant Head of Year, or myself.  I am keen to have as much contact with parents as is reasonably possible and do believe that open communication is important.

I do hope your son thoroughly enjoys his Fifth Year at Hampton and that with your encouragement at home, and ours at School, he will work to the best of his ability, as well as continuing to contribute to School life outside the classroom.

Yours sincerely

D J Fendley
Head of Fifth Year

Other News for the Fifth Year:

2009 - 2010

• Changes to mock exam timings (13.01.10)
• Fifth Year Parents' Evening Speech
• Fifth Year Parents' Evening
• Coursework details and deadlines
• Homework timetables
• Open Morning - Saturday 19 September