Joint educational futures

Hove Park is delighted to announce that its application for European Union funding under the Interreg IVA programme has been successful. The aim of the INTERREG IVA project is to support cross-border co-operation for a more prosperous and sustainable region by forging closer links between education providers in Brighton & Hove and Haute-Normandie, France.
The Joint Educational Futures project education providers are Hove Park (lead partner), Blatchington Mill, Varndean, Falmer and City College. In Seine-Maritime this network will be led by the Rectorat of the Rouen Académie in the region of Haute-Normandie including Lycée Les Bruyères (Rouen), Lycée Hôtelier G. Baptiste (Canteleu) and Collège Delvincourt (Dieppe).

The project will provide exciting and innovative educational activities to help thousands of young people both in England and France to:

• Improve their language skills
• Improve their enterprise skills
• Practice entrepreneurialism
• Become qualified for the global knowledge economy
• Enhance their employability
• Have a global understanding of environmental sustainability
• Practise a more ecological lifestyle

Unique aspects of this project are:

• Setting up a network of schools, colleges and outside agencies
• A wide range of cross-border student visits and exchanges
• Planning and preparatory meetings for staff to share good practise and exchange ideas
• Involvement with local businesses, careers guidance
• The opportunity for staff and allied stakeholders to receive international professional development
• Educational opportunities for students in areas of their own expertise and interest
• Develop new platforms of cross-channel communication via the web and video- conferencing

The project will initially run from October 2008 to December 2010.

European Day of Languages

On Friday 26th September, Hove Park celebrated the European Day of Languages. This international initiative, run by the Council of Europe is celebrated by 46 countries worldwide; it underlines the importance of learning languages and increases our student’s awareness of all cultures and diversity.

Hove Park celebrated the annual day in style with a range of exciting and informative events. Teachers and students from different curriculum areas incorporated world languages and cultural understanding into their own subject areas.

In Key Stage 4 groups from Years 10 and 11 worked with the electricity company EDF to produce an advertising campaign in French and German on the importance of language learning to their business. During morning assembly at the Nevill Campus one of our students performed a magical Indian dance for fellow pupils.

In Key Stage 3, students took part in a series of Samba workshops, subtitled films in Italian with a London based media company, taught languages to our primary partner schools, sampled food in the canteen and took part in our whole school languages quiz in tutor time. Students from Key Stage 3 will also have the opportunity to become Young Language Leaders by visiting local primary schools in the area and teaching a variety of different languages to students.

European Award for Languages

In July 2008 Hove Park was one of twelve schools nationally who received the European Award for Languages for its "Bridging the Channel" project. The award, presented by broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald recognizes innovative approaches to language learning, and is coordinated in the UK by CILT, the National Centre for Languages. A great result – thank you Mr Sharron!

A secondary school in East Sussex has won a prestigious European award for its innovative language project. As part of the winning initiative at Hove Park Language College, pupils travel on an exchange project with a difference, showing them how learning French has a practical use outside of the classroom.

The project goes beyond the traditional language exchange, and includes cross-Channel music and drama projects and performances, a visit to the battlefields of the Somme, business trips to Dieppe, marketing focus groups, and the annual sports camp in France. As the project covers many aspects of the curriculum, staff and students from outside of the languages department also get involved.

(Extract from CILT press
release, July 2008)

Outstanding results!

The results are out and we’re pleased to reveal its been another successful year for Hove Park. Our KS4 results saw 51% of students gaining 5 A*-C GCSE’s, an increase of 9% over last years results and 21% over the last four years! Those achieving 5 A*-C GCSE’s including English and Maths also increased by 3% to 37%. With 91% of our students receiving 5 A*-G including English and Maths.

Our students average points score was 343, an increase of 36 points over 2007 and 55 over 2004, meaning students are getting higher grades and in more subjects.

Hove Park met and exceeded all our targets set. The results are likely to place us inside the top 20 – 25% of schools in the UK on Value-Added measures, which take into account the prior achievement and background and expected performance of the students in the year group.

As a Specialist Language College we are very proud to say that the combined language A*-C was 56%. This is a truly noteworthy achievement. It sets us apart from many schools across the UK who stripped languages from their curriculum due to the difficulty in obtaining good pass grades in these subjects. Nationally there were 158,242 less language entries than last year, compounding the decline that has been evident for several years.

These results testify to teachers’ and students’ enthusiasm, commitment, talent and sheer hard work! Congratulations!

UK National Mandarin reading contest

Year 10 students from Hove Park School triumphed in third team place for non-native speakers in the 6th National Chinese Mandarin Reading Contest held at Westminster University last weekend. Although they have only been learning Chinese Mandarin for 8 months, they still managed to be off competition from a team of Sussex University undergraduates and public school girls from Cheltenham Ladies College. Nicola Burt, 15 yrs, also took prestigious third individual prize.

Hove Park was the only state school amongst the 26 school and college contestants at Westminster University. It is also the only state school in Brighton and Hove that offers its pupils the opportunity to study Chinese Mandarin. Pupils enjoy taster lessons from Year 7 onwards and Year 10 pupils have the opportunity to study Chinese Mandarin towards GCSE or Asset Languages at Intermediate Level..

Free Lunch?

Fancy a free lunch? If you are regularly in class and on time that’s exactly what you could get!

Tutor group KS4I, whose punctuality and attendance was the best from January to April, won Hove Park’s O.T.T (On Time for Tutor) challenge. The group were therefore treated to a slap up meal at Pizza Express and the afternoon off school.

The O.T.T challenge will be repeated again so make sure your On Time for Tutor!

Opera, at hove park?

Music teacher Mr Flanagan, a former principal performer at Glyndebourne, has been sharing his love of opera with our students recently. This term Mr Flanagan and Mrs Corcoran travelled with 50 students to the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden to see Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

Mr Flanagan, star of a number of performances during the 1970s and 1980s, said: “The children thought the production was wonderful, which it was. The singing was wonderful. I hope it has inspired some of them to enjoy opera in their lives.”. There are now rumours Hove Park may even stage its own opera!

Andy Faulding Cup

Hove Park`s annual Andy Faulding Memorial Cup played out to a back drop of cheering crowds this term.

The cup, dedicated to the memory of Hove Park teacher Andy Faulding who tragically died in a cycling accident 5 years ago, pits the experience and wisdom of Hove Park staff against the youth and pace of Hove Park’s Sixth Formers.

With BBQ, music and of course the match itself the afternoon was a huge success, with lots of money raised for the PDSA. (And yes the Sixth Formers did win... lets not mention the score!)

National recognition

Those of you who are avid readers of the Times Educational Supplement will have recently spotted Hove Park highlighted for excellent practice.

The national paper reviewed our Innovative programme for student engagement, especially our level 2 ASDAN award and all the hard work Ms Greener, Mrs Henley and a group of year 9’s carry out on their allotment and in their attempts to raise awareness for green issues.

Wake up to enterprise

The South East England Development Agency recently highlighted Hove Park School in its regional magazine ‘Wake up to enterprise’ for its good practice of enterprise education.

SEEDA, the Government funded agency responsible for the economic and social development of the South East of England, singled Hove Park out as ‘exemplifying best practice to other schools in their area’.

A copy of ‘Wake up to enterprise’ can be downloaded at;
Wake up to Enterprise magazine

Abram Wilson Jams with students

Our budding musicians received tips from an emerging star of the jazz world this term. New Orleans-raised trumpeter Abram Wilson jammed with students form Year 10 during their music lessons.

The MOBO nominee and BBC Jazz Award winner taught the basics of jazz in a lively workshop before appearing at the Brighton Dome with his group; the Delta Blues Project.