Hymers Review - Spring Term 2022-23

HYMERS REVIEW

A ROUND-UP OF WHAT WE DID DURING THE SPRING TERM 2022/23

Goldsmiths’ visit to Hymers College

We hosted visitors from Goldsmiths’ in February following our success in the Goldsmiths’ Company Awards for Community Engagement - we won gold!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Congratulations to Daniel in Year 9 who recently received one of only six ‘Highly Commended’ awards for his presentation on The Lost City of Petra in a National Classics Competition held by the Lytham St Anne’s Classical Association. Well done Daniel!

GENERAL REVIEW

Goldsmiths’ visit to mark Hymers success

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

There has been lots of DT going on at Hymers! In the Senior School, our Year 12 students were working on their educational products, which are based on Froebel’s gifts and promote learning development through creative play. Over in our Junior School, Year 4 has been making delicious carrot and hummus wraps!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Business & Agriculture, STEAM, Medicine and Law - Hymers Career & Networking Events. A chance to hear from experts in their field.

Following their success over 140 other schools across the country to take first prize in the Goldsmiths’ Company Awards for Community Engagement, Hymers College hosted visitors from Goldsmiths’ in February along with representatives of community action projects to showcase the work the school does in the Hull and surrounding area. Simon Connell from the Goldsmiths’ Award Team, met with the Headmaster Mr Stanley, pupils and teachers at Hymers before being shown a number of local projects the school supports.

This included a visit to Pearson Primary School where Hymers Sixth Form students regularly support young children with their reading skills. The visitors were also shown the work that Hymers pupils have done at Welcome House - a local charity that supports asylum seekers and refugeesand with Northern Rail where pupils have been working with the company to tackle anti-social behaviour and harassment at local stations.

Headmaster Mr Stanley commented:

“It was fantastic to be able to welcome representatives from the Goldsmiths’ Award team to Hymers and to be able to showcase the community action work of our pupils.

“Hymers has a long tradition of reaching beyond its boundaries and supporting the local community and organisations. We fully intend for that to continue both through our community action work and the financial bursaries that we offer to support pupils who would otherwise be unable to attend the school.

“I am proud that the work of our pupils has been recognised nationally by winning such a prestigious award. I look forward to continuing to have strong links with the local community and supporting more projects as we go forward.

“At a time when independent schools are being called upon to demonstrate their public benefit, it is important for people to recognise the wider good that schools like Hymers make to their communities.”

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

We have been celebrating International Women’s Day across Hymers, including a seminar in the Senior School - a collaboration between our History and Classics departments - to celebrate inspirational women who have been obscured or forgotten in history. Our thanks to all our speakers!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Thank you to Old Hymerian Dr John Kittmer for inspiring our current and future Ancient Greek students about the benefits of studying Classics. A Cambridge Classicist, Dr Kittmer has enjoyed an illustrious career in the civil service, culminating in a tenure as the UK Ambassador to Greece. Still passionate about ancient languages, his love of the Classics has given him many amazing opportunities!

Time Capsule Club ‘buries’ their capsule

On the third anniversary of national lockdown the Time Capsule Club handed over its three-year long project to commemorate life during Covid to our Development Office.

During the Summer Term of 2020, History Teacher, Mrs Robinson, proposed a club to her Year 7 historians to record the momentous nature of the Covid lockdown. Initially thinking that the club would last a term, it has continued, resulting in a time capsule and booklet.

Since 2020, the students have held weekly meetings, where they have worked on producing a time capsule containing items, documents, and photos that related to significant memories for them of this unique time period. Toilet roll was, of course, included after shortages made the headlines in the initial weeks of the pandemic, along with a hand sanitiser, a face mask and Covid test kit.

They also worked together to create a booklet of their memories of the lockdown, which included school events, such as a No Zoom Day and the return of school assemblies after two years, and national

World Book Day in the Junior School

The Year 6 Leadership Club organised a fantastic Book Day. The day began with a parade of all the children who had come dressed in some wonderful outfits based on book characters.

Some of the children from the Leadership Club read extracts from their favourite books and there were also some amazing plays which the children had devised in groups based on different books.

As well as a book treasure hunt, the children enjoyed the teacher challenge which resulted in some members of staff being put into a Matilda style chokey! The day ended with children pairing up with their buddies to design a bookmark and read to each other.

Well done to the Year 6 Leadership Club for organising the day.

events, such as the death of The Duke of Edinburgh and the roll-out of the vaccines. The students also interviewed several Old Hymerians as part of the project, to find out what school life was like for them and also how they were finding the lockdown. They have since attended some of the Old Hymerian lunches at the school and met some of the former students who corresponded with them.

Both the Time Capsule and the booklet has now been presented to the Development Office.

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, our Senior School paused to reflect and remember those who have lost their lives to genocide. Thank you to Madame Humblet for leading the assembly.

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Thank you to pupils, parents and exhibitors for joining us at Hymers College for our annual Careers Convention. We had a fantastic range of local businesses and organisations attend from across a wide range of industries and sectors for our pupils to meet and discuss career steps with.

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

We had a fantastic end of term Senior School assembly in our Main Hall. It included the awarding of School Colours, music from our brass quintet, a sports report and the highly anticipated announcement of winner of the House Cup this term... congratulations Holderness!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Good luck to our Years 4 - 6 teams - and all those taking part from visiting schools - in the swimming gala here at Hymers! It is fantastic to see (and hear!) so many children enjoying the pool and swimming!

SPORTS REVIEW

Hymers College @HymersSport:

It was an exciting day for our Year 5/6 dance club at the Great Big Dance Off heats in Halifax. They finished in 2nd place and will compete in the National Final in June. A fantastic performance and an awesome result! Huge thanks to all the families who came to cheer us on!

U11 rugby boys rise to the occasion

Our U11 7s squad have had a very busy season this term, entering multiple tournaments including Durham, Terrington, HMC 7s at St Peter’s, our own Hymers 7s tournament, Ashville 7s on a Saturday in March, and all this culminated in entering the top tier of the Rosslyn Park National 7s at the end of term.

The boys were fantastic all year, proving

themselves to be one of the strongest sides in the North. At Rosslyn, the boys were challenged by some of the best rugby sides in the country, only losing out to a very strong St Paul’s school at the end, in awful conditions. A huge well done to all the boys who represented school so well and in such great spirit.

Hymers College @HymersSport:

It was Year 13 Staff v Leavers with our Year 13 pupils taking the victory. Good luck to all of our departing pupils - we hope you all keep enjoying your sport long after you have left Hymers!

Hymers pupils shine in Junior Fencing Competitions

Hymers College @HymersSport:

What an achievement - we have just heard the news that our Year 8 footballers have reached the final four in the country in the National Cup! Winning on 4-2 on penalties, they are National Cup semi finalists and pictured here with some very proud parents. A huge congratulations to everyone!

In February a number of Hymers fencers competed in the Northern Youth Challenge Tournament which took place at Wetherby High School.

The final results of our fencers were -

Under 10 Girls’ Foil

Quinn – 3rd, Florence – 6th

Under 12 Girls’ Foil

Gulmehr – 3rd

Everyone fenced really well in a very large and challenging tournament and had a very enjoyable day.

In March the Yorkshire Youth Championships took place at Wetherby High School. Zach competed in the Under 10 Boys Foil finishing 3rd. This was Zach’s

first competition so a good result and a great learning experience.

a message from Mr Justin Stanley the headmaster

High Merit! High Reward! Our pupils –from the youngest at Hymers Hessle Mount to those in the Sixth Form –continue to live up to the motto that dates back to the early days of the School. Working with the young people at Hymers remains a deeply inspiring and rewarding experience as, on a daily basis, we see our pupils excel in the range of activities that are evidenced in this publication.

More importantly than that, we are privileged to work with the children’s parents and carers to help nurture in them personal values and qualities of which we can all be proud and which will serve them well in their lives ahead: those of kindness and compassion, integrity, resilience, humility, co-operation and compromise, teamwork and responsibility. Yes – Hymers pupils make mistakes, as do we all, but for the most part they show remarkable good sense, consideration, empathy and ambition: ambition for themselves but also for their peers and the wider community.

At the end of the Spring Term I was delighted to be able to confirm in the position of permanent Head of Hymers Hessle Mount Mr Andy Copeland who since September has been carrying out the role on an interim basis. It has been wonderful to see the way in which Mr Copeland, his Deputy Mrs Wilson and all the staff at Hymers Hessle Mount have been developing such a supportive and aspirational environment. It is through these firm educational and social foundations that our youngest pupils will go on to become their own versions of the older students some of whose achievements are detailed on these pages.

Invidious as it is to try to pick out some of the highlights from last term, pupils and staff involved in the following activities will look back with real satisfaction. There were the celebrations of Science Week and Chinese New Year at Hymers Hessle Mount. In the Junior School the Dance Club and U11 boys’ rugby teams joined our choirs in establishing a regional, and indeed national, reputation for themselves through their accomplishments. Pupils across the age range gave stellar performances in Music and Drama, while some of our Sixth Form students performed with remarkable distinction against a national field in their academic pursuits. For four of our Sixth Form chemists to have achieved Gold awards in the Royal Society’s Olympiad is an outstanding feat and it has been heartening to see a good crop of our medical and Oxbridge applicants secure offers on

the most competitive university courses. In addition to these achievements, I particularly applaud the excellent work of our antibullying ambassadors and our students who volunteer to support community groups and charitable organisations in the local area. Our Development Office led by Mrs Emily Pennack have continued to do sterling work in ensuring that our Old Hymerian community remains increasingly inter-connected and informed about what is going on at the School. It was wonderful to hear that two of our younger alumni Sarah Al-Saad and Laurence Marwood gained a Cambridge Blue in hockey and rugby respectively for representing their university in the Varsity Match against Oxford. Congratulations to them both for continuing the Hymerian tradition of successfully balancing their commitments to intensive academic study and high-level sport, music or drama.

Hymers College @HymersSport: The @Hymers_College Water Polo team were in action yesterday. Some great team play and excellent goals scored, and as always lessons to learn! Thank you @BradfordGrammar for hosting! #waterpolo #competition

One initiative for us has been drinks events for our alumni in cities such as Newcastle, Manchester, Cambridge, London and Leeds. It is apparent how much Old Hymerians of different vintages and former members of staff have enjoyed meeting to catch up and share memories of their time at school. For the Spring Term to end with a magnificent performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria from a choir made up of current pupils, parents, staff, friends and alumni seemed a suitable testament to the strength of the Hymers community.

Hymers College @HymersSport: Senior House netball winners: Trinity. Well done to all participants who had a fantastic, fun filled afternoon.

Hymers College @HymersSport: A nice mix in photograph to finish off the staff v Year 13 hockey match. Well done Year 13 on your win!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Yesterday we welcomed 16 local schools to Hymers for the inaugural Hymers U11 Invitational Football Cup! The standard was very high and it was great to see so many children from the area enjoying their football. Well done to @EastfieldPSHull who were crowned champions!

“It is through these firm educational and social foundations that our youngest pupils will go on to become their own versions of the older students some of whose achievements are detailed on these pages.”

Hymers College @Hymers_Art:

Fantastic tonal depth on this ink portrait from Year 12 and more spectacular ink distortion portraiture.

ARTS REVIEW

Hymers College @Hymers_DT

A massive thank-you to Denford for a brilliant training session today. We’re really looking forward to using our new CNC machine with our GCSE and A Level students @DenfordHQ

Hymers Recital Club

A termly concert saw the return of former Hymers student, Rachel Wheatley singing a variety of songs, much enjoyed by the audience.

Joining her on stage was the Hymers Eclectic ensemble comprised of Music staff, Margaret Pearson, Richard Quick, Rachael

England and Claire Herriot. They played a piece by Mozart not often performed because of the unique Instrumentation, Flute, Violin, Viola and Cello.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the evening and donated to the Schools chosen charities.

Hymers College @Hymers_Art: Toyota Dream Cars!

Success for Brandesburton House

The end of term saw all the Junior School children involved in the House Music Competition.

There were instrumental, piano and vocal solos followed by whole House singing. Some fantastic performances! Well done to Brandesburton who were this year’s winners.

Senior Choral Concert

Thanks to the wonderful musicians for an uplifting performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria at our Senior Concert.

Hymers College @HymersDT:

A fantastic start made by the first group of Year 6 students. Well done everyone!

Superb performances from Senior Strings, Cello, Windband and Percussion Ensemble.

It was lovely to welcome parents, friends and alumni to join in with the Hymers College Chorus - it was also a fitting way for some wonderful Year 13 students to sign off. Thank you for the music!

Hymers College @HymersMusic: Well done @Hymers_College Brass Quintet for providing this mornings music for Assembly. #brass #quintet #missionimpossible #fanfare

Royal Society of Chemistry’s Olympiad Competition

Hymers College @Hymers_JuniorSchool:

Year 5 & 6 Book Club have been reading ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce. Tom discovers a magical, secret garden whilst staying at his aunt and uncle’s flat for the summer. We had a go at creating this garden in edible form! They look amazing and taste delicious

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Olympiad Competition is an extremely testing written examination.

This year five Year 13 students answered questions on:

n rocket fuels, including the chemistry of the preparations to colonise Mars;

n electronegativity, bonding and structure, including the pioneering work of Linus Pauling, as well as van Arkel-Ketelaar triangles;

n the acid-base and complexometric properties of amino acids;

n vaping, including the chemistry of Vaping Associated Lung Injury (VALI)

n cheese, including the chemistry of controlling the bubble size in Emmental.

Mohammed H was awarded a Silver Certificate, and Matthew A, Zain A, Kushal K and Joel W achieved Gold Certificates. Four Golds in a single year equals the best ever performance by

Author visits to Hymers

We have been priviledged this term to have had two extremely interesting visits from two fascinating authors. Photographer turned novelist, Lou Abercrombie talked with our Year 6, 7 and 8 pupils and Library ambassadors about her writing and inspiration. Meanwhile, author, film

Hymers. Kushal was placed 10th nationally (11,838 entries, roughly 60,000 studying A Level Chemistry), and qualified for a gruelling and stimulating training and selection camp at the University of Nottingham (lectures and laboratory work plus a 4 hour written examination and a 4 hour practical examination), where he narrowly failed to be selected for the UK team for the international final in Zurich in July. The Chemistry Department is thrilled at, and very proud of, these magnificent achievements, and they represent appropriate recognition at national level of outstanding students of academic chemistry. In 40 years (bar 11 weeks) of teaching, no student I have worked with has matched, let alone exceeded, the speed, accuracy, flair and intuitive feel for correct chemistry of either Kushal or Matthew. Well done!

Mr Prescott

nb. A copy of the question paper can be found on the news section of our website.

director and explorer Matt Dickinson talked to Years 9 and 10 about his explorations on Everest and the inspirations behinds his writing.

Hymers College @Hymers_JuniorSchool:

Year 4 have been studying the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. For her creative homework, Freya in 4C has made an amazing Narnia inspired lemon cake. Thanks Freya - it was delicious!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Good luck to all our Year 5 pupils in the theatre this evening for the opening night of their performance of Mystery at Magpie Manor. We had an early taster of just how good this musical production is at the dress rehearsal this morning - it is going to be fantastic!

HYMERS JUNIOR SCHOOL YEAR 5 PRESENTS MYSTERY AT MAGPIE MANOR

Hymers Hessle Mount

World Book Day

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

We had lots of thumbs up and excited faces from our Hymers Hessle Mount Year 1 pupils this morning as they arrived for their first swimming lesson in our pool here at Hymers College. We hope they all enjoyed it!

What could possibly be better than reading a good book?

Dressing up as your favourite character from that book of course! We have had an amazing time at Hymers Hessle Mount today with some stunning costumes. Happy World Book Day!

RSPB Bird Watch fun! Chinese New Year

Getting ready for the Big Garden Bird Watch! Our students had lots of fun preparing for the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch, which took place between 27-29 January. Some of these activities have included making bird feeders and hanging them in the woodland area!

To celebrate the year of the Rabbit our Year 2 students learned about the Chinese New Year in their assembly. The pupils explained about the different animal signs in the Chinese zodiac and even performed a dragon dance!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

British Science Week at Hymers Hessle Mount has been filled with many experiments in all the year groups. Year 2 had an amazing time building and setting off rockets - the sky is the limit!

Children’s Mental Health Week

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

The Pre-School at Hymers Hessle Mount have been celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colours, Spring and Love. Even the snow and the cold weather could not stop us from having fun with the powder paints. Happy Holi 2023!

To conclude February’s Children’s Mental Health Week Hymers Hessle Mount pupils and staff spent an afternoon off timetable. Activities included yoga, art sessions, creating tree spirits out of clay in the woodland and sensory stations including foam, slime and jelly!

Stella the Starfish

Thank you to all the family and friends who came to support the Year 1 children in the proeduction of Stella the Starfish. We hope you enjoyed the singing and acting as much as we all did!

Hymers College @Hymers_College:

Bonjour from Hymers Hessle Mount! Every Tuesday, children from Pre-School to Year 2 can take part in fun-filled French lessons with Sue from Kidslingo.

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