Hartismere High School has a very real role to play in the local community. We like to think that we both serve and support it through a wide range of activities and liaisons. We see the community as extending beyond the town of Eye to all our catchment area and further out to the social, commercial and industrial world.

We wish to make the transfer from primary school to Hartismere as pleasant, exciting and easy as possible and so we take every opportunity to keep good links with our feeder primary schools.

Mr McGeever, the Head of Lower School, spends much time during the year visiting Year 6 pupils and in the summer term by joining the majority of them in their annual summer camp.

As far as time and time-tabling allow other staff work with the Primary Schools, visiting them and developing projects in CDT, Music, Maths and French and English. The need to continue these links is strong, but might vary from year to year in content.

Throughout the year the Primary School pupils are welcomed into Hartismere for various “days” and productions so that they can be happy about the prospect of transferring to us.

There are numerous links made each year with the community. In certain subjects the pupils work with and help patients in Hartismere Hospital. The school has built a bird hide for community use at the Pennings in Eye. The Sponsored Walk each year raises money for the Thornham Trust and much of that money has been used to develop the facilities there for the disabled. We also welcome links that can be made through the sharing of our sports facilites with the community around Eye.

Although the Sports Centre is heavily booked during the evenings (Monday to Friday) more opportunities will be made available during the school day, at weekends and in the holiday periods for activities appropriate to people of all ages. The outdoor facilities are also available for community use and include tennis and netball courts, hockey, cricket and football pitches. A brochure giving further details of the facilities and prices is available at the Sports Centre office. We are also looking at ways of financing extensions to the facilities, to include a fitness room, an extension to the present Sports Hall, a social area at the Sports Centre and floodlighting the hard tarmac areas to provide all year round usage. This would also be made into an all-weather surface.

For the fourth year the school has taken on the complete organisation of ADULT EDUCATION in Hartismere. The result of this is that a far more interesting and wide-ranging programme is offered (nearly 30 classes this year), hopefully meeting the needs of our community to a much more appropriate degree. The aim is to build on this over the next few years, so that all ages, interests and abilities are catered for at Hartismere. Some of the classes available this year are, Environmental Issues, Dutch for Beginners, Painting for Pleasure, Sugarcraft, Creative Embroidery, Yoga, French Conversation, Public Speaking, Tap Dance, Homeopathy for the Family, Fashion Pattern Drafting, Psychology, Wine Appreciation, Ladies Self-Defence, Driving Test Theory and Drama. In partnership with West Suffolk College we have been in a position for the first time to offer vocational classes in Computer (Clait Levels I and II), plus G.C.S.E. German, Art, Biology and English Literature

It is the aim to encourage greater use of all Hartismere’s facilities both during and after school hours by individuals, groups and clubs, so that the school becomes an environment and resource used by the whole community.