It has been great to see the sun this week, hopefully summer is finally arriving once it stops raining! The Year 11s and 12s are now on study leave and we all wish them well with their exams which are now in full flow. Year 13s start their study leave at half term. Students are expected to be in school for lessons in subjects in which they have not yet sat the examination. The school will continue to offer a full complement of revision sessions after school and during half term to continue to support the students at this crucial time. Details are included later in the bulletin. Please see our 15 Tips for succeeding on the day of the exam on the following pages. Last week’s assemblies were dedicated to raising the profile of Mental Health Awareness week. The assemblies were led by Year 10 students Jermaine Adae- Bosompra, Zoe Newton-Kisly and Maisha Khondkar, ably supported by Miss Williams. As part of the assembly they made a video, I attach the link, it is an excellent collaborative piece of work. Well done to all involved a very important message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtXdufJ7Bt4 Mr Banks and I have continued to interview for staff and we have had some high quality applicants. This week we have appointed an excellent MFL teacher, French/Spanish speaking, who will work alongside our new Head of MFL, Mr Melvin, who starts with us next week. Mr Melvin is an experienced teacher who is currently a Head of Spanish. We have made appointments in Science and will have high quality teachers in all three specialisms, Biology, Chemistry and Physics from September. Internally we have appointed Miss Williams to lead next year’s Y7. Mrs Mason our careers advisor has been taking groups of Year 10 students on an employability programme in London called SKILL! It is a one-day enterprise programme where students join forces with professionals from a range of corporate partners, together devising and pitching big ideas that tackle everyday problems. The aim is for students to grow in confidence whilst gaining exposure to the world of work (the workshop is hosted by one of our corporate partners) and building the skills which employers find attractive. Skills like problem-solving, creativity, communication and teamwork. This is an excellent opportunity for students and compliments their CV writing and preparation for work interviews. The results of the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge sat by some of our Year 7 and 8 students were released this week. The results are very positive with 44 of our students receiving a certificate placing them in the top 40% in the country! Four of those students received the Gold Certificate which places them in the top 6%! Special mention goes to Ewan Briggs who was awarded Best in School and Best in Year 8. Chloe Norwood and William Whitehall were awarded joint Best in Year 7. Many in our school community will know Mr Murray and will be delighted to hear that he has been appointed Deputy Mayor of Loughton for this civic year. Mr Murray has worked at Roding Valley High School for 36 years, he has always been an asset to the school and I am in no doubt he will be an amazing Deputy Mayor. We have been receiving a few complaints from local residents regarding the behaviour of a minority of our students in the evenings and early mornings around the local area. Parents are responsible for the actions and whereabouts of their children outside of normal school hours. Students should behave in a way that brings credit to our school on their journey to and from school and should not be out late into the evening in school uniform. I would hasten to add that the majority of our students are incredibly well behaved, polite and respectful but there are a handful who bring the school into disrepute. Where these individuals are known or identified I can assure you that there will be severe sanctions and we are liaising with the police / local community as appropriate. The school did issue a safety warning on Thursday as there have been reports of a man approaching youngsters in the area. A silver car has been stopping to ask for directions and then persuading people to get into his car. Please remind your sons/daughters to stick to all the usual routes to and from school and walk with friends where possible. Please agree a safety plan with your child and in the event of them feeling uncomfortable or scared, tell them to come back to school, contact yourselves or ring the police. Have a lovely fun, but safe, weekend. Mrs S Jenner Head of School
Parents of Year 10 Year 10 Careers Programme During this summer term students in Year 10 will be writing a CV and letter of application in tutor time in preparation for the mock interview day on Thursday 13th July. Over the coming weeks they will all participate in careers group work sessions in the Careers Office. Post 16 Options will be discussed and students will be encouraged to start some thorough research into which pathway they wish to follow at the end of Year 11. Parental Involvement Encourage students to complete their CV, discuss with them your own experiences of job interviews and applications. Ensure they save their CV on a computer at home so it will always be accessible to them in the future when searching and applying for jobs. Encourage them to start researching which A levels or courses they may choose to study at the end of Year 11. In September I will provide Parents with detailed information about further education and the open day dates of local colleges and sixth forms. Mock Interview Day Thursday 13th July 2017 I will send out more information regarding the day nearer the time. The mock interview day will prepare students for their first interview at either sixth form, college or with an employer. They will have a ‘mock interview’ either with an employer at the school or with a local employer at their premises. To participate in this students MUST submit a CV and letter of application to Mrs Mason by the end of May. If you require any further information or advice please contact me. Kind regards Mrs Mason Careers Development Manager dmason@rodingvalley.net Twitter: Follow @RVHS_Careers to keep up to date with our department.
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10
Year 11
Highest Attendance
7W
Form with the highest Honours
7W
Student with the highest Honours
Hannah Ward 7W
Highest Attendance
8Q
Form with the highest Honours
8R
Student with the highest Honours
Ellie Crookbaine 8Q
Student of the week
Bo Green 8Q nominated by Mrs Barron for writing an excellent essay on climate change – unarguably an A* at GCSE Geography!
Highest Attendance
9RS-4
Form with the highest Honours
9QR
Student with the highest Honours
Harry Coulson 9RS2
Student of the week
Ryan Donnelly 8V, Joe Marjason 9X, Jodie Wheeler 8V & Zara De-Heer 8U – all nominated by Mr Dennis for outstanding attitude and effort in Maths
Highest Attendance
10X
Form with the highest Honours
10W
Student with the highest Honours
Kuana Alves de Oliveria 10V
Student of the week
Maisha Khondokar 10U, Zoe Newton-Kisly 10X & Jermaine Adae-Bosompra 10V nominated by Miss Williams for working extremely hard in creating & delivering a fantastic presentation on mental health including a thought provoking video to the whole school during assemblies.
Highest Attendance
11X
Form with the highest Honours
11W
You can follow us at www.rodingvalley.net , on Facebook at the ‘Roding Valley High School Official’ page or on Twitter (@RodingValleyHS). You can also sign up to our free electronic media release service at rodingvalleymedia@gmail.com
15 Tips for Succeeding on the Day of the Exam: Exam Tip #1 Wake up early so that you do not need to rush through having breakfast and getting ready. Exam Tip #2 Check the venue and time of the exam to make sure that you have not confused the day/time/venue. Exam Tip #3 Have a balanced breakfast and eat nothing risky (probably not the best day to have a super-hot curry!). Bananas are always a good option. Exam Tip #4 Before leaving home, check that you have everything that you will need – ID, stationery, map to the exam venue, etc. Exam Tip #5 Head to the exam with plenty of time. A lot of unexpected events can happen on your way there and you do not want to be late! Exam Tip #6 If there are people around who are panicking, avoid them. They are not doing you any favour! Exam Tip #7 Go to the toilet before the exam starts. Exams can be quite long and there is no time to waste. Exam Tip #8 Remember to write your name on the exam paper. You would not believe how many people have forgotten to do it! Exam Tip #9 Read all the questions carefully before starting and quickly plan how much time to allocate to each. Exam Tip #10 Start answering the questions that you feel most confident about. There is no need to answer the questions in order. Exam Tip #11 If your brain freezes, just start writing anything and you will soon start remembering more details. Exam Tip #12 Don’t spend more time than you planned on a particular section/question or you might run out of time to answer other questions and gain those extra marks! Also, leave any questions that you are unsure about for the end. Exam Tip #13 Don’t be afraid to ask the examiner if you are not clear on a question. Exam Tip #14 Use every minute of the exam and if you have time left, review your answers before handing back the paper. Exam Tip #15 Stay calm, you have done your homework and have nothing to fear!
Please take the time to read and click on the links which support additional study programmes and Summer Schools. Can’t find what you are looking for speak to Mr Harris or Mrs Mason, in careers. Experience Health Sciences Summer School is for Year 11 Students, takes place in July and allows students to stay overnight here at QMUL and also at Warwick University Medicine and Dentistry Summer School is aimed at Year 12 students, takes place in June and July and is a week long programme which is repeated across two weeks.
Bridge the Gap is a long term project involving students from primary through to sixth form.
Alternatives to Medicine Presentations are delivered by trained student ambassadors to selected schools within our target boroughs to inform students about the plethora of alternatives available and why they should consider them Webpages of interest: Guardian health NHS Careers Medical Schools Council
BBC health General Medical Council TES Growing ambitions
University taster courses https://www.ucas.com/events/exploring-university/learn-about-uni-taster-course Lee Spencer Harris MA (T&L) Head of Sixth Form
The Sixth Form Execu ve Commi ee is formed as follows: Head Boy: Ma hew Tinker Deputy: Kyle Johal Head Girl: Lauren Humphries Deputy: Jessica Galloway Senior Prefects: Thisbe Barne , Chloe Humphries, Lily Roswell
The Year 12 Team ‐ Email Them Direct 12Q 12R 12S 12T
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
12U ‐
Mr Bryson ‐ dbryson@rodingvalley.net Mrs Hodges ‐ jhodges@rodingvalley.net Mr Jefferies ‐ djefferies@rodingvalley.net Mrs Walker‐ lwalker@rodingvalley.net; Miss Po er npo er@rodingvalley.net Miss Preston ‐ tpreston@rodingvalley.net
The Year 13 Team ‐ Email Them Direct 13Q ‐ Mr Murray‐ smurray@rodingvalley.net 13R ‐ Mr Hussain ‐ ohussain@rodingvalley.net
The Humanities Faculty has a Twitter account designed to promote sites of interest, pre-reading, revision, humanities information, news and general humanities support. It is aimed at all KS3, KS4 and A-level Humanities Students and can be followed @humsrvhs
Roding Valley PTA are holding a Pamper Night on Friday 16th June 2017. This is a great chance for mums, optionally with their children, to get together for an evening of relaxation and indulgence. We already have: * Spray Tan * Eyebrow Treatments * Nail treatments * Virgin Beauty products * Designer bags * Ladies Fashions * Jewellery * Glitter Accessories If you have a local business, or a friend with a business and would like to present, sell treatments or sell products, we would be very interested to hear from you. Please get in touch for full details: committee@rodingvalleypta.net
Y11 English Revision Timetable The revision sessions will take place on the following dates over the next few weeks after school. 3.05pm to 4.00pm in the English Corridor.
22/05/2017 Literature Paper 2 Year 9 parents have had letters this week via school email to purchase the GCSE English Literature exam texts. As we are due to start the GCSE course after half term, it would be really beneficial if all students paid for them as soon as possible so that teachers can start on this aspect of the course as soon as possible. Louisa Routledge Head of English
Ladies Pamper & Shopping Evening Roding Valley High School Alderton Hill, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3JA. (enter via Brook Road)
on Friday 16th June 2017 7:00pm—10:00pm The night will include: Beauty Treatments Cra s and gi s Clothing Make up And much more... Tickets £3.00 in advance or £4.00 on the door, available from Roding Valley High School.
Payment by cash or cheque (made payable to RVHS PTA)
Contact: commi ee@rodingvalleypta.net
All proceeds from cket sales and raffles go to raising funds for the school. Licensed bar (ID will be required) and refreshments will be available to purchase.
Enrolment for new ACL courses for 2017/18 goes live from the 15th May. We have ‘employment and skills’ courses including GCSEs in English, maths and biology, access to higher education, accounting, beauty, ECDL, law and hairdressing and a huge range of ‘creative experience’ courses such as art, craft, cooking, cake decorating, floristry, languages, pottery, sewing, silversmithing, upholstery and woodturning. There are also free English and maths courses from beginners to GCSE. Essex Library card holders receive 10% discount on ‘creative experience’ courses (non-qualification) upon presentation of a valid card. For more information or to enrol visit www.aclessex.com or call 0345 603 7635
GCSE and GCE Examination Timetables Please see on the following pages the FINAL GCSE and GCE Examination Timetables for May/ June 2017. All students in Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 have been issued with an Examination Booklet containing all relevant information regarding the forthcoming exam season. Tucked inside the front cover of this booklet is a Statement of Entry, this indicates all subjects that each student has been entered for and the level of entry (where applicable). Some subjects only have one tier of entry; some have Foundation or Higher tiers. All information must be thoroughly checked. In particular, all personal details (date of birth, spelling of names) are accurate as these will appear on certificates and could prove difficult to change once certificates have been awarded and you may be charged a fee. If you feel something is wrong or missing, you must speak to Miss Draper the Examinations Officer immediately. Students will receive their individual examination timetables after the Easter Break. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards Jenny Draper Examinations Officer Roding Valley High School
Piano Lessons: To book piano lessons please contact rosswall@gmail.com Singing Lessons: Private singing lessons are now available. Please contact Alex Larke for more details and to book your slot. email: alex@thevocaltutor.com Drum Lessons: One to One, Two to One and Small Group lessons available. Learn with your friends! Contact: marksevel@hotmail.com Guitar Lessons: Lessons slots are available on Mondays with lessons priced at £12 per half hour. Please contact Rachel Espeute on racheleds@hotmail.co.uk if you are interested.
PE Twitter Account The PE department have activated a Twitter account where regular PE updates, extra-curricular news and curriculum information will be regularly published. Follow @RodingValleyPE to keep up to date with our department.
Come up to Homework Club Monday after school to become a times tables expert. Time: 3.05pm - 3.40pm Place: Learning Zone ACHIEVEMENT CERTIFICATE GIVEN EVERY TIME!
You can follow us at www.rodingvalley.net and on Facebook at the ‘Roding Valley High School Official’ page. Our Twitter (@RodingValleyHS) account is a great place to keep up to date with some of the latest news and activities in school. You can also sign up to our free electronic media release service at rodingvalleymedia@gmail.com
KS4 Computer Science revision/ intervention sessions are running in IT4 on Thursday lunchtimes
ATTENDANCE MATTERS….. Student Absence If your child is unable to attend School for any reason then please report their absence by phoning the school number by 9.30am, you must also ring in each day of your child’s absence.
020 8508 1173 On their return to School please ensure your child brings with them a letter or medical evidence if requested explaining the reason for the absence for our records. Medical Appointments When possible please make sure you make any medical or dental appointments outside of school time. If this is not possible then please try to ensure that your child attends before and/or after their appointment Holidays in Term Time It is not school policy to authorise any holidays during term time except in exceptional circumstances. If you put in a holiday request a ‘Leave of Absence’ form must be completed (these are available at Student Reception). Please be aware if the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case may be referred to the Education Welfare Service who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school. For full details regarding attendance please see our Attendance Policy which can be found in the ‘Parents’ section on our website or contact Mrs Jeanette Low our Attendance Officer on the school number. Guidance for Common Ailments Please see, on the following page, guidance from the NHS of common childhood illnesses; this advises what type of illness requires time off from school and what does not. Should you require further guidance please contact the school.
Access to Water in School Parents, please be aware that the canteen has jugs of water available both during lunchtime and break time for all students to access. Bottled water is sold at all outlets Large bottle 50p Small bottle 25p If a student is overdrawn or has no money on their lunch account, they will always be sold water.
After school sessions mainly targeted at Year 11s (but any student from all key stages KS3, KS4 and KS5 are welcome) in order to help support students to close the gap in either coursework or homework/classwork.