Another busy week at Roding Valley High School with a variety of events aimed at supporting our students. It was great to see so many parents on Thursday evening at the Parent Information Sessions for Years 8 and 12. These are always positive sessions with a view to providing as much information and guidance to ensure that every student is provided with the right help and conditions to thrive across the range of their subjects. It is important that parents are aware of the increasing level of challenge of examinations at GCSE and A Level as this has meant that we are changing the way that we are teaching the students throughout the school. It is crucial that we ensure that all students are stretched and challenged from Year 7 upwards if they are to be fully prepared to succeed in the public examinations in the future. A close working relationship between teachers and parents is, I believe, imperative if we are to make further progress as a school so events of this kind are a critical part of the calendar. It was lovely to meet Jessica Eddie earlier in the week who came in to school to speak to Year 8 and the Sixth Form. As an Olympic silver medallist in the Women's Rowing Eight at Rio she was perfectly placed to share her thoughts on how to tackle the barriers to success. We speak to the students regularly about resilience and working hard to overcome difficulties so it was great to hear the tales from the Olympic training camp about what it takes to compete at the highest level. This was very well received by the students and staff alike as it was inspirational stuff and it was a real thrill to hold an Olympic medal (which I can tell you is heavier than I thought it would be). Sadly Jess wanted it back afterwards. This week also saw our first UCAS evening for the Year 13s. It is vital that our students receive first rate guidance on the technicalities of applying for university courses as it is an involved process. I am very pleased that the turn out was good and the parents commented on how helpful the evening had been. We are very proud of the support that our Sixth Formers receive from Mr Harris and Ms Flaherty as well as the superb careers advice that Mrs Mason provides. Thanks to the tutors and everyone else who is involved in this and the very best of luck to the Year 13s with their applications. It is wonderful to see how many individuals are planning to apply to Oxford and Cambridge Universities as well as the Russell Group institutions. Setting challenging targets is so important at A level and I can't wait to see how the cohort get on. Finally I would just like to highlight the fact that we have moved our Open Evening for prospective parents to Wednesday the 12th October. I apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause anyone. Similarly to last year we will have the early finish at 12.20pm on the 12th so students will go home for the afternoon and then they are due to attend registration the following morning at 11am with lessons commencing at 11.20am. I would like to thank in advance all of the students who will act as guides and helpers on the evening. I always feel that our students are the very best ambassadors for the school and it is wonderful to see how proud they are of Roding Valley and how keen they are to support this event. Have a lovely weekend James Luck Headteacher 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
On Monday we were honoured to have a Olympic Silver Medallist speaking to the Y8 students and the sixth form. Jess Eddie won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in the Women's Rowing Eights team. Jess spoke about the resilience required to be successful. She spoke in depth about all the failures she has had along her journey to finally winning an Olympic medal (this is her third Olympics and her first medal). The year eights had lots of questions on how you managed to do this and we hope that she may inspire students to never give up on their goals. HUMANITIES NEWS For the Attention of parents of year 8 and year 9 Geography, History and RE students: Please note that from September 2016 students in Humanities subjects are no longer taught in their form groups and are now in mixed teaching groups, all completing the same courses and the same exams. These are not sets, rather, they have been numbered for identification purposes within our timetables. The Humanities Faculty aims to stretch, challenge and support all of our students and we continue to maintain our high expectations of students' behaviour, attitude to learning, achievement and homework. Miss Preston Head of Humanities
The Homework Club in the Learning Zone is now up and running. It is open to ALL students on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday after school from 3.05 to 4pm. It offers a calm, positive environment that allows students to get their homework completed, printed and checked if necessary by the Learning Support Assistants and teaching staff who supervise the club. Feel free to join us.
RODING VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL SUPPORTING MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2016 T1 AT BREAK TIME ALL REFRESHMENTS & CAKE 50p each. ALL STUDENTS WELCOME— COME ALONG AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
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 ÂŁ12 per half hour. Please contact Steve van Niekerk on vn.steve.vn@gmail.com if you are interested.
Twitter The Careers department have activated a Twitter account where regular updates regarding apprenticeships, College, Sixth Form and University and all things careers related will be regularly published. Follow @RVHS_Careers to keep up to date with our department. Year 11 NOW is the time for students in year 11 to start thinking about post 16 choices. This week all students in Year 11 have received a further education booklet containing lots of information to assist with the decisions and choices to be made post 16. I have included all the open day dates for local colleges in the booklet. Make a note of these dates and make sure you visit the places you are interested in. Sixth Forms will have only ONE open day whereas Colleges will have several. You will be able to obtain an application form and current prospectus whilst there. Roding Valley Sixth Form Open Evening will be on Thursday 10th November. All students in Year 11 have been given an individual careers interview appointment time with me this term and you are very welcome to attend the interview with them. I will be posting home an individual careers action plan detailing what has been discussed during the interview. If you require any further information please contact me. Kind regards Mrs Mason Careers Development Manager dmason@rodingvalley.net
Roding Valley High School
Open Evening 2016 Wednesday 12th October 2016 from 5.30pm
We would like to invite all prospective parents to visit the school on our Open Evening and Open Morning tours. The school is extremely popular, successful and benefits from outstanding facilities. This is a wonderful school with traditional expectations and a true sense of community. We offer our students the highest standard of education and focus on supporting every child to achieve their very best. Our most recent OFSTED inspection judged us to be a Good School with Outstanding Features and we are confident that this will be recognized as an Oustanding school in the near future. The Headteacher, James Luck, will be speaking to parents at 6.15pm and 7.30pm on Open Evening this year. We will also be running our extremely popular ‘Open Morning’ tours once again this year so that parents have the opportunity to experience the school on a normal day.
Tours run on Monday 26th, Tuesday 27th, Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th and Friday 30th September 2016. No appointment is necessary and parents should arrive at the school reception for tours to start at 9.15am.
Behaviour is outstanding. Students are polite and committed to their work. They feel safe and valued and their exemplary conduct contributes well to rapidly improving outcomes.” OFSTED 2013
Alderton Hill, Loughton, Essex Ig10 3JA t: 020 8508 1173 e: office@rodingvalley.net www.rodingvalley.net
Geography Field Trip A massive thank you to Mrs Barron and Miss Stockings for all their hard work in organising the Geography Field Trip to Westfield, Stratford. Students’ behaviour was of the standard we always expect and they did well in extreme weather conditions! Now students are busy writing up their controlled assessment under the watchful eye of Mrs Barron and we are expecting the finished result to be of as good quality as last year’s controlled assessments, where were complemented by the exam board. Keep working hard Y11 Geographers! Miss Preston
GCSE ICT catch-up sessions in IT3 on Tuesday lunchtimes with Mr Hussain
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. Mr Hudgell 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
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
Year 7 Year 8
Highest Attendance
7R
Form with the highest Honours
7W
Student with the highest Honours
Freya Dinsley 7W
Highest Attendance
8V
Form with the highest Honours
8T
Student with the highest Honours
Teddy Carter 8T
Student of the week
Maya Randall 8X & David Igwe 8U nominated by Mr Vermaak for outstanding work Leona Weeks 8R nominated by Mrs Musker for being thoroughly engaged and able to give a very perceptive answer regarding a poem
Year 9 Year 10
Year 11
Class of the week
Highest Attendance
9U
Form with the highest Honours
9Q
Student with the highest Honours
Nick Norman 9T
Class of the week
Highest Attendance
10R
Form with the highest Honours
10X
Student with the highest Honours
Freddie Crossman-Cox 10U
Highest Attendance
11W
Form with the highest Honours
11Q
Student with the highest Honours
Angela Dean 11T
E IN L AD E D
8b/MaC1 nominated by Mr Vermaak for exceptional work 8A/En1 nominated by Mrs Musker for being on the top of their game. Engaged and very independent regarding their work
9a/Hi3 nominated by Mrs Preston for progress and effort 9A/Gg2 nominated by Miss Stockings for excellent behaviour and work during a cover lesson
Real Madrid Football Tour - Easter 2017
ED D EN After last year’s successful trip to Valencia, we are running another trip, this time to Madrid. T We will be departing on the 1st April for 5 days. The trip will include training sessions at Real EX Madrid's training facilities, a game against a local team, a visit to Warner Brothers theme park, a stadium tour of the Bernabeu and the students will go and watch Real Madrid play. The tour is open to all Year 8, 9 & 10 students, no matter what their previous playing experience. If you wish your son/daughter to be in with a chance of a place on this trip, then please ensure that a deposit payment of £165 is handed into student reception by next Tuesday 27th September. Mr Jones
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.