Parent Bulletin Week ending 1st March 2019 by Roding Valley High School

RVHS Parent Bulletin Aspiration Respect Endeavour Week ending: Friday 1st March 2019 “Our vision is to be the school of choice for our local community, developing successful young people with high aspirations, who show respect for all and endeavour to become the very best that they can be.”

Message from the Head of School I hope that you all enjoyed the half term break and took advantage of the gorgeous warm weather.

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Our school trips were a great success and all the students had brilliant experiences. The varied age groups visited New York, went skiing in Italy and had fun in Disneyland Paris. Thank you to my committed staff who organised and supported these enrichment activities for the students.

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I have been particularly impressed with our Year 11s this week, their attitude and conduct in their pre-public exams has been excellent. They appear well prepared and confident in their approach. Congratulations to Clara Rodriguez in Year 11, who recently was awarded the title of ‘Loughton’s Young Artist of the Year’ for her 3D Globe, this is the second year in a row that Roding Valley has won the title. Well done to all of the student who entered their work; some of which is pretty, some is provocative, but all is thought provoking, imaginative and unique. As part of our Character and Culture programme, we have this week, held externally led workshops for our Year 9s and 10s on gang culture and child crime exploitation. This consisted of a drama production on ‘County Lines’ and provided opportunities for student discussion and questions. This programme is currently being rolled out across all Essex schools. Please read the article further on in the bulletin for more information. The workshops were very well received and very informative for the students and teachers involved. It was a real eye opener for the students but given today’s social climate, it is a necessity that all students are aware of these risks to their safety. For further information, please see advice for parents from Essex Safeguarding Children Board http://www.escb.co.uk/parentcarer/gangs/ I would like to remind Parents that on Tuesday 12th March the school will be closed to all students’ due to a Staff Training Day

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If you are a Year 7 Parent, please ensure that your son or daughter makes their appointments for the Parents’ Evening on Thursday 7th March. This is a great opportunity to visit the school, meet the teachers and discuss their progress so far this year. A reminder that we are entering a team for the Swimathon on Friday 29th March at Loughton Pool in aid of Cancer Research. Thank you so much to the students, parents, teachers and governors who have already offered to take part. The team needs a few more participants. If you would be interested in taking please contact our governor, Sharon Famigletti - sfamiglietti@rodingvalley.net part then Good luck to all those parents attending tonight’s PTA Family Quiz, thank you for your support. Mrs S Jenner Head of School

Date

Event st

Friday 1 March

Year 12 UK University and Apprenticeship Fair

Friday 1 March

Year 12 Emirates Visit

Monday 4 March

Year 10 Maths in Action Event

Monday 4th March

Year 11 PPE’s begin

Tuesday 5 March

Year 8 and 9 Maths Challenge

World Book Day

Thursday 7 March

Year 8 Drop Down Day

Thursday 7th March Monday 11th March

Year 7 Parents Evening

Thursday 7 March

Year 13 PPE ’s begin

Tuesday 12 March

Staff Inset Day – School closed to students

Wednesday 13 March th

Thursday 14 March

GCSE French Conference Science STEM Big Event

Friday 15 March

Year 12 Geography Field Trip

Monday 18 March

CiDA Drop Down Day

Tuesday 19 March

Year 9 Boys DTPM Injections

Friday 22 March

School Production of Legally Blonde Junior

Friday 22 March

Year 10 French Conference Parents are invited to the events that are highlighted blue.

Loughton Young Artist of the Year Congratulation to Clara Rodriguez 11U; who won the title of ‘Loughton Young Artist of the Year 2019’ succeeding against A Level entries from other local schools. Mayor of Loughton, Stephen Murray, presented Clara with her award at the prize giving ceremony on Saturday 23 February.

During the half term break, 45 of our KS4 and KS5 students travelled to New York. They spent time visiting the Empire State Building, Radio City, Ellis and Liberty Islands and the 911 Memorial, They all had a fantastic time despite the cold and snowy weather. Thank you to Mr Mammen who organised the trip and to the staff who spent their time ensuring our students had a memorable trip.

During the February half term, 41 Year 9 & 10 students headed to Bardonecchia in Turin, Italy for a week’s trip skiing. The group started their journey on Saturday afternoon arriving in good time at the resort on Sunday at 2pm local time. The week started with a trip to the local town and then onto the ski fit centre to pick up boots and skis for the week ahead. On Monday the group started their full day of skiing on the slopes split into their different ability groups; from beginner to advance. The student’s day consisted of having a wakeup call in the morning at 7.00am ready for breakfast at 7.30am. The first session of skiing took place 9.00am until 12.00pm with a two hour lunch break and then back on the slopes 2.00pm until 4.00pm giving them a total of 5 hour skiing each day, which pupils took full advantage of. During the evening, a variety of activities were put on including an evening in the pool/table tennis room, an evening at the local Pizzeria organised by the PGL representative and a quiz evening on the last night where awards for the week were handed out. All students had a thoroughly enjoyable week and made impressive progress with their skiing ability; some of them went as a beginner to completing the Olympic run by the end of the trip.

Skiers of the Week: Harry Pike, Scarlett Downie, Fleur Marks, Lucy Moir A special mention to Fleur Marks who claimed skier of the week (nominated by teachers) who went on the trip with minimal experience. However her ice skating ability clearly shone through as she started in the beginner group and progressed quickly through to the higher group ending the week flying down a variety of blue and red runs! Well done Fleur.

Over the half term break, a number of students were lucky enough to spend their time visiting Disneyland Paris. Mehdi Pascoe 9X said “The Disney Studios and Park were awesome and was very Disney like. It was really exciting because the Parks were so adventurous and cool. The Hotel was really nice and the view was great. However the breakfast was delicious, but kind of limited. It was cool to wake up and go downstairs and see an Arcade with all kinds of games.” Thank you to all the staff that organised this trip.

Congratulations to Lola Collings, 8Q and Laiba Batool-Bokhari, 7R, who entered the district Young RIBI Competition on Saturday.

Lola won First Place with her chicken pie and tiramisu with short bread biscuits, whilst Laiba took Third Place with her chicken curry and homemade waffles.

We are so proud of our future Chefs!

Our Year 7’s really enjoyed getting into role to perform their assessment extracts from Alan Ayckbourn’s “Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations”

Some of our Year 10 students had a fantastic time visiting the Natural History Museum on Wednesday, where they learnt all about Natural Sciences and Evolution. Thank you to Ms Hughes and Ms Zhu for organising this trip.

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Beyond Breakfast Mrs Patel ran an engaging and valuable session with our Beyond Breakfast Girls providing them with knowledge and understanding of the various opportunities that studying a STEM subject can lead to. Mrs Patel also invited students to enter the 'Team Tech' competition for their chance to visit Buckingham Palace and receive an award. Working in teams of up to three, students must consider all areas of contemporary life, looking for better ways of doing things. From transport to sport, healthcare to entertainment, fashion to finance, energy efficiency to food security, the future of music to the future of construction – how can you make life better, simpler, safer or more fun? The Awards will help our students see the relevance of STEM subjects in their everyday life. For more information, please visit:

“For being such a lovely and focused class. They are a pleasure to teach both in attitude and ability. Nominated by Mrs Boulis

Please join our Year 8 Stretch and Challenge Google Classroom here: sjs6meg to take part in our stretch and challenge competitions throughout the year.

Ideas must be submitted to Mrs Patel by 15th March.

Winning students will be given a prize and win 50 House Points.

Year 8 Competition 1 Art: Superhero Comic Strip As an extension of the Year 8 Animation Project which is completed between January and March, students could complete a whole page comic strip of their animated superhero. The unique backstory, type of hero and costume design has already been established in lessons by all students. The most advanced work would not be a simple, horizontal bar strip of frames, but would instead learn from the dynamic page formats of Marvel and DC Comics

Message from Mr Ryan Welcome back after a lovely half term break. It was wonderful to hear how the children spent their week off. Some were on the school ski trip, others went to Disneyland and some just enjoyed the weather at home. Today is the deadline for the options forms to be handed in and now we go through the process of allocating students the courses that they hope will put them in good stead for the future. The process will take up until May half term, so please don't worry if you don't hear anything from us about these choices until then.

Year 9 Football The year 9 football team are currently sitting top of the WESSA Year 9 football league on 10 points from 4 games with one game left to play. Victory in their last league game against West Hatch would ensure them qualification to the West Essex and Harlow District Final. The season so far, WESSA League games

 Roding Valley 8 - 4 King Harold  Roding Valley 4 - 3 Debden Park  Roding Valley 3 - 3 Davenant The team also reached the 3rd of the National Cup for the first time in their school career and also the 2nd round of the Essex Cup. Mr Allen

Next week in Assembly, our students will be asked to consider the following theme:

“Aspiring Scientist"

 Roding Valley 14 - 0 Ongar

Theme of the Week!

University and Apprenticeship Fair All of our Year 12 students have spent the day at Emirates Stadium today; attending the London University and Apprenticeship Fair. This Fair brings together over 60 universities and 40 apprenticeship providers together in one venue. Students have had some fantastic conversations as they try to work out what they would like to do in the future. I hope they take today and the rest of the weekend to have some inspired conversations with friends and family.

Sutton Trust US Programme Congratulations to Maisha and Mashrur Khondokar who today found out that they have secured places on the Sutton Trust US Programme. They competed with over 1000 applicants to secure these places which will mean they get to attend a summer school at a university in the USA. Well done!

Sports News Tuesday saw the Year 10 Futsal team travel to the University of Essex for the Essex FA County Futsal Finals. Roding was one of 4 schools left in the competition and the school with the most points on the day would be County champions and represent Essex at the regional tournament in March. The team started off with a hard fought 4-3 win over Eastbrook, twice coming from behind in this game to earn three points with some well-crafted set piece goals. Showing their resilience throughout and a great squad team ethic to get their first win of the day. In game two Roding played a well organised Beauchamps School and despite Roding creating more chances throughout the game, they lost 4-1 to the eventual winners. Roding hit the post twice in this game, along with the Beauchamps goalkeeper pulling off some good saves and a few squandered chances. These fine margins would eventually be the difference on the day. The final game against Notley High School was an important game for both schools with the winner of the game still being in contention to win overall due to Beauchamps playing in the last game of the tournament. In a tightly fought contest, where clearly a lot was still at stake for both teams and few clear cut chances created throughout, Roding popped up with a winner 90 seconds from time to win the game 1-0. With two wins and a loss, the boys managed to secure 2nd place, which is a fantastic achievement for these Year 10 boys who have represented the school at Futsal since Year 7 and are the first year group to have managed to make the County finals. They continued to progress and play the futsal that had seen them reach the County finals after winning every game at their qualifying event back in January. They have been a credit to the school in the way they have conducted themselves on and off the court over the four years and although they didn't win the finals, the fact they finished 2nd by one point, losing only to the eventual winners is a huge achievement and one they should be very proud of. Mr Allen

Have Fun and Raise Money for a Great Cause Can You Swim? On Saturday 30th March; there is a Swimathon to raise money for Cancer Research and Marie Curie and we need you to join our Roding Valley High School Swim Team. Maybe you have already shelved your New Year’s Resolution and need something to kick start you back into action, or you can’t wait to show off your Bondi Rescue/Baywatch skills or you just want to do something positive to beat cancer. Whatever the reason and whatever your ability we would love you to join us. There will be teams of five to cover a distance of 5km but we can split the distance according to ability. We would like Governors, staff, parents and pupils to get involved. The pool in Loughton will be the location not quite the above but don’t let that diminish your enthusiasm to take part in a great event.

Can’t swim but still want to get involved? Come and support us, offer us cake when we finish or get the world and his wife to sponsor us so we can really make a difference. If you work for a company that would match our fundraising I’d love to hear from you too.

To sponsor our team please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rodingvalleyhighschool Are you Inspired/ Interested? Parents / carers can contact Mrs Famiglietti at sfamiglietti@rodingvalley.net Or If you are a pupil please speak to Mr Jones or Miss Ball.

This week we welcomed to our school Alter‐ Ego, their production ‘Country Lines’, is an provocative drama based on the grooming of innocent (clean‐skin) young people into trafficking drugs for gangs. It aims to raise awareness around the subject of child exploitation. It was a hard‐hitting drama performance, that based on real true events, the performance was then followed by a full de‐brief by the actors and was very well received our Year 9 and 10 students.

CHILD CRIMINAL EXPLOITATION (CCE) ‐WHAT IS IT?

COUNTY LINES‐ WHAT IS IT?

Child Criminal Exploitation occurs when a young person (under the County Lines is a form of Child Criminal Exploitation. The age of 18‐ male or female) is tricked, trapped or manipulated into term is used to describe the activities of gangs and participating in criminal activity in return for money, gifts, drugs, organised criminal groups that are involved in moving and alcohol or maybe just a little bit of attention. Sometimes it is as a dealing illegal drugs around the country. Using dedicated result of a direct threat against the young person, their friends or mobile phone lines, the groups target young people and family. The people that do this are so manipulative that often the vulnerable adults to get them to sell or move drugs and to move or store money and weapons. young people that are being targeted will not recognise what is happening to them and may think that they are making positive TACTICS USED INCLUDE:‐ choices to get involved.  Physical Violence THE GROOMING PROCESS  Befriending/Forming a Relationship  Deception /Coercion/Force The Grooming Process can be used by people to break down  Cuckooing (taking control of houses or flats and someone's defences and existing relationships with friends and using them as a base for their operations) family, in order to establish control over them. A very well‐  Sexual Violence rehearsed and methodical combination of befriending, gifts,  The promise of high earnings rewards, threats and punishments can be used to trick, trap and  The promise of protection/status/power manipulate young people into activities (criminal and/or sexual)  Debt Bondage (tricking the young person or that they may think they have consented to, but which are vulnerable adult into thinking that they owe money actually highly abusive and exploitative. and have to work to pay it off) WHO CAN YOU ASK FOR HELP OR ADVICE? The people who do this can be male or female. They may be older or they may be the same or similar age to the young If you (or someone you know) is in immediate danger call person. They may be strangers or they may be people that the 999 & speak to the police. You can also call101for non‐ young person already knows. They may seem like they are emergencies. If you need help or advice (or if you are working alone or they may be part of an organised group or concerned about a friend) you can contact:‐ gang. They may try to engage the young person online, via text, • Essex Police Exploitation Hotline 01245 452058 on social media, in chat rooms, on video sharing platforms or in • Childline 0800 1111 the real world. They may give gifts, phones, money, drugs, • Crime Stoppers 0800 555 11 alcohol or maybe just make the young person feel respected or • Gang Prevention Service 03330 138 931 part of something. WANT TO KNOW MORE? PLEASE GO TO: www.childrenssocietyeast.org.uk They may use the young person in their own area, in another http://youth.essex.gov.uk area, or they may move them between a number of areas Follow us on: www.childline.org.uk around the country. @rodingvalleyHS @humsrvhs @rodingvalleyPE RODING VALLEY DRAMA@rodingdrama

What Is A Gang? A street gang is a group of individuals or close friends identifying with or claiming control over territory in a community, and engaging either individually or collectively in violent behaviour or other types of criminal activity. They might carry knives or other weapons and use them either to show off or to threaten people. They might try and get you involved with them and what they do – or threaten to hurt you if you don’t join them, or if you belong to another gang. Being a victim of gang crime can happen to anyone; to individuals, other gangs or groups, or to whole communities. It often takes place in public areas, and you may or may not know the person or people committing the crime. What to Look Out For?

Why Do Young People Join Gangs?

There aren't any definite signs but here are some things to look out for:  Spending time with people you don't know and aren't sure about  Going missing from home or school  Getting into trouble at school  Having new clothes or other items that you think they can't afford  Getting involved with crimes including robbery, violence, drug dealing and sexual exploitation  • • •

Having unexplained injuries Losing interest in their existing hobbies Becoming secretive Not telling you where they have been or why they returned late

 They feel a need for protection, security or safety  For power, money, sex, respect and status  For a sense of identity and to feel part of a family  To feel accepted by others  Gangs are common in their area  Fear of intimidation  They feel peer pressure to join a gang  Lack of family, cultural or institutional support  They do not have positive role models to help and guide them

Support for Young People Involved In Gangs

Free 24‐hour Helpline: 0800 1111 Online Chat Available

Telephone: 0808 16 89 111

Confidential Helpline: 24‐hour Helpline: 0800 032 9538 0808 800 5000 Outreach support to young Text: men and women, GANGSLINE 88858 works to promote organisations Email: and individuals in a community help@nspcc.org.uk working together to tackle gang culture, including the rise of child exploitation.

The SOS Project (part of St Giles Trust): advice to young adults who want to get out of gang related activity. This includes ‘Expect Respect’: A specialist service for girls and young women.

Before School: 8:15am to 8:40am

Break: 11:00am to 11:20am Lunch: 1:20pm to 2:05pm After School: 3:05pm to 3:30pm Please be aware that from Monday 12th November, students will not be served outside of these times.

HB Pencil 10p Non‐stop Pencil 30p Biro (Black, Blue or Green) 10p Handwriting Pen (Black or Blue) 10p Gel Pen (Black or Blue) 40p Gel Clear Pen (Black or Blue) 50p Felt Tip Pens (pack) £2.00 Coloured pencils (pack) £1.00 Highlighter Pen 20p Multi ‐ Pen 60p Rollerball Pen (Black, Blue or Red) 30p RVHS Pen 50p 15cm Ruler 10p 30cm Ruler 20p Eraser 5p Sharpener 10p Protractor 15p Set Square 15p Compass 30p Calculator £1.70 Scientific Calculator £6.50 Small Pencil Case 80p Large Pencil Case £1.00

Maths Set 90p Maths Set with small pencil case £1.60 Revision set £1.80 Glue ‐ Small 30p Glue ‐ Medium 80p Glue ‐ Large £1.00 Post Its 20p Card Document wallet 10p Popper Folder – coloured 40p Popper Folder ‐ clear 70p Display file ‐ 20 Pockets £2.00 Clip File 60p Ring Binder 50p 20p Zip wallets (A5) Zip wallets (A4) 25p Zip wallets (A3) 30p 10 stage dividers 40p A4 clear pockets 5p Lever arch file £1.40 Box File £2.20 Data File 20p Small Note Pad‐ Lined 30p

At RVHS, we use Show My Homework; an account has been created for you to keep up to date with your child’s homework progress from home.

What is ‘Show My Homework’? Show my Homework is a simple online solution for students and parents to view homework details and upcoming deadlines. Mobile apps and notifications ensure you always know what homework your child has and when it’s due. How to Log In?  Go to https://www.showmyhomework.co.uk/login What are PINs? PINs are unique codes that ‘Show My Homework’ has assigned to each parent that allow us to confirm their identity on initial login. After logging in for the first time users will be asked to provide more memorable login details for future use. PINs are then only be used as a backup in case you forget these logins.

 Or you can download the app.  Enter your PIN details that you have been given in the letter provided by your school.  Click ‘Log in’  Create a memorable password and enter your email address then click ‘Update you details’.

Students do not need a pin to be able to access their homework. They can gain access to their Show My Homework account though their Gmail account.

You are now able to access your account and view all the homework that has been set for your child. If yourself or your child experience any difficulties with using ‘Show my Homework’ or you no longer have your pin, please contact Miss Paige Larkin: plarkin@rodingvalley.net

What is DODDLE? Doddle provides students with access to thousands of engaging, formative resources and guides students through the curriculum. Doddle Progress automatically tracks student attainment in key curriculum skills. Parents can see student attainment and progress through our easy-to-use Doddle Parent feature. Skills within Doddle are rated as red, amber or green. These ratings give a clear indication of how much progress a child has made and highlight the weaker areas to be targeted with revision.

Each student has a personal Doddle account where they can access their homework to-do lists and families can view the work their child has been assigned. These accounts enable parents to view their child's results and encourage them to better their scores by using Doddle's revision resources.

Find out how to create a Doddle Parent account and then link that account to your child with this short video:

We have also included a link to a very useful guide on how to view your child's due and submitted homework:

Find out how our school uses Doddle Progress by watching our short video to find out how Progress works.

We have also included a link to a very useful guide on how Progress works and how you can use it to help your child's learning.

This is a valuable resource that will assist parents in supporting their

child’s progression. Please use the following link to the log in:

Find out how to view and track your child's homework with this short video. .

We have also included a link to a very useful guide on Troubleshooting.

School Communications: We have been communicating by email for over a year now in a bid to get information to you quicker and more cost effectively. We found, however, our previous parental communication system did not give the functionality that people expect from smart phone apps today. So the school has invested in a new communication system call RS Connect Ed and with this comes a shiny new App.

MyEd is the free parent app that gives you a multitude of communication and information features in touch with what is going on at school. The to stay app gives you direct access to your child's attendance, timetable, absence records, achievements, behaviour and much, much more. You will also see that we update and change the information in the app as the school year moves along. Click here to see a short video about the app We are able to send you messages directly to the MyEd app relating to important information about your education and to remind you of events that are child's taking place at school. We can also embed links to regularly used systems, for example ParentPay & so you can keep everything in one place. Doddle You will receive a notification if we send you a message and there is no charge for the messages you send to us. The App can be downloaded by anyone and they will have access to information also available on our website. Only parents will be able to access their own student’s information as long as we have the email address and mobile number you are using to access the App. But only parents of students in the school will be able to access this when clicking on the My Students tab. The MyEd app is available for both Apple iOS and Android devices and can be found using the links below: Step 1 - Go to your App Store Step 2 - Search for My Ed Step 3 - Download the Free app Apple iOS App Google Android App Once you have installed and opened MyEd, search for Roding Valley High School and follow the simple instructions to identify yourself.

Student Absence

If your child is unable to attend School for any reason please report their absence by phoning the school number by 9.30am at the latest, you must also ring in each day of your child’s absence.

0208-508-1173

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

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. A ‘Leave of Absence’ form must be completed (these are available at Student detailing your exceptional circumstances Reception) should you require leave for your child, a letter should accompany it.

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 on our and Welfare Manager on the school website or contact Mrs. Jeanette Low, our Attendance 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 on 0208-508-1173