Book Tokens

This year, the book tokens will be digital. Around the school, there are posters with QR codes which will give you access to your digital book token. Watch the video below to see which books you can get for free using your book token!

From Wednesday to Friday of the week before half term, RVHS staged a fantastic production of Sister Act Jr. Based on the 1992 Whoopie Goldberg movie, about the gangster's moll who hides out in a convent, then finds a sisterhood of comrades and a choir in need of some soul, our production of the musical adaptation was a long time in development.

While the project was mentored by #TeamDrama, Mrs Walker, Mr Wilson, Miss Joseph and Mr Ifrim, it was a crack team of sixth formers, led by Lili Warden (Y13), which put the show together. From auditions in October; through weeks of rehearsals; set designs; weekend run thoughts and a well organised dress rehearsal and tech week, including a performance to students from Alderton Junior School, the team worked exceptionally hard to manage this significant and complex project. Everyone pulled together, but notable contributors included musical director, RuoXi He (Y13), choreographer, Ruby Coyte (Y12) and set designer, Megan Passmore (Y13).

There was almost as much drama backstage as there was on it! All the cast and crew had to show exceptional resilience and teamwork. When some cast members suffered from colds the ensemble pulled together and sang the high notes for them. The last night was a triumph and very emotional. With everyone having worked so hard and bonded so well, the final encore was like saying goodbye, and many of us had "something in our eye," especially those Y13 students for whom it was their final show.

"I really enjoy being in the school production because of the environment we get to be in. Everything is so fun, especially when we have to work together to create a scene and how we make mistakes or jokes when we practice sometimes. Everyone is so nice and accepting. What's challenging is trying to piece a scene together. Especially because It's an ensemble. We have to have everyone doing something at all times as the production is an ensemble piece, meaning that everyone is important, so we all have to make sure that no one gets forgotten about! I also think that being in the school production is rewarding because you get to learn how to work in a team with people from other year groups and you get to know new people and make friends. And also It's something to Look forward to every week after school." –

Hannah Seres – Y9

Firstly, very well done for your reading as a year group! Altogether, you have added nearly 6.5 million words to the total read since my last message, which is very impressive.

So, what does this mean for the AR Class Competition? 7b/Lb1 still lead the field, extending their lead at the top of the table. Nonetheless 7b/Lb2 and 7b/Lb4 are still chasing determinedly.

Meanwhile, in mid table, there has been a dramatic increase in the word counts of 7a/Lb2 and 7a/Lb1, as they battle to restore pride in their class reading scores. Can 7a/Lb3 respond and catch them this week?

Well done to our top 5 readers - two of whom have broken the 3-million-word mark!

There are still plenty of books to be read and prizes to win, so keep reading and keep quizzing!

10,9,8… Butterflies filled my stomach, 7,6,5… My hand started shaking, 4,3,2… The place started vibrating 1… I wanted to yell stop!

BLAST OFF!!

The rocket shot up at an unbelievable speed, my body moving uncontrollably. A pain suddenly hit my head feeling like a sledgehammer just blasted through it. I tried to get up but the force of something twice my weight pushed me back. This is it I’m going to die…

Fifteen seconds later the rocket slowed down. I breathed out a sigh of relief - Never again I kept muttering. I checked out my walkie-talkie and tried to get a message to ground control. Nothing…

Trying to ease my sense of panic I looked outside expecting to see us orbiting around earth but what I saw made my breath catch in my throat…

A vast shade of pink as far as I could see, fluffy clouds dancing around. I looked around and saw in the distance lightning striking from one of the clouds. Where am I?

A beeping brought me back to my senses coming from the inside of the rocket. I bounced back inside hoping to see a message back from earth instead what greeted me was a robotic voice repeating warning fasten your seat belt. I quickly did as I was told and as soon as I heard the click of the belt the ship started hurtling down…

- Aneta Charvatova, Year

8

The Theme of the W eek last week was Discovery so some of our students imagined what it would be like to explore outer space! Have a read of their stories here…

Dear Diary,

Hiya! Believe it or not but I am in space at the moment, awesome right? I have been travelling for about 72 days now, I didn’t realise how cool it was up here!

So far we haven’t discovered anything special yet, I went to the moon and it was very interesting!!! Can you believe it has existed for 4.53 billion years!

I love astrology, it is my passion and I hope my kids know down on earth that their mum is having the best time! I also found some ruins of other rocket ships… Yeah that's when I decided to go. But aside from that, being with NASA at this moment, I get to be a part of their discovery team!

So far we have discovered an earth-sized planet named TOI-700e. Weird name but it was so cool , NASA even says there could be signs of liquid water on it! Cannot wait to see when they do more about it.

But sadly (for now) diary I will have to leave you as I am heading towards other planets around our Galaxy ! I will update you throughout these everlasting 188 days! But for now, See ya later!

- Phoebe Glen, Year 7

Congratulations to the following students for their fantastic work in Literacy and during Drop Everything and Write (DEAW)

9A/Ar1 DEAW task to develop art vocabulary when describing a visual piece. Extending the description into meaning and opinion.

Thanks to Ava Hazell, Tom Hucbourg-Muller, Anna Staucean, Blu Stedman, Aysia Shaw & James Field for these examples

During the February half term, we went and visited Andorra which was an extremely fun and life changing experience.

After a long 18-hour journey we were all raring to go skiing. We enjoyed 5 days of skiing with a well experienced instructor who helped me progress my skiing ability. The food that was supplied throughout the trip was exquisite and the staff were all supportive and friendly. The hotel was very comfortable and convenient for skiing.

The activities we took part in were bowling and ice skating which made our evenings much more enjoyable. The game night was a fun experience for everyone, especially the questions on the teachers. It made everyone laugh and think.

The restaurant we visited treated us with a large amount of care and the food was really tasteful and enjoyable. The shopping centre we were meandering in was exceedingly entertaining. The restaurant we would spend our lunches rejuvenating supplied us with suitable food and the staff were very welcoming, overall the restaurant was tremendously handy for schools.

Altogether the trip was well put together and delightful for everyone involved. It was very kind of all the staff for giving up their free time to take us on this brilliant trip.

Jake Bramley – Year 9

Day three was spent walking from Central Manhattan to Wall Street and the 911 memorial. I was incredibly impressed with the maturity that was shown by the students when we got there. From there we got the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, where the students were able to learn about the significance of this place in American history, our evening meal was in a lovely italian in Little Italy.

Our final day in New York saw us going to the Top of the Rock in the Rockefeller Plaza, followed by a tour of Radio City music Hall where we were able to go on stage and meet a Rockette!

I had a thoroughly enjoyable week and it was lovely to celebrate a couple of birthdays while we were out there. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

Over half term I had the pleasure to take 37 students to New York. Mr Carta, Mrs Harris, Mrs Wrate and I had a wonderful time exploring the 'Big Apple' with the group. The week was jam packed with activities which included a great amount of walking. Most of us were racking up at least 30,000 steps a day.

The children were impeccably behaved on the flight to America with some students opting to revise rather than watch a film! When we arrived at JFK airport we were taken to the hotel which was in the Hell's Kitchen' area of Manhattan. That evening we went up the Empire State building and ate in Bubba Gumps in Times Square.

Earlier this year (the start of February) myself and many other Year 8’s as well as a few Year 9’s and 10’s went on a trip to Disneyland Paris. I enjoyed this trip thoroughly.

The First Day

First we started very early in the morning at 4am, although this was tiring it was exciting and I genuinely couldn’t wait. We met up in the school playground, met up with our peers and teachers and set out on the coach. Although the trip was extremely long and would have taken the entire day, surprisingly the trip there was very fun and we talked and travelled on the ferry exploring. When we arrived, there were a few hiccups with the rooms but as soon as we got to our rooms we tested our surprisingly comfortable beds where we rested for a bit before we went down for dinner. We then visited the Disney Village and explored where we had a little peek of what's to come tomorrow. We got back to our hotel at around half 10 and finally had a well-deserved sleep!

The Second Day (Disneyland)

This was by far the best day, where all the students split up into groups and set out on an adventure on all the rides.

The castle was impressive and so were the rides. The two best rides I went on were the Hyperspace Mountain (a Star Wars themed ride simulating a rocket ship flying through space) and The Indiana Jones Temple of Doom ride (a rough ride simulating a minecart going through and around an impressive mountain).

After a bit of walking around the park we went to a sandwich shop which surprisingly had very good food. After we were filled up we went out again to try more of the rides but this time in the dark as we were preparing for the very impressive fireworks show. This was in my personal opinion the best time because all the lines had shortened to at max 20 minutes wait which meant we could all “re-ride” our favourites.

Finally, we watched the fireworks which had used a mix of classic fireworks and modern drones which made for a very impressive show lasting around half an hour going through and presenting some of Disney’s most iconic protagonists and antagonists from the animated films.

After the fireworks it was a struggle to get out because of the rush but eventually we met up and were ready to leave and get a good night's rest after a busy, exhausting but a very exciting day!

The Third and Final Day

We started the day early and went down to have breakfast which seemed to be a variety of sweet pastries and meat.

After we left and visited Disney Studios Park as one last place before we left. Here I went on some of my personal favourite rides which were the “Tower of Terror” (A ride simulating a falling elevator) and an Avenger themed ride simulating a trek through space. Unfortunately, our trip came to an end and we had to start leaving. But just like the journey to France, the journey out was just as enjoyable, although the ferry was a little late as we had go through passport checks. We met up with our parents at Loughton Station just after 11pm. As soon as I got into bed, I fell asleep!!

- Jack Joyce – Year 8

A huge congratulation to all teams that took part in the WESSA Indoor Athletics Competition. This included 2 Year 7 teams and 2 Year 8 teams. However, both Year 8 teams (boys and girls) won their Indoor Athletics WESSA competitions getting through to the finals for the County Indoor Athletics Competition on Tuesday 7th March. Both teams were fantastic the entire day and massive congratulations to both teams with their achievement.

A huge congratulations to both teams from RVHS for their participation in the Kurling Sportability event. An even bigger achievement, however, was our Year 7’s, Ruby Fitzsimon and Alex Glover winning the entire competition and coming 1st out of 14 teams! These Year 7’s worked very hard all day, with some very close matches being played each time.

Some of our In2MedSchool students have submitted essays to a national competition about the dangers of vaping.

Miss Guidi’s Y8 set 1 Spanish class were asked to write about TV programs they liked and disliked and the reasons why. Some excellent work was produced!

Medical and Dental Appointments

All non-urgent medical appointments should be made outside of school hours. However, when this is not possible please remember, your child can sign in and out around the appointment. There is no need for them to miss out on a whole day at school. This way, in some cases, it can mean a child will not miss out on a morning or afternoon session mark, meaning their attendance percentage will not be effected.

If you would like further information regarding attendance please see our Attendance Policy here

If you have any attendance concerns or queries please contact your child’s Year Progress

Explore together: Ask your child to show you their favourite websites and apps and what they do on them. Listen, show interest and encourage them to teach you the basics of the site or app. 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Chat about online safety little and often: Young people are likely to want to explore new apps and websites this month, whether that is for learning or for fun. Take this opportunity to talk to them about how to stay safe on these new services, and in general. Ask if anything ever worries them while they are online. Make sure they know that if they ever feel worried, they can get help by talking to you or another adult they trust.

Help your child identify trusted adults who can help them if they are worried: This includes you and other adults at home, as well as adults from wider family, school or other support services who they are able to contact at this time. Encourage them to draw a picture or write a list of their trusted adults.

Be non-judgemental: Explain that you would never blame them for anything that might happen online, and you will always give them calm, loving support.

Talk about how their online actions can affect others: If your child is engaging with others online, remind them to consider how someone else might feel before they post or share something. If they are considering sharing a photo/video of somebody else, they should always ask permission first.

Parental controls: Make use of the parental controls available on your home broadband and any internet enabled device in your home. You can find out more about how to use parental controls by visiting your broadband provider’s website.

Direct your child to age appropriate information about relationships and sex: It’s natural for young people to start exploring their sexual feelings online and adolescents are more inclined to take risks. It’s important to understand this and to talk to your child in a positive way. Thinkuknow, Brook, The Mix and Childline all provide age appropriate information about relationships and sex that you can signpost your child to.

Make sure they know about CEOP: Young people can report a concern about grooming or sexual abuse to CEOP at www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/ and get support from a specialist Child Protection Advisor.

Support your child with Thinkuknow websites

The age appropriate Thinkuknow websites are a great way to start and continue chats about online safety.

 11-13yrs Thinkuknow website: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_13/

 14yrs + Thinkuknow website – https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/14_plus/

Our websites provide open and honest guidance for young people on friends, relationships and the internet, covering topics like dealing with pressure; consent; and getting support when you are worried.

You will find lots more advice on keeping your child safe online at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents.

If you are worried that a child or young person is at risk of harm online, you should call the police. Young people can make a report to CEOP at https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

Other Recommended Resources

Parent Info: Expert information for parents about building their child’s resilience both online and off. Produced by NCA-CEOP and Parent Zone. This free service can be embedded on to your child’s school website. www.parentinfo.org

Brook: Information and advice for young people on sexual health and wellbeing, including staying safe online. https://www.brook.org.uk

The Mix: Support service for young people with information and advice on sex and relationships. https://www.themix.org.uk

Internet Matters: A useful tool showing how to set parental controls across a range of devices and websites. http://www.internetmatters.org/parentalcontrols/interactive-guide/

NSPCC Net Aware: Provides reviews and guidance on the most popular social networks, apps and games that children use. https://www.net-aware.org.uk/

Childnet – Information and advice for parents and carers on supporting people online. https://www.childnet.com/reso urces/supporting-youngpeople-online

How Can I Access Edulink?

EduLink can be accessed on any device – PC, laptop, tablet or mobile device – via the web browser or via the EduLink app. The link to access the EduLink login page on a web browser is www.edulinkone.com

Alternatively, you can download the EduLink App which is available to download for free on Apple or on Android.

Both the App and the web browser will display this log-in screen.

The School ID is ‘Roding’.

Parents/Carers will need to enter the Username and Password they have been provided with and click ‘Log in’.

The displayed is dependant of the platform you are logged in to:

• Via Web Browser

• Via the EduLink App

Navigating Edulink

You are able to navigate each of the following areas in EduLink:

• Achievement: You van view all positive achievements that have been awarded to your child

• Behaviour: You will be able to see all behaviour points given to you child and any sanctions given to your child including detentions.

• Medical Information: In this section you can see all of the medical information that we have on file for your child

• Account Information: In this section you can view the current address we have for your child on file, your child’s Year group and the name of their Form tutor

• Timetable: In this section you can view your child’s daily timetable

• Absence Reporting: This feature will allow you to send a direct message to our Attendance Officer, to notify us of any absence for your child

• Linked Resources: This section contains links to all the schools learning resources available to your child both at school and at home

• Update Information: This section shows all of the contact information we hold for yourself and your child. You can review and update this information with any changes that may occur

• Exams: You can see all of your child upcoming exams; your child can also access this information so they can manage their own exam schedule

• Documents: In this section you can view your child’s reports

Parents can access information on all their children currently admitted to Roding Valley High School. If you require any assistance, please contact Mr Vermaak or Miss Stewart (mvermaak@rodingvalley.net or lstewart@rodingvalley.net )