RVHS Bulletin Weekending 13th January 2023

from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy New Year to all of our Roding

Community.

Valley High School

It has been a very settled start to the term here in school. We welcomed back the school community with increased energy and enthusiasm, and the students have all been really keen to get back to their lessons and school routines. We held an expectations assembly at the start of term, refocusing the students on the rules and routines of our school. This has meant that we have started the new term with a renewed focus of our high expectations around behaviour, uniform, punctuality and attendance.

In line with this focus on attendance & punctuality, I would like to take this opportunity to remind our school community that period 1 is a very important lesson for all students and starts at 8.30am. During this period 1 lesson, all students follow a programme appropriate to their year group but will include time to engage with their Academic Mentor, complete Bedrock (vocabulary builder), attend Maths & English interventions in Year 11, reading interventions, gain careers advice and attend employer talks, mentoring, study the personal development curriculum, support with UCAS applications and attend assemblies and much more. I would like to stress the value of this 30 minute lesson at the start of every day for your child’s all round personal development and this is why we take punctuality so seriously. Please ensure that your child is in school ontime; the gates open at 8.20am for a 8.30 am prompt start

This week has also included a number of exciting events and opportunities for our students. We have held two revision, memory & study workshops for our Year 7 & 8 cohorts to help prepare them for their upcoming exams. (More information linked here) These sessions included a number of helpful memory techniques and revision techniques that students can practically put into practice to support their revision. I would also urge all parents of Year 7 & 8 to access our excellent revision microsites, made by our teachers. These revision microsites contain a number of helpful, downloadable resources, including links to helpful videos & webpages. Please click here to access them.

We also held an exciting Drop Down Day for our Year 11 cohort that provided our Year 11 students with an opportunity to delve further into our personal development programme. We ran sessions on how to foster positive relationships, how to manage finances & a reminder of our RVHS Revision techniques. Regarding revision techniques, Ms Larkin & Ms Edwards ran a live-streamed parents & pupils revision workshop on Thursday. This session was aimed at both Year 11 & 13 students/parents and included crucial dates, memory techniques & how to adopt an exam strategy. Please click here to watch the recording via our Youtube Channel

Lastly, I wanted to remind all parents about a few key letters that have been sent out over the last few days. Year 7 & 8 parents have been sent communication regarding the exam season (week beginning 28th January). Year 9 have been sent a timeline of events to support them to navigate the upcoming Options process. Today, the whole community would have received a safety update, keeping all of us up to date with ways to keep our community safe. If you would like to access any of this correspondence, then please click here

As ever, thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Sharon Jenner Headteacher

Messages from Our Year Progress Leaders

Our team is proud to be your child’s Year Progress Leader and very much looking forward to supporting your child and with such a great cohort of students, we are sure it will be a great half term To ensure that you are aware of who your child’s Year Progress Leader is and who to contact, please refer to their details below:

Year 7: Miss Reed

To contact Miss Reed, please email hreed@rodingvalley.net

Year 8: Mr Ryan

To contact Mr Ryan, please email fryan@rodingvalley.net

Year 9: Miss Fazakerley

To contact Miss Fazakerley, please email jfazakerley@rodingvalley.net

Year 10: Miss Pinches

To contact Miss Pinches, please email tpinches@rodingvalley.net

Year 11: Mr Fletcher

To contact Mr Fletcher, please email mfletcher@rodingvalley.net

Year 7 News

Message from Miss Reed

Happy New Year to all year 7 students and parents/carers. I hope you all had an enjoyable break over the festive season.

It was great to welcome students back on Thursday who have had a busy week learning new revision techniques and being introduced to the Y7 microsite in preparation for their exams starting Monday 23rd January. On Monday, students spent a 2-hour session going through and practising new revision techniques that they can apply to their revision over the next two weeks.

On Tuesday students started to create an interleaved timetable which plans out their revision around other activities they are part of. Please encourage your son/daughter to prepare for the assessments and we ask that students do the best that they possibly can. The assessments at this point provide a good indication of how students are progressing across the subject areas.

Unfortunately, before the Christmas break due to the weather, we were unable to do the Celebration assembly therefore this is now taking place Friday morning. I am really looking forward to celebrating students’ achievements and handing out lots of well-deserved certificates.

A reminder that students should be wearing correct uniform to school every day and bringing the correct equipment which includes a reading book. Reading is an important aspect of the curriculum and students require their book every day alongside their reading passport.

If you have any queries, your son/daughters academic mentor is the first point of call. You can also email myself.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

Miss Reed

LOST PROPERTY

To report any property lost, please email: lostproperty@rodingvalley.net

We ask if you could provide a detailed description of the item you have lost so that we can reunite you with your missing property.

Message from Mr Ryan

Happy New Year! It was lovely to see so many of you at the parents' information evening on Wednesday. I hope you found it informative. As I said, the year group is doing incredibly well and I look forward to celebrating in their success over the years.

We have exams coming up between the 25th and 27th of January and it was a pleasure to spend a day with the year group teaching them how to improve their memories and what revision techniques they might find useful. Each child has been sent home with an interleaved timetable sheet to complete, so please ask to see it and feel free to ask them what they learnt in the revision sessions.

On Friday we have our celebration assembly where I look forward to handing out vast amounts of certificates. It is truly great to see how well the year group is doing. Could I ask that if you have any queries you email your child's Academic mentor, in the first instance and they will do what they can to support.

Mr Ryan

In England, a Free School Meal (FSM) is a statutory benefit available to school aged children from families who receive other qualifying benefits and who have been through the relevant registration process. Recently, the process of applying for Free School Meals at Roding Valley High School has changed to an online application in order to improve speed and reduce the burden of paperwork for parents. For more information on the qualifying benefits and for more information, please visit our Free School Meals page on our school website

It is important that parents register their children for free school meals if they are entitled as the school receives additional funding known as the Pupil Premium to support the children’s learning. The use of the pupil premium is personalised to meet the needs of the children who are entitled to support, such as 1-1 tuition, additional LSA support and intervention groups, access to school visits, Learning Mentor, speech and language assistants, Family Support and counselling.

If you believe that your child is eligible for Free School Meals, please click here to use our Free School Meals Checker. Your Certificate of Eligibility will then need to be emailed to finance@rodingvalley.net

Year 9 News

Message from Miss Fazakerley

Happy New Year to all of our Roding Valley community. We are now back into the new term and working hard.

There is a lot going on for the Year 9 students this term, you should have received letters in regards to our options timeline, as well as information on how to book parents evening appointments for the 19th January.

In the lead up to parents evening, please use this time to gain as much feedback as possible from the teachers of the subjects that you wish to choose for your options next year. This is a perfect opportunity to speak about your personal progress within these subjects, please ensure you go into these appointments with questions in mind of anything that you are uncertain about in regards to your progress.

There is a trip going to the Imperial War Museum with next week, which is a brilliant opportunity for our Year 9 students.

Key Dates



Monday 16th January- Report sent home to all parents outlining progress in all subjects areas



Thursday 19th January- Year 9 Parents evening (Virtual). Instructions to be sent via email 

Friday 3rd February- Year 9 Options microsite to be updated for this cohort (2022 version) to all parents & students. The site contains information on subject choices, pathways and details of the curriculum offer. Students will also be provided with individual pathway details by individual letter



Week beginning 6th February - Year 9 Taster week during lessons- an opportunity for students to experience GCSE subjects not previously studied at KS3, these subjects include Media, Social Sciences



Tuesday 7th February - All Year 9 parents are invited into school for the Options evening. The evening will explain the options pathways. It will also provide parents with an opportunity to meet subject leads to gain information on the GCSE courses offered and studied. (5.30 - 7.30pm - details to be sent via email)



Tuesday 21st February & Thursday 23rd February - Optional support clinics will be held after school for parents to book appointments to discuss any queries face to face, if you have queries/ concerns regarding their individual child. (An email with a Google form to request a meeting will be sent to all parents)



Friday 3rd March - options form hand in deadline for all students.

As always, if you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s Academic Mentor (jfazakerley@rodingvalley.net)

Year 10 News

Message from Miss Pinches

Happy New Year and welcome to 2023!

It's been so lovely over the last week catching-up with Year 10. I just wanted to take this opportunity to reset some of our expectations. This is a crucial point of the year and students need to be taking active steps to set themselves up for the rest of the year, and beyond.

Can I remind parents and students that the expectation is students being on school site and in their Period 1 lessons by 8:30am. Lateness has a huge impact on learning and is starting to raise its head as the mornings are cold and dark.

Punctuality to lessons is equally as important. Students should be moving on the bell and directly to their next lesson, not taking a detour to see friends or the toilets

I also want to draw your attention to home-learning. As a cohort, our engagement with our home-learning is not where it should be and especially as an exam group. Students should be getting alerts when a teacher uploads work to their google classrooms and completing it before the due date- all should be submitted online. If you haven't already, parents/carers can be added to the classrooms so you can monitor your child's work- please email the teaching staff directly if you haven't already done this. There will be a huge push on homelearning engagement this half term, so support from home and consistent check-ins are so helpful!

I would like to take this opportunity to praise the following students for their 100% attendance during the Autumn term:

As always, if you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s Academic Mentor (tpinches@rodingvalley.net)

Anastasiia Bila

Sophie Blundy

Dhilan Chavda

Lukas Jasevicius

Tammy Man

Melani Marinova

Vakaris Mikenas

Louisa Nicholson

Samy Oullaf

Aiyana Patel Liam Smith Daisy Warden

Juanita Wilson

Year 11 News

Message from Mr Fletcher

Firstly, may I take this opportunity to wish all parents and carers a Happy New Year!

As you are no doubt aware we are moving closer to GCSE final exams and this in reality means Year 11 has approximately 70 school days before the exams begin!! As such it is crucial that all students begin to organise themselves in terms of revision planning.

Year 11 Revision/Post 16 Drop Down Day

Last Wednesday all Year 11 were taken off timetable to enjoy an alternative day education. The purpose of this day was to help with revision and prepare them for post 16 education. The day covered all aspects of university, degree and apprenticeship opportunities and gave students an insight into these career paths. There were also sessions on revision and memory strategies and techniques and future life skills. We hope the students found the day valuable and if they need any additional support on any of the information covered please do come and see me or any of the staff who presented.

Year 11 Prom date

In order for students and parents to plan beyond GCSE exams I thought it worth letting students and staff aware that the Year 11 Prom date is Tuesday 27th June 2023 and details regarding this will be sent out nearer the time.

Year 11 Yearbook

All students will have received some google form instructions to allow them to share some funny stories or memories about their time at RVHS from Year 7-11. They will also be able to share any appropriate photos so that we can produce a yearbook that encompasses as many special moments as possible from their school experience. The deadline for this information to be returned is Friday 10th February 2023.

Year 11 Revision Evening - Thursday 12th January

Miss Larkin and Mrs Edwards presented to all students and parents an online Year 11 presentation focussing on revision techniques and strategies. They covered the following;

- Important information regarding PPEs (Mocks examinations)

- Tried and Tested RVHS Revision techniques - featuring fun games!

- How to access & use our RVHS revision resources & embed revision routines at home

- A helpful timeline of key events for Year 11

We hope all that attended found it useful and if you were unable to attend the presentation it is available to view on the website along with all the revision resources on the microsite

Have a great weekend

Mr Fletcher

6th Form News

Happy New Year to our sixth form students!

Personal Development and Careers

This half term sees the UCAS deadline fast approaching on Wednesday 25th January. We are now working with the final students who plan to send off a university application. We have shared an internal deadline of 20th January so that we have time to address any corrections should we need to.

If UCAS applicants have already sent off their applications, they might have already heard from all their universities choices. This means that UCAS will give them the opportunity to input their firm and insurance choices. We have asked students to wait to receive feedback from their PPEs before they make these choices and to reflect carefully on what they are likely to achieve before they make this choice. Please encourage them to reach out to myself or their form tutor if they need help making this decision. It is also really normal for students not to have heard from all their choices yet. Lots of universities wait until the final deadline closes before sending out offers.

If your son or daughter is making a world of work application, it is really important that they keep up to date with the sixth form bulletin so that they know the types of opportunities that are out there. You can find our latest bulletins here and here

Extended Project Qualification

This term sees the culmination of these projects for our year 13 students and the process starting for our year 12s.

Our year 13s have been hugely successful with this project and this week and next 28 students will be giving their presentations to Mrs Taylor, Mr Warry and a member of Senior leadership. They have completed some really inspiring research and for many this qualification has led to reduced entry requirements for their university offers due to the research skills and independent work ethic this has taught them.

Year 12s are now embarking on this next journey and if they have opted for this option, it has been added to their timetable in the last week. We look forward to seeing what captivating and inspiring topics they choose to delve into over the coming year.

Dear Parents/Carers

If you are seeking further information about Post 16/Post 18 Options, please remember to take a look on the Careers Microsite.

Latest College Open Day dates are published as well as lots of careers information on the weekly bulletin.

Miss Wheaton

On Friday 6th January we had a magical lunchtime with our students who astounded us with their incredible Harry Potter knowledge!

After a fierce battle of the minds, we had 7 fantastic winners - who won the amazing prizes pictured - and every house has gained points from the event.

You don't just get points for winning, you get points for taking part so keep your eyes peeled for our next big quiz!

House Points:

Churchill - 220 points Pankhurst - 210 points Murray - 180 points Rendell - 30 points Hawking - 20 points

Winners:

1st - Ruby Fitzsimon 7Ma with 21/25

2nd - Abigail Burger 9Li and Bethany Cooper 10Ox with 20/25

3rd - Neve Gardner 7Ox with 19/25

4th - Jessica Cooper 7Ar and Eloise Roberts9 Ox with 18/25

5th - Ellie King 10Ca with 17/25

And the winners are… 1st - Anthony Blackledge for Murray – 50 points

nd - Francesca Hussaon for Hawking – 40 points 3rd - Kathrin Zashchirinskaya for Murray – 30 points

Accelerated Reader Room get involved…

Here is a reminder of all the fantastic clubs we are offering in AR1 at lunchtimes - we would love to see you attend any you are interested in, it's never too late to get involved! AR1 is also where you can come to read, use the Chromebooks for homework/Bedrock and borrow books. AR1 is open every lunchtime and you are always welcome - we can't wait to see you!

World of Work Conference

On Wednesday, a small group of Year 10 students attended the World of Work Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Waltham Abbey. This was part 2 of the Youth Employment Strategy (YES) Partnership which saw students learning about how best to prepare themselves for employment post 16. Students had the chance to meet a variety of different employers and chat to them about what their profession looks like. They also participated in some team building activities, quizzes and mock interview questioning. A special thanks to Mrs Mason for making this event happen and for all of her sound advice to all our students.

Wednesday 11th January was the second of three 'Life Skills' drop-down days for year 11. The day was aimed at covering as much around life skills, careers, finance, personal development, and futures as possible in these sessions.

During the assembly at the start of the day Year 11's had two guest speakers from Harlow College who talked through qualifications and college life, it was a really interesting and useful presentation. They were also available to any students who wanted to ask any questions at the end. During the rest of the day year 11 then took part in each of the following:

1. Money and Debt (Earning /credit cards/gambling) 2. Fraud and Debt (Money Mules) 3. Memory and Revision (Roman room/mnemonic images/Cue cards) 4. Healthy and Unhealthy relationships (Toxic relationships/red flags/support)

5. Barclays Life Skills (Problem Solving/transferrable skills)

Feedback from the day has been really positive and we are delighted that students took away so much, our year 11 were really well-behaved and got involved in the many questions, debates and activities delivered by their teachers.

A huge well done Year 11 and thank you to all the staff who took part!

Ms Preston

PE Students of the Fortnight

Well done to the Year 8 girls who won 13 – 0 in their WESSA League Netball Match against Epping St John’s

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

Isobel McKay 7Fl

Valentina Santos Altafin 7Ne

Amrita Johal 9Ox

Christopher Rose 9Ar

Sarah Bujor 9Ox

Bandy Tamon 9Fl

A pupil is defined by the Government as a ‘persistent absentee’ (PA) when they miss 10% or more schooling across the school year for any reason; this can be authorised or unauthorised absence. This means if a student's attendance is 90% or below they are PA Student - 90% is the equivalent to half a day missed each week over a school year!

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 leader or our Attendance Officer, Miss Nash – snash@rodingvalley.net

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.

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 )

Classroom

How to Log on to Google Classroom?

Students can log into their Gmail using their school email address and their password. Their school email will be the year they started at RVHS started plus their first initial and surname @rodingvalley.net (example- 19plarkin@rodingvalley.net).

Once your child has have logged in, they will need to click on the google apps button and then select ‘Google Classroom’

Your child will then be able to see all of the classes they belong to. They will then need to click on the class they want to use resources for and take a look at everything that their class teacher has posted for them to work on. They will be able to download items and make comments on them. Teachers will be regularly posting new work on their Google Classrooms.

What to Do if your child is a Missing a Subject their Google Classroom?

If your child is missing a Google Classroom for one of their subjects, they will need to click on the addition symbol, followed by ‘Join Class’ and then enter the Class Code for their missing subject.

Class Codes are available from their subject teacher.

Top Tips for Our Students

 Students must keep up to date with their lessons by using Google Classroom every day.

 Use their workbooks to complete the work shown on their Google Classroom.

 Don’t slack on presentation! Keep their notes in order of the lessons on the Google Classroom.

 Year 11 and 13 Students: There will be revision materials available on Google Classroom. Please use them.

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

What is Seneca?

Seneca is a free home learning & revision platform that is very popular with our students. It is based on cognitive science, has adaptive learning and can be accessed by our students via their phones!

What Content is available to our Students through Seneca?

Seneca has resources available for KS3, KS4 and KS5 students that has been supplied to them from AQA, OCR, EdExcel Pearson and IGCSE.

Our students will be able to access content designed for each of their subjects and also for their specific courses. There is so much to choose from.

Some areas are even linked to the Exam Boards Course Specifications.

How to Access Seneca?

Students will need to go to https://www.senecalearning.com/, click try for free and create a log in with their school email address.

Once Logged in

Once they are logged in, students are able to search for different subject areas and learn about their chosen topic. At the end of each subject presentation there will be a quiz on the presentation

This Online tool will enable our students to stay on top of their home learning.