“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.”
RVHS Bulletin Weekending Friday 10th September 2021 0pts
Welcome Back to Everyone in the Roding Valley High School Community for the 2021-22 Academic Year Dear Parents and Carers, It has been really good in school since the start of term and there is a real ‘buzz’ about the place. Students and teachers are really enjoying being able to learn and teach in specialist rooms, engage in practical lessons, move freely and mix with others. It has been the first time in nearly two years that we have been able to enjoy assemblies in the main hall; these have been a real highlight for me. As have, seeing the students conducting experiments in our newly refurbished Science laboratories and playing instruments in Music. During the summer, we continued to upgrade the school’s facilities. We created 3 new classrooms, revamped the 6th Form Study Centre, created a new Music studio and Drama Studio. The facilities at the school are now outstanding and I look forward to being able to invite the community back into the school. I really hope that this new ‘normal’ will continue; so please can I remind everyone to continue to take lateral flow tests on Wednesdays and Sundays and record the results. We have sent a revised absence and attendance letter to you this week, this includes details of what to do if your child is generally unwell, displays symptoms or tests positive. The letter can be found by clicking this link and the flow-chart is on the website on the Attendance page. Following our outstanding GCSE and A level results, we have admitted 135 into our Sixth Form across a wide range of academic and vocational subjects, including into our Chelsea Football Club partnership programme. I am delighted to welcome all 240 Year 7s into our school community and to report that the school is now heavily oversubscribed in Year 7. The feedback has been that our summer school really helped and supported the younger children in their transition to secondary school. .
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Due to the expanding student numbers in both the main school and sixth form, we have employed five newly qualified teachers (now known as ECTs, Early Career Teachers) I have also been delighted to welcome back, Miss Wheaton, as the Director of Sixth Form, following her maternity and to appoint Mr Warry, as the Assistant Head of Sixth Form. Mr Cocker is now the Head of Humanities and Miss Preston is the Year Progress Leader for Year 11. Mr Allen has joined us as the Head of French. Individual Year Progress Leaders have written a letter bespoke to their Year group and these can be found below and on the website: Year 7 Letter
Year 8 Letter
Year 9 Letter
Year 10 Letter
Year 11 Letter
Sixth Form Letter
Within the next few weeks, we will also be sending you links to Information / Transition videos which will further explain the key messages for each year group. Year 11 parents have been invited to an Information Event next Thursday, 16th September at 6pm Please do read our ‘Year in the life of Roding Valley High School 2021’, please click on the image to access. All information regarding timings of the school day and our current safety plan can be found on the school website and has been sent to you in the start of term letters. It is important to note that the school gates will only be opened at 8.25am. Please help your son/daughter plan their journey and the timing of their journey to school to arrive on time but not be out in the local community too early, for their own safety. Due to enhanced safeguarding measures, gates are not opened until 8.25am when after this time there will be a staff presence on the playground. Gates are manned and uniform checks completed. Students who require access to the school prior to this time, to attend an intervention, planned meeting or school club must come through the manned main reception. We are planning to hold our Year 6 Open Morning on Saturday 25th September but will limit numbers on site. We will be asking students to support the event and take prospective parents on tours of the school. I trust that you will support your school in this way as our students are always really proud to take part. The morning will operate in 3 discrete sessions, 9am 10:15am and 11:30am. Prospective parents will need to book a place at a session. To book a place click here. My talk will be recorded live and posted on the school website and all transition information remains freely available on the website including a tour of the school and talks from key staff. We will also be offering Year 6 school tours to see the school in action on a normal school day in the following week beginning Tuesday 28th September. To book a place, click here Please do note that students will finish at 1:20pm on Friday 24th September to allow staff time to prepare the school site. A full complement of food will be available at an extended break time and students entitled to free school meals will be able to use their full allocation at break. Roding Valley High School continues its journey of sustained school improvements and we value your feedback. I am always grateful for your continued support and we will work tirelessly to support your child’s wellbeing and academic journey. Please do not hesitate to contact our excellent team if you have queries or concerns. Who to initially contact by email: • Subject related matter: Class teacher/ Head of Faculty • Concern over Progress / Welfare: Academic Tutor or Year Progress Leader We look forward to working with you this year and please enjoy the rest of the bulletin. Kind regards Mrs Jenner Headteacher
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Congratulations to our Music department for being nominated as a Music Mark School, in recognition of our commitment to proving a quality music education. We have invested heavily in more acoustic guitars, electric guitars, ukeleles and drumming sets, which will all be used in forthcoming lessons for all students. It was such a joy to see our students finally having the chance of producing live music in the classroom.
Congratulations to Monica Bhatia, Year 13 for her fantastic articles for an e-magazine called 'An Hour in the Deep' - she is passionate about the environment and has been trying to pass on information and learn more in her free time. Please do click on the links below if you would like to read her articles: •
https://www.anhourinthedeep.com/conservation/the-importance-ofmangroves-and-their-conservation-to-indigenous-communities
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https://www.anhourinthedeep.com/science/coralreef
As part of our transition process for our 2021 Intake, we held our first ever Summer School for our September 2021 Year 7 students. Our Summer School took place over a five-day period where our new Year 7 students experienced secondary life early, we set a timetable that would allow them to experience key subjects like English, Maths and Science, alongside many other enrichment activities. All activities were led by our teaching staff, who encouraged them to participate in activities that challenged them both physically and mentally, allowing them develop both their interpersonal and academic skills, and build friendships with the other children in their Year group, thus making their start to the school in September a stress free experience. Please see below and on the next page some of the fantastic photos and feedback we received from the parents.
Well to Miss Hodge’s Year 10 and Year 13 Biology students, who have made a fantastic start to the new academic Year. The work they are producing is amazing.
I am glad today that we will now be able to operate a full House provision. I am also really pleased to announce the new House Captains who were appointed towards the end of the last academic year. These students will be working hard in the coming weeks to get the House System back up and running with all students enjoying the competitive nature of our Houses.
I would also like to make students and parents aware that we have the exciting opportunity for Year 7-11’s to become House Leaders and take on a leadership role with the school. We also have the roles of Deputy House Captains for Year 12 students. The aforementioned roles will become available for students to apply for in the coming weeks.
New Timetables Does your child need a new copy of their timetable? You can now email
timetables@rodingvalley.net to request a new timetable. Please state your child’s name and Academic Mentor group and a new timetable will be printed ready for your child to collect from Student Reception with 24 hours of your request,
All through last Year we shared with the fantastic work of Miss Wood’s Creative Writing Club. To celebrate their dedication, intellect and imagination, Miss Woods has brought all of their creative writing together into a booklet, please click on this link to view their amazing work.
Our students have made a fantastic start to the new academic year and have displayed initiative, enthusiasm and hard work in their first week of the term. We thought we would share some snap shots of the from this week.
SuperStars KS3 Science Y7
Y8
KS4 Science Y9
Y10
KS5 Science Y11
Y12
Y13
Francesca Hussain
Brandon Bale
Cemgil Atkas
Aleyna Tekbasti
Cydney Kelly Spinoza Nan
Monica Bhatia
Isabelle Harriot
Kiara Kovacs
Lukas Jasevicius
Lacey Rowe
Demi Watts
Leya Hines
Elliot Crookbaine
Elijah Camplin
Skye Nash
Seth King
Joseph Coyte
Joseph Byrne
Daniel Mehr
Chloe Slatford
Advaith Aravind Sreevalsalan
Christopher Ruby Mace Rose
Sacha Perrott
Samuel Maslin
Amelia Martin
Peter Petrov
Freddy Bayless
Megan Chivers
Daniel Elizabeth Kehayov Wheeler
Charlie Bird
Anthony Dean
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 Miss Hollis at ahollis@rodingvalley.net
Hello Parents & Carers, Attached to this week's bulletin is our annual Home Learning Booklet. In this booklet you will find helpful information about Google Classroom (our Home Learning platform), our individual subject Home Learning information & our RVHS Revision strategy information/guidance. The booklet also contains any Google Classroom codes needed to join our 'whole cohort' Google Classrooms in particular subject areas. If your son/daughter needs any specific help with Google classroom, our more detailed guide can be found on our website. Please click here to access. The guide will help you learn how to view, submit and see comments on assignments. Alongside how to access the Google Classroom to-do list; a helpful tool to help keep your son/daughter organised. At present, we are working on a system that will enable all parents & carers automatically be able to view their child's Google Classroom assignments. As soon as this feature is available, you will be linked to your son/daughters account.
Revision & Study All Year 11 parents have been invited to a Year 11 Information evening next Thursday at 6 pm. During this evening, I will be outlining where to find all of our revision & study templates & tools. I also just wanted to remind parents of GCSE students that we have our own GCSE Revision microsite, for all students & parents/ Please click here to access it. As always, thank you to all of our parents for your support. Miss Larkin – Assistant Headteacher for Teaching & Learning
Attention All Parents If the school holds any medication for your child, please can we ask that you bring your child’s medication into the School Reception marked for the attention of Mrs Gladman. Please can you also ensure it is in date. Aren diallio Jaimie Pitman and the whole chemistry class for their enthusiasm in the live lesson 7a4 for their participation during a live biology lesson
We are thrilled to invite The Globe Players, a travelling theatre company to Roding Valley High School on 15th September 2021, they will be performing exciting shows related to our English curriculum. The Globe Players are the foremost Shakespeare and Children’s Theatre company in London and the South East, bringing high quality, professional live theatre to tens of thousands of schools every year for over 50 years. We hope the productions will be an enjoyable experience for all our Key Stage 3 students and serve to enrich their learning in English. !
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.
We would like to welcome all of our students to the new academic year and we hope that everyone had a fantastic summer break. It's been lovely to see our students in school ready and enthusiastic to continue their learning journey. Our team is proud to be your child’s Year Progress Leader and very much looking forward to the year ahead with such a great cohort of students. To ensure that you are aware of who your child’s Year Progress is, we would like to introduce to you our team this year:
Year 7: Mr Ryan To contact Mr Ryan, please email fryan@rodingvalley.net
Year 8: Miss Fazakerley To contact Miss Fazarkerley, please email J Fazakerley@rodingvalley.net
Year 9: Miss Edwards To contact Miss Edwards, please email cedwards@rodingvalley.net
Year 10: Mr Dobson To contact Mr Dobson, please email cdobson@rodingvalley.net
Year 11: Ms Preston To contact Ms Preston, please email tpreston@rodingvalley.net
Year 7 I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to Roding Valley High School. I look forward to having the opportunity to speak to you all personally at some point throughout the year. It was such a pleasure to hear how the children who attended our Summer School enjoyed it so much and it has meant that there are already some familiar faces in the year group. It has been an amazing start to the Academic year and the seven year journey that your son and daughter is embarking upon. I can't tell you how proud I have been looking at the year group as they line up each morning, fresh and ready to learn. They are a credit to you all. As the transition between primary and secondary education is quite challenging, I would like to take the time to acknowledge that the students have coped with this step really well. I am aware that finding the way around such a large school can be quite a daunting experience but there is always a member of staff available or one of our amazing YES students will help. I am very pleased to say that I have an incredible team of Academic Mentors. Their role is to assist me in ensuring that the year group are safe and well and are performing at the correct level. I have asked the team to monitor equipment and uniform and standards have been set incredibly high already. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the team to you, as they are the first port of call in communication between us and you. Please use this link to view the Welcome letter that you should have received from me containing all of the information that you need to be aware of for the upcoming year.
Mr Ryan – Year 7 Progress Leader
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Year 8 I am so delighted to welcome back our students into Year 8 after what I hope was a restful and enjoyable summer. I have already heard so many exciting things that our students have taken part in during summer- it is great to see so many students ready for the new academic year and ready to continue with the great start they have all made in Year 7. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about some key points to ensure a smooth transition into Year 8 and a successful year ahead. Please use this link to view the Welcome letter that you have been emailed from me containing all of the information that you need to be aware of for the upcoming year.
Miss Fazakerley – Year 8 Progress Leader
Year 9 I am so delighted to welcome all our students back into Year 9 after what I hope was a restful and enjoyable summer break. I have already enjoyed hearing from many Year 9 students about the exciting adventures they had over the holidays and how much they are looking forward to this school year. With such a buzz around the school at present, I too can only share this excitement about the upcoming school year and the exciting opportunities on offer for the students in Year 9. Indeed all of our students. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about some key points to ensure a smooth transition into Year 9 and a successful year ahead. Please use this link to view the Welcome letter that you have been emailed from me containing all of the information that you need to be aware of for the upcoming year.
Miss Edwards – Year 9 Progress Leader
Year 10 It is always great to welcome the students back after what has hopefully been an enjoyable and restful summer break. I am so excited at being the Year Progress Leader for Year 10 and I am really looking forward to another enjoyable year with this fantastic group of young people. It seems like a few seconds ago that they were walking through the gates as little Year 7’s, but we are now beyond halfway in their RVHS journey. It is also a great relief to be back to normal and to say goodbye to that odieux ‘the new norm’. We do hope this continues and are continuing to do all we can to keep everyone in our community safe and well and our school fully operational. I want all parents and carers to know I am very proud to be your child’s YPL. Please use this link to view the Welcome letter that you have been emailed from me containing all of the information that you need to be aware of for the upcoming year.
Mr Dobson – Year 10 Progress Leader
Year 11 A warm welcome back to you and your families, I hope that you all had a good summer. It's been lovely to see students back in school ready for year 11 and they have returned ready and raring to continue on with their studies. I am delighted and proud to be their Year Progress Leader and very much looking forward to the year ahead with such a great cohort of students. Please use this link to view the Welcome letter that you have been emailed from me containing all of the information that you need to be aware of for the upcoming year. Ms Preston – Year 11 Progress Leader
Sixth Form As a Sixth Form community we would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Year 12 students, who we have welcomed over the last week. As the Sixth Form goes from strength to strength, we are now approximately 250 student strong and we look forward to working with every one of them to support them in fulfilling their potential. Year 12 will be visiting Lambourne End next week for a teambuilding day. This is for all students to attend as lessons will be suspended for the day as we come together as a community. This week, Year 13 students have received lots of information regarding UCAS applications as we prepare students for this process. On Wednesday, a presentation was shared with them, please click on this link to access. I am really looking forward to working with students on their applications and I know Mrs Mason is keen to work with our students who are looking to apply to the world of work. Students should not hesitate to seek out either of us with questions and we will support in any way we can. Every week our Head of Careers, Mrs Mason puts together a Sixth Form bulletin. This shares with students lots of exciting opportunities from Uni open days, to apprenticeships, work experience and so much more. Please do take a look, please use this link to view.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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/resources/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.
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
The School ID is ‘Roding’. Requires Android 4.4 and up.
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
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Behaviour: You will be able to see all behaviour points given to you child and any sanctions given to your child including detentions.
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Medical Information: In this section you can see all of the medical information that we have on file for your child
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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
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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
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Linked Resources: This section contains links to all the schools learning resources available to your child both at school and at home
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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
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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
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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:
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 to view your child's due and submitted homework:
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.
Year Progress Leaders Year 7: Mr Ryan -fryan@rodingvalley.net Year 8: Miss Fazakerley – jfazakerley@rodingvalley.net Year 9: Miss Edwards – cedwards@rodingvalley.net Year 10: Mr Dobson – cdobson@rodingvalley.net Year 11: Ms Preston– tpreston@rodingvalley.net
USEFUL CONTACTS
Sixth Form: Miss Wheaton – awheaton@rodingvalley.net
Heads of Faculty Creative Arts: Mr Tisdale – dtisdale@rodingvalley.net English: Mrs Routledge – lroutledge@rodingvalley.net Humanities: Mr Cocker – mcocker@rodingvalley.net IT/Business: Mr Hussain – ohussain@rodingvalley.net Maths: Mr Edeko – oedeko@rodingvalley.net MFL: Mr P Melvin – pmelvin@rodingvalley.net Science: Mr Poovillingham - npoovillingham@rodingvalley.net Sports & Nutrition: Mr Jones – ljones@rodingvalley.net SENDco: Mrs Tarantini-Amor – ltarantini-amor@rodingvalley.net
General Enquiries office@rodingvalley.net
Sixth Form Enquiries sixthformoffice@rodingvalley.net
Finance finance@rodingvalley.net
Safeguarding: safeguarding@rodingvalley.net
How to contact any member of staff at Roding Valley High School: Initial + surname+@rodingvalley.net