Rhyddings News July 2013

news

www.rhyddings.co.uk

July 2013

P e r f o r m i n g A r t s i s Katie’s V100

EVOLVING

Rhyddings and its new performing arts school EVOLVE have just received Artsmark Gold status from the Arts Council.

To receive Artsmark Gold, Rhyddings had to demonstrate a committed and cross-curricular approach to delivering the arts within school as well as involvement with local artists and arts groups.

Our recent BTEC performances of Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages (right) were praised along with our regular music showcases, GCSE art coursework exhibitions and projects such as our 80 year anniversary celebrations.

However, our performing arts department’s transformation into EVOLVE – a performing arts schools within the school – was singled out for its original approach.

Schemes of work will become topics, classrooms have been transformed into rehearsal studios and lesson plans will become 10 week briefs leading up to a professional performance. Students will perform in our newly renovated theatre space, “The Venue”, for their parents, staff and governors on a regular basis.

Headteacher Paul Trickett said: “To be given the Gold award is a tremendous outcome for a very innovative and hardworking team. The change from performing arts to EVOLVE reflects the whole school drive to improve all our students as life-longer learners.”

Head of EVOLVE, Anna Booth, said: “As a department, gaining Arts Mark Gold has been a process of many years work. I am extremely proud of everyone who helped us along the way, particularly our outstanding students, both past and present, whose work so impressed the assessor from the Arts Council.”

Rhyddings student Katie Allonby has become the first young person in East Lancashire to gain a V100 award for her dedication to volunteering.

Through the vInspired programme, Katie has given over 200 hours of her time to work on various community projects including netball coaching for primary school students and representing the school at external events.

The vInspired award is a government sponsored scheme that encourages young people between the ages of 1424 to volunteer their time for a wide range of projects in their area.

Rhyddings is the only school locally to be a registered vInspired centre and offer our students the opportunity to gain their V10,V50 and V100 awards, as well as offering The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to our Key Stage 4 students.

Katie is currently looking forward to receiving her V100 at the annual vInspired awards ceremony in London.

NEW ABSENCE REQUEST RULES From September 1st 2013, the Department for Education has made it clear that Headteachers cannot authorise any leave of absence for students during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

This decision has been made to encourage schools to take a firmer stance on unnecessary absences during the school year.

It has been introduced by the government to dispel the idea that parents are entitled to take their children on holiday during term time.

The attendance policy has been changed to reflect the fact that Headteachers can only authorise leave of absence in term time in exceptional circumstances. The Application for Leave of Absence form has been altered to take into account the new regulations.

Announcements

the Netherla & m nd iu g l s e B

School will close for the Summer holiday on Friday 19th July at 12 noon. School will reopen for Years 7, 10 and 11 on Wednesday 4th September and reopen for all year groups on Thursday 5th September.

All of our Year 10 students recently took part in a ‘Futures Day’ event, in preparation for life after school. They attended in ‘business attire’ for a day of workshops, seminars on vocational options and a mock interview with one of several local employers. The day was a complete success and the feedback from both the colleges and local businesses was overwhelmingly positive.

Our Year 10 BTEC group recently planned and ran an ‘alternative’ sports day for the local primary schools at Rhyddings park. Around 100 primary students took part in the event where our Year 10s oversaw various games including dodgeball, penalty shoot outs and even some they had created themselves. The PE department would like to express how proud they are of all the students involved as fantastic role models and how they represented Rhyddings in such a positive light.

Year 9 and 10 Geography and Travel and Tourism students have recently arrived back from a four day trip to Belgium and the Netherlands. Students and staff had a fantastic time, some fantastic weather and made even better memories!

After a brief stop in York, the group travelled to Bridlington and Mappleton to see some methods of managing the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. They then headed down to catch the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge.

Waking up to another beautiful day, the group headed into Brugge and took a guided boat tour around the canals. They then headed to the main square to do some sight-seeing and eat the biggest waffles they’d ever seen!

A few students decided to visit the Belfry which offered great views over Brugge (despite the 366 step climb to get to the top!) before heading to a real Belgian chocolate factory.

The following day the students visited Efteling which is the biggest theme park in the Netherlands for roller coasters, river rapids, log flumes and pirate ships. It was a great way to spend the day before heading to Rotterdam to catch the ferry home.

The students were an absolute credit to the school and we couldn’t have asked to spend time with a more pleasant and entertaining group. Everyone had a great time and we are really looking forward to visiting Amsterdam next year!

Kyle’s car wins podium place!

Kyle Spiller and a local community group put a huge effort into building the cardboard car to walk this year’s Accrington Carnival.

The car won third place in the walking float competition!

Kyle would like to thank Mr Scott for helping to build the car and Mr Scott would like to give a very big thank you to the Cardboard Box Company from Clayton Park Enterprise Centre for kindly donating card to Rhyddings over the last few years.

Cefn Lea Camp Trip 2013 The holiday at ‘Cefn Lea’ Camp in Wales was this year enjoyed by 43 students.

Whilst at camp the students enjoyed paintballing, quad biking, a variety of sports, team games and even a ‘wet and wild’ day. They also scaled a local bryn (Welsh hill), which is almost 500ft high!

Choosing a “Camper of the Week” was exceptionally difficult this year. After much deliberation, Cassidy Hallet was awarded the much coveted title. Ruby Wilkinson was presented with the “Best Girl” award, and Patrick Kelly was the “Best Boy.” Once again the holiday was a resounding success and we look forward to visiting again next year!