news
www.rhyddings.lancs.sch.uk
Senior Students
School improvement on the agenda for our new student leadership team Following on from a successful trial last year, we are pleased to unveil our new student leadership team for 2011-12. Twenty-five Year 10s have been selected to act as Senior Students, each taking on a set of new responsibilities on top of their studies. Firstly, we have our Head Boy, Thomas Higham and Head Girl Rhianna Gibson, who were elected via our new whole school voting system. The application process for Head Boy and Head Girl involved the students composing a formal letter to Mr Trickett on why they felt they would be suitable for the role as well as having their nomination seconded by their form tutor. Each candidate then prepared a video speech that was played to all students and staff during a week of assemblies before the voting took place. Thomas and Rhianna will be ably assisted by their deputies Zak Cunliffe and Holly Baxendale. The rest of the senior student team will be assigned as Peer Counsellors and assistants to Year Leaders. They all took part in a training day where they completed workshops on volunteering, leadership and enrolled on the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Head of Citizenship, Iffat Hussain, who has helped to coordinate the Senior Students’ programme, said: “The Senior Students will be leading our various Student Voice action groups to help to try and improve the Rhyddings experience for all of our students. “Their commitment and dedication was evident throughout the selection process and we are proud of them - they have a clear vision of the future!”
July 2011
Corey joins top minds at MENSA
One of the newest additions to MENSA’s High IQ Society is our very own Corey Bolton in Year 9. Only those with an IQ score in the top 2% of the population can join. His form tutor, Miss Jackson, put him forward for the test, feeling that he was more than capable of passing. As well as doing well in all his subjects, Corey recently helped our Year 9 Maths Challenge team to the regional final (see page 2).
We’re most
Improved
GIRLS: Head Girl Rhianna Gibson and deputy Holly Baxendale
BOYS: Head Boy Thomas Higham and deputy Zak Cunliffe
Rhyddings has been applauded by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) for last year’s record exam results. We are one of only a handful of schools in the country that achieved improved 5+ A*-C results (including English and Maths) by over 20 percentage points. Deputy Headteacher Mr Ainsworth said: “The school has been delighted to receive a letter from the Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust congratulating us once again on our excellent exam results last year. “We are confident of another successful set of results over the summer!”