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!”
With the start of the new academic year we will be introducing a new electronic rewards system in school called Vivo Miles.This will replace our existing merits system. Students will be awarded points called “Vivos” for a variety of reasons including attendance, good behaviour, excellent work and participation in after school events and activities. They will be able to redeem these against a wide-range of approved products from an online catalogue. These will range from stationery and school essentials, right up to cameras and MP3 players. Students can even opt to save up their Vivos to make donations to a variety of charities.
Maths Challenge
Students will have their own private online account where they can check how many Vivos they have been awarded and by which teachers. They will also receive a credit-card style card which they will need to use in order to buy items from the Vivo online store. Parents and guardians will also have an online account which they can use to monitor their child’s achievements in school. For more information, please visit:
Congratulations are due to our Year 9 team of Callum Aspinall (not pictured), Connor Emmet, Sophia Ferguson, Connor Mellor, and Corey Bolton who made it to the final round of the Mathematics Challenge 2011. The final round took place on 7th July at Edge Hill University. Our students battled hard and should be proud of finishing as runners-up in such a tough competition.
GCSE Art Exhibition Here is just a small sample of coursework that was submitted by our GCSE Art students this year. A department exhibition was held earlier this month to display the work to students, staff, parents and the public. Head of Art Linda Hopkins said: “It was really nice to see all of our Art students again, even though they’ve only been gone a few weeks. The work on display was a real testament to all the hours of effort they had put in. “I was especially delighted by the sheer number of parents who came up to see not only the fantastic work their sons and daughters have created, but to visit the environment they have developed in.”
Our GCSE Media Studies students became radio presenters, journalists and advertising executives during a visit to Rock FM in Preston this month. The BOOM Radio project has been developed by Lancashire County Council and Rock FM to introduce students to the skills and attributes required for a working environment.
Following training on various aspects on radio production, the students worked with industry experts to produce their own programme to be broadcast on the online BOOM Radio player. The students’ programme can be listened to on BoomRadio.co.uk.
Cefn Lea Holiday
Y9 U.N. SUMMIT
Over eighty Rhyddings students spent a fabulous week at the Cefn Lea Holiday Park in Wales earlier this month. Several teachers and a small team from the Global Centre helped to organise and run the annual trip. Students took part in a great range of great activities over the holiday and spent time paintballing, quad biking and taking on not one, but two different assault courses! Evenings were spent having barbecues, watching movies, talent contests, midnight treasure hunts and even roasting marshmallows over an open fire.
A group of around 30 Year 9 students recently visited Burnley & Pendle Faith Centre to take part in a United Nations youth project. The students divided in to teams representing various third-world U.N. member states. They spent the morning researching the greatest problems their countries face and how the U.N. is helping to resolve them. In the afternoon, they were able to quiz a representative from Save The Children via a live video link on what is being done to help the world’s poorest children.
School Holidays 2011-2012 AUTUMN TERM 2011 Re-open on - Tuesday 6 September 2011 (Y7,Y10,Y11) Teacher Training Day - Friday 30 September 2011 (students not in school) Mid-term closure - Mon 24 October to Fri 28 October 2011 (inclusive) Closure after school on - Fri 16 December 2011 SPRING TERM 2012 Teacher Training Day - Tuesday 3 January 2012 (students not in school) Re-open on - Wednesday 4 January 2012 Mid-term closure - Monday 13 February Friday 17 Feb 2012 (inclusive) Closure after school on - Friday 30 March 2012 SUMMER TERM 2012 Re-open on Monday 16 April 2012 Teacher Training Day - Friday 4 May 2012 (students not in school) May Day Holiday - Monday 7 May 2012 Mid-term closure - Monday 4 June Friday 8 June 2012 (inclusive) Closure after school on - Friday 20 July 2012 Teacher Training Day - Monday 23 July 2012 (students not in school)
Kitchens score 5/5 for hygiene Our school’s catering staff are proud to announce that our kitchens have been rated top marks (5/5) on the Food Standards Agency scale by Hyndburn Borough Council. Launched at the end of last year, the scheme provides the public with a clear indicator of the hygiene standards at all shops, businesses and institutions that serve food. After our last inspection in January, Rhyddings was judged to be ‘very good’ in all areas of hygiene, from food handling and preparation to cleanliness and facilities. Catering manager Sandra Brown said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded full marks for our inspection under this new system. All of our staff work very hard every day and we’ve always had a good report. “All parents can be assured that dinners from our kitchen are prepared to the highest standard of hygiene.”
School Announcements School Closure – School will close for the Summer break on Friday 22nd July at 12 noon. The Belthorn bus has been booked for 12.15pm. School will reopen for the Autumn term on Tuesday 6th September for Years 7, 10 and 11 only. All Year groups will return to school on Wednesday 7th September. After school club ending – Due to cuts in Extended Services funding, the LRC After School Club will not be continuing in September. Instead, the LRC will operate on a drop-in basis until 4.45pm every Monday to Thursday and 4pm Fridays for students to use the library and our computers for homework. Donate blazers & ties – We are looking for donations of unwanted ties and blazers (in good condition) from Year 10 students who will be Year 11s in September. If you can help, please pass on these items to the Key Stage 3 office. Debating Competition - Four of our Year 10 students recently took part in Burnley College’s first annual Debating Competition. Schools from across the region battled against each other in heated debates that ranged in topic from Fair Trade to the importance of free NHS healthcare. The Rhyddings team were unlucky not to make it through to the semi-finals, but Maisie Halliday, Hannah Darbyshire, Kelsey Palmer and Lauren Jeffrey should be extremely proud of both their performance and conduct throughout the day.
Enterprise @BRFC Thirty students from different year groups completed a day of Enterprise activities at Blackburn Rovers Football Club. They were given a series of tasks around the key business concepts of problem solving, market research and sales and marketing. Students developed their entrepreneurial skills through the creation and promotion of football merchandise. Having been encouraged to identify opportunity to meet a particular need, they decided upon, planned and designed their product. Working to a deadline, students learnt that teamwork, passion, risk taking and determination are not just important for success on the pitch!