Rhyddings News - September 2011

news

www.rhyddings.lancs.sch.uk

What a result! g4r4tgtrg

September 2011

Music Lessons Our instrumental lessons are provided by external tutors who offer excellent quality lessons, on a one to one basis with exceptional teachers. There are various packages of lessons available, from 10 minute taster lessons to 30 minute lessons building up to formal qualifications.

We are able to offer lessons on:

TOP ACHIEVERS: (L-R) Lauren Alston, Kimberley Robinson, Lauren Davidson and Kyle Lewis

In the summer, our Year 11 students achieved 75% A-C*, again exceeding national averages, targets and expectations. Rhyddings remains in the top 10% of schools nationally for adding value to students’ grades.

Headteacher Mr Trickett said: “The year group has yet again produced great results and has shown clearly what we can achieve at Rhyddings with the hard work and dedication of staff and students along with the full support of parents.

“A large number of students exceeded their target grades and 25% of them achieved 3 or more A or A* grades.”

rhyddings.co.uk is now online!

HOMEPAGE: Our new blog-style website

Rhyddings has launched a new website www.rhyddings.co.uk.

This is the central source for all happenings at Rhyddings, and is worthwhile checking regularly for information for school events as well as updates on what’s happening in our classrooms.

There is also a handy ‘Parents’ section, which will be updated regularly with vital information.

All students have a login for this website where certain posts, including details of sporting fixtures and training sessions, will only be available once a student has logged in.

If students are unsure of their login details, or have forgotten their passwords, they should ask their ICT teacher or see Miss Bedwell.

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Guitar Bass Drums Keyboard Vocals DJing Flute Clarinet Saxophone

For more information and a sign up letter, see Mrs Marshall in Studio 3.

We want your opinions Lancashire County Council will soon be distributing a Parental Questionnaire form.

We use the questionnaire results to aid self improvement and help focus future planning. The results are also valuable to schools when completing the Ofsted Self-Evaluation Form.

These forms will be distributed to students on Monday 3rd October.

It is important that we receive them back by Friday 7th October.

All students who return the questionnaires on time will be rewarded with a Vivo point.

School Holidays 2011-2012 AUTUMN TERM 2011 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 g4r4tgtrg 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

Bag2School - Recycling Day As part of a Zone topic about reducing waste,Year 7 students will be organising a textiles recycling collection for Tuesday 18th October.

In the meantime we are asking parents, staff and students to put off throwing out any old clothes, shoes, blankets, soft toys (in a decent condition), put them to one side and keep them a little longer for our collection.

Please don’t send any clothes or other items into school yet, as we don’t have any storage space.

More information will be coming shortly on our website, but for now please start collecting and saving!

School Announcements School closes early at 12 noon on Tuesday 27th September for Open Evening. The Belthorn bus has been scheduled for this change. School will also be closed for students on Friday 30th September for staff inset training.

On Thursday 20th October there will be a Tea & Coffee morning for grandparents (and other family members) of Year 7 students. The morning will run from 11am to 12.30pm and visitors will have the opportunity to look around the school.

Invitations will be sent out shortly. Contact Mrs Dutton on 01254 231051 for more information.

There will be some maintenance work in school over the next few months. We would like to stress to all students that contractors and equipment may be in and around the corridors during this time, so it is important that they are sensible and mature when moving between lessons.

We would like to remind parents and guardians that their child should always attend school in full uniform. Trainers and facial/body piercings are not allowed. School ties should be worn at all times.

A full uniform list is available under the ‘Parents’ menu section of our brand new school website at www.rhyddings.co.uk.

The school is collecting Let’s Grow vouchers available from Morrisons supermarkets. The school can then exchange the vouchers for gardening equipment that can be used in lessons and by the school’s gardening club. Students should pass these on to the science department.

Attendance Matters At Rhyddings Business & Enterprise School, we take a serious approach to attendance and punctuality.

Our end of year GCSE results consistently prove that those students who have the highest attendance attain the highest grades, thereby establishing a firm foundation for the next stage of their education/career.

In order to provide a more efficient service, we would appreciate your co-operation in the following matters: Attendance Procedure: If you know that your son/daughter is absent or will be late, please ring the student absence line (01254 231051, then dial 1) & give a clear explanation for their absence for EACH day that the student is off school. e.g.

‘Joe Smith 8AZ will be absent due to severe vomiting.’ IN ADDITION, a note should be provided to their form teacher on their return.

Rewards: Vivos are automatically awarded to students with a full week’s attendance. We will be

extending our reward system as we believe those students who make the effort deserve to be recognised.

Half-term rewards –The winning form in each year group will be presented with a FANTASTIC trophy to keep for that halfterm.

Termly certificates: All students with 98-100% attendance will receive a GOLD certificate, 95-97.9% will receive a SILVER certificate & those with 92-94.9% will receive a BRONZE certificate We’re looking forward to seeing who wins next Half-Term, so please encourage your son/daughter to attend school.

Monitoring System: We are continuing with our Monitoring system in which attendance percentages are collated every half-term. Those with 87-90% will be interviewed by their form teacher and put on an attendance card. Cards will be checked by form teachers every day & checked by head of years weekly. This will start again after the October half-term.

Medical appointments: If your son/daughter has an unavoidable medical appointment that cannot be made outside school time, please encourage them to come before or after their appointment and avoid taking an unnecessary whole day off.

Requesting Time Off for Holidays – the Procedure: Please be aware that it is up to school and not the parent to authorise the holiday.

Please ask your child to obtain a holiday request form from their Year Leader and parents should complete the form & return it to school at least 3 weeks before the holiday. Years 10 & 11 will get an automatic refusal except for very exceptional circumstances. No student will be allowed more than 10 days authorised holiday per year. If you take an unauthorised holiday during term time, you could be liable to a fixed penalty notice being issued by the Local Education Authority.

For further information, please contact Mr Breckell, Attendance Lead or Mrs Kenyon, Attendance Officer 01254 231051 Ext 124.