Rossett News Update - 15 September 2023
Rossett Heroes
Natalie Dealhoy in Year 11 who was nominated by Ms Thorp-Greenwood who wrote: ‘One of our Year 7 students was wondering around unsure which bus to get on or where he needed to get off. Natalie got up out of her seat and came to the rescue - not only pointing him towards the right bus, but telling him she knew where he normally gets off so if he sat with her she'd tell him when it was coming up. What a good egg.’ What a good egg indeed! This is absolutely the stuff that Rossett Heroes are made of and we are delighted that you are providing such a wonderful example to our new students Natalie!
Emily Harrison in Year 7 who was nominated by Miss Tolliday because she noticed Emily being particularly helpful in Ms Tolliday’s English lesson. Emily encouraged and supported a classmate who was attempting to read a tricky text, showing patience and encouragement. We are one big team at Rossett that looks after one another and it sounds like it comes naturally to Emily. Well done on being our first Year 7 Rossett Hero!
Lola-Belle Finnigan in Year 9 who was nominated by Ms Barnett because Lola spent a whole PE lesson making sure that everybody was involved, encouraging and helping others to work on the skills they were being asked to practice. She wrote: ‘Not only is Lola an extremely good friend and a polite student, she sets the perfect example of how we should respect and encourage each other.’ We love to hear about incidents like this Lola-Belle, well done!
And finally, we have a nomination for Annabel Oxley, Jorgi Wason, Hollie Hernon and Holly Sanderson in Year 9 who were nominated by the parent of a Year 7 student. The girls have all been helping the Year 7students to settle in over the last week and a half, and in particular they have been helping this parent’s son feel comfortable, showing him where to go, helping him to settle in and generally just being Rossett Heroes. Well done girls, we love that you are showing the Year 7s how we do things at Rossett.
Please email Mr Otway OtwayA@rs.rklt.co.uk if you have witnessed or experienced an act of kindness that we might not be aware of.
"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." - Scott Adams
Rossett 'R' Summer Photography Competition
Many of you will have been following our summer photography competition in which participants took the Rossett R with them on their summer adventures to show how proud they were to be part of the Rossett community. During the six weeks the Rossett 'R' travelled to beaches, concerts, football and rugby matches, Disney Land, the Arctic Circle, numerous countries on several continents and even to the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea!
The winner of the student competition was Chloe from Year 8 who managed to find Rossett in the Lake District and took the R with her to produce a truly spectacular photograph.
The winner of the staff competition was Mr Elcock who produced several magnificent photographs but his photograph of the R at a Blur concert in Norway was simply brilliant.
Headteacher Friday 5 Awards
Well done to all of the students who received a Friday 5 Headteachers Award this week. These students have been nominated by members of staff for exemplifying Rossett School's 5Rs culture of learning. This week's winners are:
- Heidi Clarke (Year 7)
- George Hardwick (Year 7)
- Chloe Pomeroy (Year 8)
- Elliot Haywood (Year 8)
- Oliver Bradley (Year 9)
- Mayson Skelton (Year 10)
- Jasmine Clark (Year 11)
Learning Resource Centre News from Mr Asker
Last week I said that I would offer some suggestions to help students use the new academic year to further develop a reading for pleasure habit.
Firstly, it is worth noting that research shows time and time again that students who regularly read for pleasure have improved academic and mental health outcomes. It’s perhaps worth unpicking that a little. Whilst it feels obvious that reading for pleasure is good for us what has only relatively recently been realised is how good it is and that simply reading for pleasure will have a demonstrable effect on exam performance and life chances. Wow. So how can you help as parents and/or carers? Well, the clue is in the name. Reading for PLEASURE. This needs to be a wholly positive, exciting, fun, and enjoyable thing for young people to do. It sits alongside their schoolwork of course but is also distinct and stands alone. Make time to talk about books but use open ended questions, avoid lecturing or nagging. “So have you read anything good recently” is much better than “I haven’t seen you reading a book for ages!” No one (even me, an unapologetic bookworm!) likes to be told to read. Create a “way in” to reading by popping into a book shop, giving books as presents, visiting libraries or leaving a book somewhere at home where it might be picked up and read. Social media (this might be a surprise to some of you) is your friend here. Many authors for children and young people have a massive social media presence and use TikTok and other platforms to promote and talk about their work and stay connected with their fans. In fact, many children’s and young adult authors are incredibly accessible and will respond to questions, letters, posts, messages etc. All good stuff to help fuel the reading habit! Series books are helpful too!
Many young people become very involved, committed, and immersed in a certain book series and author. This is not a bad thing in any way and only enhances their enjoyment of reading. When they are ready, they will move on to a new author perhaps still within that genre but they are exploring new writing and ideas. If your child gets stuck on an author like David Walliams or Jeff Kinney (Wimpy Kid) then that is a nice problem to have. Use that enjoyment to springboard to another author. “David Baddiel’s books are really funny too” is better than “why are you reading Gangsta Granny again!” Don’t be afraid to harness popular TV shows like Stranger Things which have comic books set within that universe which are brilliantly written and drawn. Obviously, the Marvel films were comics first and franchises like Star Wars also come with a huge accompanying world of stories, comics and graphic novels. More generally the unhelpful stigma about comic books has finally disappeared and they are rightly seen as incredible literature for young people and adults alike to enjoy.
Please do not hesitate to email me AskerS@rs.rklt.co.uk if I can help you in any week with book recommendations or advice about reading for young people in general.
Have a bookish weekend everyone.
Mr Asker
Extra Curricular Timetable
Rossett School is very proud of its extra-curricular programme for students, which enhances the curriculum and provides extra learning opportunities for all. There are a number of opportunities for your child to take part in extra-curricular activities at lunchtime and after school, here at Rossett. We will endeavour to update you via this newsletter and form tutors when there are changes or additions to this timetable.
Year 7 students and parents are encouraged to review the timetable in detail as it will be expected that students take up at least one extra curricular activity.
50th Anniversary
It’s 1973 and the United Kingdom has joined the European Union. The Godfather is the year’s best picture, George Foreman is heavyweight champion of the world and the first handheld mobile phone call is made in New York City. It is also the year Rossett High School opened it’s doors to students for the first time.
On Thursday 28th September we will be celebrating our golden anniversary and to mark this milestone we have a day of activities planned. This includes:
- An assembly with past and present Headteachers
- Activities to see how school has changed in the last 50 years
- Rossett’s Biggest Bake Sale
- A whole school photo on the field with students and staff marking out a giant R50 (please see below information regarding opting your child out of photographs and videos taken on the day)
- An opportunity to take part in some retro sports
- DJ Dent will also be joining in with the celebrations and there will be a photobooth and bubble machine.
We will be offering a 1970’s classic meal on the day with a 50% discounted price. At the end of the day all students will receive a retro goodie bag with a special ‘Rossett 50th’ keepsake.
In keeping with our celebrating of the school’s original opening we will be having a 70’s fancy dress theme for both staff and students, with prizes for the best outfits. If you haven’t got clothes at the back of your wardrobes it might be a great opportunity to support our local charity shops for some retro gear!
If students are not able to come in fancy dress they can come wearing clothes that have a golden colour scheme to mark our golden anniversary, or dress in the red and black of our school colours.
Whilst it is a great chance to show off some fashionable flair, or even flares, we would ask that the outfit chosen for the day remains appropriate and respectful of others. We would ask that no wigs are worn on the day, footwear must be practical to walk around the school grounds and that clothing worn allows for full participation in a range of activities.
We hope to share our day of festivities with videos and photos on social media and, due to participant numbers it is not possible to apply the permissions already consented to. Please be aware therefore that your child may be included in group photographs or videos which may be used immediately for event publicity purposes. Your child should make staff aware if you do not wish this to happen.
If you have any happy memories of Rossett School from your family, and would like to share them, please contact us at office@rs.rklt.co.uk. We would also like to invite former students and staff to join our current staff on Thursday 28th September 4pm-6pm to celebrate! There will be an opportunity to meet old friends (and make new ones), enjoy celebratory refreshments and have a tour of the school, please RSVP by filling the form available here.
PE Fixtures
What's happening this term...
Wednesday 20 September
- Year 7 Photographs
- A Level Geography Trip
Thursday 21 September
- American Exchange Parents' Evening; 6.00pm Main Hall
Thursday 28 September
- 50th Anniversary Celebrations
Friday 29 September
- Training Day: No students in school
Saturday 30 September
- Open Day for Year 6 Parents/Carers: 9.30am-12noon
Monday 9 October - Wednesday 11 October
- Year 13 Geography Field Trip
Thursday 12 October
- Year 7 Settling in Evening
Monday 16 October
- Re-start a Heart Day
Thursday 19 October
- Year 11 Supporting Your Child Evening
Thursday 19 October
- American Exchange Departs
