Rossett News Update - 23 October 2020

Year 11 Supporting Your Child Evening

Last night we launched our 'Supporting Your Child Evening' for parents/carers of our Year 11 students.  Mr Royles (Associate Deputy Headteacher: Upper School)  provided an introduction and welcome, followed by Mr Bulmer (Director of Learning: Year 11) who gave guidance on how best to support students in the run-up to the examinations next year. Our Head of Sixth Form, Dr Reed, guided parents/carers through the options for post-16 study and there was subject specific advice on how to best prepare for the GCSE examinations in the form of a five-minute video from each faculty.  The evening also offered practical advice, useful revision tips and techniques and information about support material and practice papers.

The advice and guidance will remain on our website for parents/carers to access or revisit at a time convenient to them.

Targeted catch-up sessions are happening within  the 'bubble models' and further opportunities will be advised after half term.  If you have any specific questions regarding a subject please email your child's subject teacher in the first instance.

 

Black History Month

For the last two weeks all of our students have been learning about diversity, equality, and respect through the lens of Black History Month. Students have watched performance poetry about the danger of staying silent in the face of discrimination; discussed the concept of moving forward from Black History Month towards learning about our 'collective history'; and learnt about key events in the British Civil Rights movement such as the Bristol Bus Boycott. Underpinning these form time presentations was the message that in the last year we have re-written areas of our curriculum to  reflect the experience, voices, and histories of black and Asian communities. Mr Otway explains here how the History curriculum has changed:

"As we are currently in the midst of Black History Month in the United Kingdom, we thought it was an opportunity to reflect on our History curriculum and it's inclusivity. In History we aim to make every month where the history of all is apparent"   Please click here to find out more about the History curriculum at Rossett School.

Meghana Biswakarma (Year 13) has taken a lead in educating students about the importance of anti-racism. She interviewed Oliver Houseman (Year 13) who, by doing a sponsored 10K run, has raised over £1100 to support the fight against inequality and racism.   

Meghana: What inspired you to raise money for this issue?

Oliver: Seeing the coverage in the media really hit hard; inequality is a universal issue and I felt like I had to do everything in my power to contribute towards a solution.

Meghana: Why do you believe that people should be educated differently regarding inequality and the impact of racism?

Oliver: I think it's obvious why people need to be educated on these issues. Equality is a basic human right, and everyone needs to realise their part in change and act on it.

Meghana: In the future how do you want this to progress?

Oliver: In an ideal world, I’d like racism to be spoken of as something from our past; in the future racism will rarely be spoken of and brought up only in history lessons in school. I would love my grandchildren to not even understand what racism is until they hear about it in the past tense.

 

Mathematics Success

Earlier in the year, the Mathematics department supported applications from budding Mathematicians for places on the Maths Masterclass Tutorials Programme. TalentEd received over two thousand applications from across the UK. Against such a  strong field we are thrilled that two of our younger students: Patrick Fleming and Yael Braunstein have been offered places on the scheme. 

This programme exists to foster brilliant mathematicians who aspire to go on to study Maths-based STEM subjects at an advanced level. The sessions will be challenging and are supported by Alex Gerko and Simon Singh, two outstanding nationally-known mathematicians. The mathematics department know that these two students will flourish further with this great opportunity and we wish them well. 

Wonderful Work in MFL

Year 7 Modern Foreign Language students have been working on phonics during lessons this half term.   The students did a listening activity involving the writing of 'spells'. Students have  produced their own witch’s spell for homework and  the examples shown are from  Rabiya Memon and Zahra Mahmood.   

Applying to University – parents/carers advice session

This webinar, which takes place on Wednesday 28 October between 7.00-8.00pm, is for  students’ and parents/carers and aims to give both an accessible overview of the application process, and tips to help families support their child through applying for university.

Please register here: attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7114435477808979467  if you would like to take part.

GCSE and A Level Revision Guides

The school has acquired revision guides and workbooks at a discounted price for students/parents/carers to purchase.  These are available  to buy through our online payments system, SCOPAY.

Please contact the Finance Office if you need a link code for SCOPAY or email finance@rossettschool.co.uk

If you are unsure which revision guide your child needs, please contact the individual subject tutor.  In order to view the available guides and their prices please click here.

Parking Concerns

Following an event in Pannal Ash Road last night when a car made contact with one of our students in what could have been a serious incident, and complaints from members of the public, I would ask that all parents/carers exercise extreme caution when using this road at the beginning and the end of school. We are aware that the pandemic has meant that there has been an increase in parents/carers deciding to drop off and pick up directly from school, but the consequence I’m afraid has been congestion, frustration and sometimes a lack of consideration for the pedestrians in this area. I would ask that parents/carers do not pull into the Sports’ Centre car park if at all possible, in the mornings or evenings to wait for students UNLESS there is a parking space available.  The effect of cars with idling engines in the main thoroughfare (shared with Rossett Acre Primary) means that pedestrians are at greater risk; parked cars cannot exit from the car park; and any tailback has a direct impact on the traffic and pedestrians in Pannal Ash Road.

As a further reminder, please be aware that Willow Gardens to the right of the school gates is a private access road and should not be used for parking, dropping students or turning.

The police have promised an increased presence in the Pannal Ash Road area to ensure that all drivers are exercising due care and consideration around our children.

Thank you, in anticipation, for your help in keeping all of our children safe at the beginning and the end of the school day.

Rossett PTA Uniform Recycling

Rossett PTA has been busy over the last few weeks putting the final touches to our Covid-safe uniform recycling process and we are now delighted to be able to make this available to you all.

 There are multiple goals for this scheme:

• To support the school in its aim to recycle and to action waste reduction policies – something that is a key part of the students' daily routine at Rossett School;
• To allow parents to recycle uniform in an easy and useful way;
• To give parents a more cost-effective method of purchasing uniform;
• To provide the school with a source of uniform for allocation as required.

* All uniform, once donated, is wash and quarantined according to stringent Public Health advice.

For a scheme like this to work we need uniform to be donated for recycling. Due to the current situation we need to be mindful of the ways of allowing uniform to be dropped off, therefore, please contact us on uniform@rossettpta.co.uk with your details and we can advise you of the best location available for you.

Details of our current stocks can be found on the PTA Website – www.rossettpta.co.uk under the section “uniform recycling”, just click on this heading to see the list of items currently available, you can then click on individual items and request for it to be reserved. Please complete the reservation page and we can then contact you in order to arrange how best to get the item to you, again, we need to be mindful of the current situation as to how this can be done hence not having a standard practice for all items.

Whilst we are not “selling” the items of uniform, we do ask if you could possibly make a donation to the PTA. An amount is suggested for each item, and the donations are passed onto the school. We do however understand individual circumstances and therefore would not question the amount you wish to provide. We would prefer donations to be made either by PayPal or Card (contactless) – this can be organised with the transfer of your item as required.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope that the above scheme will be a great benefit to parents/carers and the school. If anyone would like to help with the scheme or has any suggestions please do not hesitate to contact us – info@rossettpta.co.uk

You can also find us on our Facebook Page – ‘rossettschoolpta’ https://bit.ly/PTA-Rossett or the PTA Chat Group - https://bit.ly/PTA-Chat

Have you remembered to purchase your Rossett School Lottery tickets to be in with winning the jackpot of £25,000? http://bit.ly/PTA-Lottery

We hope you enjoy the half term break.

Rossett PTA

Regular items/reminders:

Coronavirus: Attendance

If your child has any of the symptoms described in the attached parental letter from Public Health England here, they must stay at home and arrangements need to be made to have a test.    You must call the school absence line (01423 564 444) and leave a voicemail informing us about the situation and the reason your child is not in school.

We would remind you that you should only book a test if your child has any of these three coronavirus symptoms:

• A high temperature: any new high temperature where your child feels hot to touch on their chest or back (you do not need to measure the temperature);
• A new continuous cough: coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours;
• A loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste: a noticeable loss of smell or taste or things smell and taste different to normal.

If your child has been off school for a reason related to Covid-19, it is vital that you contact us  before they return and give us the reason they are returning e.g. a negative test result. 

• Public Health England has asked us to emphasise with our parents/carers that the NHS Track and Trace App is not applicable to students under the age of 16, and therefore should not be installed on the phones of students who are under 16. If any parent has to inform the school regarding a positive Covid case please 

Important Diary Dates

Please note: Timings for Parents' Evenings have changed to an earlier start due to the on-line nature of these events.

Thursday 22nd October

• Year 11 Support Your Child Evening, 6.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers nearer the time;

Monday 26th October - Friday 30th October

• Half Term (please refer to guidance above regarding booking holidays).

Monday 2nd November

• Christmas term begins.

Thursday 5th November

• Year 11 Parents' Evening (1), 4.30pm-7.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers nearer the time.

Thursday 12th November

• Year 12 and Year 13 Parents' Evening (1), 4.30pm - 7.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers near the time.

Thursday 19th November

• Year 10 Parents' Evening, 4.30pm - 7.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers nearer the time.

Monday 23rd November

• Staff Training Day - school closed to all students.

Thursday 26th November

• Presentation Evening - details to be confirmed.

Thursday 3rd December

• Sixth Form Information Evening, 7.00pm-8.30pm - further details to be confirmed in due course.

Friday 18th December

• School closes for the Christmas Holidays.

Monday 4th January 2021

• School re-opens for all students.

With all best wishes for a restful half term and with thanks for your continuing support.

H Woodcock

Headteacher