Rossett News Update - 4 March 2022
Sixth Form Information Evening: Monday 14 March 2022, 6.00pm-8.00pm
Further to our Virtual Sixth Form Information Evening which took place on Thursday 2 December, we are delighted to invite parents/carers of Year 11 students to visit our Sixth Form, in person, on Monday 14th March 2022. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet our teaching and pastoral staff and to learn more about the extensive opportunities available to our Sixth Form students. The event takes place in our Sixth Form Centre between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.
The evening will include talks from our Headteacher (Ms Woodcock), Deputy Headteacher (Mr Royles) and Head of Sixth Form (Mr Keyworth), along with providing the opportunity for you to speak to senior subject staff from each faculty. Sixth Form Ambassadors will also be available during the evening, and parents and students are encouraged to speak to our current students about their experiences at Rossett.
The evening is a chance to see what makes Rossett Sixth Form so successful - from our progression and results data; the high expectations of students; our broad and balanced curriculum offer; and our facilities - to the individualised support provided to students and our wide-ranging offer of advice, career guidance, employability skills and our personal development programme.
To attend the Sixth Form Information Evening, please book your place by emailing Mr Keyworth@ rkeyworth@rossettschool.co.uk
Next Steps Student Fair hosted by 'Unifrog'
Our Year 12 students have been notified this week about a ’Next Steps Student Fair’, hosted by Unifrog. This is an opportunity for students to compare progression opportunities after Sixth Form. They will hear from universities, apprenticeship providers and employers and this opportunity is invaluable if any students are unsure of their 'next steps'
The event takes place online, on Tuesday 8th March 2022, at 5pm.
Covid-19 Latest Government Guidance
All parents/carers received a letter from the Headteacher on Tuesday with a brief update following the latest Government guidance including information about the lifting of asymptomatic testing for staff and students in all schools nationally.
As you will be aware, the Government has lifted the remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England including removing the guidance for staff and students in secondary schools to undertake twice weekly, asymptomatic, testing - this was introduced with effect from 21 February 2022.
The Government has reinforced the general steps we can all take at home and at school to reduce the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19:
- Get vaccinated.
- Ensure rooms are well-ventilated.
- Wear a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces.
- Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms and stay at home if you are positive.
Exam Invigilators Needed
Acoustic Night
Rossett Arts Faculty are delighted to be able to invite you to Acoustic Night on Thursday 17th March at 6:30pm. The event, which will take place in the Main Hall, will showcase some of our fantastic individual talent alongside some of our regular extracurricular music ensembles. After the success of our Winter Warmer, we are thrilled to be able to put on another of our favourite live music events and will look forward to seeing you there. Tickets are available via SCOPAY only and are priced £4 for adults and £2 concessions (under 18 and seniors).
Wellbeing in Mind
Rossett is involved in an exciting new Government mental health initiative: From March, Rossett is working with the NHS-funded Wellbeing in Mind Team (WiMT) to build greater resilience and mental health within the school community.
Research has shown that half of all mental health problems emerge before the age of 14, and there is clear evidence that early interventions can prevent problems from escalating and can have major societal benefits (Mental Health Foundation 2018).
The WiMT approach of increasing whole school understanding of wellbeing and emotional health, alongside providing some consultations and brief evidence-based intervention, is aimed at reducing the numbers of children and young people requiring specialist mental health services throughout the rest of their lives.
The emphasis will be on giving young people the understanding and appropriate skills in managing their own mental health as they face life’s various challenges.
To that end, the Wellbeing Team will be working with the senior leadership team to develop an effective whole-school approach to mental wellbeing in addition to the services currently provided. They will also support staff professional development by introducing a range of effective strategies for tackling low-level wellbeing issues. They are also introducing strategies for parents that can be used to support their children’s mental health at home.
For those student cases where general strategies are not sufficient, the Wellbeing Team can provide a limited number of evidence-based interventions on a 1:1 basis for mild-to-moderate concerns or advise the school on appropriate mental health service referrals.
The team will comprise Ged Davies (Clinical Lead with a background in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service); Jo Wheallans, (Senior Clinician); Abigail Smith, (Specialist Occupational Therapist) and Lauren Wall and Sandra Thomas, (both Education Mental Health Practitioners). The team has been in this week introducing themselves to students in school assemblies and will be fully set up to offer advice and consultation by the end of March.
Over the next year the collaboration, alongside the school’s new Personal Development programme, will add to the wellbeing provision of the school community.
World Book Day 2022
To celebrate World Book Day 2022, students listened to a short story 'The Hitchhiker' by Anthony Horowitz delivered in different locations over the course of the day. The tale is gripping throughout and the final twist, discovered during Period 5, was met with audible gasps! One student said she'd 'need some time to process' what had happened!
If students enjoyed 'The Hitchhiker' we have copies of 'Horowitz Horrors' available to borrow from the library.
'Read for Good' - World Book Day
In celebration of World Book Day our English Department have launched a sponsored Readathon for our Year 7 and Year 8 students. 'Read for Good' is an organisation which aims to improve the outcomes for all children in the UK by encouraging and enabling children to develop a love of reading. Taking part in the Readathon encourages students to be motivated to read what they love, and at the same time raise money to help seriously ill children, (and they earn free book vouchers for their school at the same time!)
Sponsor forms were sent home this week and we would be grateful if you could encourage your child to read as much as they can - they can be sponsored per minute of reading or per book - and they can read anything they like!
LRC News - A Message from Mr Asker
I hope you all enjoyed half term and hopefully found some time for some reading.
It has been lovely to welcome the students back this week into the LRC and it has been very busy with class visits as everyone looks to change or renew their books after a half term of happy reading.
Naturally students have been talking to me and each other about the awful events that are unfolding in Ukraine. We have ordered a number of books on Ukraine and its history and these are due to arrive in the next few days. We will keep these as reference books allowing students to come in and read if they want to know more. We also have a daily newspaper which again students are more than welcome to come in and read. If I see any online resources that are particularly helpful and aimed at young people then I will of course direct these to you next week.
The student librarians have returned with enthusiasm and are currently supplying me with lists of new books that they would like to see in the LRC! I will let you know when we have more new books available for everyone to enjoy.
My thanks to Thomas in Y9 and his family for donating some amazing Manga books to the LRC. Manga is particularly popular as a genre and I am keen to get as many Manga titles for the school as possible. We are generally well stocked for fiction and nonfiction but Manga has become hugely popular in the past couple of years and if you have any Manga books that you would like to donate, then please let me know.
Finally, you may have noticed that Shirley Hughes the children’s author and illustrator died this week aged 94. Her passing is a great loss to children’s literature. She drew and wrote the most incredible picture books which many of us will have grown up enjoying. She won the Kate Greenaway medal for 'Dogger', arguably her most famous and best book but was also the author of the 'Alfie' series and many more.
I wish you all a pleasant and peaceful weekend.
Mr Asker
PTA: Your School Lottery - win a bike!
Rossett PTA has an exciting way for you to help support the school and have a chance of winning up to £25,000. Your School Lottery is a fun, weekly lottery that raises money for schools in the UK. Play the lottery to support our school - it’s that simple! Tickets cost just £1 per week, with a top prize of £25,000.
Each ticket consists of six numbers and each number is between 0 and 9. There will be a draw every Saturday night when a six-digit winning combination will be picked. Match all 6 and you win the JACKPOT. Winners will be sent an email notification of their success. Every week, there is a guaranteed winner from Rossett School who will win 30% of the ticket sales for the week! Each week there is also a draw where a guaranteed prize of £20 will be won by someone from Rossett School! The more people who sign up for tickets then the bigger the weekly prize!
Just visit the online lottery site and buy your tickets now! Just follow this link: https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/rossett-school. If you sign up now you have the opportunity to win a £500 voucher for a new bike.
Congratulations to...
- Olivia Penman whose submission to the Young Writers' Twisted Tales Competition impressed the judges and her entry has been chosen to appear in their publication 'Twisted Tales - Stories From The Dark'.
What's happening this half term...
Monday 14 March
- Sixth Form Information Evening: 6.00pm-8.00pm, Sixth Form Centre
Thursday 17 March
- Acoustic Night: Main Hall, 6.30pm tickets available via Scopay
Thursday 31 March
- Year 8 Parents' Evening: 4.30pm-7.00pm
Thursday 7 April
- GCSE Drama trip to 'Blood Brothers' - Grand Opera House York, leaving at 1.20pm
- Year 12/Year 13 Parents' Evening: 4.30pm-7.00pm
Friday 8 April
- End of Term: Easter Break
H Woodcock
Headteacher
