Rossett News Update - 5 June 2020
Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome to our first bulletin back after the half term break. We remained open to students of key workers and to other eligible children through the holiday and have welcomed new faces to our ‘on-site’ school this week. Please do contact Mr D Royles droyles@rossettschool.co.uk if you wish further details of this scheme.
Face-to-face support for Years 10 and 12
The last week has been a busy one. The government confirmed the opening date of 15 June for secondary schools to provide ‘face-to-face’ support for Years 10 and 12. This announcement came during the May half term holiday. Since then, we have sent out and received back answers to our questionnaire for parents of students in these two year groups. I am pleased to report that parents are extremely supportive of our planned academic review days (week beginning 15 June for Years 10 and 12), and the planned on site support lessons that begin from Monday 22 June for these year groups.
The predominant model of education for Years 10 and 12, and Years 7, 8 and 9 will continue to be remote delivery, but with enhanced ‘live lesson’ opportunities for all year groups between now and the end of term. Year 12 will be the first year group to receive these live lessons and a direct email will be going out to the parents and students imminently.
The Governing Body have met to endorse the school’s updated, detailed plans following the release of the Guidance for Secondary Schools from the DfE and the Government’s review of lockdown on 28 June.
Year 6 Transition
Alongside the remote ‘leaving’ of our Year 11, we have been welcoming in our new Year 7 with transition materials, letters and questionnaires sent either to their home or to their current primary school. Students have been encouraged to take part in remote competitions and will be able to ‘visit’ the school site through transition videos in the near future.
Dates for your diary: A Level and GCSE Results’ Days
A Level: Thursday 13 August 2020
GCSE: Thursday 20 August 2020.
A reminder for all Year 11 students, further details about enrolment in our Rossett Sixth Form can be obtained on the GCSE Results’ Day, or before that date by emailing Mr B Foley (Head of Sixth Form) at bfoley@rossettschool.co.uk
We will send you more details about the format of these days in the near future.
Staffing
Following a short period of remote interviews, prior to the May half term, I can confirm that we are fully staffed for September 2020.
H Woodcock
Headteacher
North Yorkshire County Council Home to School transport
As we work towards the wider opening of Rossett from 15 June please be aware that if your child is eligible for home to school transport through North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) you will need to register for this before 12pm on Monday 8 June. Please click here for further details.
The latest Government advice for parents on returning to school, including considerations around transport can be found here NYCC understands parents may not wish their child to travel on council transport at this time and that you are free to make your own arrangements.
COVID-19 Privacy Notice
In light of reporting changes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, parents have been sent a new COVID-19 Privacy Notice to be read in conjunction with the school’s current Privacy Notice. Parents are asked to share this with their child(ren).
Click here for the Addendum to Safeguarding Policy: COVID-19 school closure arrangements for Safeguarding and Child Protection at Rossett School
This addendum informs students, parents and carers and staff about their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding during the period of school closure commencing on 20 March 2020.
Saying it with sunflowers
Sunflowers and a friendly card were delivered to older residents in Harrogate as a group of students from Rossett aimed to bring joy to their neighbours during lockdown.
Around ten students in Years 7 to 11 were involved in the ‘Sunshine Smiles’ project, which will see pots of sunflowers and bedding plants delivered to 22 care homes in Harrogate. They have spent the half term week decorating the pots with colourful fabric, planting them with a range of bright flowers, and writing cards to accompany them.
The initiative has been led by English teacher Mrs Hughes and art teacher Mrs Warden. Horticap have donated sunflower resources, and Harrogate Borough Council Nurseries the bedding plants, pots and compost.The children have really enjoyed being part of this lovely community project and they are looking forward to hearing from some of the residents who have taken pleasure from their colourful floral creations.
Fantastic Fundraising
Finn Cawte in Year 7 (pictured left) has been doing some fabulous fundraising during April and May. Finn and his siblings have been raising money for the WWF by running 26 miles over 26 days - some of the runs were even themed and run in fancy dress! Well done to Finn and his family who have raised £710 for the WWF.
Oliver Houseman in Year 12 (pictured right) ran 10km in just over an hour today to raise money for the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign this week. He has raised £959 so far and hopes to add to this figure:
https://justgiving.com/fundraising/olih-blm-10km
New international links forged
Students at Rossett have established a new international link with a school in Peru to put their language skills into practice. Twelve Year 7 students have volunteered to take part and letters were sent before half term; this week, we received our first replies. This is a perfect opportunity at this time to practise the new content to the Spanish curriculum being learned during this period of remote study. Students have been talking about their free time and hobbies and how their experiences compare to their friends in Peru. As a British Council International Schools Award school, we are happy to be able to continue such important international cooperation. Well done to all involved, and we await the next instalment in Year 7's correspondence. Here is Joe Alderson's message:
Hola, me llamo Joseph y vivo en Harrogate en Inglaterra. Tengo doce años y voy a la
escuela de Rossett. Llueve mucho aqui. Mis hobbies son me gusta leer y jugar videojuegos.
Mi deporte favorito es el tenis porque es divertida . Tengo dos hermanas, son cinco y dos años.
Mi mejor amigo se llama Rory y me gusta porque es muy alegre y servicial. Hasta pronto.
Learn Mandarin
Our Mandarin teachers Jie and Xueni, from the University of Leeds, would like to encourage our Mandarin students in Year 7 and Year 8 (and anybody else who wishes to get involved; the more the merrier!) to have a look at some suggested videos here to keep their Mandarin going during this period of Remote Learning. We would love to see some videos of you speaking Mandarin at home, or even attempting the Apple Song Dance! Please submit to Mr Halliwell at CHalliwell@rossettschool.co.uk
Activities at School
During half-term last week, school remained open for the children of keyworkers and others who are eligible. Students enjoyed a fantastic array of activities which included enhancing their sewing skills, making cupcakes and pancakes and completing a treasure hunt. Everyone also spent time in the sensory garden making the most of the lovely weather conditions and pond watching and fish feeding. In addition, each morning before continuing with their remote learning, students enjoyed walks in the local area including a visit to the Pine Woods.
This week students have enjoyed a paper 'engineering' competition and have been amazed at their abilities when challenged to make their own holograms (using a template, some plastic and their iPad!)
Star students this week...
Well done to Year 9 students Lucie Cliff, Emma Coates, Connie Craven, Emily Dicker, Emily Girven, Charlie Greenwood, Alice Loring, Louie Faulkner, Alannah Saphir and Phoebe Simpson for impressing their English teacher, Ms Dargie, with their amazing short stories inspired by ‘The Darkness Out There’, a short story by Penelope Lively.
Mrs Brown would like a special mention for Eve Wardill in Year 9 who is producing some great work in Fine Art. The work that Eve has submitted during this remote learning period has been fantastic. It would be impressive if completed in school, but the fact that she has done this at home is a credit to her commitment to the subject. Well done Eve!
In Geography, Year 7 students were tasked to design a settlement using the information that they have learnt about on the sites, situations and function of settlements. You can see some of their fantastic work below:
Annabelle Gosper in Year 7 impressed her Drama Teacher, Miss Askew this week - Annabelle performed a spectacular live magic show and presented herself confidently, adding in moments of humour to entertain the audience. Annabelle added to the magical environment by wearing costume; using a magician's backdrop and underscoring her performance with music. Annabelle certainly impressed her audience and her teacher.
And finally for this week, well done to Jack Watson also in Year 7 for his wonderful poem that impressed his English teacher (Mr Dale) and the whole year team. We hope that you enjoy it too:
When I was little, I just wanted to have fun
I associate that with yellow, the colour of the sun
Always in my garden playing around
I wondered to myself what grows under the ground
I asked my dad about the plants and the flowers
And he said why don’t you grown some with your magic powers
As yellow was my favourite and just like the sun
We decided on having some sunflower fun
So, into a pot the seeds did go
And over the weeks we watched it grow
Now nearly a month it had grown so tall
It made my dad feel very small
Up it went now touching the sun
I told you yellow was the colour of fun.
Padlet
If you haven't yet checked-out Padlet have a look this weekend. Mrs Huett, our Learning Resource Manager, has put together a wealth of resources to keep you busy. Along with ideas of how to access reading materials you can enter writing competitions, complete puzzles and quizzes. This week, particular highlights include the 'Empathy Day Read Aloud' where you can listen to some wonderful empathy boosting stories from some great authors and poets.
Empathy Day on 9 June is all about seeing life from another's point of view and books are an excellent way to see the world through another's eyes and broaden our understanding of others. Empathy is especially important at the moment with current events in the USA and the response across the world. We place great importance on having a diverse selection of books in our LRC and the link to our LRC catalogue is here.
Follow the link to 'Padlet' here for lots of links, reviews and recommendations. Remember to keep checking in on 'Padlet' as news and links will be updated regularly.
Oxbridge Q&A on Zoom
On Tuesday, several Year 12 students took part in a 'Zoom' Q&A session with current students and professors at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. This event was organised jointly by both universities to allow students interested in applying to these establishments the chance to ask questions about the application process and find out what life is like as an Oxbridge student. Under normal circumstances this is done through visiting speakers and trips to these locations so this was a brilliant 'virtual' opportunity for our students interested in applying to these universities.
Westrow Academy - Open Day
Westrow Hairdressing Academy in Leeds are hosting Open Days on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 July 2020. You can book an appointment either online or by telephone and will be given an individual appointment, held at 15 minute interval to comply with social distancing rules. If you are interested in a career in hairdressing or barbering find out more here.
PTA School Lottery - update
The PTA has been understandably quiet during recent weeks, however, the School Lottery is still running and people are winning, the total prize payout over 13 draws has been over £230! The current lottery should help raise over £1000 over 12 months for the school.
We would still like more people to join the lottery – more people increases the weekly prize and also the funding for the school, in addition, you get the chance to win the £25,000 jackpot! If you haven’t yet got your tickets, or you know other Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles who would like to take part, please invite them using this link - https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/rossett-school.
Tips for home learning
- Where possible have a quiet space away from distractions;
- Be organised - have a routine based around the school day including break and lunchtime;
- Leave your mobile phone in another room and turn off notifications while you are home learning;
- Stay safe on-line - only use trusted websites.
- Remember you can contact your teachers with any queries via Teams and the Network Team with any IT queries. at: studentIThelp@rossettschool.co.uk
H Woodcock
Headteacher
