Rossett News Update - 8 October 2021

Year 7 Parents' Evening

Our new Year 7 students are settling in well to life at Rossett School and we are delighted with their overall progress. On Thursday evening we were pleased to welcome our parents and carers of students in Year 7 to discuss these first few important weeks with their child's Form Tutor. It was lovely to welcome so many parents and carers.

Year 11 Supporting your Child Evening - Thursday 21 October 2021

As part of our continued commitment to helping students achieve their best possible grades at GCSE, and with the mock and summer exam periods fast approaching, we are pleased to invite parents and carers of students in Year 11 to our ‘Supporting Your Child’ event which will be held in the Sixth Form Centre on Thursday 21 October 2021 between 6.00pm-8.00pm.

This informal evening is for parents and carers only and will offer practical advice and useful revision tips and techniques for study. There will be information about support material; how to prepare a revision plan; and where to source revision guides and past papers. There will be an opportunity to buy revision guides during the evening as well.

Mr Saunders (Deputy Headteacher: Quality of Education) will be at the evening. Mr Royles (Deputy Headteacher: Behaviour and Attitude) will also be there, with the year team to answer any pastoral questions.

Friday 5 Headteacher Awards

Every week we celebrate those of our students who have impressed their year teams or teachers by going 'above and beyond' in their academic studies, their attitude to learning or in support of others. These students receive their 'golden' Headteacher's Award token from Ms Woodcock and a letter of commendation . We hope to re-introduce our 'Friday 5' meeting with the Headteacher after half-term where students have the opportunity to discuss their achievements with the Headteacher first hand.

NHS COVID Vaccinations for students ages 12-16 - Postponed

The NHS contacted us on Thursday afternoon to let us know that the vaccinations scheduled for this week would regrettably have to be postponed. They will inform us of a rearranged date as soon as possible. They also informed us that any students that have not yet returned their consent forms but still wish to do so are able to. Please return any consent forms to your child's Form Tutor as soon as possible.

As a reminder, the consent forms are produced and processed by the NHS who will look to see if the birth date of your child makes them eligible for this vaccination. If your child has already turned 16, or will not have their 12th birthday in the next three months, you do not need to return a consent form as they are not eligible for a vaccination.

The NHS literature states that the main purpose of the COVID-19, school age vaccination programme is to provide protection to the children who receive the vaccine and may help to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the wider population. Children will NOT be vaccinated without the consent of a parent/carer.

Extra-Curricular Clubs - Technology

Mrs Phelps, Director of Studies for Technology, is delighted to confirm that the Technology extra-curricular clubs will commence after the half-term break. They are:

Year 9 Stem Club (DT) - Tuesday lunchtimes

Year 8 Lego Mindstorms - Week A, Friday and Week B, Wednesday

Year 7 Young Designers - Thursday lunchtimes

Year 9 - Masterchef for selected students (day tbc)

Year 7 and 8 Textiles Club - Thursday lunchtimes, Week A and Wednesday lunchtime, Week B

GCSE and A Level DT catch-up session afterschool each Thursday (staff will contact students to agree attendance).

These clubs will be added to the extra-curricular timetable after the half term holiday.

Our Level 2 Hospitality and Catering support session is already taking place after school each Monday and Tuesday.

First Aid Team

Our First Aid & Health Manager, Miss Rogers was delighted to welcome back our Senior First Aid Team (Year 9-11) to a meeting after school on Thursday to discuss the events' schedule and forthcoming activities in school and to identify any future training needs. The group have been unable to meet during the pandemic. Miss Rogers will be launching the Junior First Aid Team (Year 7 & 8) after the forthcoming half term break when they will start their Level 1 training in earnest.

Our First Aid Team is always very popular. If any students are interested in joining or learning first aid techniques for themselves, they should go and see Miss Rogers in the First Aid Office for further information.

History trip to Ypres and the Somme - July 2022

This academic year offers the opportunity to travel again after the Covid-19 lockdowns. To mark this occasion the History department is organising a cultural trip to the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme in July 2022.

The trip offers an engaging itinerary allowing for a maximum involvement and emotional learning with a wealth of activities to truly bring history alive. The trip is for students in our current years 9, 10 and 11, and parents and carers of those students have received a letter today. Students who had places on the cancelled 2019 trip will be given first refusal of seats on the 2022 trip, subject to submission of a new permission slip and deposit.

All trip arrangements this year are subject to change - possibly at late notice, in response to changes of Government guidance.

Continuation of Lateral Flow Testing for students and staff

We ask that our parents and students support our safer school initiative by testing on Sunday and Wednesday evenings and reporting the results – whether positive, negative or void – to NHS Test and Trace via the self-report option at https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result and also inform the school at: https://rossett.school/studentcovidreport. It is our current understanding that this national initiative will continue until the Christmas break and further LFT kits have been distributed to students this week.

This information is helping the Government to understand the prevalence of the virus across the country.

Please note that this asymptomatic testing programme does not replace current guidance for those who develop the three Covid-19 symptoms, even if mild, which is to arrange a PCR test as soon as possible. If your child develops a high temperature, a new continuous cough or loses their sense of smell or taste or it changes they should self-isolate until they receive the results of their PCR test.

As you may be aware the self-isolation rules have changed and students no longer need to self isolate if someone in their household has symptoms or has tested positive for Covid-19 if any of the following apply:

students are under 18 years 6 months old
students are fully vaccinated
students are taking part or have taken part in a Covid-19 vaccine trial
students are not able to be vaccinated for medical reasons

In such cases, even if they do not have symptoms, students should still:

get a PCR test
follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading Covid-19
consider limiting contact with people who are at higher risk from Covid-19

If you have any questions please email Mr Royles droyles@rossettschool.co.uk.

Current Vacancies

We have some exciting vacancies at Rossett School including term time only non-teaching roles to full year site team roles click HERE for further details.

Rapunzel no More!

Miss Sandever, one of our Science teachers and ex-student of Rossett, has been growing her hair over the last two years - currently 84cm root to tip! On Wednesday 20th October she is having her hair cut to donate to The Little Princess Trust.

"My long hair has brought me happiness (and a few tears when tangled!) and I love the thought that someone else can now have the joy of my long lengths that are desperately required for children who have lost their own hair."

Miss Sandever would be really grateful if you could visit her 'Just Giving' page here and donate, if you are able, to the Little Princess Trust to help them to continue to provide real hair wigs and to fund research into finding better treatments for childhood cancers. Thank you!

Follow us on Twitter

A reminder for our new Year 7 parents that we post news and updates on our Twitter account @Rossett and @RossettPE. Follow us!

Well done to...

The U14 girls' Football team who won against St Aidan's 6-3;
The U15 girls' Football team who won against Skipton Girls' High School;
The new Year 7 girls' Football team who were narrowly beaten by a strong Year 8 team from Selby but showed great promise;
The Year 11 boys' Rugby team who battled hard against Roundhay School with some excellent individual performances.

We are delighted that our students can, once again, take part in some fantastic sporting fixtures and look forward to sharing the results of these over the coming weeks. We will include our fixtures list for the following week in Rossett News.

Fixtures wc 11 October

What's happening this half term...

Friday 8 October

Covid-19 vaccinations for students with consent aged 12-16 - Postponed - new date tbc.

Monday 18 October

A Level residential Geography trip to the Holderness Coast

Thursday 21 October

A Level Geography trip returns