Rossett News Update - 9 September 2021
Welcome back to all of our parents, carers and students. We extend a very warm welcome to Rossett to the parents/carers of our new Year 7 students. We hope you enjoy our weekly newsletter which is sent to all parents every Friday afternoon and keeps you up-to-date with everything that is taking place at Rossett and showcases the achievements of our students, staff and community.
Congratulations to all of our students in Years 11 and 13
We celebrated the successes of our Year 11 and 13 students this summer earlier than usual with results’ days in the third week of the holidays.
The staff in school met with those students who needed support to decide on their final future plans after the summer; we were pleased to see all of them take the next steps to the universities, workplaces, colleges and apprenticeships to which they had applied.
As a staff we were touched with the number of students and parents who contacted us to reiterate their thanks for all that had been done in support of learning this year.
We hope to formally congratulate our Year 11 leavers at our Presentation Event this year. The Sixth Form Team led a fantastic farewell Graduation Event in July.
Please click the links to read the A Level and GCSE press releases.
Year Team Changes
All year teams are listed below. The contact system for all pastoral staff follows the pattern of their initial and surname (lower case) followed by @rossettschool.co.uk eg asmith@rossettschool.co.uk
Director of Learning (Year 7): Mrs H Grabham Transition Support Officer: Miss A Dalton
Director of Learning (Year 8): Mr M Fell (whilst Student Support Officer: Mrs C Russell
Mrs Grimshaw is on maternity leave)
Director of Learning (Year 9): Miss N Mooney Student Support Officer: Mrs D Banyard/Ms P Mills
Director of Learning (Year 10): Mr M Sweetman Student Support Officer: Mrs G Reynolds
Director of Learning (Year 11): Mr M Bulmer Student Support Officer: Mrs C Saunders
Acting Head of Sixth Form: Mr R Keyworth (whilst Student Support Officer: Ms P Higgins
Dr Reed is on maternity leave)
Acting Assistant Head of Sixth Form: Mr R Durbin
New Teaching Staff
This term we welcome the following staff to Rossett:
Senior Leadership Team:
Mr J Warren: Assistant Headteacher: Behaviour and Attitudes
Humanities:
Miss L Feneck: Sociology/Psychology
Miss J Mitchell: Geography
Science:
Miss S Hunt: Physics
Miss A Harmer: Science
Teaching and Learning Support
Mr A Thompson
Languages Assistants
Mrs M Seddon
Mr F Ramiirez
Welcome to our Year 7 students
Mrs Grabham and Miss Dalton have been delighted with the enthusiasm and engagement of our new Year 7 students this week. On Tuesday they undertook a number of transition activities with their Form Tutors which focused on the past, present and future. This culminated in the students writing a pledge to their commitment to their learning and the 3Rs Culture of Learning here at Rossett. Some students presented this in a speech and their excellent attitude and heartfelt commitment was very personal to them. The students will get the opportunity to review their pledge as the year progresses.
Lateral Flow Testing
Monday will see the last day of our on-site lateral flow tests for students required by the Government. We have been extremely impressed with the resilience of our students, and in particular our new Year 7s who had not been through a testing process in school before. Without exception the students followed instructions and acted in a mature fashion in their approach to the lateral flow tests. Next week all students will be given test kits to complete home testing twice a week (on Sunday and Wednesday evenings) commencing Wednesday 15 September. I would like to thank Parents/Carers for their support in ensuring consents were received in a timely fashion for this process.
Uniform
We have had an excellent start to the academic year in all year groups.
Students have arrived smartly attired and ready to learn from day one. Where supplier issues have meant that uniform has been incomplete, or where students have been advised by letter/contact with home to adjust their uniform in the light of the school’s expectations, there has been a real understanding from parents regarding the importance of getting things right before next Monday. We would respectfully remind parents of the importance of using this weekend to address any of these minor issues, to avoid any sanctions next week. Please can we urge that any individual issues are communicated as soon as possible to the Year Team (see contacts in this newsletter) in the first instance, if necessary.
Please click here to read our 'return to school' email that also contains information on uniform.
PD not PSHE
At the end of last term, we wrote to you about the changes to the PSHE curriculum. This provision is now known as PD (Personal Development) and, instead of being taught by Tutors every Wednesday, the Personal Development programme is now taught as a curriculum subject, by a specialist team. The curriculum time also includes the teaching of RSE (Relationships and Sex Education). Different year groups are taught at different times of the week; the staff leading and managing the delivery of this very important aspect of education are Mrs S Daly (Associate Assistant Headteacher) and Ms K Taswell (PD Coordinator).
Buses
As a school we are aware that many parents suffered transport issues with the Harrogate Bus Company (Transdev) services on the first day back, Wednesday morning.
This was caused by a decision taken by NYCC–School Transport and Transdev in August to reduce the number of vehicles serving the inner Harrogate routes. This was due to significantly reduced numbers of students travelling on the buses in the previous school year.
Working with NYCC and Transdev we were able to secure a second S3 double decker to travel from Jennyfields, which has resolved the issue for most students.
In Summary,
Old Route 780H/781H Jennyfields/Pennypot New Route S3 Use one of the two S3 labelled buses
Old Route 782H/783H Bilton New Route S2 Direct to Rossett School
New Route S2A/6 Travels via the bus station, and then
drops off outside Rossett School
Old Route 784H Woodlands/Starbeck New route 8A Direct to Rossett School
For more detail please follow this link to the bus company website Timetables & Maps - The Harrogate Bus Company (transdevbus.co.uk)
On a positive note it is now possible for students on these services to use a weekly “Young person’s Travelcard” costing £9.60, which is valid for travel on any Inner Harrogate bus and at weekends. The day return price remains at £2.90, £14.50 per week.
Rossett Adult Learning Autumn Programme 2021
Rossett Adult Learning provides part-time day and evening learning for pleasure classes to suit all tastes and interests, to the local community.
The new Autumn 2021 Programme with over 150 interesting and engaging courses is live for enrolment. To download the full programme please click HERE
H Woodcock
Headteacher