Newsletters

Ribston Roar September 2023

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September 2023 - Welcome back! 

We are already in full swing as the new academic year starts. It was great to see many of you at the Information Evenings for all our year groups over the past few weeks. I hope you have found them informative. If there are things you would like to know more about or would like us to cover at Information Evenings in the future please let me know. 

Our Yr 7 and some of our Yr 8 students have been lucky enough to start the term heading off on residential trips. Year 7 to Croft Farm Water Park and Yr 8 for an adventurous camping experience at Biblins campsite in the Wye Valley.  These trips are such a good opportunity for students as they begin their Ribston journey, building new friendships and becoming more independent and resilient. I had the pleasure of visiting both trips for a day and it was clear to see that they were having a great time. 

In the Sixth Form we have launched an exciting new programme of Community Volunteering Opportunities!  Not only will this provide invaluable experience to support applications to university, apprenticeship or employment, but gives students a chance to earn some interesting rewards.

This month we are holding our Open Evening for Year 5 and Year 6 students and parents. This takes place on Tuesday 17th October and is an opportunity to come and talk to our fantastic staff and get involved in some fun activities in subject areas.  We are also holding a series of Open Days to come and tour the school during a normal working day.  These take place on Wed 18th, Thurs 19th, Mon 23rd.  More information can be found on our website:  Ribston Hall High School - School Tours & Open Days

Finally, thank you for your support with our uniform focus at the start of this year, we are already seeing the positive impact of this change around the school.

Mr Alec Waters

Headteacher

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New Starters - Year 7 

What a start for Yr 7 - from a Parent and Child meeting to Induction Day, Summer School and Croft Farm. We have seen our Year 7's grow in confidence, overcome challenges and embrace opportunities.

We held our third successful Summer School which ran from August 22nd-August 24th. Some of our staff very kindly come into school and offered a variety of fun activities to our new students, that culminates in a Summer Fair. . Families were invited to come along to the Summer Fair and get involved with the activities on the stalls that had been prepared by students during the week. Summer School is a great opportunity to meet new friends, meet teachers and for our new students to get to know the school. 

I was delighted to see our Year 7's looking smart and confident in their school uniform on their first day in September and even more delighted when they successfully found their way to buses and home that evening. Thanks must go to our House Captains, Head student team and Year 8 and Year 10 bus buddies who supported our Year 7's until they felt happy to be independent.

Croft Farm was our next opportunity to develop and strengthen friendships and improve student-teacher relationships. The 3 day, 2 night residential consisted of water and land-based activities that successfully got students interacting, giggling, competing and much more. The weather didn't dampen spirits and the Year 7's received a huge number of positive comments from instructors and members of the public about their behaviour, resilience and perseverance. 

What an exciting start to their Ribston journey. I look forward to seeing what this year will bring!

Mrs Pitman
Head of Year 7

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Year 8

Yr 8 students who did not attend the residential this week also got involved in  some fun activities at school.

In languages, they made a 'European Day of Languages wreath', colouring and decorating flags that were then cut to the shape of their hands. The group made 4 which are now on all the MFL classroom doors. They had a blast!

In science, students enjoyed putting their investigative skills to the test and were investigating ‘Who will cool down faster, a penguin on its own, or a penguin in a huddle’

Using test tubes with boiling water, they simulated a lone and huddled penguin. They measured the temperature every minute for 10 minutes. As predicted, the lone penguin cooled down the fastest, by quite a considerable temperature!

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Computing

We are really proud to have been awarded the prestigious National Cyber Security Centre Cyber First Gold Award this month, demonstrating the school’s commitment to excellence in cyber security education.

CyberFirst is designed to identify and nurture a diverse range of talented young people into a cyber security career. Activities are intended to inspire and encourage students from all backgrounds to consider a career in cyber security.

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Music

Izzy Ayley in Yr 9 has recently passed ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) Grade 4 Flute exam with MERIT. Studying with Mrs. Davies, Izzy is developing her musicality and technique in her flute playing rapidly. Izzy is also a committed member in Ribston Orchestra. Well Done, Izzy!

Two of our exceptional Yr 11 musicians in GCSE music received excellent results from their external music exams. Katie Nichols was awarded MERIT for her Grade 6 Singing exam by Trinity College London, and Patricia Padilla was awarded DISTINCTION for her Grade 5 Music Theory by ABRSM. These achievements are the result of commitment and love for music. A big congratulations to both Katie and Patricia!

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PE

Congratulations to the U16 Netball squad who played in the Challenge Netball Country Tournament and the Swimming Team who took part in a swimming gala relay event this month. 

The U16 Netball squad played in the County Tournament on Tuesday 26th September and finished in 3rd place overall. Well done to all that took part on a very wet day.

The swimming team took part in the Gala Relay event at Cheltenham Ladies College on 19th September. Our school was fortunate to be able to field 3 different age categories. Our Seniors finished in a very respectable position of second in both their relay events. Our other talented swimmers entered the intermediate and junior races and competed extremely well. Well done to all our swimmers!

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Another victory for Emily & Finn

Emily Ferrett, Yr 9, won the Junior Retrieval Competition at Frampton Country Fair with her dog Finn, aged 17 months. Finn achieved a time of 17.25 seconds jumping over bales and retrieving dummies.

Emily won this competition in 2021 and 2022 with her other dog Bruno.  Winning with Finn has made it 3 years in a row. Well done Emily!

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Congratulations to Zoë in Yr 8 who competed in the British Trampolining, DMT and Tumbling Championships earlier this month. Zoe performed all of her routines brilliantly and came away with silver in Cat 1 Trampoline.

This month she will represent the South West in the Inter-regional finals, competing Double Mini Trampoline (DMT).

Well done to Amy who is in Yr 11, who was recently selected to represent Gloucestershire Archery Society Juniors and shoot at an inter-county competition. Amy shoots at a local archery club, Deer Park Archers and the competition was held in Burnham-on-Sea, against junior archers from Somerset, Dorset & Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall. Despite the sweltering heat, it was a  great opportunity for Amy to shoot in a closely fought competition. Amy was awarded a silver medal in the Ladies U16 Recurve category, improving her Personal Best score by 21 points. She also gained a silver medal in the team event with the Gloucestershire Team of 12 archers, shooting 4 different bow types. 

The 2023-2024 indoor season has just started and last weekend Amy shot in the first Portsmouth Round competition of the season. Despite being officially U16, Amy shot in the U18 Women's category, gaining a gold medal and improving her Personal Best Score by a massive 86 points!

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Beatrix Aros in 7.1 and Eva Hart in 10.2 have both been selected to represent GB internationally in France and Croatia, in Artistic Roller Skating in October. This selection comes after both girls placed 2nd at the GB National Artistic Roller Skating Championships 2023.

Artistic Roller Skating is a sport which requires hours of hard dedicated training and sadly as it is not widely recognised does not receive any sponsorship or grants. To help fundraise and to enable Beatrix and Eva to make the trip possible they will be organising a cake sale and sweet raffle at school between 4th - 6th October.

Please support their amazing efforts and bring in some money for the fundraising next week!

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Congratulations to Gina Zimbalatti, our Site Assistant who competed in a powerlifting competition on the 24th September, and she came 1st!!! Pressing a fantastic 62.5kg

Gina has now qualified for the (GB) British Championships in Bench Press. 

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Congratulations to the Britons who are top of the House Points table for the beginning of this Academic Year! 

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Ribston Open Evenings and Mornings

If you know any families who will be considering Secondary School or Sixth Form in the next few years, we are holding a number of Open Evenings and Mornings that we are now taking bookings for. 

Open Mornings and Evenings are a fantastic opportunity for families with children in any year group to find out about Ribston Hall, take a student-guided tour and get a real feel for the school.

Bookings for October and our Sixth Form Evening in December are now open.