“Our vision is to be the school of choice for our local community, developing successful young people with high aspirations, who show respect for all and endeavour to become the very best that they can be.
2022 was a year to celebrate our ongoing success at Roding Valley High School. The school continued its upward trajectory of school improvement, culminating in our excellent success at both GCSE and Post 16.
The school has moved from strength to strength, with an unrelenting drive in our teaching and learning. Our staff upskilled in the pandemic and we continued with our digital strategy, which is now embedded in our curriculum.
In 2022, we were able to start trips and visits again, providing those enrichment opportunities that our students missed out on in the previous years.
I am so proud of every single student in this school; their resilience, hard work and respect is tangible.
This year we can celebrate the success of our Year 13 students, who achieved outstanding results, where: 68% of students achieved A*- B | 92% of students achieved A*- C Their achievements at A-Level and in the vocational qualifications were quite exceptional with the majority having achieved their first choice university or secured excellent higher-level apprenticeships. Our results place us as a top performing post 16 provider.
As a year group, both their GCSEs and the start of Sixth Form were disrupted by the pandemic but the resilience, commitment and work ethic that they demonstrated has been quite outstanding. We are so proud of all of our students, however, we would like to celebrate some individual successes:
Among our top performers were:
● Ella Palmer - A*, A*, A*, A* - University of Birmingham - Law
● Jayden Patel - A*, A*, A*, A - University of WarwickEngineering
● Toby Hamid - A*, A*, A* A - University of WarwickPhysics
● Billy Robinson - A*, A*, A* - King College LondonEnglish
● Charlotte Copeman - A*, A*, A - University of Birmingham - Law
● Thierry Popat - A*, A, A - University of ManchesterElectronic Engineering
● George Mallender Jones - A*, A, A - Queen Mary University - Law
● Elysia Filaitis - A*, A, A - University of LoughboroughMedia and Communications
● Petar Petrov - A*, A, A, A - UCL - Computer Science
● Mia Ali - A*, A, A, B - University of Bath - Engineering.
Top performers included:
● Millie Simmons - Schroders
● David Igwe - Galliard Homes
● Thomas Whellams - Haslers
● Lauren Handley - Capgemini
● Louie Cooper/ Zach Rogerson - Ofcom
● Edward Johnstone - Hill
● Tanyel Ibrahim - Willmott Dixon
● George Fairhead - Higgins
● Daniel Famiglietti - Willis Towers Watson
● Sophie Cutler - Azets
● Amelia Spencer - McGill & Partners.
Many students took advantage of our fabulous careers advice and secured top post 16 opportunities.
We are incredibly proud of our GCSE students following this year’s results.
The GCSE results have seen some amazing individual performances and brilliant overall results which is testament to the hard work and determination we saw from the 2022 cohort.
Nearly a third of all grades awarded to students were top tier grades 7, 8 or 9. Our students embraced every opportunity available to them and achieved excellent results.
We really are so proud of the resilience that they have shown and are excited to see, once again, record numbers of them continuing their journey with us in our Sixth Form.
I would like to thank all of the staff that worked tirelessly to support and guide both our Sixth Form and Year 11 students to achieve such fantastic results despite the challenges of the pandemic.
This year we opened our school for our 2021 Open Morning, welcoming over 750 Year 6 parents and children to attend a presentation by the Headteacher and a tour around the school. With record numbers attending, every talk and tour was fully booked!
The following week, we also opened the school for tours, so that our prospective parents and children could see the school ‘in action’.
We are always so proud to welcome visitors to our school, and allow them the opportunity to meet our students.
The feedback from our visitors was extremely positive. Visitors commented on the purposeful environment, the wonderful facilities, the enthusiasm of the teachers and most importantly, how smart, polite and helpful all the students were.
On November 11th, we held our annual Sixth Form Open Evening.
We welcomed students from inside and outside of our RVHS community to meet with our Head Teacher, Head of Sixth Form & wider Sixth Form team. Our subject areas displayed their A-Level curriculum & were supported
by our excellent Sixth Form Subject Ambassadors. Our Sixth Form is something that we are immensely proud of at RVHS, and we looked forward to welcoming our new Year 12 cohort in September 2022.
Congratulations to our Music department for being nominated as a Music Mark School, in recognition of our commitment to providing a quality music education.
We have invested heavily in new instruments including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, ukuleles and drumming sets, which will all be used in forthcoming lessons for all students. It was such a joy to see our students finally have the chance to produce live music in the classroom.
On Thursday 23rd June, our new Year 7 cohort and their parents were invited to our annual Transition Evening event. The evening was a tremendous success, starting with a meet and greet where parents had the opportunity to meet some of the teachers that their children will have in September, followed by the Headteacher’s presentation.
The presentation included some of our current Year 7 students describing their first year at RVHS, a talk from our newly appointed Head Boy and Head Girl and a performance by some of our Drama Students.
The Year 6 students were also able to participate, in an activity of their choice – with offerings from Science, Drama, PE and Art.
To view our Transition Evening Slideshow, please go to https://rodingvalley.net/year-6transition-evening-2022/
On Friday 24th June, our new 2022 cohort of Year 7 had their Transition Day.
They had an amazing day experiencing secondary life, giving them a taste of some of the lessons they can look forward to September.
This last academic year saw the completion of our new bridge, with the final touches put in place over Christmas 2021 - what a lovely Christmas present!
This year we ran our second ‘Year 6 into Year 7’ transition Summer School! All of our Year 7 intake of 2022 were invited to attend for two days of transition activities, academic studies and enrichment opportunities.
Students experienced a taste of life at Roding Valley, it was a great opportunity for our new Year 7 cohort to form friendships, navigate the school environment and interact with some staff members that will be a very important part of their seven year journey with us.
It was fantastic to welcome Year 11 back into school as Sixth Formers and give them one final chance to try out their subject choices in preparation for enrolling with us in August.
Year 13 celebrated their time at RVHS on 5th July and it was really lovely to share this event with them.
Having missed out on a Year 11 Prom as this fell during the midst of Covid, this Year group celebrated in style and we are sorry to see them go! They have such exciting futures ahead of them and we enjoyed sharing in their successes on Results Day!
Wednesday 29th of June was a really lovely day with our Year 11 students. We started early with the leavers assemblystudents looked smart and excited, grabbed their leavers books and started signing shirts.
Our final assembly was filled with celebrations and successes, we were all delighted to be entertained by Caleb Beer’s outstanding performance - for which he got a well-deserved standing ovation! Congratulations to the bronze Duke of Edinburgh winners, students had voted in some year group nominations for awards and so we had a number of winners with highlights such as class joker, most likely to win the lottery and lose the ticket, funniest laugh, most likely to take over the world and so many more! Students cheered and supported one another and many of the staff who attended commented on how lovely the year group is.
At 7pm we arrived at the Prom, our students looked absolutely amazing and really threw themselves into the celebrations. Everyone behaved impeccably and we were all incredibly proud of the way that they conducted themselves.
This year’s Prom King and Queen were Caleb Beer and Bronya Overington as chosen by the Year group.
We are so very proud of our Year 11s and wish them much happiness, success and fulfilments in their future journeys.
To view our Year 11 Leavers Day and Prom 2022 slideshow, please go to the link below: https://rodingvalley.net/year-11-leaversday-and-prom-2022/
The Youth Makes Art biennial exhibition took place at St John’s Church, Epping on 17th June. The competition is organised by Epping Rotary Club and every education establishment in the local area is invited to present their best work.
Roding Valley enters this competition every time and we have always been outstandingly successful, on previous occasions lifting nearly all of the senior prizes!
I’m pleased to say that this year was no exception! Of the eight main prizes our students collected four of them (and a fifth went to a former GCSE student!)
Many thanks to all of the students whose work I entered, every entry receives a sketchbook from the judges. In addition, the following students won main prizes, including a certificate and cash prizes.
This is outstanding recognition of our wonderful, talented artists and for the amazing teaching from Mr. Baidoo and Miss Kalair!
• Daniela Perju
• Hope Henry
• Monica Jaye
• Skye Salek-Haddadi
• Megan Chilvers
• Maya Randall
• Jack Carr
• Lily Holland
Skye Salek-Haddadi - 1st Prize Winner - Best in Show
Skye has produced a piece of work about Human Nature using a variety of materials, including embroidery into her painting.
An acrylic painting for Maya’s A Level studies, capturing a person in a private moment. A beautifully expressive painting.
- Commended
Jack’s concertina, low relief, self portrait was a real crowd pleaser... so many people commented on how clever it was for the painting to evolve as they moved past it.
Congratulations to Monica Bhatia, Year 13 for her fantastic articles for an e-magazine called ‘An Hour in the Deep’ - she is passionate about the environment and has been trying to share information as well as learning more in her free time. Please go to the links below if you would like to read her articles:
● https://www.anhourinthedeep.com/conservation/the-importance-ofmangrovesand-their-conservation-to-indigenous-communities
● https://www.anhourinthedeep.com/science/coralreef
We would like to welcome everyone to our 3rd online Art and Photography exhibition. Usually we would present all of the student’s work in a large exhibition in school, however, we have had to find new ways to celebrate the success of our hard working, talented artists. You will find here a selection of the work from our Year 11 GCSE classes and our A Level students for 2022.
The pieces you can see are a selection of coursework and exam units of work from every student. These images are just a tiny snapshot of the work they complete, prior to this the students will have filled a huge preparatory sketchbook with research, experimentations, ideas development and proposals based on a chosen theme.
Each of these pieces are a personal and meaningful response to the theme and not only show some incredible drawing, painting and photographic skills, but also show deep understanding and meaning.
You can visit our Online Gallery either via our school website or using this link:
https://art.rodingvalley.net/
We are pleased to say that we have explored a new idea in the art department this year and we can now offer any piece of work from the Online Exhibition for sale!
We can place orders for professional prints at A1 poster size for only £20.
If you are interested, please leave a comment beside the chosen piece of work in the exhibition and we will get in contact with you.
At the beginning of this academic year, we launched a whole school literacy improvement tool ‘Bedrock’. Bedrock is an online, interactive programme that builds students’ understanding of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary.
It unlocks students’ understanding of this vocabulary via interactive games, assessment & retrieval tools. Bedrock has formed a huge part of our ‘Digital Learning’ drive. During our Digital learning weeks’, teachers build in interactive activities such as ‘Google Arts & Culture’; a platform that contains virtual museum tours, tours of famous landmarks & much more.
Reading and writing forms a key part of daily life for our students at Roding Valley High School because we value high-level reading and writing skills; our students participate in initiatives at a whole school level to build writing stamina and encourage a passion for literacy.
At key stage 3 level, students participate in a daily twenty minutes ‘Drop Everything and Read’ session and a weekly ‘Drop Everything And Write’ session, whereby students build writing stamina through a 20 minutes writing session linked to the themes of our cross-curricular ‘Personal Development’ programme. This builds confidence in extended writing, strengthening the resilience needed to be successful at KS4, KS5 and beyond.
At Roding Valley High School, we value the use of Technology to enhance learning. Our students also use ‘Bedrock’ to support their literacy; this is an online, interactive tool that builds our students’ understanding of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary and allows our
students to expand their vocabulary and become confident in using it across the curriculum. This term we have seen our students progression on Bedrock sky rocket and we are proud of the successes that our students have had with their vocabulary development.
Last year saw the start of our Rolling Personal Development Programme. Our intention is that all students who come to Roding Valley deserve to receive a broad range of equitable and purposeful opportunities that support them to have high aspirations, respect for all and endeavour to be the very best that they can be.
Alongside rigorous academic study, student lives are enriched by meaningful delivery of a robust, flexible and relevant personal development curriculum throughout their seven year journey. This curriculum intends to encourage positive individual physical and mental wellbeing and highlights the values of courtesy, truthfulness, courage, tolerance and kindness.
At RVHS, we really value the need to promote excellent digital skills for our students.
We have recognised that to become successful, independent learners, our students must be given more opportunities to develop their technological skill set. To support this, our students took part in our new Digital Weeks throughout this past academic year, where they used Chromebooks purchased through our Chromebook Purchase scheme to enhance their learning.
In the Autumn and Spring Term our Year 10 and 12 students enjoyed separate trips to Centre of the Cell. For our Year 12 students there were two sessions:
1. Genetics - where the students modelled how sex is determined, how proteins are made, and the different types of mutations that can arise.
2. Careers - students were able to question a medical student and an immunologist. They also investigated the different skills and experience required for a range of Scientific careers.
After the past challenging years, it was so wonderful to take some students out of the classroom last term!
A group of Year 9 students had the opportunity to explore and discover at the Natural History Museum. Such a great chance to engage with learning outside of the classroom… and the added bonus of a gift shop!
We have included feedback from our Year 10 students regarding their trip below:
“
I really enjoyed the trip to the Centre of the Cell, it helped me a lot with cells and it gave me a chance to experience what it is like to work with cells. I also liked travelling to Queen Mary University as for my profession, I would like to study medicine, so this trip allowed me to experience how university is like. Overall, I enjoyed this trip and believe it’s a great way to engage in science”.
“
The trip was spectacular. I enjoyed every minute of it. The ‘science nucleus video games’ were amazing and felt so surreal, but I think the most exciting part was the lecture segment when we learned more about the immune system. I found it enlightening because we were already studying that topic in biology, and having other people educate us was elevating”.
On Wednesday 2nd February, a selection of our brightest students in Year 9, 10 and 11 took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. They performed magnificently with 49 of the 121 students who took part receiving an award. Skye in Year 11 received a Gold Certificate and the Best in School Award, with Louis in Year 10 and Noa in Year 9 receiving the Best in Year Group Award. 5 students in all were awarded a Gold Certificate, 9 Silver Certificates and 35 Bronze Certificates.
We are extremely proud of all our students for taking part in the Maths Challenge. All participating students received House Points for taking part and additional points were awarded depending on their performance in this Challenge and the follow up Challenges.
Friday 19th November 2021, Epping Forest District Council welcomed four local schools: Epping St Johns, Davenant Foundation, Roding Valley High School and West Hatch High School into their council chamber, in order to hear from guest speakers, participate in quizzes and ultimately have their say on Climate Change.
The day focused on climate change and how we, collectively, can make a difference. Here we heard from a string of guest speakers from Sustainable Travel officer Nick Hill to Nutritionist Ashleigh Howard, detailing what initiatives are currently in place and offering valuable advice on how we can all play our part in helping Essex become Carbon Neutral.
The conference hosted a debate, which saw the attendees discussing the
motion: ‘This house believes that the blocking of roads and other disruptions, is the right way to get climate justice’. Epping Forest Youth Councillor, Bianca Nedelcu proposed the motion, detailing in her opening statement the efficacy of ‘disruptive’ forms of protest, giving examples like the Suffragettes to demonstrate how unconventional methods garner government attention resulting in productive reformation.
On Saturday 19th February a group of Year 12 Chemistry students (Daniel Mehr, RuoXi He, Tolani Aradeon and Chloe Norwood) attended the Cambridge Chemistry, competing against other teams to solve Chemistry problems.
The teams raced against each other, solving chemistry problems. Although they didn’t win, they had a fantastic experience which ended with dinner at Trinity College. Daniel said: “We had to answer 60 questions of increasing difficulty in a matter of 2 hours, all based on chemistry. The competition was not met without difficulty, but thankfully we were able to work together and answered as many questions as possible. We enjoyed the experience, learning from it and hoping to train a stronger team for the future.”
A group of Year 7 students had the wonderful opportunity to discover the history of London in March!
It was a great day out and so much learning. It’s excellent to see students have the chance to engage with their learning outside of the classroom.
In March, our Year 9 students had the opportunity to visit the home of Manchester United, Old Trafford. They had a fantastic day, and it is certainly a must for all Football Fans!!
To finish our spring term with a bang, some of our Year 8 students visited the Natural History Museum. Here are some of their thoughts about the trip:
“Today was great. We enjoyed it very much and would do it again. Our favourite part of the day was taking pictures and spending time with friends. We also enjoyed learning new things and going to the gift shop”.
Amrita Johal and Sarah Bujor
“
Very fun and enjoyable”. Ethan Joyce
“
The Natural History Museum was fun, there were many fossils and animals to look at”.
Imogen Piper
“There were so many fossils and it was really interesting to look at”.
Skye Nash
In April, Year 12 visited the University of Kent for the day.
They had the opportunity to see a university campus in action and heard from student representatives about university life, the opportunities studying provides and to consider the pros and cons of university accommodation. It was a great day for them to think about what is important for them in a university and if it is the right pathway for them.
In April our students in Year 12 had the opportunity to visit Capgemini Head Office in London. They heard first hand from two of our alumni students Jay and Raaj about what an apprenticeship and degree apprenticeship programme entails. We had a fantastic visit and are delighted they have invited us back to visit again in the future.
Amelia commented: “ Such a brilliant and insightful trip for a really great company. I strongly recommend going on trips to companies to gain more information about the working world and how you can achieve your goals. It is also a great opportunity to network with people in industries you’re interested in. ”
Haris commented: “ Visiting the Capgemini head office was really useful as I got to know what it is like in an office environment.
Speaking to previous Roding Valley students who are currently apprentices at Capgemini, helped me to understand the benefits of doing various apprenticeship programs. The environment of the offices seemed welcoming and independent. Thanks to this visit, I have broadened my idea of different possible opportunities for the future ”.
Last year, our Year 7 students visited London Zoo, they saw lots of animals and did a workshop on adaptations and evolution.In May, our Year 8 students had an amazing time at The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, learning about space.
In May our Year 9 students went on a fantastic day out to the Royal Institute and learnt all about magnets and motors.
Also in May, 15 Year 9 students had the opportunity to spend the day exploring the British Museum. This was a wonderful chance to explore the history curriculum but outside of the classroom. Special shout out to Ozymandias who we spotted in the Egyptian exhibit!
On Thursday 26th May, a group of 20 Year 9 students had the chance to visit the popular attraction, the London Dungeon. Students were welcomed by the Lift Jester, then descended into the dungeons only to meet Jack the Ripper and Guy Fawkes.
A wonderful day to see some of their History lessons in action. Thank you to Ms Edwards and Ms Stone for accompanying them out into London. Such a fun day.
On Monday 23rd May, 11 students from Year 12 were invited to come to The University of Oxford - New College. They had an incredibly informative and exciting presentation from one of the tutors, followed by a tour with 2 lovely student ambassadors.
The students were able to ask the student ambassadors about their experience at Oxford, the application process and what their favourite things about the university were. We were shown around New College, which included a croquet lawn and a wine cellar for students (how very Oxford!).
Some of the top tips about the application process to Oxford was:
● When writing a personal statement make sure to include 80% SuperCurricular (reading, podcasts, research etc.) and 20% Extra-Curricular (what you do in your spare time to prove you’re not a complete robot)
● Make sure to have fun with the interview, this is not a stressful moment but more an opportunity to have a discussion with someone who is an expert in your subject
● Choose a subject that you are truly passionate about
● If you’re doing it for ‘career’ or ‘money’ then that will show through in your interview
● Be confident in yourself.
Oxford is not full of ‘posh toffs’ some believe, the majority. Majority of students actually come from state-funded secondary schools!
It was a wonderful day out in April for a group of Key Stage 3 students at the Natural History Museum. Not only had Dippy returned, but students had the opportunity to do some live lessons in the Mammal Room! Great to see learning happening outside of the classroom and a fun day out all around. It has been a great year for Enrichment Trips with over 240 Key Stage 3 Students having the chance for a day out. Thank you to all the staff that supported these trips!
On Thursday 7th July, some of our Year 9 students went on an epic journey to see the Life of Pi
With outstanding stage effects, astounding animal puppets and an emotional story that showed them both a physical and mental fight for survival – it was as if they were really transported to the Pacific Ocean with Pi and the exotic Bengal tiger. Our students were engrossed in the mystery and tension the story provided – this seemed to be a hit with our Year 9 students.
Our Year 12 science students had the opportunity to attend the Royal Society Summer Exhibition. They had a careers talk and got the opportunity to talk to lots of different researchers about the career and research.
On Wednesday 6th July, some of our Year 8 students journeyed into London – not quite on a yellow brick road – to see the magical production of Wicked. They experienced spellbinding songs, beautiful costumes and the rollercoaster friendship between Glinda and Elphaba. After such a thrilling visit, they have definitely been defying gravity this week with all the excitement!
In July our students had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Transport Museum, where they completed an engineering challenge and they had to plan changes to a town to make it more environmentally friendly, managing a budget and explaining why they would make the changes they did.
They even built models of their new train stations and made posters to promote it. After completing the challenge, they interviewed two different types of engineer who work for TFL and had a tour of the depot.
A huge well done to our students for their impeccable behaviour throughout the trip. Keep an eye out for future trips in the next academic year – we’d love for our students to continue experiencing the live action stories the theatre can provide.
Throughout this academic year, many of our students have had the opportunity to participate in the fantastic Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. In March and May, Year 9 students took part in the Bronze Award in the Rodings area and around Chelmsford.
Each expedition was over 2 days and 1 night. Year 10 students participated in the Silver Award which culminated in their Assessment expedition in March. The Expedition was over three days and two nights in the most atrocious weather in the Chilterns, but the students remained resilient and completed the course. In the summer Year 12 students, accompanied by two members of staff, embarked on their DofE Gold Practice Expedition from 20th to 24th June 2022 in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. It was a wonderful learning experience for all the students as they put into practice the various skills they had been learning which included camp craft, cooking, orienteering and map skills.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme expeditions are a very enjoyable and tiring expedition for all and require resilience and physical and mental strength.
Over 1000 students and their families attended our annual Careers Fest last year.
The event was attended by over 75 exhibitors including local and national employers from private and public sector organisations, as well as Institutes, Universities and Colleges. Throughout the event the exhibitors provided information and advice to students at all levels. Students were given advice about apprenticeships and some of our Sixth Form students received support to apply for current vacancies, with interviews pending.
It was nice to see our alumni students join us this year and represent the companies they are now employed by, Sophie represented Schroders, Jess represented KPMG and Ellie represented Hill. They are all now employed by these companies in apprenticeships and sponsored degree programmes which they applied for after attending a previous Careers Fest.
A very special thank you goes to The Hill Group for sponsoring the Careers Fest this year.
To those students and parents that attended, I am sure you will agree it was a fantastic event.
On Tuesday 12th October the drama department welcomed acclaimed theatre company, Splendid Productions, to Roding Valley High School for a performance of their incredible two-man show, UBU, an adaptation of Afred Jarry’s proto absurdist play, Ubu Roi
The play was a loose retelling of Macbeth but performed through the warped lens of Jarry’s surreal and vulgar mind, and in the style of Brecht’s epic theatre. GCSE and A Level drama students from Years 10 to 13 really enjoyed the performance, whether it was the biting critique of power and wickedness, or just the fart jokes,
they were engaged throughout and saw an excellent example of how small scale theatre can think big. After the performance the students got to spend time with the actors and take part in fast paced workshops, where they learned new ways to create drama, which will go on to influence their own practical work.
On Friday 10 December, Year 10 and 11 were treated to a performance of A Christmas Carol by The Globe Players.
The show was an engaging revision tool, which really brought the ideas from the story to life. As a two person show, the actors created a remarkable range of scenes. The quality of the performance was evident from our students’ appreciation of the show: they were clearly captivated by the occasion. Having the opportunity to see this production helped to capture the Christmas spirit.
In May our Year 10 and 11 Students were fortunate to experience Macbeth performed by The Globe Players, this was to enhance the text they are studying in class as part of their GCSE English Literature course.
Creative Writing Club has entered its third year at Roding Valley High School and we have finally had an undisrupted year of amazing creative writing! The previous two years consisted of lockdowns, Google Classroom interactions and brilliant students who supported each other through a tough time – even when they couldn’t physically be together – but we have now had a year where we could share our enthusiasm for creative writing in a more traditional way.
As fantastic as our students were through lockdown at producing exciting creative stories, it has been such a delight to be able to meet up properly and share interesting story ideas. Every Monday lunchtime, our dedicated Creative Writers have been working tirelessly to produce the incredible work enclosed in our Creative Writing Club booklet. Their passion for writing, their endless imagination and the pure joy they
brought to every session has been infectious resulting in more and more students joining our Creative Writing team.
Throughout the last academic year, the development in their writing has been astounding and I know you will experience a rollercoaster of emotions as you read through this collection of their work, which is available using the link below.
It has been an absolute delight to host Creative Writing Club – what an amazing way to start the week! To the students who have been a part of it this year, thank you for making every session fun and full of laughter. To anyone who would like to get involved, we would love for you to join us next year and show off your Creative Writing talents https://rodingvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Compilation-of-Students-Work-Volume-3-2021-2022-Final.pdf
Last year our school held the most AWESOME drama and musical performance of High School Musical Jr.
The show was directed and choreographed entirely by Sixth Form students and the cast was made up of students from Year 7 to Year 13. They were all fabulous and I hope the pictures capture the energy and fun that the students had. It was very emotional having a live production back in the school hall, for the first time in over 3 years. This event encapsulates everything that the school community is about, inclusion, leadership, aspiration, endeavour and total respect.
The audio was coordinated by Year 12 Roding Valley High School student Lili Warden - creative director and stage manager for the High School
Musical Jr production and the school’s Co-Lead Drama, Richard Wilsonspeak about the first Whole School production for three years.
You can listen to this here: https://soundcloud.com/ everythingeppingforest/ rvhs-high-school-musicaljr?utm_source=clipboard&utm_ medium=text&utm_ campaign=social_sharing
We have also included a slideshow of 88 pictures from the Roding Valley High School production: https://bit.ly/PICTURES-RVHSMusical
In July, students in Year 10 had a special week participating in Careers Week, participating in activities to help with their future choices. They participated in a carousel of lessons that included: learning how to write CVs, interview technique tips, learning about Apprenticeships, College Applications and about qualifications, researching A Levels and university options.
They had an inspirational visit from Medical Mavericks where they heard about the 350 roles in the NHS as well as participating in some hands-on medical practices. 180 students took part in a take your child to work day. Students who were unable to participate in the take your child to work day had a live meeting with Pathways CTM and Telford Homes where they found out about degree apprenticeships in the construction professions. Pathways CTM offers a whole range of insight events for parents and work experience for students. They are really worth investigating.
They also took part in a work experience lesson and team building exercises.
On Wednesday 6th July we held our Mock Interview day and welcomed employers, governors and careers advisors to Roding Valley. Employers represented:
● Bank of England
● KPMG
● HS2
● Hill
● Telford Homes
● Lawlors
● Galliard Homes
● Active Recruitment
● Andersons Group Construction
● OMD Media
● Kase Care CBRE
Students participated in a mock interview and received feedback and advice about future interviews.
Comments from interviewers included: ‘They are a credit to the school’ ‘I would employ them’ ‘they were very well prepared’.
Our College Taster Day on Thursday 6th July gave students the option to stay in school and try A Level courses or to attend the local college and try out some courses there. 45 students chose to spend a day at New City College Epping Forest Campus. It was a fantastic day organised by NCC. Students participated in courses they are considering in the future, it gave them a real insight into A Levels and BTECs as well as the many vocational courses on offer.
On Tuesday 12th July Year 10 took part in Enterprise Day. The day consisted of 3 sessions:
● Problem Solving
● Team working
● Stock Market Challenge
All students really enjoyed the day and participated well in all activities. Year 10 particularly enjoyed the Stock Market Challenge where they needed to invest £15,000 into 10 different businesses. Well done to the winning groups led by Alfie Paddington and Marcel Zgarden who raised £64,000 and £143,000 respectively.
Also, special mention to Georgia Baker who was student of the day. Some student quotes from the day...
“
Great day, loved it - can we have another enterprise day in Year 11?” Eliza White, Year 10
“
The stock market was really good and would have liked it to be longer” Will Foot, Year 10
Last year we held our second Virtual Winter Concert.
Congratulations to: Megan Chilvers, Efe Kurtcebe, Gideon King, Tolani Aradeon, Archie Savage, Elliot Crookbaine, Amelia Dee, Andrea Erhardt, Oliver Furby, Liam Smith,
Francesca Hussain, Libby Watson, Aneta Charvatova, Roma-Diya Desai, Taylor Sheill, Leo Laidley, Anthony Blackledge, Rosa Marshall, Luana Cunha, Tom Chilvers, Tylan Sami, Rojus Jaudagis, Theo Savage and Vienna Igwe.
We have included a link to our Concert, we hope you enjoy our students’ performance, please use the link below.
https://drive.google.com/
At RVHS we have long had a house system that aims to develop a sense of camaraderie and identity, which supports students in their transition from stage to stage.
One of the main strengths of the House system is giving students of all ages the opportunity to work together, creating a truly cohesive environment and ensuring that age is no barrier to friendship and collaboration. This reflects the life that we are preparing students for outside of RVHS, nowhere beyond the confines of a classroom will students be required to work/interact with those only of their own age. It also allows for healthy competition, it drives our young people to improve and it teaches them how to fail. The House system also allows for the promotion of student’s responsibility, “giving all students the chance to learn and develop leadership skills is an outstanding benefit”.
In July, we introduced vertical House forms to our House system to help build the atmosphere for sports day. We had a great week where students had the opportunity to mix with students across all stages of the 7-year RVHS journey. It was lovely to see our younger students building the confidence to mix with some of our older students, building positive relationships and truly getting to know their wider school community.
As part of the week, we had students doing ‘get to know each other’ tasks, quizzes, environmental campaigns and creating banners and chants to help support the athletes on sports day. The feedback from students has been really positive. What a way to end a great year of progress, growth, celebration and success.
Congratulations to all athletes that competed and a special congratulations to Churchill House who won sports day by achieving the most points. The sports day shield will be engraved to celebrate their achievement.
I want to say a massive well done to all students who, in some way, have been involved in house activities this year! A BIG well done to Hawking House for gaining the most House points across the year! The House cup will be engraved to celebrate your achievements this year.
CHURCHILL
PANKHURST
MURRAY HAWKING RENDELL
Our Debate team has put together a COP26 Student Conference at Roding Valley High School where in their Houses students presented an idea to a panel of judges on how we can improve our eco-footprint here at RVHS.
The students researched their idea in depth and shared their amazing presentations, these included: doubleglazing of the school, reusable Tupperware for students, reusable RVHS water bottles and ‘green’ nonuniform days to help raise money for climate change.
A wonderful evening this week celebrating our student’s talent and creativity.
After 2 years without a showcase, it was so great to see students, parents, teachers and Governor’s on site and engaging with our dedicated students. Special mention to all students who participated, and especially to our category winners:
· People’s Choice Award: Sophie Blundy for her work ‘Stranger Things’
· Creativity Award: Ashlee Bashorun for her work ‘Jack Stauber’
· Governor’s Award: Sabriya Larke + Jessica Biagioni for their work ‘Poppies’
Head Teachers Award: Alana Cooper + Alicia Stokes for their work ‘All the Music’
Her online debate with the students followed an earlier session with Loughton Residents Association councillor Judy Jennings. Our students have been involved with the digital project over the last month and on Friday the online Politics Project initiative saw students, who were in the school’s Sixth Form Centre, raise a number of local and national issues with Dame Eleanor. Topics covered ranged from COP 26, gay marriage, the role of the Deputy Speaker, democratic engagement, the House of Lords and flooding and water supply issues in Loughton.
This year the site in Alderton Hill celebrated 116 years as a school. It has not always been Roding Valley High School and was formerly known as Loughton County High School for Girls.
To pay tribute to this 116-year anniversary, the students are currently researching the rich history of this beautiful school and produced a special edition of ‘Exposed’. A former student has written a lovely reflection of her time at the school and this can be viewed on the History of our school webpage, along with a sneak peek of some photos from the archive.
Exposed Special Edition https://rodingvalley.net/rvhs-exposed-special-edition-116-years-of-excellence/
A wide range of topics were covered when Epping Forest MP Dame Eleanor Laing joined Year 12 and Year 13 students for a digital surgery during the autumn term.
‘You know the feeling. You’re walking into your favourite shop. And you see it. That tracksuit. Those jeans. That jacket. You want it with all your heart. And you look at the price tag and you’re hit with that wave of sadness. You can’t afford it. Now imagine wearing that wave of dread like a badge into school one day. Now it’s based on that analogy, I believe non uniform days in schools are embarrassing and ridiculing.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to wear nice clothes, get a trendy haircut, and smell good. And it’s so expensive.
I’m 15, why do I need to smell like Chris Hemsworth?
And when I go to TK Maxx and buy a t-shirt from the same sweatshop made by the same 7-year-olds, that’s not good enough. I live in a lovely part of Essex with the highest concentration of sun beds in the world, or as my physics teacher likes to call it, the golden triangle. And one day a year at school all this pressure is made worse. For charity.’
‘
All my life I’ve been told I’m saying too much, I’m out of touch, just an emotional and passionate girl, what I say is worth nothing says the world. When a boy talks, he is praised for being intelligent, I’m told to talk less to sound more eloquent.
It starts when we are children, if a girl is bullied, she is told to ignore it, it will go away, and if it doesn’t, well boys will be boys anyway. It’s because he’s jealous of you, it’s because he likes you.
So, you lose your confidence, and though they’re only words you can’t face that consequence. And without confidence girls are less likely to participate in class, creating a feedback loop where girls get less and less confident in speaking in front of people.’
‘
I’m going to say a word, and I want you to consider your immediate reaction. Okay? Here we go. Periods. For some, it may be discomfort, shame or embarrassment. But for 50% of the people in this room it’s merely a painful reminder. A reminder to check your cycle app just to be safe that you’re not about to bleed through your uniform. A discreet self-reassurance that you’ve stashed pads in your bag and got painkillers on the ready. A quick debate as to whether the pain is enough to take a painkiller. A fleeting thought that questions why you’re in school at all.
Why are you expected to carry on as normal when seeing the smallest thing makes you want to cry or scream or yell? To be ashamed of something that the person you’re sat next to could be experiencing? To be embarrassed of anyone seeing your pad or tampon so you stash it in your blazer?’
‘And you might be thinking, ugh is she one of those feminists that like hate men and that. Yes, I am a feminist, but like I don’t hate men and that. I really don’t.
And that just shows how feminism is a very controversial subject, one that has negative connotations, of manhating. It seems that whenever I tell someone I am a feminist, I’m met with disapproving faces. Feminism by definition, according to the dictionary is “the advocacy for women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” That doesn’t seem so bad, does it? But, even though feminism is simply wanting equal rights, people still envision it in a negative light. A lot of people associate feminism with being feminine or radical feminists; you’ve probably heard of them, free bleeding and abolishing.’
On Monday 9th May, our Year students Christina Robinson, Rosa Marshall, Finn Madigan and Bianca Nedelcu attended the Jack Petchey Regional Final at Brentwood County High. All of our students gave incredible performances, we couldn’t be prouder.
In April, our four Year 10 finalists delivered their wonderful speeches to Year 7 and 8 assemblies. See a snippet of the speeches below!
Student leadership is a key part of our ethos and we have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of some brilliant examples. We have had five Youth Councillors elected to Epping Forest District Youth Council. They enjoyed a fantastic election day, on which every student in our school community was given the opportunity to vote.
The successful councillors are Kirill Ismailov, Ahiyan Shah Kabir, Natalie Moffat, Sydnae-Rose Smith, and Eylul Ugur. I would also like to mention Abigail AkersFurbank, Bianca Nedelcu, Tara Uddin and McKenzie Winslow who all stood for council, but were unfortunately unsuccessful on this occasion. It takes an enormous amount of courage to put yourself forward for these things and Miss Dyer said the students all conducted themselves impeccably throughout the entire campaign. Watch the results here: https://eppingforestdc.public-i.tv/ core/portal/webcast_interactive/651758
In June, we held our Student Leadership Interviews and I would like to thank all of our Year 12 students that applied for the positions. The high calibre of applications that we received made selecting the students for the roles extremely difficult.
After a very rigorous selection process, I would like to announce that the following students have been appointed as our new Head Boy, Head Girl and their Deputies for the 2022-2023 Academic Year:
● Head Girl: Tolani Aradeon
● Head Boy: Daniel Mehr
● Deputy Head Girl: Lauren Marks
● Deputy Head Girl: Lili Warden
● Deputy Head Boy: Isher Bansal
● Deputy Head Boy: Lewis Choules
In March, it was the turn of our to learn and brush up on their skills on Health & Safety, Literacy interventions; such as Bedrock, Thinking Reading, ACED, Accelerated Reader and Lexia.
Friday 15th July saw the return of Sports Day at Roding Valley. With some new events added in for students, it turned out to be a brilliant day of athletics and inter house competition.
The format of the day remained the same as previous years before Covid with each Year group making their way to PE to complete in the field events and the long and middle distance track events in their morning lessons and then competing in the sprint track events, tug of war and the new events bean bag toss, darts high score and Wellie Wanging in the afternoon, in front of the whole school.
In each event students are allowed a maximum of two boys and two girls with 10 House points on offer for the winning student in each event. The afternoon’s Tug of War competition saw combined Year group teams battle it out. The eventual winners in a very competitive competition led by Miss Edwards were, Rendell who retained their Tug of War title from 2019.
On the day a total of 19 new Sports Day records were created by our students. Year 10 with something to prove to the school and to leave a legacy created the most new records with 10 records. Year 7 created seven
new records, with Year 8 creating four new records and Year 9 set six new records on another record breaking Sports Day. The school’s Year 12 students are an integral part of the day as they help select the teams for each House in all the events in the weeks leading up to Sports Day and also help officiate, score and record on the day alongside the PE Department. The annual Year 12 relay race to reward the Sixth Form for their great effort and support on the day was back, with the winners being Rendell in a tightly contested race. Murray dominated the new activities that were staffed by other departments from the school, winning the bean bag toss, Wellie Wanging and the darts high score. This accrued a huge 150 House points to their Sports Day total on the day.
The last event of the day and a big favourite of the students saw the Staff inter House relay race.
Excitement built prior to the day and all afternoon from students and staff alike for this race, and it didn’t
disappoint. This event really caught the student’s imagination as they lined the finishing straight to witness members of staff compete for their House in the final event of the day, with Hawking house led home by Mr Maagbe retaining their honours of winning the Roding Valley Staff race from 2019. An assembly followed on Tuesday 19th July to reveal the results and overall winner of sports for which Churchill retained their Sports Day title for a 3rd consecutive year with a total of 1267 points.
Well done Churchill!
On Saturday 11th June, four Roding Valley High School students attended the Essex County Schools Athletics Championships at Chelmsford Athletics Club representing the West Essex and Harlow District. All four students qualified for the finals of their individual events and performed fantastically on the day.
Zoe Hedges in Year 8 finished 4th in the 200m final with a time of 27.65 secs which is a great achievement as she was competing against both Year 8s and 9s. From Year 10, Daniel Carter finished 6th with a new personal best of 4 minutes and 38 seconds in the 1500m, Harry Clifton ran the fastest time in the heats of 22.91 seconds but unfortunately didn’t compete in the final due to illness, however his time in the heat was over a second quicker than the winning athlete in the final, and finally Jessie Briggs finished 6th in the 100m final with a time of 13.5 seconds. Again these are remarkable results as these students competed against both Year 10 and Year 11 athletes.
A huge well done to all four students who took part, they represented the District and School brilliantly.
