Parent bulletin 5 5 17

May has started with another busy week at Roding Valley High School.

I am pleased to report that Mr Banks our new Executive Headteacher has found the majority of our students to be well behaved and studious. It would be appreciated if parents could reiterate with students that our expectations of their behaviour and uniform are as high as ever. The school has been very settled since we returned from the Easter holidays and our older students are studying hard in preparation for their imminent exams.

Would parents please ensure that their child’s uniform continues to be worn correctly, skirt lengths need to be checked and jewellery is not to be worn with the exception of up to 2 stud earrings and a watch. Blazers are to be worn to school every day and please check that shoes comply with the school’s uniform policy. Trainers are NOT part of the uniform.

Mr Banks and I have spent the majority of our time this week recruiting to ensure that the school is fully staffed for September. We have recruited two English and two Geography teachers. We are actively recruiting in Science to ensure that Science has the capacity to deliver high quality teaching across all key stages.

We are currently advertising for an Assistant Headteacher to join our existing Senior Leadership Team and an experienced Year Progress Leader.

Internally, we have appointed both Miss Hanlan and Miss Bingham to the role of Challenge and Enrichment coordinators. They are already working with the Science team to organise some exciting STEM activity days for our Key Stage 3 students. They will promote debating in the lower years, have plans for a student led magazine and many other enrichment ideas.

Mr Hudgell will take on the additional responsibility of leading PIXL Edge. PIXL Edge is a framework for secondary schools and sith form providers to develop and accredit in students attitudes, attributes and skills essential for employability and life. Through a series of accredited tasks and activities (including target-setting and self-reflection) PiXL Edge enables students to systematically enhance their skills.

Mr Edeko has been appointed as the Head of Mathematics (to allow Mr Vermaak to concentrate on his Assistant Headteacher responsibilities) and Mr Jones as the Second in PE. I am delighted by these appointments.

We had 32 primary school pupils visiting our school from Staples Road this week. It was a great success, the children thoroughly enjoyed being involved in investigation work in both Maths and Science. It was great to see their growing enthusiasm and motivation throughout the morning.

Our Y7 students were busy taking their Assessments. They sat these in the hall this time to familiarise them with exam protocol. The students were well behaved and seem to have taken a lot from the experience.

May I remind Y10 parents that it is the Parents’ Evening on Thursday 11th May. Please make sure you get appointments to see your child’s teachers.

Congratulations to all of our art and photography GCSE students who completed their 10 hour practical tests last week. There were some outstanding pieces of work which will all be exhibited to parents on 8th June in the school Gallery Space.....invitations to follow. Well done to everyone for their hard work! The A level and AS Art and Photography exams follow next week…..

A letter has gone home regarding Y11 study leave, which starts on Thursday 18th May. A copy of this letter is available on our website. The formal study leave for Year 12 will start on Monday 15th May. Year 12 students will return to lessons on Monday 12th June. The last school day for Year 13 will be 26th May. Any afternoon exams that take place before this time will be supported with study leave for the morning session that precedes it.

Finally, our PTA are running a Ladies Pamper Evening on 16th June, it would be lovely to see many of you there. Details are to be found later on in the bulletin. Remember they are raising money for all the RVHS students!

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs S Jenner Head of School

PE Twitter Account The PE department have activated a Twitter account where regular PE updates, extra-curricular news and curriculum information will be regularly published. Follow @RodingValleyPE to keep up to date with our department.

Mr Hudgell You can follow us at www.rodingvalley.net and on Facebook at the ‘Roding Valley High School Official’ page.

Our Twitter (@RodingValleyHS) account is a great place to keep up to date with some of the latest news and activities in school.

You can also sign up to our free electronic media release service at rodingvalleymedia@gmail.com

Parents of Year 10 Year 10 Careers Programme During this summer term students in Year 10 will be writing a CV and letter of application in tutor time in preparation for the mock interview day on Thursday 13th July.

Over the coming weeks they will all participate in careers group work sessions in the Careers Office. Post 16 Options will be discussed and students will be encouraged to start some thorough research into which pathway they wish to follow at the end of Year 11.

Parental Involvement Encourage students to complete their CV, discuss with them your own experiences of job interviews and applications. Ensure they save their CV on a computer at home so it will always be accessible to them in the future when searching and applying for jobs. Encourage them to start researching which A levels or courses they may choose to study at the end of Year 11. In September I will provide Parents with detailed information about further education and the open day dates of local colleges and sixth forms.

Mock Interview Day Thursday 13th July 2017 I will send out more information regarding the day nearer the time. The mock interview day will prepare students for their first interview at either sixth form, college or with an employer. They will have a ‘mock interview’ either with an employer at the school or with a local employer at their premises. To participate in this students MUST submit a CV and letter of application to Mrs Mason by the end of May. If you require any further information or advice please contact me.

Kind regards Mrs Mason Careers Development Manager dmason@rodingvalley.net Twitter: Follow @RVHS_Careers to keep up to date with our department.

As usual the summer term is an interesting and busy time, I thought it would use to share some events in advance. These are suitable for year 11 & 12 students.

Bristol Psychiatry Summer School for sixth form students interested in applying to study Medicine Date: Monday 24 July - Friday 28 July 2017 A week-long summer school for students interested in applying to study medicine or gateway to medicine next year and who are likely to meet the entry requirements. Students will gain work experience, shadowing doctors who work with people with mental health problems, in clinics and hospitals in the Bristol area. It will also offer valuable insights into medical student life, medical careers, the interview as well as one-to-one support. The Summer School is free of charge but spaces are limited. Accommodation and food are not provided. Applicants must be aged 17 or above before 31 August 2017. Applications close at midnight on Sunday 7 May. Visit the website for more information and to apply.

Bristol Residential Chemistry Camp Date: Thursday 20 July - Friday 21 July 2017 A residential two-day camp for Year 11 and 12 students considering a degree in chemistry. Students will engage in practical work, lectures, tours and talks during their visit and stay in halls of residence. A maximum of 40 places are available.

Email chem-net@bristol.ac.uk for more information.

6th Form Preparation for Public Examinations Early indications in terms of student progress are extremely positive. The results from the last PPE results show that in the main students are on track to achieve their target grades. Students should now make sure they are sufficiently preparing for the next weeks PPE’s, ensuring that they are revising the complete specifications so that the results of the PPE’s can give a better reflection of the Summer Examinations.

Students should now be: 

working through 2-3 hours of revision per night



working on one past paper per week at the very least



using Power Hours with their revision books and applying the theory of “an hour a chapter”



watching YouTube Playlists where possible



making a complete revision timetable from now until the end of the Summer Exams

GCSE ICT: Intervention sessions on Tuesday lunchtimes in IT3 with Mr Hussain

Access to Water in School Parents, please be aware that the canteen has jugs of water available both during lunchtime and break time for all students to access.

Bottled water is sold at all outlets Large bottle 50p Small bottle 25p If a student is overdrawn or has no money on their lunch account, they will always be sold water.

After school sessions mainly targeted at Year 11s (but any student from all key stages KS3, KS4 and KS5 are welcome) in order to help support students to close the gap in either coursework or homework/classwork.

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

Year 11

Highest Attendance

7V

Form with the highest Honours

7T

Student with the highest Honours

Leya Hines 7V

Highest Attendance

8X

Form with the highest Honours

8X

Student with the highest Honours

Ewan Briggs 8V

Highest Attendance

9RS-3

Form with the highest Honours

9RS-3 & 9WX

Student with the highest Honours

Alfie Binet 9WX

Student of the week

Callum Hilton 9RS4 & Lewis Scarfe 9RS4 nominated by Miss Stockings for an outstanding piece of Geography homework – was genuinely speechless reading it!

Highest Attendance

10W

Form with the highest Honours

10W

Student with the highest Honours

Anthony Rogers 10W

Student of the week

Annie Davies 10Q nominated by Mrs Patel for showing resilience in calculating moles and having a great positive attitude!

Highest Attendance

11Q

Form with the highest Honours

11U

You can follow us at www.rodingvalley.net , on Facebook at the ‘Roding Valley High School Official’ page or on Twitter (@RodingValleyHS). You can also sign up to our free electronic media release service at rodingvalleymedia@gmail.com

The Humanities Faculty has a Twitter account designed to promote sites of interest, pre-reading, revision, humanities information, news and general humanities support.

It is aimed at all KS3, KS4 and A-level Humanities Students and can be followed @humsrvhs

Roding Valley PTA are holding a Pamper Night on Friday 16th June 2017.

This is a great chance for mums, optionally with their children, to get together for an evening of relaxation and indulgence.

We already have: * Spray Tan * Eyebrow Treatments * Nail treatments * Virgin Beauty products * Designer bags * Ladies Fashions * Jewellery * Glitter Accessories If you have a local business, or a friend with a business and would like to present, sell treatments or sell products, we would be very interested to hear from you. Please get in touch for full details: committee@rodingvalleypta.net

Y11 English Revision Timetable The revision sessions will take place on the following dates over the next few weeks after

EASTER

EASTER

08/05/2017 Paper 2 Ques on 4 15/05/2017 Literature Paper 1 22/05/2017 Literature Paper 2

Ladies Pamper & Shopping Evening Roding Valley High School Alderton Hill, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3JA. (enter via Brook Road)

on Friday 16th June 2017 7:00pm—10:00pm The night will include:  Beauty Treatments  Cra s and gi s  Clothing  Make up  And much more...

Tickets £3.00 in advance or £4.00 on the door, available from Roding Valley High School.

Payment by cash or cheque (made payable to RVHS PTA)

Contact: commi ee@rodingvalleypta.net

All proceeds from cket sales and raffles go to raising funds for the school.

Licensed bar (ID will be required) and refreshments will be available to purchase.

Enrolment for new ACL courses for 2017/18 goes live from the 15th May. We have ‘employment and skills’ courses including GCSEs in English, maths and biology, access to higher education, accounting, beauty, ECDL, law and hairdressing and a huge range of ‘creative experience’ courses such as art, craft, cooking, cake decorating, floristry, languages, pottery, sewing, silversmithing, upholstery and woodturning.

There are also free English and maths courses from beginners to GCSE. Essex Library card holders receive 10% discount on ‘creative experience’ courses (non-qualification) upon presentation of a valid card.

For more information or to enrol visit www.aclessex.com or call 0345 603 7635

GCSE and GCE Examination Timetables Please see on the following pages the FINAL GCSE and GCE Examination Timetables for May/ June 2017.

All students in Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 have been issued with an Examination Booklet containing all relevant information regarding the forthcoming exam season.

Tucked inside the front cover of this booklet is a Statement of Entry, this indicates all subjects that each student has been entered for and the level of entry (where applicable). Some subjects only have one tier of entry; some have Foundation or Higher tiers.

All information must be thoroughly checked. In particular, all personal details (date of birth, spelling of names) are accurate as these will appear on certificates and could prove difficult to change once certificates have been awarded and you may be charged a fee. If you feel something is wrong or missing, you must speak to Miss Draper the Examinations Officer immediately.

Students will receive their individual examination timetables after the Easter Break.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards Jenny Draper Examinations Officer Roding Valley High School

Piano Lessons: To book piano lessons please contact rosswall@gmail.com Singing Lessons: Private singing lessons are now available. Please contact Alex Larke for more details and to book your slot. email: alex@thevocaltutor.com Drum Lessons: One to One, Two to One and Small Group lessons available. Learn with your friends! Contact: marksevel@hotmail.com Guitar Lessons: Lessons slots are available on Mondays with lessons priced at ÂŁ12 per half hour. Please contact Rachel Espeute on racheleds@hotmail.co.uk if you are interested.

This company provide many resources to help students with their GCSE revision. Any Year 11 parents interested in this please go to this link: https:// www.schoolexams.co.uk/

KS4 Computer Science revision/ intervention sessions are running in IT4 on Thursday lunchtimes Come up to Homework Club Monday after school to become a times tables expert.

Time: 3.05pm - 3.40pm Place: Learning Zone ACHIEVEMENT CERTIFICATE GIVEN EVERY TIME!

ATTENDANCE MATTERS…..

Student Absence If your child is unable to attend School for any reason then please report their absence by phoning the school number by 9.30am, you must also ring in each day of your child’s absence.

020 8508 1173 On their return to School please ensure your child brings with them a letter or medical evidence if requested explaining the reason for the absence for our records.

Medical Appointments When possible please make sure you make any medical or dental appointments outside of school time. If this is not possible then please try to ensure that your child attends before and/or after their appointment Holidays in Term Time It is not school policy to authorise any holidays during term time except in exceptional circumstances. If you put in a holiday request a ‘Leave of Absence’ form must be completed (these are available at Student Reception). Please be aware if the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case may be referred to the Education Welfare Service who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.

For full details regarding attendance please see our Attendance Policy which can be found in the ‘Parents’ section on our website or contact Mrs Jeanette Low our Attendance Officer on the school number.

Guidance for Common Ailments Please see, on the following page, guidance from the NHS of common childhood illnesses; this advises what type of illness requires time off from school and what does not. Should you require further guidance please contact the school.