Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Newsletter

Roding Valley High School

May 2017

STUDENT SUCCESS

Essex County Schools FA Cup Champions Two Cups in Two Weeks!

Our Year 11 football team are the Essex County Schools FA Cup Champions after victory against a formidable St.Bonaventure’s School team. This follows our triumph in the Schools District Cup the previous week following hot on the heels of the Year 8 Cup victory in their district Cup Final match. It was an end to end game that had everything; injuries, goals, yellow cards, a last minute equaliser, extra-time and an extended penalty shoot-out…

The game finished 1-1 with our goal being scored by Ben Harris. The game went to extra time and with a lot of tired legs, cramp and injuries the boys fought hard and held on for the game to go to penalties.

The penalties swayed either way with both teams missing penalties, and it went down to the last penalty taker and eventually Roding Valley came out as victors winning 9-8 on penalties. The boys have worked so hard for this since Year 7, and they thoroughly deserve every plaudit and praise they receive from this massive achievement.

It honestly couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of students. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the team at the fixture. You were definitely the 12th man, which helped the boys dig deep and fight their way through to the end.

Sixth Form Executive Committee Congratulations to our wonderful new Sixth Form Executive Committee on being awarded their new roles at Roding Valley High School. The Committee is made as follows;

Head Boy: Matthew Tinker, Deputy Head Boy: Kyle Johal, Head Girl: Lauren Humphries, Deputy Head Girl: Jessica Galloway and Senior Prefects: Thisbe Barnett, Chloe Humphries and Lily Rowsell. They presented and interviewed extremely well and endured two rounds of interviews before being awarded their posts.

Best wishes to our GCSE and A-Level students in their examinations.

Alderton Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 3JA t: 020 8508 1173 e: office@rodingvalley.net www.rodingvalley.net

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STUDENT SUCCESS

Speak Out Challenge The West Essex finals of the Speak Out Challenge 2017 were held on Wednesday the 10th May, and saw Aliya Silverstone performing for Roding Valley High School.

As Alice Redknap was the 2016 West Essex Speak Out winner she MC’d the event, doing a brilliant job and doing herself and the school proud.

Aliya Silverstone’s speech was entitled ‘Gingers’, detailing the daily struggles and stereotypes put upon redheads and entertained the audience from start to finish, earning her second place in the competition.

All in all it was a brilliant night and Roding Valley definitely left a lasting impression.

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Teaching and Learning at RVHS Learning Matters

Teaching and Learning - the collaborative approach!

Roding Valley High School not only seeks to develop students, but staff too. As part of our Continuing Professional Development of teachers we have worked again this year following the Teacher Development Trust model to develop teacher skills and identify creative ways to ensure all students make the greatest possible progress in lessons.

The majority of teaching staff are currently participating in the Lesson Study Programme as parts of Triads or Quads. This is a project that enables staff to identify an area for enquiry, based on

our school priorities, and then plan and observe lessons together to pilot solutions.

This year we have focused on our Teaching and Learning priorities and set our sights Effective use of Starters, Teaching to the Top, and Engagement and Zest. As well as being a great opportunity to work with colleagues outside home faculties it allows experience and good practice to be shared as the Triads or Quads include staff of all experiences and roles within the school with the purpose of maximising the potential of our students.

Teaching and Learning Team

Harris Academy Chafford Hundred - Lead Practitioners’ Course The Lead Practitioner Role is the next generation of influential and outstanding teachers who have demonstrated a flair for innovation in their field. The Harris Federation Lead Practitioner programme offers those staff a structured and driven professional development opportunity to develop personally and drive forward outstanding practise across their whole school making a significant impact on improving the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for students.

4 members of staff; Miss A Wybrant and Mr V Bedi (Science), Miss C Bates (English) and Mr S Rahman are currently enrolled on to complete the eighteen month Lead Practitioners’ Accreditation Course. It is an intensive programme which has been developed to assist teachers in improving their skills in virtually all aspects of Teaching and Learning. The course includes training days which focus on Lesson

Observations and Feedback, Coaching and Mentoring and Leadership for improvement. Ultimately, our Lead Practitioners will form the core of the Teaching and Learning Team The Lead Practitioner accreditation requires evidence demonstrating the skills and attributes needed to lead other colleagues. The categories for assessment are: 1. Personal 2. Professional Knowledge 3. Process and Impact on others Throughout the process it is an expectation that all Lead Practitioner delegates provide ample evidence in all three areas of assessment.

The Benefits of the Lead Practitioner Programme: For the Individual: • A n opportunity to celebrate and reward outstanding and inspiring practitioners

• S upport and develops future leaders and those aspiring to become SLE’s or Senior Leaders • A ccess to a network of Lead Practitioners within the Harris Federation • A ccess to shared innovative research and resources For the school: • B uilding leadership capacity for improvement • D eveloping a culture of sharing best practice • M otivating and utilising outstanding practitioners to become Leaders across the school • C ultivating a culture of collaborative learning where the best practitioners share their skills and knowledge with colleagues K. Naidoo Teaching and Learning Team

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Teaching and Learning at RVHS

UKMT Team Maths Challenge On Tuesday 14th March, a group of students from Years 8 and 9, travelled to Bancroft’s School to compete in the regional finals of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge (TMC). Our team consisted of Jayden Patel, Trent Campbell, Saskia Cushings and Ella Margetts.

This competition gave students the opportunity to tackle a variety of engaging mathematical activities while developing teamwork and communication skills. It allowed us to demonstrate our mathematical knowledge working as a team to get through the challenges.

had to work in pairs; one pair had the across clues and the other pair had the down clues. We worked in our pairs to complete the grid using logic and deduction. The pairs were not allowed to communicate with the other; therefore this made it challenging as some of the clues required solutions to problems the other pair was working on. For example: I could read 2 down that stated; find the square of 8 across. At other times, it became even more challenging, where team 1 needed the clue of team 2 to solve one of their problems but team 2 needed team 1’s clue to work out the clue team 1 needed!

We started off with the Group Round and, working together, solved ten questions of varying types and difficulty in the time provided. We decided to choose the questions we felt most confident with, then worked our way through checking over each other’s answers in the space of 45 minutes.

The third round was the Shuttle where, racing against the clock, we worked as a team to correctly answer a series of four questions. Each team was divided into Pair 1 (given Questions 1 and 3) and Pair 2 (given Questions 2 and 4). Question 1 could be solved on its own, with no help from any other card, but the answer to each other’s question was dependent on the previous answer, referred to as T. This was challenging as you had to rely on the other pair to give you the correct answer for your card, otherwise all the following answers would be incorrect.

The second round was the Crossnumber, which was similar to a crossword but with numerical answers. This time we

Finally we reached the Relay round. As a team, we had to split off into pairs again, taking it in turns to solve problems.

There were four rounds of the competition; Group Round, Crossnumber, Shuttle and Relay. The questions required us to think logically, as they were quite challenging.

In this round, we had to sit on a different desk from the other pair. The baton was the problem, which needed to be solved.

The answer had to be checked with a teacher who was sitting in a different location from either pair before delivering the next problem (baton!) to the other half of our team. This did involve a lot of running around, and a race against the clock!

At the end, the results were announced and Roding Valley came 15th out of 29 schools that were competing.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable yet challenging day out, driving us to want to work harder at more challenges and to experience a different style of mathematics.

By Ella Margetts

Roding Valley Maths Challenge Here are some questions that are taken from past UKMT Maths Challenge Papers.

1. The number 987 654 321 is multiplied by 9. How many times does the digit 8 occur in the result?

a. 1

b. 2

Junior Maths Challenge 2014

c. 3

d. 4

e. 9

2. In the division calculations 952 473 ÷ 18, which two adjacent digits should be swapped in order to increases the result by 100?

a. 9 and 5 b. 5 and 2

Junior Maths Challenge 2014

c. 2 and 4

d. 4 and 7

e. 7 and 3

3. The shape shown below was assembled from three identical copies of one of the smaller shapes below, without gaps or overlaps.

Which smaller shape was used?

a.

b.

Intermediate Maths Challenge 2014

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

c.

d.

e.

Teaching and Learning at RVHS

National Cipher Challenge Success!!

In the 2016 National Cipher Challenge, Saskia Cushings and Ella Margetts placed 9th out of over 7000 competitors nationwide, earning a bronze medal. They only narrowly missed out on the top prize of £1000!

Following their achievements, 14 students from Years 7 to 12 were welcomed to Bletchley Park to celebrate their success.

We were welcomed by the organisers who commented very positively on how smart our team looked in their school uniform. They were also very impressed in how many girls took part from Roding Valley in the competition as most students who take part are boys. Saskia and Ella were actually the best performing girl team in the country and that is even more impressive as the students who placed higher than them were all much older!

We began the day with a practical application of code breaking by working with Netcraft - a company specialising in cyber-security services.

We were given the task of analysing a phishing kit used by criminals to steal other people’s identities. We had to analyse the computer code to identify

who was responsible for producing the phishing kits.

We then attended a talk on ‘Breaking the Gravity Code’ by Professor Nils Andersson, followed by a session with author, journalist and TV producer, Simon Singh. He spoke about Fermat’s Last Theorem and the journey of many mathematicians who attempted to prove it true. He also spoke about the scriptwriters of The Simpsons who left hidden mathematical messages in several episodes.

To finish the day, we were shown around the park and learnt about the history of Bletchley Park and how they contributed to the war effort during World War II. It was an interesting insight into what they did and the contributions of Mavis Batey, Dillwyn “Dilly” Knox and many others. Although not on the front lines, their efforts are said to have shortened the war and saved many lives.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and are very proud of Ella and Saskia for their great achievements in the Cipher Challenge!!

Chloe and Lauren Humphries (Year 12)

Google Expeditions Pioneer Programme On Thursday 19th January 2017, our Year 8 and Year 9 Geographers were lucky enough to enjoy a visit from the Google Expeditions Pioneer Programme. Using the latest technology in virtual reality, students were able to undertake a 30-minute adventure to a part of the world that they’ve recently studied in Geography.

Our Year 8 Geographers were immersed into the Borneo rainforest - looking at the adaptations of animals and plants here in order to allow them to survive. Having learnt about the Amazon rainforest before Christmas, our Google Expedition allowed the rainforest environment to be bought to life for the students.

Antarctica. Here, the use of virtual reality allowed them to gain a true understanding of the vast landscape and the uncertain future facing Antarctica in light of sea level rise and climate change.

Our Year 9 Geographers were transported to the wilderness of

The students were fantastically wellbehaved and engaged during the activity,

exploring the opportunity to see these locations through a virtual fieldtrip. We look forward to building more technology into our Geography studies!

Miss Stockings

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Teaching and Learning at RVHS

‘Loughton Young Artists’ Exhibition We have recently taken part in the ‘Loughton Young Artists’ Exhibition’ at the Loughton Arts Centre on the High Street. Each secondary school in the area, and Epping Forest College, exhibited a range of their work for one week. This year we selected work from Year 9 and Year 11 artists.

The overall prize went to Sixth-former Molly Swift, a former GCSE student at Roding Valley, who is about to start a foundation course in art at Loughborough University.

I’m pleased to say, that at the prize giving evening, we had 4 students who were awarded certificates and a cash prize, generously donated by Epping Forest District Council.

Mr D Tisdale Head of Art

Congratulations to all of our hugely talented and motivated artists, in particular these successful prize winners!

First Prize was awarded to Hazel Adams and her work ‘Scopophobia’ Second prize was given to Patsy Stow (year 9) for the ceramics work she completed in extra- curricular ‘Clay Club’ with Mr. Baidoo.

Olivia Biddle and Lana Roberts were awarded ‘Highly Commended’ prizes.

Extra Curricular Excellence

‘Dead-End’ Performance to Year 11 Students In January Year 11 students, had a visit from Collingwood Learning to perform ‘Dead End’. This is part of Safer Essex Roads Partnership’s (SERP) road safety programme and delivered to highlight passenger responsibilities at a time when students may travel with newly qualified drivers.

‘Dead End’ is delivered through incredibly powerful monologues interspersed with theatrical action, and imagery via a projection screen, the audience is guided powerfully through the key messages. We

see the build-up to, and consequences of, two crashes. Designed for this age group, the performance uses a ‘talking heads’ style approach with graphic descriptions of the crashes and the emotional scars.

This performance has been particularly effective as a means of communicating powerfully with Year 11’s, who have proved highly receptive to this more sophisticated and emotive approach.

Key messages: Don’t Drink/Drug Drive, Wear Seatbelts, Don’t distract the driver, Don’t speed or show off.

Mrs Cain

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Extra Curricular Excellence

The Taming Of The Shrew On the 28th March, selected KS3 students went to see a fantastic performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’, (a Deutsche Bank production), in the extravagant, yet authentic, Globe Theatre. This was part of the Challenge and Enrichment Programme run by the English Faculty.

Having spent the morning carrying out various activities in school related to the play, we were perfectly set up for an enjoyable, yet very educational afternoon.

The activities were designed to deepen our understanding of the play and prepare us for the scenes that we would see later that day. The wasp scene engaged us from beginning to end, largely due to our close study of it during the workshop.

The Taming of the Shrew is an early comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1594. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a drunken tinker named Sly is tricked into thinking he is a nobleman by a mischievous Lord.

The main plot depicts the courting of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherine, the headstrong, obdurate, and eponymous shrew. Katherine is at first an unwilling participant in the relationship but Petruchio tempers her with various psychological torments - the “taming” - until she is an obedient bride. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherine’s less intractable sister, Bianca.

The play’s misogynistic elements have become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern audiences and readers.

Already having a tremendous love for Shakespeare’s work, we were extremely keen to go on this trip. Watching the

Taming of the Shrew inspired us in many ways. For many this was the first visit to Shakespeare’s Globe and it certainly helped to make his work more accessible.

Personally, I cannot wait to go again!

Crystal Kucukarslan (Year 9)

Othello Review – A Trip to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse Year 13 English went to the theatre, to see the a production of Othello.

After dinner next to the Thames, we hopped across to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse which is adjacent to the Globe Theatre, a mockup of the original Elizabethan structure.

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse itself was as if stepping back into an Elizabethan theatre; completely wooden, and decorated in a traditional style, from the muraled ceiling to the deep ingrained benches, we felt immersed in the history.

framed and enhanced by the constant sound of falling produced by the chorus, which made the whole theatre feel as if it was descending and with him.

One of the most notable portrayals was Iago - we agreed that this actor showed him not as the usual pure evil, but as a subtle manipulator, who convinced the audience along with the characters, that he was indeed honest. All the characters had their own interesting interpretations of the characters, which made us think about our perceptions of how they should be portrayed.

The night was wonderful; aside from a fun night out with the class, it offered me a new perspective on a play I felt I had revised to death. Live theatre is the best way to get a perspective on a play, and to reinspire the initial intrigue of a script.

Hannah Smith 13Q

Although performed in the original conditions, by candlelight, the performance was far from conventional.

With crossdressing, partying and choral accompaniments of Video Games

by Lana Del Rey, the company truly reinvigorated and modernised the play.

They were not afraid to play new and experimental interpretations, from homosexual undertones between Iago and Othello, to exploring blurring gender roles. Cassio was portrayed as a woman, feminising the stage and in many ways, this made the female characters of the play stronger. It also added another layer of irony to Othello’s descent into madness, which was

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Extra Curricular Excellence

Manchester City Tour 2016 The Year 8 and Year 9 football teams were invited to attend a two day tour at Manchester City Football Club in December 2016. During the tour the students experienced high level coaching across the two days that was delivered from the Manchester City coaching specialists at their multi-million pound academy centre.

The students also had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Etihad Stadium and experience life as a professional football player, with many of the students taking the advantage to sit on Sergio Aguero’s and Pep Guardiola’s seat in the changing rooms and in the dug-out.

During the tour we also pre-booked our tickets to watch Manchester City play the Scottish champions Celtic in a UEFA Champions League match which ended as a 1-1 draw.

Mr Hudgell said; The tour was an amazing experience for the students who all excelled during the coaching sessions put on by the Manchester City academy staff. I would like to thank Mr Ryan, Mr Allen and Mr Jones for also attending and supporting the tour. Due to the success of this residential trip, I am sure we will look forward to run the tour again next year.

Mr C. Hudgell Progress Leader of Year 7 & Teacher of Physical Education/Science

Real Madrid Tour: Easter 2016 During the first week of the Easter holiday, 38 students took part in the Real Madrid Football Tour.

The students had the opportunity to indulge in the lifestyle of a professional footballer at one of the world’s most iconic football clubs. The students were treated to glorious weather and had access to train at Real Madrid’s training facilities and take part in a variety of different training sessions. Amongst other things, the highlights of the tour were the

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stadium tour of the Bernabeu and being able to watch superstars such as Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in action doing what they do best.

As a finale to the tour, games against the local opposition teams were arranged to put all of what out students had learnt into play. The outcomes of these matches were extremely positive with the U14s coming back from 4-2 down to draw 4-4 and the U15s team demolishing their opponents 6-0.

Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Well done to all students involved, as they conducted themselves in the correct manner and were able to take away plenty of memories that will stay with them for life. A massive thank you to all staff who helped on the trip.

Hala Madrid.

Mr L Jones Organiser and Teacher of PE

Extra Curricular Excellence

Year 8 Football District Cup Champions The Year 8 Football team won the District Cup Final by beating St Marks 3-1 at Met Police, Chigwell.

After dominating possession throughout the game and encountering sun, rain, sleet and hail....we managed to wrap up the victory in the second half with goals from Edward Johnstone, Ali Springer and Nathan Walters.

Thank you for all that attended and showed support, and also a huge thank you to John Ryan for his commitment to PE and driving the team to away fixtures this season.

Year 11 Football District Cup Champions Our Year 11 boys won their district final against West Hatch by a scoreline of 4-2.

The goal scorers were Jamie Reason, Harry Boyd Walker and Ben Harris.

They thoroughly deserved their 1st trophy together.

A big thank you to Miss Preston for transporting the team to and from the fixture.

The full squad are; Daniel McSweeney, Toby Hamid, George Taylor, Tommy Harrison, Tom Callagher, Edward Johnstone, Jay DanielsHammerston, Mack Stapleton, Jamie Thomas, Joe Marjason, Oliver Rolfe, Micah Newton, Daniel Famigletti, Ali Springer, Nathan Walters, Oliver Rolfe, Alfie Sergent.

Mr C. Hudgell Progress Leader of Year 7 & Teacher of Physical Education/Science

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Extra Curricular Excellence

Sports Round-up Futsal Teams at the County Qualifiers

Year 7 Rugby Team Excellent performances from the Year 7s at the Dagenham Rugby Festival. W1 D2 L1.

Primary School Sports

Years 3 and 4 Sports-hall Athletics Sports-hall Athletics was held for the primary schools in the area. It was lead superbly well by our Year 9 Sports Leaders. Well done to all participants and congratulations to Chigwell Primary who were the overall winners.

Years 7 and 8 Cross Country Team Year 7 Basketball Squad

A massive well done to the Year 7 and 8 team, who competed exceptionally well at the Essex County School Championships.

Well done to the Year 7 basketball squad. Big improvements and learning more rules and tactics game by game.

Key Stage 2 Hockey Mini Competition The KS2 Mini Hockey competition was held at RVHS. Well done to all participants and congratulations to the winners, Staples Road A.

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Extra Curricular Excellence

Food and Nutrition Highlights It has been a very busy, colourful and fragrant time in our Food & Nutrition Department for the last couple of months…

The beginning of 2017 saw the 2nd rounds of the two young chef competitions. Ellie Blundy and Abigail Ward represented Roding Valley at the FutureChef competition at Havering College, with Daisy Taylor and Koni Nowak attending the RIBI competition at Redbridge College. All girls represented Roding Valley brilliantly and didn’t disappoint in the dishes they produced. They all found it to be a great all round experience with their menu planning, preparing and cooking under such different conditions, so well done to them!

The Year 9’s had a busy January with many attending the Desserts Masterclass where they all had great fun making an assortment of honeycomb, chocolate soil, chocolate sauce and ice creams… the combinations of smells in T1 was amazing and everyone enjoyed sampling the end products!

The second event for Year 9’s was an opportunity to showcase their hospitality skills. They whipped up a storm with their scone making, and presented their end products with jam and cream, teas and coffees, and invited a guest to join them for their afternoon tea!

Food and Nutrition Team

Enriching the curriculum

Over the February half term, we went to Disneyland Paris with some of our maths teachers to see how they used maths in the park. We had 2 maths seminars about rollercoasters and how to make them a successful ride using maths skills. Whilst interesting, the seminars were only about an hour.

Most of the time was spent in the park experiencing how they used maths on the rides, which meant going on rides and having lots of fun!

Mr Rahman, one of our favourite maths teachers, organised the trip to Disneyland Paris for students from Years 8 and 9.

When we arrived in Disneyland it was around 8 o’clock at night and the first event was a dinner and show. The show was a lively performance about Native Americans and cowboys. We were all thrilled that we got to keep the cowboy hats they gave us before the show.

As well as having fun around the parks we attended two maths seminars. The seminars were a great way to teach us about how maths was used in all areas of running the park. We were told the different things they had to consider when making roller coasters from its actual design to the wait time before the rides. We then had to design a

roller coaster associated with a Disney character or film. There were lots of great ideas filled with imagination. At the end of the seminar we presented our roller coaster ideas to the staff at Disney.

In the second seminar, we watched a video on what maths skills were needed to keep Disneyland in pristine condition for people to enjoy their time at the park.

We learned valuable information about how to produce a rollercoaster and all the hard work and intelligence that goes into it. We also explored how the organisers of the park keep everything organised by using security systems and the maths involved in that and how many people attended the Disney parks. The maths

department has done a splendid job of balancing maths with an enjoyable time in the park. We were all upset that the trip had finished so soon but we were all glad to get home to our families!

We spent a total of 3 days there and it was filled with fun but was also educational as we saw how the maths we learn in school is used. The trip was fabulous and we would like to thank the maths department for making this all possible! You all deserve a medal!

Isabella Dreher and Isebella Long

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Enriching the curriculum Harry Potter Book Night Thursday 2nd February saw the library’s third annual Harry Potter Book Night celebrated by students in Years 7 and 8 along with a good turnout by the staff, many of whom are also Harry Potter fans.

The Sorting Ceremony was followed by a Potions Lesson in the ‘Dungeon’ (S2) presided over by Professors Slughorn and Snape. This was followed by a feast in the ‘Great Hall’ (Library) after which Professors Bingham and Hanlon from the English department ran a Wand Duelling Contest! This was hotly contested, with prizes for the winner and runnerup. The event finished with the judging of the fancy dress contest followed by fireworks on the back playground. Each student was given an attendance certificate, a piece of Hogwarts cake and a Hogwarts House bookmark to take home. Additional photographs of the event can be viewed on the school library’s Twitter feed: @RVgetcaughtreading.

Mrs Julia Martin Hogwarts School Librarian

Year 12 Geographers Visit to UCL On 1st March, our Year 12 Geographers headed up to the Geography Department of University College London to present at their annual Geography Conference. The students had been invited to attend and present on their experience of Geography A-Level so far; speaking about why they chose the subject, what they had learnt about so far and where they hoped their study of geography would take them in the future.

Prior to the event, the students had worked hard to produce their presentation and this was evident in their professionalism on the day - all of the students presented articulately and confidently! As part of the presentation they included an interactive Kahoot quiz, testing the UCL academics on their subject knowledge of A-Level Geography. I am proud to say that our students managed to beat them all (nothing to do with having written the quiz ourselves I’m sure…)

Following their presentation, we had a tour of the UCL campus and listened to a panel of academics presenting their research papers. Topics were incredibly varied from research into conservation of the European Eel to cycle infrastructure in Carlisle!

The students were engaged and somewhat amazed at how varied academic research can be within one University department.

All in all, the students had a great day experiencing an insight into University life and gaining an understanding of how geography changes from a school subject to an academic discipline.

Well done again for your excellent presentation.

Miss Stockings

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Enriching the curriculum

Year 12 Fieldwork Trip to North Norfolk On Friday 17th March, our Year 12 Geographers set off for their AS Level fieldwork weekend in North Norfolk. They carried out fieldwork to investigate the variation in coastal defenses at Cromer and Happisburgh as well as observe coastal features bringing to life what we have been learning about in lessons.

The students were exceptionally well behaved and engaged in their fieldwork - taking the opportunity to gain the important skills of data collection and analysis to aid them in their studies. The sessions at the beach saw us measuring pebbles, counting waves and calculating the angle of the beach but the cold winds meant that by the end, there was little feeling left in many of our fingers.

The weekend wasn’t all hard work however! Students took part in a competitive game of Laser Quest on Saturday evening and, with the addition of Miss Preston and Miss Stockings to the their team, it was victory for the girls! Before returning home on Sunday we also made a diversion to the seal colony at Horsey Gap and saw over 1000 grey seals on the beach. It was an amazing sight and we spent a while simply watching them roll around happily on the beach.

Miss Stockings

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Enriching the curriculum

SIXTH FORM NEWS

Former Roding Valley Students Presentation to Sixth Formers Three of our past students came back to Roding Valley to talk about their current careers with our sixth formers.

Amy Barritt, Callum Smyth and Harry Howard gave a fantastic presentation detailing the pathways they took after leaving Roding Valley.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our sixth formers to hear first-hand about how higher level apprenticeships and sponsored degree programmes work.

Both Amy and Callum are currently employed by KPMG completing accountancy qualifications on the higher level apprenticeship and degree programmes.

‘The presentation gave me an insight into the construction industry and who to contact for work experience’ - Holly Carter, Year 12

Harry is employed by Hill a local housebuilding company, he is employed as an assistant technical +co-ordinator and currently completing his sponsored degree programme.

‘It was good to hear about all the other options and not just university’ - Nafisa Darr, Year 12

SIXTH FORM NEWS

Lessons from Auschwitz Two Year 12 students have been selected to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project which is run by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Nathan Mellule and Jade Tucker will be supported by Frank Solarz (School Governor).

The project has two seminars and a visit to Poland.

The students then have to complete the project by educating peers and the local community. Once all the evidence is submitted the students become Ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Please follow the link below if you would like more information. http://www.het.org.uk/lessons-from-auschwitzprogramme

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Roding Valley High School Newsletter May 2017

Enriching the curriculum

Lessons from Auschwitz continued 5am Stansted Airport 6th Form students Jade Tucker, Nathan Mellule and I check in for our day trip to Poland. We are going to Auschwitz for the day. The visit is part of a project that Jade and Nathan are undertaking called Lessons from Auschwitz supported by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

The intention is that, following some seminars and the visit, Jade and Nathan will become ambassadors for the project, both in the school and in the community. So that “never again” means just that. We find ourselves on a specially chartered plane with about two hundred other students and their teachers all embarking on the same project. Surprisingly for this number of sixth formers the plane is uncharacteristically quiet.

The organisers relay information to the students in absolute silence. This apparent exceptional behaviour may be due to the fact that these students had to be up at pre-dawn to arrive at Stansted for a 5am check in, or they may be concerned about what they were going to see during the day; more of this later.

We arrive in Poland and are quickly conducted to our coaches to begin our journey to Auschwitz (German spelling). The first stop is the town of Auschwitz. We assemble in the town square in our various groups with our facilitators. We learn that the town between the wars had a very large Jewish community that lived well beside the Christian community.

For example, when it was the Jewish Festival of “Simchat Torah” The Jewish community danced around the statue of St John the patron saint of Poland.

At Christmas the Jewish community lit candles in their windows as did the Christian community. There was little evidence of anti-Semitism at that time. For the most part the town’s inhabitants got along with one another.

Contrast this with the horrors that were to follow.

The next stop was Auschwitz 1. This had been a Polish Army barracks until the Germans invaded and occupied Poland. The buildings were sound and built of brick, they were weather proof and sanitation was good.

Auschwitz 1 was never intended in the early days to be an extermination camp. It was meant to be a place of imprisonment for political prisoners.

Around Auschwitz 1 were to be built a number of “satellite” camps where the extermination was to be carried out.

Then we moved on to Auschwitz 2 this was the main extermination camp.

The buildings were poorly constructed and made of wood with very poor sanitation. In fact these wooden buildings were built using a German army design for military horses. The stables were supposed to hold 40 to 50 horses. In the event they held up to a thousand inmates in the most primitive conditions using three tier bunks.

We moved on to see where selection occurred on the platform as trains arrived i.e. Gas Chamber or work.

If you were 15 or under it was automatically the gas chamber; gives a whole new meaning about lying about your age. The students were still untypically quiet. The students saw and understood that the extermination camp was a business plan and was run on strong economic lines: overheads at a minimum and output at a maximum. The SS acted as an employment agency to I.B. Farben a large company of industrial chemists; they rented out inmates to do the work. The output of the camp also included gold from teeth, spectacles, shoes and women’s hair. Nothing was wasted.

We looked at other exhibits on the site for some three hours. The extermination camp was situated in a lovely piece of countryside that was about 40 square kilometres in area.

There were groves of trees amongst the ash pits, crematoria and gas chambers (some of which had been blown up by the Germans). There was also the hospital in which Dr. Mengele carried out his experiments. Wherever we went we heard lots of birds singing.

We looked at photographic evidence of inmates photographed in their “striped pyjamas” by the authorities together with detailed records about the inmates. You were only documented if you were not going directly to be gassed. After some time the Authorities decided that the photography was too expensive (economics again - an unnecessary overhead) and instead tattooed inmates with a number usually on the left arm.

At the end of the day the students had a memorial service for all that had perished at Auschwitz. This involved students reading poems, a minute’s silence and the lighting of memorial candles. The students (to their absolute credit) carried this out with the maximum of respect.

In talking to the students they came up with a couple of initial questions: How can anyone deny the Holocaust happened in the light of the evidence they had seen during the day?

Did the birds sing when this was an extermination camp?

Frank Solarz Governor

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SIXTH FORM News

Inside Justice Trip On 30th March a group of Year 11, 12 and 13 students attended an Inside Justice trip.

The students got the chance to listen to Terry Waite CBE, former Special Envoy to The Archbishop of Canterbury and Noel ‘Razor’ Smith who spent a total of 33 years in prison.

In the afternoon a crime scene was revealed on stage and a team of forensic experts and a group of volunteer students searched for clues and learnt how to compare fingerprints, DNA samples and other forensic evidence.

Peter Wilby Guest Speaker We were fortunate to have Peter Wilby as a Sixth Form guest speaker. Peter John Wilby (born 7 November 1944) is a British journalist.

Peter Wilby was, for many years, an education correspondent on various newspapers. He later became editor of the Independent on Sunday and, from 1998 to 2005, editor of the New Statesman.

Wilby was educated at Kibworth Beauchamp grammar school in Leicestershire before gaining a place at Sussex University, from where he graduated with a degree in History. While at Sussex, he helped found a short-lived university paper called Sussex Outlook.

In 1968, he began his career as a reporter on The Observer, becoming Education Correspondent four years later. In the same role, he worked for the New Statesman (1975–77), and for The Sunday Times (1977–86).

Wilby joined The Independent on Sunday in 1990 and eventually became its editor (1995–96).

Subsequently, he was editor of the New Statesman from 1998. During his period as editor, Wilby reported turning “a substantial financial loss into a healthy operating profit”. He still writes a weekly “First Thoughts” column for the Statesman. He also writes for The Observer and The Guardian. Wilby identifies as a feminist and a republican.

We thank Mr Wilby for his time, and as a local Loughton resident we thank him for his continued support.

3. E

The large shape consists of 21 small squares, so the required shape is made up of 7 small squares. So A and C may be eliminated. The diagram on the right shows that shape E is as required. It is left to the reader to check that neither B nor D was the shape used.

2. C In order to increase the result of the calculations (the quotient) by 100, the number divided (the dividend) must be increased by 100×18, so that is 1800. So the new dividend needs to be 952 473+1 800, that is 954 273. So the two digits which need to be swapped are 2 and 4.

987 654 321 × 9 = 8 888 888 889 1. E

Roding Valley Maths Challenge Solutions

Students follow us @RVHSTeam will be tweeting top tips, reminders, links and guidance for our students - everything from delays on the Central Line in the morning to revision tips and links for their GCSE’s.

SPORTSMARK

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