As we approach the midpoint of this summer term, I am pleased to share with you the latest updates and achievements from our school community.
On Thursday, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of VE Day with a whole-school online assembly, providing an opportunity for reflection and remembrance. This event, coupled with the recent bank holiday weekend, has given us all a moment to pause and appreciate the sacrifices made by previous generations.
Our examination season is now in full swing. Year 11 students have begun their exams, with Year 13 set to start next week. Year 12 students are currently undertaking their PPEs, which will continue into next week. Other year groups are also engaged in assessment weeks and have worked very hard in demonstrating their ongoing commitment to making academic progress. We are incredibly proud of all of the hard work that goes into school life and want to say thank you to each and every parent and carer for the time and effort that goes into supporting the childrenwhilst also acknowledging the additional stress it causes, particularly at this time of year.
I would also like to thank Year 10 parents for your attendance at Parents' Evening taking this week. This was a valuable opportunity to speak with subject teachers and ensure that all students are fully prepared for their first set of PPEs in the summer. These examinations will serve as a key indicator of the progress made thus far and help ensure that students return to school in September focused and with a clear plan for success next year.
It gives me great pleasure to celebrate some recent successes within our school community. We extend our congratulations to Max Fagelson in Year 10, who not only won the Jack Petchey Speak Out competition but also went on to represent Roding Valley at the inter-school competition at Davenant, putting in an excellent performance and making us all proud. In the same year group, our Year 10 boys' football team has achieved a remarkable feat by reaching the final of the Essex Cup, securing a 1-0 victory in the semi-final. We wish them the best for the final!
Our Drama students have once again showcased their talents, demonstrating exceptional professionalism during their participation in the National Theatre Connections festival at Queens Theatre Hornchurch - a big thank you to the drama department for arranging another wonderful enrichment opportunity. Additionally, I am delighted to announce that our Year 7-10 students, selected to represent Roding at the Essex Panathlon County Finals at the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford, were crowned champions after a fiercely contested competition.
This is their second victory of the year so I think it would be apt to describe them as ‘dominant’! Well done to all involved!
On a more serious note, you may have noticed an increase in media coverage regarding school budgets and the challenging financial position faced by schools nationally. I want to assure you that at Roding Valley, we have been working diligently for several years to ensure that we remain fiscally responsible. Whilst all schools will feel the pinch next year, at Roding we remain committed to providing the best possible education for our students while navigating these financial challenges. We work very closely with schools across both our Trust and Essex and will continue to do so as we feedback to the Department for Education about the impact of the financial landscape we are faced with next year.
As always, I am immensely proud of the achievements and dedication shown by our students and staff. Your continued support is invaluable, and I look forward to sharing more successes with you in the coming weeks.
Mr D Charlton Headteacher
Stars of the Week!
Year Group W/C 28th April 2025
Year 7 Alice Clay - for always displaying the correct attitude to learning, and for being a great role model.
Year 8 Leo Hobbs - for always being such a positive role model for others.
Year 9 Ryan Smith - for his unwavering commitment to a positive learning attitude and for setting a wonderful example for others.
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Year 13
Max Fagelson - for doing so well in all of his extracurricular things. This week alone, he has competed in the Jack Petchey Speak Out challenge, NT at the Queens Theatre Hornchurch and The Brilliant Club.
Carlysia Dzonzie – for her excellent speech to Year 9’s in assembly- leading the way and preparing them for their GCSE journey.
Yasmin Markova - consistent hard work and revision for the year 12 PPEs
Emily Fairhead - consistent hard work and revision for the upcoming exams
W/C 5th May 2025
Max Rich - for always doing the right thing in and out of lessons, and for having a positive attitude every day
Lubono Moono - for always adhering to the school values and being such a positive student to be around.
Phoebe Glen - for her dedication to doing what's right, both academically and beyond and her everpresent positive demeanour
Driti Chintalaplli - for just continuing to do the right thing all the time. For always having such a positive mental attitude.
Miley Opara- for her excellent speech to Year 9’s in assembly- leading the way and preparing them for their GCSE journey.
Deniz Yorulmaz - consistent hard work and revision for the year 12 PPEs
Finn Madigan - for exceptional commitment to studies and incredible progress since the start of year 12
Year 8 News
Message Miss Burke
The half term is already flying by, and although it’s a short one, it’s packed with exciting opportunities and events. The first few weeks back have been incredibly positive, with so many of our students achieving fantastic things both in and out of the classroom. Their enthusiasm and efforts continue to make the school environment a vibrant and inspiring place to be.
A special well done to all the students who have received positive emails home for achieving 100% attendance your commitment to being in school every day truly sets a strong example. Congratulations also to those who have earned a high number of ARE points; these are a real testament to how well you embody our school values and represent them in your daily conduct.
On that note, with only two weeks left of this half term, there should be no excuses for unnecessary absences. It’s a short stretch, and every student should be aiming for full attendance to make the most of the learning time available and finish the half term on a high.
Thank you as always for your continued support. I’m incredibly proud of how Year 8 are progressing, and I look forward to celebrating even more achievements as we wrap up the half term.
RVHS Pre Loved Uniform
Any parents/carers wishing to purchase some RVHS preloved uniform, please use this link to select & pay for any uniform you wish to purchase. The process is quick and easy to use. You will be notified once your order is ready for your collection. All orders will be processed during term time only
Year 9 News
Message from Mr John
We’re excited to share some updates regarding the Year 9 team. As Miss Reed begins her maternity leave, myself and Miss Wills will be working more closely with Year 9. Both of us bring great enthusiasm and experience and we are looking forward to working closely together to support your child during this important stage of their education.
This week, students received their GCSE Options that were sent home via Edulink. Thank you to the parents and carers who have already reached out with questions we appreciate your engagement and will be in touch in due course. In Wednesday’s assembly, we discussed the next steps in the Year 9 journey, as students will officially begin their GCSE courses after the May half term. This is an exciting and pivotal time and we’re here to support them every step of the way.
To help ensure a smooth start, we kindly ask for your support in encouraging students to arrive on time, wear the correct uniform and attend all lessons. To promote punctuality, we’re also launching a new rewards initiative: students who are consistently on time will be in with a chance of winning a free baguette from the baguette bar just a small way to celebrate those showing responsibility and readiness for the challenges ahead!
Celebrating Success
Congratulations to Tyleah Edwards who gained a personal best win in the 80m hurdles as she represented Woodford Green at the Premier League athletics over the weekend. She also gained another personal best of 4m 62 in the long jump, and then showed real grit in the 4x300m relay dragging her team from last place to a brilliant 2nd in a stunning anchor leg.
In England, a Free School Meal (FSM) is a statutory benefit available to school aged children from families who receive other qualifying benefits and who have been through the relevant registration process. Recently, the process of applying for Free School Meals at Roding Valley High School has changed to an online application in order to improve speed and reduce the burden of paperwork for parents. For more information on the qualifying benefits and for more information, please visit our Free School Meals page on our school website. It is important that parents register their children for free school meals if they are entitled as the school receives additional funding known as the Pupil Premium to support the children’s learning. The use of the pupil premium is personalised to meet the needs of the children who are entitled to support, such as 1-1 tuition, additional LSA support and intervention groups, access to school visits, Learning Mentor, speech and language assistants, Family Support and counselling. If you believe that your child is eligible for Free School Meals, please click here to use our Free School Meals Checker. Your Certificate of Eligibility will then need to be emailed to finance@rodingvalley.net
Message from Ms Wheaton & Mrs Curling 6th Form News
Monday 7th April – Chelsea FC U19 Rep side
Alfie Paddington and Oscar Farrugia both played in the U19 Chelsea FC rep side trials, representing Essex and Roding Valley. Both players gave a great account of themselves and “Alf Pads” scored a beautiful free kick. Well done to both boys - Tom, Chelsea coach
Tuesday 22nd April – J M Finn
We are always grateful for the support that our governors offer to students at Roding Valley and on Tuesday 22nd April our sixth form students were incredibly lucky to hear from one of them: Richard Bernstein, head of compliance at J M Finn. A fantastic insight into Investment Management careers and we loved the quiz Richard! Thank you so much for coming and sharing your journey.
Wednesday 23rd April – ICE Futures
On Wednesday 23rd April we welcomed back Christopher Rhodes, 28 years after leaving Roding Valley. The advice for our sixth form students at Roding Valley was: Competence, Character, Care and Commitment - The 4 ‘of High Performance, critical in maximising your potential. Chris is the President at ICE Futures and shared his inspirational journey. Students had a fantastic Q&A session and really learnt a lot from the presentation. Thank you for returning and sharing your journey Chris.
6th Form News
Tuesday 29th April – Bank of America
5 Years ago, Mashrur Khondokar left Roding Valley with 4 A*s and started his journey at Imperial College London. Now a Quantitative Developer Analyst, he came back and shared his story with students. Mashrur you are such an inspiration for students and it was amazing to see how many students are interested in this career pathway. Your presentation gave students such an insight into your role, it was brilliant!
It was lovely to welcome you back and we look forward to seeing you again in the future - Thank you.
Tuesday 6th May – Atkins Realis - Construction
It was a great pleasure to see the students receive their PPE2 results on the last day our mock results day. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the hall with students really engaging in the process. The message given was for them to reflect on how they felt receiving these results and to think about what needed to be done in the lead up to the final exams in May.
Lisa Yerolemides and Roxanne P came to Roding Valley High School to talk about their roles as building surveyors at Atkins Realis. What an insight! So apt during VE celebration week to be shown all about the planned preventative maintenance survey at New Haven Fort. In Roxanne's words, had I known about this career pathway back at school my journey could have been different! I am a firm believer in 'if you can't see it you can't be it! A huge thank you to Lisa and Roxanne for giving us such a brilliant presentation.
Wednesday 7th May – OMD Media
Vicky Fox, chief planning officer at OMG UK has been sharing what careers in Media look like with students at Roding Valley for the past 4 years and today she was joined by her daughter.
Charlotte left here 3 years ago and is now an apprentice at Ogilvy. What a brilliant Mother and Daughter team, two for the price of one! Careers in advertising and Media, thank you so much for your very exciting and insightful presentation. It was lovely to welcome you both back!
On Thursday 8th May, Roding Valley shared a whole school assembly to commemorate and remember 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe (VE Day)
The Second World War was a devastating conflict that shaped the modern world. It involved nations across the globe and demanded incredible sacrifices from ordinary people. Here in Britain, families lived through bombings, rationing, and loss. Soldiers, nurses, factory workers, and many others played their part. After nearly six years of war, people celebrated the end of fighting in Europe. Street parties, singing, dancing for the first time in years, there was hope. Winston Churchill addressed the nation. But alongside celebration, people also remembered those who had been lost.
The war taught people the importance of community. Families grew their own food, shared what little they had, and supported those in need. Even in the darkest times, they found ways to come together. Children were evacuated from cities for safety and welcomed into rural homes.
Our community stood together today and reflected on those before us and how we can make a difference together. This is our PLEDGE
Today, we remember the strength and kindness of those before us.
We pledge to support one another, to show kindness in our community, and to build a future filled with hope, respect and peace.
Together, we can make a difference.
Please take time to watch the links below.
Video link 1
Video link 2
Last week 7 students from year 7-10 went to the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford to compete in the Essex Panathlon County Finals as we won a competition earlier in the year. The 7 students worked so hard and won the Essex County Final! Well done to:
Christopher Convey
Harrison Guerrier
Eleora Smith
Nathaniel Sanderson
Alex McKay
Anthony Aldrich
Ruby Fitzsimon.
****Click here to see the PE Summer Extra Curricular timetable****
The Roding Valley Foundation was launched this year and following several successful events we were able to donate funds to several departments.
Media were able to buy a gramophone to teach GCSE and A-Level students about different forms of media. Many students have never seen vinyl before!!!
The art department was able to purchase clay which has contributed towards the Year 11’s GCSE assessed exams. It was wonderful to see the creation they were able to make
We have also been able to award 10 Year 11 students with a free ticket to the prom - we hope that these students will enjoy their final celebration following their hard work.
Please do look out for more events towards the summer of next year.
If you would like to get involved then please email pta@rodingvalley.net
Finally, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank Paul Wershof for his commitment to the Foundation. He took on the chair of the PTA several years ago and has managed to sustain it.
He has been a valuable member of the team this last year and passed on his expert knowledge. It is now time for him to focus his attention on the many other things he is still involved in and we wish him all the best.
Oleksii Melnyk
Polina Marushchak
Anna Staucean
Jasmine Griffith
Sara Chowdhury Indie Langston Mimi Bouzaiene
Student Absence
If your child is unable to attend School for any reason, please report their absence by phoning the school number by 8.30am at the latest, you must also ring in each day of your child’s absence.
0208-508-1173
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
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
The school does not authorise any holidays during term time except if the Headteacher deems it an exceptional circumstances. A ‘Leave of Absence’ form must be completed (these are available at Student Reception) detailing your exceptional circumstances.
Please be aware if the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case will be referred to the Local Authority who may issue a Penalty Notice for £160 (or £80 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 here.
Who to contact
Should you have any concerns about your child’s attendance or punctuality please contact your child’s Head of Year or our Attendance Officer
Ms A Parsley (aparsley@rodingvalley.net)
Support your child with Thinkuknow websites
The age appropriate Thinkuknow websites are a great way to start and continue chats about online safety.
Our websites provide open and honest guidance for young people on friends, relationships and the internet, covering topics like dealing with pressure; consent; and getting support when you are worried.
You will find lots more advice on keeping your child safe online at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents.
If you are worried that a child or young person is at risk of harm online, you should call the police. Young people can make a report to CEOP at https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
Other Recommended Resources
Parent Info: Expert information for parents about building their child’s resilience both online and off. Produced by NCA-CEOP and Parent Zone. This free service can be embedded on to your child’s school website. www.parentinfo.org
Brook: Information and advice for young people on sexual health and wellbeing, including staying safe online. https://www.brook.org.uk
The Mix: Support service for young people with information and advice on sex and relationships. https://www.themix.org.uk
Internet Matters: A useful tool showing how to set parental controls across a range of devices and websites. http://www.internetmatters.org/parentalcontrols/interactive-guide/
NSPCC Net Aware: Provides reviews and guidance on the most popular social networks, apps and games that children use. https://www.net-aware.org.uk/
Childnet – Information and advice for parents and carers on supporting people online. https://www.childnet.com/reso urces/supporting-youngpeople-online
How to Log on to Google Classroom?
Classroom
Students can log into their Gmail using their school email address and their password. Their school email will be the year they started at RVHS started plus their first initial and surname @rodingvalley.net (example- 19plarkin@rodingvalley.net).
Once your child has have logged in, they will need to click on the google apps button and then select ‘Google Classroom’
Your child will then be able to see all of the classes they belong to. They will then need to click on the class they want to use resources for and take a look at everything that their class teacher has posted for them to work on. They will be able to download items and make comments on them. Teachers will be regularly posting new work on their Google Classrooms.
What to Do if your child is a Missing a Subject their Google Classroom?
If your child is missing a Google Classroom for one of their subjects, they will need to click on the addition symbol, followed by ‘Join Class’ and then enter the Class Code for their missing subject. Class Codes are available from their subject teacher.
Top Tips for Our Students
Students must keep up to date with their lessons by using Google Classroom every day.
Use their workbooks to complete the work shown on their Google Classroom.
Don’t slack on presentation! Keep their notes in order of the lessons on the Google Classroom.
Year 11 and 13 Students: There will be revision materials available on Google Classroom. Please use them.
Heads of Year
Year 7: Miss Aston – caston@rodingvalley.net
Year 8: Miss Burke – tburke@rodingvalley.net
Year 9: Mr B John – bjohn@rodingvalley.net
Year 10: Mr Ryan – fryan@rodingvalley.net
Year 11: Ms Wills – rwills@rodingvalley.net
Sixth Form: Ms Wheaton & Ms Curling – lcurling@rodingvalley.net / awheaton@rodingvalley.net
