Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 February 2020

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ February 2020

All the latest news from Ridgeway High School

LONDON CALLING

VISITS TO ICONIC LANDMARKS ARE THE HIGHLIGHT OF STUDENTS’ TWO-DAY VISIT

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ February 2020

CONTENTS HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGE Effort, hard work and a positive attitude are key......................03

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EXPERIENCES Ridgeway students catch the new Speaker’s attention!.............04 I N SPI R AT ION Learning from world-renowned experts....................................06 DEEP LEARNING A PiXL conference gives MFL students the edge......................07 REMEMBRANCE Standing together against hatred and intolerance....................08 E X PL OR AT ION Appreciating the diversity of the world around us...................09

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CORE CHARTER ELEMENTS Attendance and achievement.......................................................10 FUNDRAISING FIFA 20 tournament raises money for good causes..................12 R E WA R D S A fantastic time on our 100% attendance reward trip..............16 STOP PRESS Ridgeway news in brief.................................................................18 TRADITIONS Christmas Round-Up...................................................................19 WELL-BEING Outstanding participation during a Hive visit..........................20 LEADERSHIP Starring role for Leadership Academy students........................22 I N SPI R AT ION Going soccer crazy for Schools’ Football Week!.......................24 STOP PRESS Sporting highlights........................................................................26 02

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H E A D T E AC H E R’ S M E S S AG E Effort, hard work and a positive attitude are key

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n more than thirty years of teaching, I have often been asked: ‘What’s the point of studying X? When am I ever going to use/need it?’ These are good questions, though I would ask a slightly different one: ‘How will studying X help me in future/ moving forward?’

For those about to take examinations, the answer is easy and might be as simple as the fact that learning exam technique will help you get higher marks. But, as you read through this issue of Ridgeway New Times, it’s a question that I would like you to keep in mind.

and ‘positive’ postcards just two of the many ways we seek to reward students’ efforts.

A positive attitude can also make a huge difference. We see this sometimes in football when a new manager comes in: with the same group of players, a failing team suddenly starts to play much better. The tactics might not change much, but the mindset certainly does.

This term we have focused on students getting the basics right — correct equipment, uniform and punctuality to school and lessons. The response has Whenever I am asked about the ethos at Ridgeway, I been excellent. In the coming half-term, we will be always start my reply with ‘We’re a family and focusing on positive attitudes to learning — we care’. I truly believe a ‘can-do’ mentality, a this to be the case, and it willingness to give things a is something we look to go. After all, we learn best Positive recognition makes us feel good about instil and nurture in all our ourselves and can make all the difference to how when we are challenged. students.

The key point is to try your we approach our task or our day. Success comes hardest. As I said earlier, A family ethos from effort and hard work; it’s not just a case of hard work leads to success. encompasses how we being good at something. interact with others in School is, more often than different contexts. It fills me with great pride when not, where we first make deep and lasting friendships.

I receive compliments about how well Ridgeway School trips, productions, events, sports teams, students behaved on school visits. The recent inter-house and inter-form competitions are where Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in New friendships typically blossom. We start to recognise Brighton is an example. Obviously, I would expect and appreciate people’s strengths and weaknesses; the students to be listening attentively to the moving we learn how we can support, help and care for each accounts of Nazi persecution. But the same can be said other. of every recent visit you will read about in the coming Social media is clearly here to stay and certainly has its pages. Staff at the various venues and visiting members place in connecting people. However, the value of true of the public sometimes take the time to contact the friendship — not the same as the number of friends school to pass on how impressed they were with the — is important. There’s an old saying: look after your students’ conduct. friends and they’ll look after you in time of need.

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When someone achieves success, they deserve to be recognised and rewarded. Positive recognition makes us feel good about ourselves and can make all the difference to how we approach our task or our day.

Success comes from effort and hard work; it’s not just a case of being good at something. Recognising and praising improvement can often be just the motivation a person requires to persevere or try even harder. It is a priority for us here at Ridgeway, with phone calls home

Out of school, I regularly see ex-students, who tell me about their successes post-Ridgeway. Similarly, older students often contact us for advice and help with college or job applications. They often talk about school being the best time of their life, again making me proud of what we have achieved at Ridgeway.

Tony Taylor Headteacher Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ FEBRUARY 2020 03

EXPERIENCES Ridgeway students catch the new Speaker’s attention!

This year’s London trip took in PMQs in the House of Commons as well as many of the capital’s iconic landmarks.

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he humanities team took 47 year 8 students to London in January for an overnight visit, accompanied this time around by a group of year 11 art and textiles students.

After an early start, we arrived in Tamworth around 11am to break up the long journey to London with a spot of ice-skating. Some students were very impressive on the ice; others were somewhat less graceful in their attempts to remain upright!

When we arrived in London, we were treated to a delicious Chinese meal in London’s Chinatown. The staff of the famous Wong Kei’s certainly made sure that we did not go hungry. After the meal, there was just time to visit Buckingham Palace for photos. As it was night-time, this iconic building was lit up beautifully — the perfect backdrop.

After a restful night’s sleep, the humanities students visited the Houses of Parliament. Students learned about the story of parliament before being taken on a guided tour of the Palace of Westminster. Some of them were lucky enough to see the mace, which represents the authority of the Queen in the House of Commons, as it was being ceremonially paraded

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into the Commons Chamber ahead of the day’s proceedings.

As it was a Wednesday, we were able to watch Prime Minister’s Questions and even got a wave from the new Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Before the long journey home, there was just enough time for a ride on the London Eye, which offers an awe-inspiring panorama of our capital city. A perfect way to round off a memorable trip.

Mr Taylor said: “Trips like this one are a key ingredient of the Ridgeway experience. They are rewarding and exhilarating, creating memories not quickly forgotten.”

Design delights from across the ages Miss Rapple took a small group of year 11 art and textiles students to the world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington.

The V&A is the world’s leading art and design museum and houses a large collection of artefacts.

The students were particularly interested in the Fashion Gallery, which displays garments from as far back as the seventeenth century as well as showcasing the work of more recent designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren.

Miss Rapple spent a lot of time viewing the Jewellery Gallery and was especially excited to see Queen Victoria’s coronet, a gift to her from her husband Prince Albert. Founded in the 1850s, the museum was renamed in 1899 after Queen Victoria and her husband, commemorating his role in its establishment.

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I N S P I R AT I O N Learning from world-renowned experts The opportunity to attend one of this year’s famous Royal Institution Christmas Lectures was an occasion not to be missed.

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s part of our maths feature in Issue 13, we highlighted that six students were lucky enough to be heading to London to attend one of the Royal Institution’s famous Christmas lectures, presented this year by guest lecturer Dr Hannah Fry. Miss McCaffrey says: “Dr Fry’s theme was The Hidden Power of Maths — the mathematics behind our daily choices and how we can use probabilities to find lucky people. In the lecture that we attended, Dr Fry set up a series of nine mini-challenges to find the luckiest person in the lecture theatre. Jess managed to stay in as far as the seventh challenge.

“The lecture included several guest speakers including an analyst from Liverpool FC, a coach for the first man to skydive without a parachute, and well-known mathematician and comedian Matt Parker.”

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I really enjoyed our trip to London. We went to Buckingham Palace and the British Library, and we also saw Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station.

But my favourite part was definitely the lecture itself.

Jessica Smith

We had great seats in the theatre. Dr Fry spoke about how we have to think about the human aspect of probabilities alongside the mathematical aspect.

Fynn Carson

My favourite part was when an analyst from Liverpool FC spoke about how they use data from matches to predict goals and use vectors to see the footballers’ options.

Riise Dodd 06

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ FEBRUARY 2020

DEEP LEARNING

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A PiXL conference gives MFL students the edge A languages conference helps make sure that Ridgeway students are ‘exam-ready’ for the summer.

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n eager group of year 11 MFL students headed down the M62 — Manchesterbound — for a PiXL languages conference.

The conference was split into two halves: French in the morning and Spanish in the afternoon.

The day itself was a great success, enjoyable and interesting. In particular, there was an engaging mix of lively student interaction and quieter, more examfocused activities.

This was an extremely useful day, and it was time really well spent. The students said they learned an awful lot from the specialist presenters.

The students also came away with a brilliant booklet which will provide them with a good starting point for their revision. Year 11 parents: please ask to see it!

Mrs Hytner, Assistant Headteacher

The presenters were all specialists in their field and gave the students invaluable advice on how to approach each of the four different aspects of the GCSE languages examination: speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Mr Taylor wrote in his weekly bulletin: “Events like this are extremely beneficial. As well as offering lots of handy tips and pointers, they help give students a wider understanding of the examination process and ensure that they are ‘exam-ready’ in the summer.”

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REMEMBRANCE Standing together against hatred and intolerance This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations marked 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.

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his year’s commemorations for Holocaust Memorial Day — an annual nationwide event since 2001 — marked 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps, in January 1945.

The theme for 2020 was Stand Together, encouraging us all to reflect on how the evils of persecution and genocide grow out of division, hatred and indifference in the face of injustice. This was the message of a week of assemblies led by Mr Worthingon, Head of Humanities. A group of history and RE students also attended Wirral’s own commemoration at New Brighton Pavilion. Many of the students will be visiting Auschwitz in the summer.

As last year, the students listened to first-hand testimony of the impact of Nazi persecution and terror from Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines. She was rescued from Czechoslovakia in 1939 — one of 669 mainly Jewish children who survived the Holocaust because of the efforts of Sir Nicholas Winton — and evacuated to Britain.

Mr Taylor said: “It was incredibly moving to watch Holocaust survivors on the news as they returned to Auschwitz. The commemorations were given added poignancy with the knowledge that this is likely to be

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the last such gathering: even very young children at the time of the Holocaust will now be in their eighties.

“We often hear our politicians saying that events like this must never happen again and that we must never forget. They are right, of course, and I am ever mindful of the important role that schools play in this regard.

“At Ridgeway, we continually reinforce the importance of respect and of treating others — whoever they may be and wherever they come from — with fairness, dignity and compassion. Our ‘No Outsiders’ programme, in particular, aims to promote tolerance and respect, and focuses on one central message: no one is the same, but everyone is equal.”

E X P L O R AT I O N Appreciating the diversity of the world around us Chester Zoo presents a wonderful out-ofthe-classroom learning opportunity for our year 7 science students.

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ear 7 students had a fantastic time at Chester Zoo recently, braving the winter elements to learn more about the broad biodiversity of our amazing planet.

The students had plenty of time to see the fantastic range of animals on show at the zoo — everything from lions to tarantulas. They were able to observe rarely seen animals in man-made habitats and learn about the conservation efforts that are going on worldwide to save threatened species.

Trip organiser Mr Parker said: “This visit to Chester Zoo helps prepare students for the biodiversity unit that they will be studying at GCSE, which focuses on ecosystems and interdependence within communities.

“But more than that — this was an opportunity to see science in action, to get a sense of the incredible diversity of life on Earth and to learn about things that we can’t fully appreciate sitting in a science lab.”

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C ORE CHARTER ELEMENT S BEST AT TENDANCE KING

KOLBE

TERESA

8LRC 8LKC 7LKH 10LNS 9LMF

8KCR 7KHG 9KSM 9KBS 7KAG

7TCT 7TLL 7TMW 8TCB 10TKW

ACHIEVEMENT POINTS

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ACHIEVEMENT POINTS

GCSEPOD USERS

STUDY CLUB AT TENDANCE

Hayden Duckworth

Matthew Roxburgh

Matthew Roxburgh

Michael Bowen

Leo Winstanley

Louie McGinn

Daniel Saville

Noah Roscoe

Abi Deakin

Madison Hughes

Elijah Razemon

Charlotte Morrison

Freya Macnaughton

Sophie Heggarty

Adam Broughton

Gracie Barham

Lumae Hall

Daniel McGinn

Maizy Lou Wockenforth

Samiul Rahman

Jamie Abbott

Iydin Tahriri-Carter

Kieran Carr

Iftikhar Haque

Christopher Copple

Lauren Fairclough

Jenny Ling

Oliwia Wezyk

Alicia Steens

Rebecca Sweeney

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ FEBRUARY 2020

AT T E N D T O DAY • AC H I E V E T OM O R R OW

R E WA R D S Attendance Weekly

achievement points

WELL DONE KOLBE HOUSE!

chocolate prize for the best

form

Postcards

home for excellent attendance and improved attendance

Achievement House

prize draws

Attendance Letters

assemblies

Cup competitions

home

Recognition

around the school and in the school magazine

Regular

attendance reward trips with competition prizes galore

End-of-year

awards evening

End-of-year

attendance reward trip

W I N N E R • F E B RUA RY 2 0 2 0 AT T E N DA N C E C U P

ÐÐWell done to Jessica McDonnell, Molly Davin and Freya Macnaughton, all of whom have earned postcards home for their excellent attendance and effort.

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FUNDRAISING FIFA 20 tournament raises money for good causes Head of Teresa House Mrs Moran was delighted with students’ efforts on behalf of the Samaritans charity.

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he Teresa house team would just like to say a massive thank you to all of the students and staff who took part in the recent FIFA 20 tournament, raising money for our house charity, the Samaritans.

A great half-term for Finlay Small It has been a really successful few weeks for Finlay Small in year 10.

As well as being one half of the winning team in Teresa House’s FIFA 20 tournament, Finn was also a member of a team representing Ridgeway in a recent Wirral table tennis tournament.

The tournament began one Friday night in January: four screens were set up in the main hall to play the early stages of the competition.

Finn played a total of five games. He managed to reach the final and won the game 11–5, thereby securing the team a place in the next stages of the competition. Read more on page 26.

Despite all the members of staff being knocked out early on in the tournament, there was a great atmosphere, with students from the three houses and from all year groups coming together for a great cause.

Finn said afterwards: “I really enjoyed taking part in the competition. It felt great to help take my team to the next level.”

The semi-final and the final were played during lunchtime. This enabled other students to come along and show their support.

The final itself was played between George Edge and Finlay Small, representing Teresa House, and Adam Willoughby and Dillon Upton-Climo of King House.

The final score was 3–1, with Teresa House crowned as champions!

Well done to everybody who took part or who just came along to support.

We have only been fundraising for five weeks and already we have raised close to £200. Look out for other exciting events after the half-term break!

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ÏÏWell done to these Teresa House students who have not incurred a single behaviour point since the start of September. Keep up the good work! You are outstanding role models for the house.

ÏÏCallum Robinson won the draw for students who have not received a single behaviour point.

ÏÏA pizza party for 7TCT and 8TRK to celebrate their form attendance.

ÏÏTeresa House holding the December Achievement Points trophy before heading off to New Brighton for the attendance reward trip.

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JJ Wilson

Jessica McDonnell

Year 7

Year 8

How are you finding school since Christmas?

How are you finding school since Christmas?

It’s been good. I’ve enjoyed my lessons a lot this half-term because of how caring staff are. Lessons are fun to be in, and my favourite subject has been music.

It’s really good. I like product design because I get to design a variety of different things with a light for projection.

It wasn’t my favourite lesson before, but I love the lessons this half-term because we’ve been making our own songs.

I’m looking forward to putting it all together.

I think things are good around school; all of my friends are doing well.

How is life at Ridgeway?

I’m enjoying school. I prefer secondary to primary because of how many more lessons we do. I like that we change rooms; it makes me feel more grown up!

I have more responsibilities now. I have to be responsible for my actions so that I don’t let myself or my form down. There is more to think about, but it’s good.

What is your favourite thing at school so far?

Capture the flag in PE!

How is life at Ridgeway?

Life at school is good; I just like how school is. There is nothing bad about school.

What is form time like?

I like doing the quizzes on a Friday. We have a really funny form, and while we’re doing our form activities we’re always enjoying ourselves. It’s a nice place to be.

What is your favourite thing at school?

Product design and maths lessons.

Aisling Macnaughton

Jamie Abbott

Year 10

Year 11

How are you finding school since Christmas?

How are you finding school since Christmas?

It’s good. I’m finding some things stressful but that’s school life with GCSE work.

It’s intense. There is a lot of intervention after school and at the weekend. Our lessons are hard work but worth it for the help towards our GCSEs. We help each other with revision outside of school and over the internet to test each other on our subjects. It’s all GCSE focus at the moment.

I enjoy art: we have been doing American moods and my theme is food. I have been putting a lot of donuts and American fast-food restaurants on my board. My favourite subject is history.

What is form time like?

I like my friendship group in form. We have a laugh while we’re doing the weekly quiz and having the discussions as part of the Charter education programme.

What advice would you give to year 7s?

Start revising early because there is a lot to learn and go over!

What is your favourite thing at school?

The Futures Fair; it’s always fun and interesting!

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What advice would you give year 7?

Work hard from the start. You need all the knowledge and skills that you get from year 7 when you’re in year 11.

What are your next steps after Ridgeway?

I plan to go to Birkenhead Sixth Form College to study computer science, biology and maths. I’d then like to go to university, possibly Edge Hill.

What is your favourite thing at school?

Charter Days — they’re interesting.

ÏÏWell done to Kolbe House [pictured here minus year 7, who were visiting Chester Zoo for the day], winners of the Attendance Cup in December. But did they hold on to the trophy in February? Find out on page 11.

ÏÏWell done to raffle winner Alisha McMullen

ÏÏStudents arriving in New Brighton for the end-of-

ÏÏWell done to Shea Noble-Lines, who raised an

ÏÏWell done, too, to Harry Dawson, whose recent

(7TMW). The raffle was one of many Kolbe House fundraising activities in aid of Cash for Kids. In total, Kolbe raised £405.32.

incredible amount for Kolbe’s Cash for Kids.

term attendance reward trip. You can see more photos from the trip on page 16 as well as on the school website.

glowing reports really impressed the house team.

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R E WA R D S Students had a fantastic time on our end-of-term reward trip to New Brighton for a day of ten-pin bowling and Laser Quest. The trip was open to all students whose attendance was 100% in the autumn term. The next attendance reward trip is coming up at the end of the spring term — will you be eligible?

rid gewayh ig h s c h o ol .c o. u k /C E L E B RAT I N G -AT T E N DAN CE 16

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ FEBRUARY 2020

How does your attendance measure up?

100 Try to get closer to 100%.

Remember — every absence has an impact on your learning.

99%—97.4%

Your attendance is below school expectations. Your house team will speak to you about improving attendance.

97.1%—94.7%

Your attendance is below the national average. We will be contacting home about your attendance.

94.5%—92.1%

Your attendance is a serious concern. We will put in place a contract with you and your parents to improve attendance.

91.8%—89.5%

Your attendance is unacceptable, and you will not achieve your potential unless it improves. Your parents may be prosecuted.

Congratulations on your excellent attendance!

89.2%—86.8%

Below 86.3

Your attendance is unacceptable. You will be asked to attend a panel of the Governors, who will make a decision about prosecution.

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STOP PRESS Ridgeway news in brief food bank competition At the time of going to print, our annual food bank competition is up and running on behalf of families who face particularly challenging circumstances.

We are encouraging students to donate items such as tinned fruit and vegetables, pasta and toiletries, which will be distributed to local food banks in coming weeks.

energy drinks banned in school The government indicated in 2019 that it will introduce legislation to ban the sale of energy drinks to under-16s. Many larger retailers, supermarkets and sports centres have already introduced their own bans. Ridgeway has also now introduced a ban on energy drinks in school.

They are not to be seen or consumed anywhere on the school site at any time of the school day — including break and lunchtime. Drinks sold by the school refectory are acceptable as they meet national guidelines from the Department for Education.

period products Ridgeway has signed up to the government scheme offering free period products in school.

We already offer free products through the Red Box Project. Signing up to the government scheme will give us access to more products, and these will be available from Mrs Warbrick in the media room, which is located between rooms 104 and 105.

online safety Our website has a page specifically devoted to online safety. As well as hosting a monthly information newsletter for parents, it includes links to other useful websites.

The webpage also includes a number of handy and easy-to-understand parents’ guides produced by National Online Safety, each relating to a particular aspect of e-safety. We have added a downloadable guide about TikTok, a popular video-sharing app.

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Charity collections Once again this year, members of Ridgeway’s support staff organised a collection for — and delivery of — Christmas hampers to families facing exceptionally difficult circumstances.

Mrs Harris said: “It was another great effort this year.

From the generous donations of staff and parents, we collected enough items to make up 26 hampers.

“Along with Mrs Monaghan, Mrs Ashcroft and Mrs Hodgson, I would like to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who donated. Special thanks to Mrs McKune’s mum and nan who made up a hamper of their own and kindly donated it to us — making 27 hampers in total.”

Meanwhile, Miss Lawrie and her form were collecting in aid of a charity called Care for the Paw, which provides food, blankets and veterinary care for homeless people across Liverpool and the Wirral who have dogs as companions.

As well as asking for donations of items such as tins of dog food, treats, leads, toys and blankets, Miss Lawrie took the issues of homelessness and the work of charities such as this one as the theme of a week of assemblies.

TRADITIONS ÐÐRidgeway again joined in with the

nationwide Christmas Jumper Day event.

Students were invited to wear a festive jumper in place of their normal school jumper and blazer. All proceeds were donated to Claire House.

ÐÐAnother festive Ridgeway tradition is carol singing in a local nursing home. Alas, our eager singers were unable to visit this year due to illness, but they put the time to good use with some additional practice.

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WELL-BEING Outstanding participation during a Hive visit Mrs Hodgson reports on a great well-being visit to the Hive Youth Zone in Birkenhead, checking out the fantastic facilities.

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n December, Mrs Ellis — the school’s well-being mentor — and I took a group of year 8 and 9 students to try out the facilities available for young people at the Hive Youth Zone in Birkenhead.

This day was all about promoting well-being. We selected students we felt would really get a lot out of the experience and enjoy the activities and facilities at the Hive.

We deliberately did not select a group of students who were all from the same friendship group. Our aim was to give individuals the opportunity to spend time with students they would not normally mix with socially — a reflection, in other words, of the HIVE experience.

A bonus was that all the students who attended were offered free membership.

The students had some great experiences: the climbing wall; the gym; 1:1 sparring sessions; a beauty salon including hair and nails; table tennis; the sports hall; and an area to just sit and chill.

The feedback from the students was incredibly positive; everyone certainly enjoyed themselves and got a tremendous amount out of the day. We are hoping to arrange further such sessions in the future.

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LEADERSHIP Starring role for Leadership Academy students Our Leadership Academy students helped ensure that this year’s Winter Games were more successful than ever.

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hristmas week means one thing — the annual Ridgeway Winter Games, the third such event. Participation levels were once again absolutely fantastic: this year’s Games involved 200 students. It also featured our new Leadership Academy cohort taking the reins — 22 leaders in total, helping to make sure that the day’s proceedings went off without a hitch.

The day began with the ‘field’ events. These included fitness tests and other favourites such as the penalty shoot-out, shot put and set shot. New for 2019–2020 was the opportunity to try out new age kurling and a table tennis trick-shot station where students could test their serving skills.

Next up were the races. This year’s races were particularly well contested; each house boasted several athletes capable of securing gold.

The four-person paarlauf returned, as did the crashmat relays and snowball races, favourites from last year. The traditional ‘build a snowman’ competition was ever-popular: several intriguing-looking snowmen were built in the two-minute time slot!

New for 2019 was the caterpillar relay, a unique and exciting race based on teamwork. Competitors must

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“

A strong and confident group of leaders is essential in running events like this. This year’s cohort were excellent and helped ensure the day ran smoothly. Well done to them and also to all the athletes for helping make this another brilliant Ridgeway High School event!

Mr Metcalf, Head of PE

Winter Games 2019–2020 House

Points

Teresa

557

King

434

Kolbe

342

work together to march forward inside a caterpillar ‘track’ and make it all the way to the end of the route without any team members leaving the caterpillar.

After a fiercely contested year 8 competition, with just two points separating gold and silver medallists, it was Teresa who were crowned Winter Games champions for 2019 with a massive 557 points, comfortably ahead of King in second place and Kolbe in third.

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I N S P I R AT I O N Going soccer crazy for Schools’ Football Week!

An amazing museum visit and an interform competition were the centrepiece of Schools’ Football Week.

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s well as a highly competitive week of interform football, the PE department organised a trip to the National Football Museum in Manchester. The museum’s four floors are packed with fascinating exhibits celebrating the history and development of the game.

Their latest special exhibit is entitled Strip! How football got shirty, looking at changing shirt fashions and designs over time, from the heavy woollen jerseys of the Victorian era to today’s heavily branded polyester shirts. On display were Geoff Hurst’s 1966 World Cup shirt and Maradona’s shirt from the infamous ‘hand of God’ match in 1986.

The students were able to try out an array of interactive games: pitting their skills against state-of-the-art goalkeeping technology in the penalty shoot-out competition; trying out the Pass Master and ‘keepyuppy’ challenges; and testing their speed of reaction on the reaction walls.

The visit also included a special workshop on the history of the football called Designer Balls. This involved the students exploring how and why the design and manufacture of the football has changed over the past 150 years, as well as designing, making and testing their own footballs made from recycled materials.

Once their prototypes were made, students were able to measure the effectiveness of their home-made footballs in a range of tests that graded appearance, shape (how spherical the balls were), weight, diameter, bounciness and ability to roll in a straight line.

Last but not least, there was also a great photoopportunity for the group, holding an official replica of the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy — which Brazil kept permanently in 1970 — and posing with the closely guarded FA Cup and Premier League trophies.

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Meanwhile, a closely fought inter-form football competition was once again a highlight of National Schools’ Football Week. Well done to the winners: 7TCT [pictured with year 10 managers] 8LRC 9LLP 10LNS

• • • •

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STOP PRESS Sporting highlights 2020 curriculum innovations Dance is proving to be a popular part of the PE curriculum this term, with students relishing the chance to link together dance and gymnastics skills.

Meanwhile, a parkour/dodgeball mash-up is also proving to be a big hit with students!

badminton Well done to the key stage 3 badminton team, who represented Wirral in the Merseyside Games. 2020 marks Ridgeway’s first appearance at this stage of the competition.

[L–R]: Michael Lane; Hayden Millman; Harrison Jones; Yusuf Ali.

table tennis Well done, too, to the key stage 4 table tennis team, who finished third in the Wirral competition, thereby qualifying for the Merseyside Games. In particular, well done to Finlay, who was unbeaten throughout.

[L–R]: Dylan Smith; Lewis Topping; Finlay Small; Joshua Howley.

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The year 7 girls’ football and netball teams have been in action. A football match against Birkenhead Park ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw, with goals from Ava Jai-Dodd and Annieleigh Finn. Ava was also player of the match in the netball game against Woodchurch.

The year 9/10 netball team [pictures at the foot of the page] were in action against a strong Woodchurch side. A special mention goes to Jessica Woods.

Check out the next issue for lots more football and netball tournament news and action.

Ridgeway New Times Issue 14 ∙ FEBRUARY 2020 27

Ridgeway New Times R idge way Hig h S cho ol No c tor u m Ave nu e Pre nton C H4 3 9 EB

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HALF-TERM YEAR 11 INTERVENTION DAY Monday 17 Febr uar y

MORNING 1 0 am —12pm Ar t and Textiles 004 French 104 Spanish 105

A FTE RNO ON 1pm —3pm Ar t and Textiles 004 English Hall

Tu e s d ay 1 8 Febr u ar y

English 109

S cience 209

We d n e s d ay 1 9 Febr u ar y

Design Te chnolog y 006

Design Te chnolog y 006

T hu r s d ay 2 0 Febr u ar y Fr i d ay 2 1 Febr u ar y

Histor y 111 RE 113