RATCLIFFE COLLEGE

Helping Our Boarders Settle In Smoothly To College Life

Our high standards have been reflected in what our boarders have told us. For example, Year 10 student, Antonio from Mexico, said:

“During my time here, I have enjoyed meeting people from other countries and learning how to be respectful with others and make some very good friends along the way.”

Boarding is the heart and soul of Ratcliffe, the entire community sits under one roof with a joint boarding house, bringing everybody together (boys and girls have separate sleeping quarters).

Antonio said: “I’m really surprised how comfortable I feel, it’s just like being with your family at home.”

To help our international students settle in, our buddy system means that they have support and encouragement from a classmate in their year. Year 11 student Raimundo, from Chile said;

“I settled in much better than I thought, as I was quite nervous for the first week, but now I have a lot of friends and they are very kind to me.”

An extensive programme of activities, clubs and trips keeps everyone busy at weekends and evenings too, providing students with not only wrap-around care, but a healthy active timetable as well.

Raimundo said; “The people at Ratcliffe have helped me a lot during my time here so far, to me they are definitely the best thing about the college.”

Haileybury School set for new science buildings that will house globally renowned research

Work is underway to create new ‘state-of-the-art’ science and technology buildings that will house globally renowned research at Haileybury, Hertford. It is hoped that the new buildings, which will be double the size of the school’s current provision, will revolutionise teaching and learning in these subjects.

The new buildings, due for completion next autumn, will include new science laboratories, IT suites and robotics and DT facilities, as well as 20 inter-connected teaching and seminar spaces and an outdoor courtyard.

The school says that the purpose of these innovative buildings is to improve its already strong science provision by offering the latest technology to further challenge pupils and enhance their skills, adding: “It will provide the space and opportunity for Haileybury to not only teach science to its pupils but allow them to become scientists”.

The buildings will be home to international and pioneering research including the prestigious Stan-X project, a revolutionary study of genetics using fruit flies, which is contributing to the efforts to find cures for human diseases such as diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Haileybury is the first school in Europe to participate in Stan-X, enabling its pupils to work on universitystandard research, alongside scientists at Stanford University and the University of Oxford.

The build is also set to be sustainable, with features such as solar panels, green roofs, ground-source heat pumps to heat the buildings and cross-laminated timber, which is an eco-friendly material. All are a big step towards the school’s sustainability goals and its aim to become net zero.

“We are thrilled to see groundwork begin as we progress towards making our Science and Technology buildings a reality. This is an incredibly exciting time for the School as we push boundaries to provide the best possible teaching and learning opportunities for our pupils, staff and wider community.

These new facilities will inspire the next generation of scientists, mechanics and engineers and equip our pupils with the essential skills to progress on to study Science and Technology subjects at leading universities.”