Newsletters

Rugby High School - Summer 2021 Issue 39

News from Mr Grady

Hello Everyone,

Whether you are at home or in school, whether parent, staff member or teacher, we can be immensely proud of our achievements this year.  I have spoken here regularly about the different challenges we have all faced, and I have spoken too about the benefits of remaining positive even in the face of those challenges.  When school finishes for the Summer at 3:45 on Friday, we can go home in the sure and certain knowledge of a job well done.  I mean that for every member of the community: Students, staff and parents.

There is always something about the end of the year that means we become a little reflective:  What have we achieved?  What have we done? What might we do differently next year?  This is all the more important given the unchartered waters we have been negotiating since the start of the year, and I have to say I could not be more proud of our community in supporting each other pretty much every step of the way.  The kindness, care and respect I have seen exhibited daily in myriad ways, and the resolute heights in their hearts that our students (and indeed our whole community) have set, met and exceeded have been an inspiration.

The summer break is now a chance for us all to rest, to recharge ourselves and to refocus for next year.  Schools are funny things in that there often feels like a bit of a false deadline of “the end of term” by which, we tell ourselves, everything must be resolved, sorted, finished, completed and put neatly away.  This cannot possibly be the case, and so whether things are “all tidied away or not” make sure that you take the time in the coming weeks to do plenty of what you enjoy and makes you happy, to get rest, eat well and lots of sleep. I certainly intend to do those things, to catch up, hopefully with family members and friends that I’ve not seen for some time, to be rested enough to be able to think about next year with the excitement and anticipation that it deserves.

And most importantly, I want to be ready, come September, to Rejuvenate the RHS community, to help us feel a little more Recovered, and to Reconnect more strongly than ever with our core principles of kindness, care and respect, and to set, as ever the very highest of heights in our hearts.

Stay well and safe everyone, and I Iook forward to seeing you all safe and well in September!

Best wishes,
Mr Grady


Please continue to check our website for the most up to date information regarding the protocol for contacting school regarding positive cases of Covid-19 after we break up for the summer holidays.


Proposed - D of E Silver (yr10) - Practice - Yorkshire dales
All Day
From 15 Jul until 18 Jul
15
July
Propose - D of E - Silver (yr11) - Qualifier - Yorkshire Dales
All Day
From 15 Jul until 18 Jul
15
July
Summer Holiday
All Day
From 19 Jul until 23 Jul
19
July
Proposed D of E Gold - Practice - Lake District
All Day
From 23 Jul until 27 Jul
23
July
Summer Holiday
All Day
From 26 Jul until 30 Jul
26
July
Summer Holiday
All Day
From 02 Aug until 06 Aug
02
August

15 Jul 2021
Virtual Talks with Psychology experts for Year 12
Year 12 Sociology and Psychology have enjoyed some virtual talks with experts in their fields this week.  On Wednesday, Professor Esther Dermott, Head of School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, gave the sociologists a fascinating overview of her career path and some highlights o...
Read more
15 Jul 2021
Birmingham Royal Ballet workshops
Year 7 students took part in workshops run by the Royal Birmingham Ballet and watched a performance by the Leap Ensemble (Birmingham Conservatoire) – all  part of the ‘Festival on the Close’ that was held in Rugby. “The ballerinas and instructors helped us construct o...
Read more
14 Jul 2021
Sports Day
An element of normal returned to Rugby High on Sports Day last Friday.  It was a slightly different Sports Day from normal in that it didn’t take place over the course of the afternoon, but instead over 1 lesson per Year Group. That didn’t dampen the loud, happy and supportive atmos...
Read more

A big thank you to everyone who has so kindly donated to our Regeneration Project so far.  It is wonderful to see the whole school community getting behind it.  We shall still be welcoming donations in the Autumn Term, so please hold onto any unwanted tools over the summer holiday.   


Introducing our new Wellbeing Page for useful and up todate information on many aspects of Wellbeing for parents and students alike. 

Please do take a look:  Wellbeing   We shall be adding to this information and responding to student and parent needs, so keep checking in for updates.  

Photo by Mithra Suresh Y9


Your Views Wanted

I am leading a review into how we report to parents at RHS, the aims of which are as follows:

  • To design a 21st century reporting system which reflects the opportunities given by the pandemic to think more creatively in education, and create something that is both innovative and impactful

  • To make the reporting process more formative, with more accountability for students to act on feedback

  • To streamline the reporting process, making feedback to parents timelier, and making most effective use of staff time

  • To develop a system that is based on in depth consultation of all stakeholders, and takes an evidence-based approach, with a focus on triangulating feedback, including looking at other schools

  • To better understand what information on their child’s progress is most useful and informative for parents

As part of the first stage of this review we are wanting to carry out an extensive evaluation of the process, and are canvassing in depth feedback from all parents/ carers, staff and students.

We are therefore asking all parents/ carers to take some time to fill out this initial questionnaire, on MS forms. The questionnaire should take around 10-15 minutes to complete, and you will only need to complete it once for all children attending the school.

The questionnaire can be accessed via this link: Parent Questionnaire 

All feedback will be treated anonymously, and will not be shared outside the organisation. All honest and constructive feedback is very much welcome.

Once we have received feedback from all parties we will be looking at how we can redesign the system to best achieve the goals listed above. It will be an ongoing process, and may involve organising further parental focus groups and piloting different ideas. We will endeavour to keep you updated at every stage of the review.

We would appreciate all responses to be submitted by Thursday 15th July. If you would like to discuss this review in any further detail please contact me at s.price@rugbyhighschool.co.uk.

Thank you very much for your support.

Sophie Price


Returning Schools Library Service books
and Rugby High School library books

Sadly, it's been a while since students have been able to borrow books from the school's Reading Room! However, we feel there may be quite a few borrowed books still in students' school storage areas and at home.... We are particularly reliant on the large number of books we borrow from the Schools Library Service each year to add to our own stock. In order to have our new consignment from the Schools Library Service, we'll need to return our current books. These have "Schools Library Service" or "SLS" clearly marked on them - and on the spine too. Please could you check around at home to see if there any Schools Library Service books lying around? If you have any Rugby High School library books, we'd love those back too. Books can be left on the tables in The Reading Room - they don't need to be signed back in. Students shouldn't borrow any more books from the room at the moment. 

Thank you - and I hope everyone has a great summer of reading! 
Miss Danks.


The Family Information Service (FIS) is a helpful friendly service which supports families with a wide range of needs including childcare, finance, housing, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and family relationships.  Not sure who can help? give the team a call, and they can offer advice and support.

They are available every Monday to Friday (except bank holidays)  9am to 5pm by phone 01926 742274 or email fis@warwickshire.gov.uk.  You can also message on Facebook WarwickshireFIS.  

Remember FIS are available when school is closed over the summer break, so please don't hesitate to contact them if you need any sort of support.


Please find below information that has been passed to us that may be of interest to you and your family.

Latest information on coronavirus from Warwickshire County Council
 

Warwickshire Family Information Service Newsletter

July 13th Edition

 


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