Newsletters

Rugby High School - Autumn 2019 Issue 14

News from Mr Grady

Hello everyone.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot believe it’s approaching the end of term – as you’re reading this – just one day to go!  The term has by turns flown by quicker than I thought and on occasion felt like it would never end!

I’m sure for the Year 11 students who’ve just sat their mock exams the last two-and-a-bit weeks have felt like an age, whereas for the Year 13 students rehearsing for their infamous “Sixth Form Entertainment” I bet the last few days leading up to Thursday have zipped by quite quickly.

By this point in the school year, all the year groups are now firmly set on their own timetables – we tend to start and finish together, but the actual time in between has different pressures dependent on the time of year:  The Year 13 mock exams turn up just after Christmas, Year 9 option choices are required in February, Year 7 students will be happy that they’ve made it all the way through their first term.

What we are all doing is of course, looking forward to a rest.  I spoke at Foundation Day about the fact that we celebrate the formal examination successes of students publicly due to the fact that GCSE and A-Level exams are hard fought, the results a real triumph and reflection of many years hard work, and we should celebrate them as a community, as although the individual results are of course the success of the individual, it is the community that supported them to get there, staff, parents and peers all working together to support, cajole and coach and in some cases nag and plead to help students through.

But for the next two weeks, we should all make time to take a break, whatever a break is for you.  We all need to recharge our batteries, and return rested and rejuvenated for those slightly cold and damp months of January and February. 

I will certainly be having a break, and would like to take the opportunity to thank all staff for their incredibly hard work this term (I can’t think of more committed and good-humoured colleagues with whom I would like to work,) thank parents for their support, and thank students for all they do to make Rugby High School such a delightful environment in which to work.

I hope everyone has a restful and calming holiday, and a prosperous New Year!

With festive wishes,
Mr Grady

18 Dec 2019
Foundation Day
Foundation Day  We have finally reached the end of the Autumn term and, amid the ever-increasing Christmas excitement, on Monday we welcomed back the hardworking students of 2018-19’s year 11 and 13 to commend them on their GCSE and A Level results.   As a p...
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18 Dec 2019
Celebration Assembly
On Tuesday 17th December we had our first Celebration Assembly of the Academic Year. These assemblies are held to recognise and celebrate students' resilience, persistence and hard work, a reflection of their own self-motivation and encouragement from others  over the last 14 weeks. Stud...
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Christmas Holidays
All Day
23
December
Marking Day - NO SCHOOL
All Day
06
January
Training Day - NO SCHOOL
All Day
07
January
Year 12 & 13 Computer Science Trip - Warwick University
All Day
08
January
Year 13 Mock Exams Begin
All Day
13
January
Year 10 Drama Showcase
8:45am – 1:00pm
16
January
Year 10 First Aid Day
8:50am – 3:45pm
17
January
Year 13 Student Finance Meeting for Parents
6:00pm – 8:00pm
23
January

Dear Parents,

As we approach the end of our first term, I have one or two reminders to share to make sure we can continue running the school as efficiently and effectively as possible and ensure that student safety is maintained and home-school contact is conducted positively for all:

Opening and Closing

The safety of our students whilst at school and before and after the school day is paramount. 

To this end, I would like to remind everyone about the guidelines and times for school opening and closing during term-time:

School is open for students from 8AM. They must go to the canteen until 8.30, at which point they are welcome to go to form rooms. There are no staff available to monitor students before 8am, and parts of the building will not be open, so students should not be arriving prior to 8am.

School finishes at 3:45 and students who are not traveling by bus, or using their own form of transport are expected to be collected by 4:45 at the latest.  We are happy to advise on appropriate bus services for your child.

If waiting for a lift, students should wait in the foyer/ reading room or sixth form common room.  They should not wait in form-rooms or other classrooms or practice rooms.

There are no staff available to monitor students beyond 4:45, and so for safeguarding purposes I must insist that all students are collected at the latest by 4:45, unless they are taking part in a formal, teacher led school activity.

There are always occasions due to family emergencies that may necessitate a late collection.  In such instances, I would be grateful if you contacted reception with a clear time that your son or daughter will be collected, so we can support you in making proper arrangements for your child’s collection.

Appointments to see staff and email communication

There are obviously times when parents may wish to meet staff at the school.  We would be very grateful that if you wish to meet any member of staff that you make an appointment by contacting the teacher you’d like to see or through the school switchboard.  We will endeavour to make appointments as swiftly as possible to suit everyone’s diary.

Teachers obviously have full teaching timetables and the office staff, senior and pastoral teams do not necessarily have the capacity to meet anyone who simply arrives in reception.  In order to avoid any frustration, we would ask that you make an appointment.

Should you feel that the safety of a child is in question please ensure the member of staff you are speaking to at reception that it is a safeguarding matter that you wish to discuss and a designated safeguarding lead will contact you as swiftly as possible.

Obviously, we want our home-school communication to be as efficient as possible, but also to consider staff workload, and ensure that everyone’s wellbeing is supported, so when contacting staff by email, we aim to respond with an acknowledgement within 2 working days. 

There is no expectation that staff will check their email at the weekend, or after 5pm on weekdays.

Drop off at the start and the end of the day

Please do continue to take care when dropping students off at the start and the end of the day.  Pay attention to the yellow no parking markings to ensure that school buses can safely pull into the Bus Bay.

With best wishes,

Mark Grady
Head Teacher

18 Dec 2019
Tap Dancing World Champion
An Intervies with Nikita Billa-Patel, a member of the GB tap dancing team
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Did You Know We Could De–Extinct A Woolly Mammoth???

On Friday the 7th of December, Year 10 took a trip to Warwick University where they discovered many different interesting aspects of science in the ‘Science in Action Day’. We listened to 5 speakers starting with Marty Jopson looking inside the mobile phone and discovering the optics and elements that go into our favourite accessory and found out how our phones are costing the Earth. And if that wasn’t cool enough, we later got to hear from Helen Piltcher who explained how advancements in science means that we can bring back some of our favourite “extinct” animals (aka the woolly mammoth) and how these extinct animals may not really be as extinct as we thought. An extremely useful revision talk was also given telling us the top 5 tips for exam success.  After all this excitement came a big “bang” – with demos galore we finished off our amazing day with one of the university’s own professors, Nick Barker, who gave us an insight into chemistry through many intriguing experiments such as decomposing hydrogen peroxide and mixing hydrogen peroxide with luminol (what officers at crime scenes use to find blood) to create a beautiful blue liquid light. Overall, it was a wonderful day giving a brief yet informative insight into the world of science.

By Diya Modi 10S

KS3 Book Recommendation

Step Aboard - the Universe is Waiting.

The Great Network is a place of drones and androids, Hive Monks and Station Angels. The place of the thousand gates, where sentient trains criss-cross the galaxy in a heartbeat.

It is also a place of great dangers - especially for someone who rides the rails and rides his luck the way Zen Starling does.

Once Zen was just a petty thief, stealing to support his family and living by his wits. Now everything has changed. Zen is still a thief - but it could be that the key to the whole universe rests on finding out what else he is . . .