Newsletters

Rugby High School - Autumn 2020 Issue 2

News from Mr Grady

Hello Everyone!

Well, here we are in the middle of the first full week back, and I am sure everyone is starting to get used to the challenges and also the really positive outcomes of our return to the school site.

For me, small things have been a challenge: Putting on “school shoes” for the first time since March, and then limping after about 20 minutes; Realising that if you’re not conducting a meeting remotely, but in person that you really should be wearing smart trousers, and not just smart clothes on the upper half.

For all of us, the bigger challenges are that the day certainly feels like a longer day, and for students, instead of accessing some of their work as and when they felt like it, they are now firmly back into the “lessons every 45 minutes” schedule.  Staff I think are getting used to moving around the school and teaching in unfamiliar classrooms, but this has been a big change for them and not without some difficulty – I spoke to a member of staff who’s been working here for many years who simply did not know where the Huygens lab was.  (We found it together after some wrestling with the new one-way system.)

One of the most positive outcomes though, is that now, in order to ensure safety as students come on to the school site, and make sure everyone is washing their hands, I’m outside at one of the gates greeting students as they come in, and what an absolute pleasure it is!  Smiling, welcoming students in to their day, asking how things are going, catching up with students I’ve been teaching for years and learning about those students who’ve recently joined us is a real delight, and feels like an infinitely more positive and effective use of my time than anything else I could be doing!  Thank you to all those students who when I greet them with a “hello” and “have a good day,” reply with an equally positive “you too!” It means I start the day with a smile, and a positive tone, and I hope they do too.  It simply goes to show that in a continued time of uncertainty, it is those small human acts of kindness and interaction that really contribute to the continued positive warmth of Rugby High School. 

Do continue to stay well and safe,
Mr Grady

LEAVE OF ABSENCE DURING TERM TIME

UPDATED INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

The Supreme Court recently reached a decision in the case of Platt v Isle of Wight Council which has clarified the law on unauthorised leave, including holidays, during term time. The parents of children of compulsory school age are required to ensure that they attend school on a regular basis. The Supreme Court has made clear that attending school ‘regularly’ means that the children must attend school on every day that they are required to do so. As such, the parents of any child who is absent from school without authorisation for any length of time are likely to be considered as committing an offence under s444 of the Education Act 1996.

Head Teachers retain the ability to authorise leave in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. When considering such requests for a leave of absence, the school are obliged to act within the law. Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. If the leave is granted, head teachers are able to determine the number of school days a child can be absent for.

It is for the Head Teacher to decide what is ‘exceptional’ and it is at their discretion if the circumstances warrant the leave to be granted. The school can only consider Leave of Absence requests which are made by the ‘resident’ parent.

Each application for a leave of absence will be considered on a case by case basis and on its own merits.

Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, the child will be required to be in school on the dates set out in the application. If the child is absent during that period, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence, which may result in legal action being taken against the parent(s), by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Failure to make an application for leave in advance can also result in a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued to the parent(s).

All matters of unauthorised absence relating to a Leave of Absence will be referred to the Warwickshire Attendance Service, part of Warwickshire County Council

It is important to note, Fixed Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child, (for example 2 children and 2 parents, means each parent will receive 2 invoices in the amount of £120 each, totalling £240 for both children, this is reduced to £60 per child if paid within 21 days).

Where a Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid within the required timeframe as set out on the notice, the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider instigating criminal proceedings under S444 Education Act 1996.

Fixed Penalty Notices are issued in accordance with Warwickshire County Council’s Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices.

Your child’s progress academically as well as socially is our shared priority.

Warwickshire School pupils recorded 31,196 half day sessions of absence due to holiday in the Autumn term 2019.

For Parents/Guardians of Year 12 Students 

Year 12 Online Information Event
Thursday 17th September 7pm - 8pm  

An opportunity for parents to find out more about day to day life in the Sixth Form and to ask any questions relating to RH6.  Access to the event will be via a Microsoft Teams Link to be sent via e-mail to all Year 12 students.   

Rugby High School PTA AGM
Monday 12th October 2020, 18.30 

We really want as many of our school community as possible to join our AGM via Microsoft Teams. 

If you wish to participate, please email rhspta@rugbyhighschool.co.uk and we shall send you a link inviting you to attend. 

We look forward to welcoming you! 

Year 13 Induction Day at RH6!

On Friday, as part of Sixth Form induction, some former students came to talk to our current Year 13 students about how to cope with the many challenges of the final Year of A Level.  Full of wisdom and good advice, these students will soon be starting their university careers or gap years, studying a wide variety of subjects, from Medicine, to Theatre Studies to Astrophysics!

The school community was so delighted to welcome them back to Rugby High School, and the students were

inspired by their journeys through A Level!

Interested in Engineering?
In Year 9, 10 or 11?

You might be interested in the CyberFirst courses listed here.

 

CyberFirst 2020 Announcement

Girls Development courses have launched

We are delighted to announce that a new timetable of FREE CyberFirst Girls Development virtual courses is available on The Smallpeice Trust website.

A Girls Development course is a free online course for those girls who wish to continue their CyberFirst journey. This online course is open to any girl starting Year 9 or 10, S3 or S4 in Scotland, or Year 10 or 11 in Northern Ireland in the 2020/21 academic year (regardless of whether they entered the CyberFirst Girls Competition in 2019 and in 2020). The course is designed to recreate the excitement from the competition and increase their understanding of the different specialisms within Cyber Security and equip them with some valuable practical skills. 
 

Upcoming Girls Development courses:

  • 12-13 October
  • 19-20 October
  • 22-23 October
  • 29-30 October


Each course will run over two half-day morning or afternoon structured sessions where the content will be delivered in our usual fun and interesting way.

To book a place, female students should click on one of the links above and will be transferred to The Smallpeice Trust website which will have full details of this CyberFirst course. Spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis, so students will need to act fast to apply for a course if they are interested in attending.

To attend a virtual course, students will require access to a computer and an internet connection. Students will be sent information in advance to help confirm they have all that is required for the course.

STEM Competition Success

I took part in the ‘STEM Enterprise’ competition run by Coventry & Warwickshire Careers Hubs and ThinkHigher for a week in August. For this we had to design a battery powered product to help in some way with the Covid-19 pandemic relief effort. We had to think about what features and benefits the product would have, how to market and promote it, and give a description of the business we would be creating and the target audience for our product. We were emailed videos and information throughout the week to help us along with our project. I also had to do quite a bit of my own research on things like marketing and how to set up a business. As part of the project we also had to complete a reflection diary to show how we'd developed skills over the week and what challenges we faced. My product was an eco-friendly automatic soap dispenser that encourages children to wash their hands properly for the full 20s. It was designed in fun way to help prevent children from spreading the virus. A panel of judges marked all the projects on Innovation, Research & Understanding of the current market, Marketing, and Self-reflection skills, each of these worth 25% of the marks. I got 89/100 marks for my project and won 3rd prize of a Kindle Fire, which was amazing. It was a fantastic learning opportunity and I really enjoyed taking part. 

Ellen Morley Year 12