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 News from Mr Grady
21st March 2024
Hello Everyone,
Sometimes, dare I say it, the deadline for me to write a newsletter comes round faster than I realise and I sometimes caught with “what can I discuss today?” moment. For those of you who have been reading these newsletters for years, you can probably tell that when I hit a slight whimsical note about what I can see outside my window, and write three or four hundred words of wittering – those are the times when I’m a bit stumped…
This week however, I have no such fears, and this will be a bumper newsletter for the sheer range of things that we’ve had going on in school in the last fortnight.
Last week was National Science week, and the Science department stepped up with more than their usual excitement to blow things up for our pleasure. There were assemblies, lunchtime sessions, outside speakers, sessions on careers in Science and throughout the week what one felt was a real love of science, of joy in curiosity of experiments and what they can tell us. We are so very lucky at RHS that we have such well-stocked laboratories that allow students access to practical science in all years, and alongside our passionate scientists, our science technicians, eager to get out as many pieces of equipment, and scientific paraphernalia to instil in our students the love of practical science and what it can teach us, and of course, not only that but where studying science can take us, and the vital roles outside of RHS that students may be aiming for, whether in medical or veterinary science, engineering, computing, or a myriad of career choices that we hope Science week has bought into clearer focus. I can only thank all the science staff, teacher and technicians alike for another wonderful week!
In addition to Science week, the last week of term has seen certificate award evenings for both GCSE and A-Level students, and we were very lucky to secure two wonderful speakers, one on video from Australia and one in the room with us. John Dover spoke at our GCSE evening, talking about his extraordinary achievement of summitting Everest in May this year, and offering sage words of advice to our students about goal-setting and the resilience to do so. I was particularly struck by his words about surrounding oneself with people who will support your goals. That one should “walk away” from those people who laugh at or question one’s capability. His advice: “Surround yourself with people who empower you,” which rang very true in an evening where we were celebrating the extraordinary achievements of our students in a room full of the people that supported them and empowered them to aspire and achieve so well.
And then on Wednesday, we welcomed our old Headteacher Charlotte Marten to our A-Level Prize-giving where she spoke about her 192 mile coast to coast walk undertaken in 2021, the preparation, the physical and mental challenge of the walk, and the wonderful sense of achievement gained in completing it. The pictures she bought with her showed just what sort of terrain she faced, and added a real sense of atmosphere to her speech. Ms Marten drew out some pieces of advice for our returning year 14s, amongst which were two pieces of advice which struck home: Be brave, and Cherish those who Cherish you.
At this event we also welcomed our returning senior student team, and two students spoke with such passion about what RHS had given them in their time here, and the encouragement and opportunity they felt they had received. It really was a wonderful evening as we could celebrate with our year 14s, and hear what they have been up to in the last two terms – it was a joy to see them all so well, and so grown up, and a wonderful moment to see the impact of our work on the impressive young adults they have become.
What an absolutely splendid way to end this short but intense term. A real celebration of what RHS has to offer. As you approach the Easter holiday, I hope that if you’re preparing for GCSE or A-Level Exams, you have everything you need to have a productive holiday, some rest, but also I imagine, some focussed revision too. If you heading off on a trip, have a safe journey, and enjoy time away, or if you’re staying at home, and just catching up with family and friends, I hope the rejuvenation of time away, and a break treats you well. I look forward to seeing our community safe and well, back on the 8th April.
Stay well and safe everyone,
With all best wishes,
Mr Grady
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Science Week experiments, competitions and talks
Run by The British Science Association, British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths. Year 7s witnessed water being turned into wine! With goggles donned and a bespoke lab coat which reads "Stand back, we are about to attempt science!" their teacher transformed a liquid from colourless to red "wine" and back again. The students' task was to explain what was going on and whether liquids A or B were acid or alkali.
Year 8s are taking part in the Step into the NHS competition! They had to research jobs in the NHS and choose an NHS career that interests them. They researched the career's key responsibilities, skills, experience and qualifications and were then challenged to create a fun and lively job advertisement to appeal to their peers. There are prizes at stake and winners will have their entries showcased in an online gallery. To inspire them they had a look RHS student Madeleine's poster for the role of air ambulance doctor, which won the West Midlands prize last year! Some of the chosen careers they'll be advertising include a speech and language therapist, an A&E doctor, a drama therapist, a forensic psychologist and a psychiatrist.
Year 9s conducted the experiment 'The Magic Teabag!,' flying teabags around the lab. Using an empty teabag case shaped into a cylinder, they lit the top of the teabag and once it had burnt down the fine ashy mesh flew up to the ceiling!
They learnt the science behind it and created a poster to show how it worked! Lighting the top of the teabag cylinder heats the air inside the cylinder. The hot air is now less dense than the surrounding cooling air and this creates a convection current with hot air rising through the teabag.
At first the weight of the teabag is greater than the upwards force from the moving air so the resultant force is downwards. As the bag burns, its mass decreases so its weight decreases. As the warm, less dense air rises, it has enough force to lift the ash of the teabag. Hot air balloons use a similar principle!
Finally, our year 10s were learning about different science careers. The students heard about various science roles at Britvic in Rugby and how they make all the different products such as Robinsons squash, fruit shoots and Pepsi. We also had 3 ex-students return to tell us about their science careers. Millie, who is studying a Biology PhD, explained how she carries out her research and her route into University. Debbie showed the students the various roles carried out by Medical Physicists, and Jess, who only left RHS a year and a half ago, showed the students her diverse work as a degree apprentice in the field of Civil Engineering.
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Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Neurodiversity celebration week started on Monday 18th March and RH6 students had an assembly presented by a fellow neurodiverse student. The assembly looked at autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and other neurodiversities.
Here's some of the positives shared about being neurodiverse: "While being neurodivergent can be a struggle, neurodiversity can be a gift too! Being neurodivergent allows you to see the world in a different way, such as seeing certain social norms differently to your peers. It can also make you better at some things than everyone else (like having a better memory). Many neurodivergent people are creative and imaginative people, and neurodiversity helps enrich society and helps further our understanding of our world."
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The Art of Rhetoric
On Thursday 8th February the Classics department were delighted to welcome Dr Burden-Strevens from the University of Kent for a talk on 'The Art of Rhetoric'. The talk provided us with a highly engaging overview of how ancient rhetoric influences modern political speeches and other forms of media today.
Matilda (Year 11) and Ananditha (Year 10) share their thoughts of the talk below.
Matilda: "We were taught rhetoric techniques used from antiquity to the present day, and how politicians use these to manipulate us into believing what they are saying so we vote for them in public elections. It was fascinating to discover how these techniques are also used in modern media, such as television and rap music e.g. those in Hamilton.
Throughout this talk, we were shown what techniques and methods we could use to make an effective public speech, such as hypophora (when the writer/speaker asks a question and then immediately provides the answer), as well as the different skills used to portray a point and how to identify the techniques used to manipulate audiences in public speeches.
I found this talk to be an eye-opening experience and it will really benefit me in future life. So, thank you to all the teachers that made this wonderful and essential experience happen!"
Ana: "It was a really interesting and engaging talk by Dr Burden- Strevens and we really learnt a lot about how to spot rhetoric in famous speeches by politicians ranging from Donald Trump all the way back to Cicero. This gave us a perspective of how much language has been used through centuries to persuade the general public. We came out of the talk ready to spot anaphoras and epistrophes and we all had a lot of fun (our favourite part being our photo-op with him!)"
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EKFB (HS2) site visit
Last Wednesday, the other group of our year 12 Engineering students (Hollie, Sana, Aneek, Fin, Nosang, and Marcie) had the opportunity to visit an EKFB construction site as part of our Industrial Gold Cadets project.
We first sat down and had the opportunity to talk to an expert ecologist, Barry. We used this opportunity to ask him several questions about bats, as our project is all about how construction projects have to mitigate for them! Barry was incredibly helpful; not only did he give us valuable feedback and information relevant to our project, but he also gave us insight into pursuing ecology as a career and getting involved with local wildlife trusts.
We then embarked on a tour of the site with our mentor, Francis. This tour helped us appreciate the sheer size of the work going on for HS2 and all the different people involved. We took several stops to observe and take pictures of interesting sights.
After a break for lunch and the chance to talk to a couple of professionals, we were back in the minibus and headed towards the bat house – the focus of our project. We finally emerged from the minibus and made our way through the mud to see this bat house for ourselves. The mud on our shoes and wind in our faces was worth the rare opportunity to come so close to this marvel of human engineering: how one small house for bats cost so much is a mystery!
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Poetry competition success
Young people aged 25 and under worldwide were prompted to create love poems solely out of other poems and texts and their poems have been published on the Young Poets Network. Our year 12 student Yousef was longlisted in this international competition. Congratulations Yousef!
The Poetry Society announced all of the poems entered were incredibly strong and showed a wide range of interesting sources. Enjoy reading his poem above! And find out more about the competition here.
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Reminder! Uniform Sale 27th April 2024
The RHS Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is organising an outgrown but not outworn school uniform sale on Saturday 27th April 2024. This is your opportunity to make a huge saving by buying good quality pre-used uniforms for your daughter and play your part in raising money for the school.
All proceeds will go to the PTA which provides funding for academic and non-academic related activities for our students. You can more information about the PTA on our website.
So, please come to school on Saturday 27th April 2024 between 10am - 12pm to make huge savings on outgrown but not outworn uniforms!
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The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2024 is open!
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is one of the most prestigious poetry competitions for 11-17 year olds in the world. Every year, 15 top winners and 85 commended poets are chosen; some of the exciting new voices writing today. This year’s judges are Vanessa Kisuule and Jack Underwood, and they can’t wait to read your poems! If you’re aged 11-17, send in your poems for the chance to be among the 100 winners and kick-start your writing career.
Poems can be on any theme and in any style but must be no longer than forty lines. You can submit as many as you like. Enter your poems by 31st July 2024 at foyleyoungpoets.org
The top 15 poets receive a mentoring package with opportunities to receive support and feedback on their writing; and all 100 winners receive a year’s youth membership of The Poetry Society and a bag full of books donated by generous publishers. The Poetry Society continues to support winners throughout their careers providing publication, performance and development opportunities, and access to a paid internship programme.
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Virtual Engineering Experience
The Smallpeice Trust is inviting students to be part of a unique educational experience, a 4 day virtual Engineering Experience course, taking place online from 27th-30th August 2024.
This course dares Year 8 and 9 students to imagine the world of tomorrow in the company of other students who share their interest and passion for STEM. Students will be challenged to solve real-life problems faced by working engineers and work on fun, real-world projects with like-minded young people from the comfort of their homes.
Course Highlights:
- This course is delivered by an experienced team of Smallpeice youth delivery experts and supervisors.
- Students will be shown three different areas of engineering they could study at university, covering cyber security, electrical and space engineering, with a chance to learn from industry experts.
- All the kit required for the course will be mailed out in advance.
This course offers a great opportunity to enrich your CV with practical experiences that can make future UCAS applications stand out. To secure your place on this course click here
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Football round-up
Princethorpe vs RH6 Ladies
Final Score: Princethorpe 0-3 RH6 Ladies
(Standing l-r): Imogen W, Freya G, Maddie M (captain), Jess N, Katie N
(Kneeling l-r): Belle N, Lucy G, Zoe C, Annie S, Alice H
On Thursday 14th March, our sixth form Ladies Football Team took part in a game against Princethorpe.
Our team was made up of Annie S, Katie N, Alice H, Maddie M, Imogen W, Lucy G, Belle N, Jess N, Freya G, and Zoe C, all of whom showed an outstanding performance with exceptional teamwork. The game started out with RH6 maintaining a lot of possession with a couple of shots on goal but just not enough to go in. Belle N opened the playing field from a quick-thinking goal following from a mishandled kick from the Princethorpe goalie. A perfect opportunity arose for the ladies when a free kick was given in RH6’s favour. Freya G stepped up to take it and well positioned in the box was captain Maddie M who was on the receiving end and cheekily chipped it into the back of the net. Shortly after, on the left wing, Imogen W made a remarkable run down the line and crossed it to Jess N who bought the team a 0-3 lead at half time. In the second half, the ladies maintained their competitive spirit, protecting their lead. When the whistle was blown at full time Rh6 had proven themselves as worthy winners.
The team would like to thank Zoe C, the goalkeeper, for being a tremendous player as well as stepping up to be in goal even when the players were four years older. In addition, a big thank you to the sixth-form boys who came along to show their support. Dr Brown commented “it was a fantastic game, I really enjoyed watching it and felt really proud of our team!” All sixth-form members showed terrific attitude throughout the match whilst representing the school wonderfully. A special mention to Dr Brown for all her help as head coach we appreciate all your efforts.
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U13s RHS vs Harris
Final score: RHS 5 - 1 Harris
Goals: Abi 2, Zoe 1, Anya 2. Assists: Katie, Abi x2.
(Standing l to r): Belle N, Louise M, Ella M (C), Abi D, Melisa B, Maddie M
(Kneeling l-r): Katie C, Zoe C, Anya H
This was an exciting game against a Harris team of only 8 players. However, they did some amazing defending and we had many frustrating attempts in the first half, when Abi hit the post, Anya hit the bar, Anushay had a powerful shot from the half way line that went wide and Melisa had a shot that was saved, but still 0-0 at half time. The second half was goal-rich, and it all came together for Rugby High with Abi and Anya both scoring two and Zoe scoring one. There was some brilliant defending too from our solid defence of Sofia, Ella and Anushay, great saves from both Zoe and Melisa in goal, and lovely passing again in midfield from Katie and Louise. Our player of the match was Anya for battling on after she was studded in the knee and her fantastic goal when she chipped the ball over the goalie's head. Harris nominated Zoe as their play of the match. Well done to Harris who battled on to the end.
Dr Brown and Mr Phillips would like to thank our year 13s, Belle and Maddie, who ably refereed and ran the line for us.
U13s RHS vs Bilton School
Final score: RHS 5 - 0 Bilton School
Goals: Anya, Zoe, Evelyn (2), Abi. Assists: Katie, Zoe x2
Player of the match (nominated by Bilton School): Evelyn H
This was a closer game than the score line shows, and both teams had to work hard throughout the whole game. Anya opened the scoring with an assist from Katie. Ella is not on the score sheet, but she had two very close shots too, one wide and one over the bar, both of which could have been amazing goals! Melisa made a diving save with her finger tips, meaning both she and Zoe kept a clean sheet in goal and credit too, to our solid defence of Anushay, Ella and Evelyn, and Sofia, who showed some lovely confident play in this game. Although not on the score sheet, we saw some lovely passing in midfield and flying down the wings from Katie and Nimi, and Abi scored one goal but was instrumental in so many of the others.
Dr Brown and Mr Phillips would like to thank Imogen in year 13 for refereeing her first match and she did very well, and both Lucy G in year 12, and Mr Constable for running the line so expertly.
We'd also like to thank all of the parents who turn up to support and collect students from all of our games, because there would be no game without this!
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Quentin Blake competition
Quentin Blake: Book Covers exhibition is now on at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum until 11th May 2024. This exhibition features 60 of Blake’s book covers from the 1960s to the present: from mid-century Penguin paperbacks to finely-crafted special editions and family-friendly poetry books. To accompany the exhibition there is an exciting competition to design a book cover. Selected students will have their design displayed in our main Art Gallery.
The competition is for children and young people aged 5-18, with an overall winner being selected for each key stage group from KS1-5. They are encouraging students to be creative and have fun with whatever materials or medium they choose. The deadline is Friday 12th April. If you would like to participate, please get in touch with Phoebe Hilton on phoebe.hilton@rugby.gov.uk.
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Gillian Clarke
Miracle on St David's Day (1982)
‘They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude’
The Daffodils by W. Wordsworth
An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed
with daffodils. The sun treads the path
among cedars and enormous oaks.
It might be a country house, guests strolling,
the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs.
I am reading poetry to the insane.
An old woman, interrupting, offers
as many buckets of coal as I need.
A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens
entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic
on a good day, they tell me later.
In a cage of first March sun a woman
sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling.
In her neat clothes the woman is absent.
A big, mild man is tenderly led
to his chair. He has never spoken.
His labourer’s hands on his knees, he rocks
gently to the rhythms of the poems.
I read to their presences, absences,
to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks.
He is suddenly standing, silently,
huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow
movement of spring water or the first bird
of the year in the breaking darkness,
the labourer’s voice recites ‘The Daffodils’.
The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients
seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect.
Outside the daffodils are still as wax,
a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables
unspoken, their creams and yellows still.
Forty years ago, in a Valleys school,
the class recited poetry by rote.
Since the dumbness of misery fell
he has remembered there was a music
of speech and that once he had something to say.
When he’s done, before the applause, we observe
the flowers’ silence. A thrush sings
and the daffodils are flame.
All things Poetry found at Poetry by Heart
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Jobs
Teacher of Mathematics
We are delighted to offer the opportunity for a qualified teacher to teach Mathematics to students in Years 7-11 (the ability to teach A level Mathematics, would be an advantage but is not essential).
- Would you like to teach able, polite, motivated students who want to learn?
- Would you like to be part of a highly successful Mathematics Department?
- Are you passionate about your subject?
This role is permanent, full-time (or significant part time 0.7FTE+ would be considered). Your start date will be September 2024 and the salary grade is M1:UPS3.
Apply by Monday 8th April 2024
Teacher of Business and Economics
We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic and engaging Teacher of Business and Economics. The prospective candidate should seek to embody the values and ethos of the school through the delivery of engaging and challenging lessons across KS4 and 5. Our students are keen and enthusiastic learners, they have enquiring minds and want to excel. We are looking to appoint someone who is passionate about their subject, who has high expectations and who can deliver excellence in the classroom.
This is a full-time role, fixed term from 1st September until 31st December 2024 (Due to parental leave).
Apply by Friday 12th April 2024
Cleaner to clean specified areas in the school, meeting the school’s and authority’s standards. You'll be working under the guidance of the caretaker or cleaning supervisor. You'll also contribute to the school’s statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
This is a zero hours casual contract, TTO plus 5 week (39 weeks). NJC Scale 2 - £11.59 per hour.
Find out more and how to apply here: www.rugbyhighschool.co.uk/jobs
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Please find below information that has been passed to us that may be of interest to you and your family.
Warwickshire Family Information Service Newsletter
19th March Edition
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The School Newsletter is sent out every other Thursday during Term time.
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