Newsletters

Rugby High School - Summer Term 2024 Issue 19 for web

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News from Mr Grady

7th June 2024

Hello Everyone,

I hope that the half term break was a positive one, and that the damp and the rain didn’t impact on people’s plans too much.

Here at RHS, as you know, we like to set heights in our heart, and at the end of last term, we took some time as we always do to celebrate our student’s achievements and take the time to offer our praise and admiration for a job well done. 

It’s important to celebrate great work and achievements, and I hope in the pages of the newsletter we manage to do this for students, staff and curriculum areas.  This week is no exception, but is a really exciting one:

Our very own Mrs Dermott-Bond, Assistant Head Teacher, Head of RH6 and published poet has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an absolutely incredible achievement. 

The Society states that:

"Fellows are committed to inspiring better ways of thinking, acting and delivering change. An integral part of the RSA in creating a better future, Fellows champion new ideas, drive social change, deliver practical solutions and support the RSA mission."

Having worked with Mrs Dermott-Bond now since 2008, I can honestly say there is no-one more fitting to take on this role.

In addition, when one looks at the list of current members, she will be rubbing shoulders with an impressive range of figures across the Arts and more broadly – Dame Judi Dench, Bernadine Evaristo, Tim Berners-Lee and even Bob Dylan to name but a very few of a list of august names that Mrs Dermott-Bond will now be joining.

It really is a mark of the incredible work Mrs Dermott-Bond does both in and out of school, and we are incredibly lucky to have her as a colleague, teacher, leader in the RHS community.

I’m not sure it’s the done thing to find ways of getting her to get autographs or get some of these incredible figures in to talk to us and students, but we will certainly be trying!

I do hope the coming and final half term of the year treats everyone well,

Stay well and safe everyone,

With all best wishes,

Mr Grady

Level 3 football finals
9:15am – 3:45pm
07
June
Football Activators celebration event
9:15am – 3:45pm
14
June
Year 8 Exams until 19th June
All Day
From 17 Jun until 19 Jun
17
June
Open Evening for year 4 and 5 students
5:00pm – 7:00pm
19
June
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Open Evening Reminder

Open Evening is coming up on Wednesday 19th June, 5pm - 7pm, and lots of students will be involved on the night, helping as Tour Guides (predominantly Years 7 and 8) or as Department Helpers. Permission letters for Tour Guides and Department helpers have now been given out. 

If your child would like to volunteer as a Tour Guide they can stay in school or will need to arrive back by 4.30pm and Department Helpers by 4.45pm.

If you agree to allow your child to attend, please can you ensure that they will be collected by a responsible adult from the entrance hall inside school at the end of the evening.  Unfortunately the car park may be full of visiting parents but we would rather they did not have to walk out of school on their own.

If you are happy for your child to be involved in this event, please scan the QR code on the letter to go to the online permission form. Please complete the permission form by Friday 14th June so they can be part of this important evening, showcasing Rugby High!

Jessie Wright poetry competition finalists

The English department were honoured and delighted to host the 27th Jessie Wright memorial poetry evening Wednesday 7th May. The theme was ‘Celebration’ and KS3 chose to recite from a host of poets from Keates and Wordsworth to Angelou. Their recitals were flawless and they blew the judges away with their clarity and understanding of the poems. The second half of the evening KS4 and 5 read their own creative responses to the theme ‘celebration too’ from celebrating bicycles to sketch books and from friendship to the solar system and science, the KS4/5 students really demonstrated their talent for creating evocative, though provoking, powerful and emotive poetry. A wonderful evening had by all and a record audience turn out too.

Our English Department would like to give a special mention and thanks to our three judges: Mark Grady, Alison Lynch and professional poet Matt Black for being our judging panel.

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House Points Totals

Here's the latest house point totals from the end of last half term, with Rauf currently in the lead! This means their flag is flying at school. At the end of term the house with the most house points earn a reward.

Our four houses are named after famous and inspiring women, author Onjali Q. Raúf, athlete Kelly Holmes, Crimean war nurse Mary Seacole and percussionist Evelyn Glennie.

Astrophysics Professor visits RHS

On Friday 24th May, we were lucky enough to have Professor Valery Nakarikov from the University of Warwick visit us. Not only has he received the Payne-Gaposchkin Medal of the UK’s Institute of Physics, and the Chapman Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, but has been president of the European Solar Physics Division.

He provided a very informative talk to our Year 12 Physics students about Solar Physics and showed some amazing images and videos of the sun's corona and sun spots. His lunch time talk to younger students focused on our place in space and just how big the sun is compared to the earth. He also explained how the coronal mass ejections which are at a high currently explained our Northern Lights display a few weeks ago.  Great to see such a keen group of students asking really intelligent questions when lucky enough to have such an expert in from of them.

Lutterworth students take on Physics Challenges

Our Curriculum Lead for Physics, Mrs Mighall, welcomed a group of keen Lutterworth High School students this week. As part of her Physics Coaching role with the Stimulating Physics network and STEM she supports local schools with their Physics provision one day a week (as does Dr Fletcher).  The purpose of the visit was to not only encourage gifted and talented students to consider Physics at A-level, but to share good practice with staff.

The students were challenged to work out acceleration due to gravity, using a G ball a ruler and an equation. The G ball is a nifty way of measuring the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground - far better than relying on human reactions with a stopwatch! They also engaged with some real sources of radioactivity and attempted to find the speed of light using cheese!

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Art Exhibition coming up

Students from across Rugby schools will be showcasing their talents at an art exhibition on 4th July at Harris School from 5 - 7pm. Rugby High will have artwork on display and parents are invited to go along and immerse themselves in an evening of creativity and talent!

There will also be musical performances and light refreshments.

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RASE Competition winners

The results of the RASE Interschool short story competition have been announced. This was a Rugby-wide creative writing competition on the theme "This is me". Students were invited to write a lively and engaging story of around 500 words about personal experience, difficulties faced, something they've encountered or what growing up in the world today feels like.  

Sarah, who judged the competition, said “I thought the stories were absolutely beautiful and I had a really difficult job actually picking out winners”.

KS3

Winner: Adija (RHS)
Runners up: Aryan (Houlton School), Max (LSS), Deeksha (RHS)

KS4

Winner: Matilda (RHS)
Runners up: Freya (RHS), Mabel (RHS), Sorcha (RHS)

KS5

Winners: Mia and Sophie (RHS)

Congratulations to all those who entered and those who have won!

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Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition

The theme of the 2024 Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition is Transforming Life and is offering some enticing prizes! It is now open to entries until 20th June.

The Society is looking for submissions that explore the profound changes occurring across our planet, highlighting the resilience and adaptability of life in response to environmental changes, human intervention, and scientific innovation. Including but not limited to:

  • Ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity
  • From single cells, or small multicellular life all the way up to mega fauna and flora
  • Humans transforming life
  • Scientific innovation in the biosciences including climate change mitigation measures

The competition is open to any amateur photographers and the Photographer of the Year (18 and over) winner's prize is £1,000 and the Young Photographer of the Year (under 18) winner's prize is £500.

Enter now!

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Essay Competition Commendation

Simrah in Year 12 has received a commendation for her essay entered in the Peterhouse’s Kelvin Biological Sciences Competition.

This is an excellent achievement, as only 6 essays were awarded this distinction, and the standard of entries was extremely high.

Simrah explains “My essay was exploring what ecosystem engineer I would reintroduce to Britain, I decided on the native oyster and explored studies which show the oyster is able to filter our ocean water from pollutants. Oysters are also able to form reefs which can protect the coast lines from strong tides, so they can be used to replace hard engineered breakwaters. I then explored why Britain hasn’t already reintroduced the oyster into the oceans, and discovered this is because of the overfishing happening in our oceans in order to maintain a supply for the commercial fish market.” Well done Simrah!

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Natural Sciences Residential

Eva in Year 12 has been offered a place on the St John’s Natural Sciences residential programme at Cambridge University this July. St John’s said they were thrilled to receive so many impressive applications from an extraordinary number of students and their academics and students in Natural Sciences are looking forward to welcoming Eva.

Eva says ”I'm really excited to have the opportunity to explore new concepts in the academic sessions and learn more about the Natural Sciences course at Cambridge. I'm also looking forward to meeting new people with similar interests.”

During the programme, participants will attend Q&A sessions, workshops and taster lectures delivered by Cambridge academics, exploring a range of exciting topics from the Natural Sciences Tripos and learning about the application process. There will also be the chance to meet current St John’s students.

To be eligible to join the programme students have to be considering applying to Cambridge this year and are on track to meet and exceed the entry requirements for the Natural Sciences courses. Congratulations Eva!

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Virtual Insight into University course

For students aged 16+ interested in STEM subjects, Years 11-13, this course is a comprehensive virtual experience allowing students of all abilities to explore STEM studies at university and the career opportunities that these subjects can lead to.  It will also give students access to information on student life, STEM projects and activities set by leading UK universities and global STEM companies, first year undergraduate lectures, live interactive sessions with academics, admissions tutors, employers and current students.

The course runs within 1st July - 23rd August 2024 and can be completed flexibility to fit around other commitments.  On completion of the course, which involves 30 hours of study, students will receive a Silver Industrial Cadets Award - these awards are the Industry equivalent of DofE, patroned by the King.

There is a fee of £95 to access this course but there are bursaries available for eligible students eg. those in receipt of Free School Meals or Pupil Premium students.

Visit the website for more information and to apply. 

Free webinar coming up

Elevate Education will be hosting their next parent webinar on stress and wellbeing on Tuesday 18th June, 6pm - 7pm. Sign up for the session to learn how you can help your child to manage their stress levels. Here’s what Elevate will be covering on the night:  

✅ How you can identify early signs of stress in your child  

✅ Practical techniques to help your child manage their stress levels  

✅ How you can maintain a dialogue with your child about their mental wellbeing 

Click here to register for free

William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee

All things Poetry found at Poetry by Heart

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

4th June Edition

The School Newsletter is sent out every other Thursday during Term time.