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Friday 12th July 2019 Dear Parents,

Well it has been an unusual second half of term as I have been recovering from my surgery and been away from School over the past four weeks. I have missed the children and the Richard Pate family enormously but was delighted to have made it back for the Leavers’ Concert on Thursday and Final Assembly this morning. Thank you to everyone who sent such kind messages in my absence. I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my amazing colleagues who have done a fabulous job in my absence. They are a brilliant team and I feel very fortunate to have them as a support. As I missed so many of the lovely events this half of term I have asked for their help in compiling this final newsletter of the year.

Leavers’ Concert and Final Assembly: As I said I was very pleased to have made it back to School to see the showcase of talent that is the Leavers’ Concert. The Year 6s are such a gifted collection of individuals and they played a wide variety of instruments including our first harp performance in many years. We were also entertained with dance performances and a whole group rendition of Lean on Me which seemed particularly fitting. Their talents cover so many different disciplines and we shall remember their wonderful performance of “Anything Goes” for a very long time. The Final Assembly was a long affair with so many prizes to award but the children were brilliant to sit as an audience for so long. We had an emotional farewell to our Year 6s who we know will make us proud.

PE and Games Curriculum Focus: This term’s curriculum focus has been PE and Games and the children have experienced a wide variety of sporting experiences. The pupils have worked hard and made the most of the sporting opportunities and learning experiences afforded them. The long list of events included the following:  Junior world cup using Year 6 pupils in leadership roles as umpires  Junior Girls’ football mini festival with Gotherington.  Prep Sports Day- including sporting activities planned and lead by Year 6 pupils  Junior Sports Day – All Juniors compete over 8 events for their houses.  and District Cotswold Shield Athletics- Top pupils in Juniors compete for the school in track events at the Prince of Wales Stadium. RPS 4th out of 12 schools.  Girls’ IAPS cricket- Year 6 pupils competed in this prestigious event at Millfield School and had the opportunity of a small chat with Marcus Trescothick (ex England opening batsman)  Full fixture list in both Girls’ and Boys’ cricket. The weather unfortunately impacted on several fixtures yet alternative sporting provision was always provided.  Junior swimming gala at won by Holmes.  All school activity morning lead by the pupils featuring various sporting challenges  Climbing wall experience for all pupils Year 1 to Year 5  Balanceability cycling programme- 10 week workshop on cycling based skills for Reception pupils  Skipping workshop- whole school skipping workshop that also included in-house training for midday supervisors  Rackets morning- 6 of our talented rackets players had the opportunity of receiving expert tuition in squash, tennis, rackets and badminton at Cheltenham College  Junior Girls’ athletics afternoon with Berkhampstead  Parent and pupil tennis morning.  Cheltenham and District windball tournament @ Cheltenham Cricket Club

 Whole school sports morning where pupils were mixed within their key stage and given the opportunity to play a variety of games devised and delivered by Year 6 pupils. The morning was given an inspirational start with an assembly by parent Anna Watkins MBE who is a double Olympian. She has won a bronze in the double skulls 2008 Olympics and won a gold in the London 2012 Olympics.  Question of Sport- A whole school assembly to celebrate the career of Mrs Powell. A quiz devised by Mr Edwards with Mr Pound and Miss Ingrey on the panel. Pupils were engaged learning about previous pupils who went onto achieve great sporting accolades as well as seeing and hearing some special talents from the RPS staff.

Prep Sports Day: This year saw a change to our Prep Sports Day with children taking part in a variety of fun field activities as well as the more traditional races. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the atmosphere was fantastic. The younger children were ably assisted by Year 6 pupils who expertly led the field activities and as ever, we were very well supported by parents to cheer on their children. It was a super morning and one which we hope to repeat next year.

Dan the Skipping Man: Following the success of the mobile climbing wall and other recent events forming part of the PE and Games Curriculum Focus children from Year 1 – Year 6 enjoyed a skipping workshop from Dan the Skipping Man. Children were able to learn simple tricks, as well as develop their own confidence and skipping skills. A whole school show to celebrate learning rounded off the day superbly and we have been delighted to see so many children continuing to enjoy skipping during playtimes. Thank you to the PTA for funding such an exciting day!

Pirates vs Mermaids: The Year 2 Prep production was an absolute joy to behold. The children and staff worked tremendously hard to rehearse and perform the wonderful ‘Pirates vs Mermaids’. Every aspect of the production was of the highest quality from the individual performances of the children, to the incredible costumes and background scenery designs. We thank and congratulate the entire Prep department for their superb effort, dedication and teamwork in creating such a wonderful event.

PTA Events: I attach the PTA Newsletter which is very informative about the events of this term and those planned for the Autumn Term. It also outlines the amazing contributions they have made to school life. I am hugely indebted to Lisa Hall and her wonderful team for the lovely events planned for children and parents alike but also for providing so many additional extras that allow us as a school to invest in the key teaching and learning that helps your children to benefit so much.

Bursary: The bursary will remain open over the holidays and can be contacted on 01242-522052 or at [email protected].

‘Surfers against Sewage’: To continue our efforts to be more aware of single use plastic, and to try to recycle, Mrs Miller- Howell would like the children to make the plastic bottle eco bricks over the Summer Holidays. The link to the website with further information is: https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/news/news-archive/2019/what-is-an-ecobrick Mrs Hayman and Mrs Thornton have a couple of collection bags in the school office and Mrs Miller-Howell has one in her classroom. Please bring in your completed bottles at the end of the Summer holidays. Those collected will be used for a project within School.

Lower Juniors Concert: Many of the children’s favourite songs were sung by the children of Years 3 and 4 at the recent Lower Juniors’ Concert. Auntie May’s Green Machine went whizz – bang – bong – ting; the Romans rapped loudly; they all sang in French and we all went to the moon and back. Many thanks must be given to the 22 children who played a solo piece so well on their instrument. Lovely performances were given by the Training Orchestra run by Mrs Kingswood (thank you Mrs Kingswood) and thanks need to be extended to Mrs Board and Miss Shorland who prepared children so thoroughly for the concert and helped in the background. Altogether, a lovely evening of music.

Reports: Every one of our 302 children should have come home with their reports this week and I hope it made for very informative reading. A huge amount of effort goes into creating these reports and they do go through several rounds of proofreading. If you detect any mistakes do let us know and we will happily re-print a corrected set. I have gone through them all and it has made for very enjoyable reading in my recovery to hear how the children are progressing.

Staff Changes: We said thank you and farewell to Mr Tim Ingold and Mrs Sue Powell in final assembly today to celebrate two illustrious careers. Mr Ingold has been our Director of Music for the past 25 years and has filled the corridors with lovely music. He has taken our children to perform in the Piuttville Pump Rooms, the Town Hall and Gloucester Cathedral. His choirs have won many a cup at the and this year’s choir did him and the School proud by collecting the Joan Bell Cup for the top Under 11 choir in the county. Mr Ingold will be remembered for the lovely Christmas Carol Services that have been held at Cheltenham College chapel for the past 12 years. We are grateful for all his efforts over the years and we wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement. Miss Lesley Crompton takes on the role of Director of Music and we are very excited to welcome her in September to begin a new chapter of music at Richard Pate building on the fine legacy of Mr Ingold.

Sue Powell has led Girls’ Games for nearly 20 years and has taken it to a new level in that time. She has helped our girls to perform exceptionally well in hockey, netball, rounders and more recently cricket. She has instilled a love of sport in all our girls and so many of them populate county teams and secondary school top squads. She has also been an exceptional classroom teacher in her time with us. Children for years after remember her as one of the great influences in their lives. Such is the legacy of Mrs Powell that we require two people to replace her. Miss Massey will be moving in to her Year 5 classroom position and we welcome a new part-time Head of Girls’ Games, Mrs Hannah Knight to take on that aspect of Mrs Powell’s teaching load. We wish Mrs Powell the very best in her retirement where she will be able to enjoy spending time with her husband Dave giving time over to the other great interests in her life.

Uniform: When we return in September the children will be allowed to wear either summer or winter uniform until half term and this reflects the fact that the weather can vary widely during these autumn months. The PTA second hand uniform team will run their usual start of term shop on Wednesday 5th September in The Street between 10.00am-11.00am.

Important Allergy Updates: Very early next term we will be sending out new medical forms to complete for every child. This is very important as it enables us to make sure that we have the most up to date medical information about your child for the start of the new academic year. Please can I ask that these are returned immediately along with the necessary in-date medication; this is particularly important for children with allergies or conditions requiring medical attention. We would also like to remind everyone that we are a Nut Free School and this is important for the snacks you send in to School with your child and any cakes you may donate for the Fayres or PTA tea and coffee.

Exciting Summer Works: We are excited to welcome a team of contractors in at 2.00pm this afternoon to begin a huge project of resurfacing the astro. The astro has been a fixture for hockey, tennis and outdoor play for the past 20+ years and has finally worn out. The new surface should be in place for the beginning of September and we are excited to see our promising hockey teams hone their craft on this new surface in the Autumn and Spring Terms.

As the holidays begin I would like to say once again what a tremendous pleasure it has been to work with your children. They impress us every day with their growth and development and having completed the cycle with our current Year 6s it reminds me what a privileged job we hold. While I was off recovering I received three e-mails from past parents and pupils. The children in question were each very different during their time with us but the context of the e-mails was the same. They spoke of the excellent start Richard Pate had given them not only in terms of work ethic but also confidence and happiness. One has just completed Year 7, one is finishing her second year in medicine and one has just graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Quantity Surveying. We do not always get it right but we strive every day to have that outcome. I wish you all well for the summer holidays and hope you have time together to spend as a family. To those moving on we wish you well and to those returning we look forward to seeing you in September.

Yours sincerely,

Robert MacDonald