20 July 2018 Dear Parents Our Final Newsletter of This Academic Year – a Time for Looking Back and Also for Looking Forward
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20 July 2018 Dear Parents Our final newsletter of this academic year – a time for looking back and also for looking forward. One of the high points of this particular week has been the opportunity to section assemblies to announce the summer term commendations. As I underlined to the students, commendations are not awarded for one-off events. Instead, they recognise routine, sustained commitment and hard work and it was a pleasure to see so many names on the lists provided by Form tutors and Heads of Year. One of the things I invariably say on these occasions is that those who have not received a commendation this time around, have a brand new opportunity to acquire one over the course of the new term, so in September, there is everything to play for! An occasion this term on which we spent time looking back was Founder’s Day on 7 July 2018. If you attended our communion service or the festival, which followed, you will know that it was a sociable and happy occasion. The sun shone and members of our PTA did an excellent job of ensuring that we were all entertained and well fed. The event raised vital sums for the school and we are enormously grateful to those who organised the day or came along to support it. If you have visited school in the past week you will have noticed that the artwork on the walls has been changed. It has been wonderful to see a whole new set of canvases go up on our walls, but it has not just been in school that we have enjoyed students’ superb painting skills. As part of a project promoted by Bracknell Town Council, a team of Ranelagh artists has been transforming one of the underpasses at the back of the school. The meadow mural they have produced is breathtaking and has earned fulsome praise from the students and members of the local community who pass this way on a daily basis. If you have the opportunity to take a look at it, then you are in for a treat. Particular thanks go to former Vice Captain, Saffron Stay, Florence Brockman, Katie Hall, Elizabeth Davis, Carmen Nualart, Hannah Vonka and, of course, to Mrs Edmunds, Mrs Arnold and Mrs Maple for their inspiration, encouragement and artistic flair. On the theme of looking back, it is interesting to note that it was just over a year ago that Ranelagh became a part of the newly formed Bonitas Multi-Academy Trust. Since then members of staff have been busy working with Jennett’s Park School, none more so than Deputy Headteacher, Mr Williams. Many of you will know that in January, following the departure of the former Headteacher, Mr Williams became Acting Head at Jennett’s Park for three days a week. As a direct result, our partnership with the school has grown and in the summer term students’ and staff from Ranelagh have had the opportunity to undertake a range of activities with their younger counterparts. Not only has this developed the leadership skills of students from Ranelagh, it has also provided valuable insight for our teachers into teaching, learning and expectations at key stage 2. The icing on the cake is that Mr Williams ends his period of secondment celebrating an excellent set of key stage 2 results with the team at Jennett’s Park. In the meantime, staff and students here look forward to welcoming him back to Ranelagh full time in September. Amongst the items that follow, you will find our end of term farewells. To those, we add our best wishes to the students who leave us this year; whatever their destination, we wish them every success and hope that they take a little bit of Ranelagh with them. In addition, whilst we are not saying goodbye to her, I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work and support given to the school by our Chair of Governors, Amanda McLean, who steps down from that role in September. As we all know, the role of a school governor is entirely voluntary and Ranelagh is blessed with a Governing Body which is committed, hardworking and skilled. Our thanks to Amanda for leading that group with enthusiasm, and drive. HOUSE NEWS We are delighted to announce this year’s overall winners of the Barnett House Cup competition. The ribbon on the trophy for the next twelve months will be Green. The points accrued by each of the four Houses were as follows: Braybrook Cleave Waterson Winrow 9613 10,016 9928 9599 Congratulations to Cleave House and to all those who have earned points on behalf of their house over the course of the last twelve months. The pinnacle of the year’s competition was our Sports Day on 6th July. In very warm conditions students competed with great determination, cheered on enthusiastically by their peers in the stands. DDDEPARTMENTDEPARTMENT NEWS English On 27 th June, Ranelagh took part in the National Writing Day, a national celebration of writing, designed to inspire people across the UK to put pen to paper. All students and staff took five minutes out of their day to enjoy writing creatively for fun on the theme “Memories We Treasure”. You can see the result of our efforts on our virtual wall, accessible here http://padlet.com/Ranelagh/xbwb4xntu7p8 or via the QI link. Many staff and students commented that they enjoyed the opportunity to write and chat about their memories; much of the writing produced happy memories of school and the summer holidays. Elsewhere students with the help of Mrs Azzopardi and Miss Oblein are hard at work on producing an anthology, - watch this space for news of a book launch soon! History Mock Trial On Saturday 16 th June, I had the enormous pleasure of watching Ranelagh's Magistrate's Mock Court Trial team perform at the National Final of the competition in Birmingham. The students, all of whom are in years 8 and 9, were hugely impressive. They were incredibly well prepared and rose with great poise and confidence to the occasion, which took place in the glorious surroundings of the Victorian Magistrates in Court in central Birmingham. There were 16 teams competing and the icing on the cake was that the team from Ranelagh were victorious! It was a memorable occasion and I think it is also worth noting that a significant number of the students taking part had made their way to the competition from Wales where they had spent the week on the Year 9 personal challenge residential. I think that they slept well after the final. Having seen them perform so well in two rounds in court, it was wonderful to witness the students and families celebrate this superb outcome and also to have the opportunity to thank and congratulate Mrs Coventry who, with Miss Mills, has worked alongside the students for months to prepare for the event. Also there to enjoy the victory was Mr Chris Juden. He and Mr Jason Witten, gave generously of their time throughout the year to coach and support the team to victory. We cannot thank them enough. You might also like to know that runners-up this year were students from The Holt School and third, were members of the team from Charter's - a triple for Berkshire but the first time one of their schools has won the competition! We are enormously proud and are eagerly anticipating a visit to Ranelagh from the High Sheriff. Ranelagh’s winning team: Charlotte Menon (8W), Joe Fuller (9X), Harriet Taylor (9X), James Riley (9V), Lauren Spooner (8Y), Caitlin Elliot (9X), Alison Patton (9U), Phoebe Turner (9Y), Freya Martinez (9W), Eve Lester (8X), Sophie Edwards (8U), Tom Monaghan (9X) and Lara Gell (8W). Maths Activities during the Summer Term Exploring Maths 2018 at Royal Holloway for Year 12 A level Mathematics Students Mathematics is a truly fascinating subject, but sometimes it can be difficult to convey this effectively in the limited time of the classroom. Therefore, on a Monday in the middle of June, a group of Sixth form Maths students travelled to Royal Holloway, with the aim of discovering new maths and exploring its possibilities moving into university. The event started very well with croissants and pain au chocolat, laid on for the students participating. With stomachs satisfied, they took their seats in the main lecture hall. Following a less than brief introduction, they had a talk from ‘Maths Comedian’ Matt Parker. Speaking on the topic of Maths in technology, he focused on the use of patterns to correct computing mistakes. From predicting missing digits in barcodes to the behind-the-scenes of text messages, it was light-hearted fun that made an excellent start to the day. After Matt Parker’s talk concluded, there was a varied selection of 30-minute lectures. These covered a range of subjects, from topology to the application of equations in the sciences. Royal Holloway’s dedicated Information Security department also held several lectures, including an appearance from a secretive figure known only as ‘Mike’, from GCHQ. He gave an insight into the use of maths by British codebreakers in their bid to crack Enigma. Needless to say, this was one of the most popular talks. Thanks to the excellent weather, students then enjoyed their lunch in the grounds of the university, in the shadow of the impressive Founder’s Building. During this time, current Royal Holloway students were kind enough to provide brief tours of the university campus. The grounds were very picturesque, with a pleasant mix of green space and developed area.