NEWSLETTER Spring 2016

Yet another bumper edition! From Science Week to Sport Relief this term has been a hive of activity. Further to my letter dated 3rd March 2016, I gave notice of election for two parent governors on the Governing Body of . Only two nominations were received. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Mr Philip Thain and Mrs Kelly Murphy shall be declared elected and unopposed. Mr Cox (Headteacher)

World Book Day Ben World Book Day was Dickinson, is celebrated in style this year a t at Ribblesdale! As well as crowned the quizzes, a Where’s Wally GRAB 2016 hunt, one-off lessons and a n winner! extreme reading competition, Year 7 pupils arrived in a fabulous array of fancy dress outfits, becoming their favourite After nearly 6 characters from literature for a day. We had Railway Children, months of Where’s Wallies, and Boys in Striped Pajamas, not forgetting waiting, Mary Poppins (Mrs Mcleod), Prince Charming (Mr Hughes) and hundreds of Frankenstein (Mr Thomas) from the staff. The list goes on! auditions and 2 semi-finals, The Grand was ready to host the ‘The Shelfie’ gave staff the opportunity to send pictures of final of GRAB. The evening started with a reflection of their book shelves and both staff and pupils had to guess which previous competitions and watching just how much talent we book shelf matched a particular have in our schools in the . member of staff. One or two of Georgia Clarkson (Year 10) smashed her performance and the books had to be clues to the person’s identity. gave some inspired rapping which was highly acclaimed by the judges. World Book Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate reading Then Ben Dickinson (Year 7) captivated the audience with his and to let imaginations run wild – dazzling showmanship, mysterious tricks and a magical marvel and we certainly did that! to have them all on their feet. There were some tense moments of anticipation as the votes World Pi Day 2016 were counted and verified until it was finally revealed that School won the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place; Around the world, mathematicians congratulations to all their acts. celebrate ‘World Pi Day’ on March 14th. This is because in America, they write the date However, it was our very own Ben Dickinson who was as 3.14.16 which is actually the first few crowned the king of GRAB 2016 and took home the amazing digits of pi rounded up. We use Pi in maths trophy and prize, much to the thrills of the audience. right from Year 7 finding areas of circles through to Year 11 finding the surface area A huge thank you to everyone who helped in GRAB and of of spheres. To celebrate the day there were course to Ben Dickinson who is aged just 11 years old; so very several competitions and activities for young with so much talent and a promising future ahead of pupils to get involved in. Hundreds of pupils him! got involved with the different activities and it was a great success! Maths staff were dressed up with Ms Sharon Jennison (Ribblesdale High School) pi tshirts on and we were featured in the Telegraph!

Rosemere Cancer Foundation Jack Hargreaves 11G and pupils have been working hard to raise funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation with a cake sale and Sponge the Teacher. A massive £550 was raised. Rose- mere Cancer Foundation have thanked our pupils for all their News...News...News...News...News...News hard work on social media! For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb Staying Safe Online! Four of our pupils recently attended Careers a very special ‘Staying Safe Online’ Career talks now take place in the Library every Friday morning during digital workshop at The Grand in form time. Each week we will have a speaker either from industry or a to promote Safer Internet local college to inform pupils of careers in a particular field. We have Day 2016. already had talks about engineering, jobs in science, teaching, running a Lydia Robinson, Kendall Kelly, Lauren business and the police. Pupils gain an insight into job roles, training, entry Bradshaw and Amelia Dowson requirements and salaries. participated in the special session with the focus on protecting young Please follow us on Twitter @RHS_Careers and the Ribblesdale High people online, their group was called School Careers Facebook page. Ribblesdale Routers. They engaged in several activities which allowed them to learn more about how the internet is used by young people and what are some of the dangers are that young people face. They created a website which had the important message of how young NHS Careers Day people can stay safe. Twelve pupils from Year 10 attended a Kay Gibson and Louise from the Grand both commented on how well very informative NHS Careers Day at behaved these pupils were and their enthusiasm was superb. They are now The Royal Blackburn Hospital Friday going to continue to complete the website and enter it into a competition in 12th February. Pupils took part in six May. If you would like to know any more about how young people can stay safe workshops learning about job roles, online, please contact Miss Jennison at Ribblesdale High School. qualifications and the skills required for medicine, radiography, physiotherapy, nursing cadets and apprenticeships, Year 7 theatre nursing and pathology. You are quite the star There are over 300 different careers within the NHS from architects, Olivia! haematologists and occupational therapists to plumbers, porters and Olivia Hurst, Ribblesdale High pharmacists. Further information on careers in the NHS can be found at School pupil was recently https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/ presented with a certificate by Please see Mrs Billington in Student Services if you would like to attend an Whalley & District Lions for all NHS Careers Day. her help over the Christmas period following the Boxing Day floods; Olivia also helped Growing Seeds from Space with a table top stall to raise money for the Whalley/Billington Fifteen of our Year 8 pupils are preparing to become space biologists and floods, she helped raise a massive £1,710.60. Mags Twist embark on a voyage of discovery by growing seeds that have been into space. (Whalley & District Lions Secretary) stated “We are very proud of Olivia, who after the Boxing Days Floods, gave up her Christmas In September, 2kg of rocket seeds were flown to the International Space Holidays and helped/supported the flood relief.” Station (ISS) on Soyuz 44S where they will spend several months in microgravity before returning to Earth in March 2016. The seeds have been Well done Olivia! sent as part of Rocket Science, an educational project launched by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency. The seeds are now back! At 04:26am on Tuesday 2nd March, Commander Humanities Pupil of the Week Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Well done to the following pupils who Volkov of Roscosmos landed safely back on Earth in Kazakhstan. The seeds then travelled with Scott Kelly to NASA in Houston on a charter flight from are winners of ‘pupil of the week’ for Moscow, Russia and returned to the UK on Thursday. The seeds are being humanities packed ready to be sent to our ambassadors. this term. We are one of up to 10,000 schools to receive a packet of 100 seeds from space, which they will grow alongside seeds that haven’t been to space and Millie Jones-Snape 7D RE measure the differences over seven weeks. The pupils won’t know which seed packet contains which seeds until all results have been collected by the Ethan Rogers 7A Geography RHS Campaign for School Gardening and analysed by professional Kate Brennan 7B Geography biostatisticians. Ben Halliwell 7C History The out-of-this-world, nationwide science experiment will enable the pupils to think more about how we could preserve human life on another planet in the future, what astronauts need to survive long-term missions in space and the difficulties surrounding growing fresh food in challenging climates. Science at lunch! Mrs Greenwood, Science Teacher says: “We are very excited to be taking part in Rocket Science. This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching our Mackenzie Helm and Brody pupils to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school. Towler from 7H recently performed an organ autopsy Rocket Science is just one educational project from a programme developed by the UK Space Agency to celebrate British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s during lunch break with Mrs Principia mission to the ISS and inspire young people to look into careers in Ainsworth! STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, including horticulture.

For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb Year 8 The Rotary Club Technology Tournament The Rotary Club RIBI Technology Tournaments are held annually and are a day out for teams of four pupils with an interest in engineering, design, Motorsport Max! technology and science, to design and build a solution to an unseen Max Lofthouse (Year 8) is racing technical task within a specific time frame. The teams need to have good ahead as a young newcomer in communication skills, be well organised and able to show the stages of the motorsport competitions! He has development of their solution in a design portfolio. Each team produces a working model that is competitively tested and assessed by a team of had a fantastic season and finished judges. overall 6th as a ‘nitro newcomer’. We entered two teams in this year’s competition. The team for KS3 This is a great achievement given comprised of Liam Starkie, Cade Leonard, Ella Winterbottom and Morgan he had never been on a motorbike Woodward whilst the one for KS4 included Isabelle Baron, Ben Seed and prior to this season! Max also won Hannah Jefferies. This year the the 'Benjamin Gautrey Rider’ cup at the end of the season; this is teams had to design a solution with minimal materials that given to the rider who has progressed most and raced well. would allow a heavy vehicle to We wish Max the very best of luck at the coming ‘Thundersports cross over a river and a canal whilst allowing boats to pass Superteen’ motor racing event at Brands Hatch. underneath. The designs were assessed for how they met the design problem before being competitively tested. Year 9 Both teams did very well, the KS3 team were in the lead at the halfway point but unfortunately dropped back Year 9 Football slightly at the testing stage. The KS4 team, despite being one person down It has been a strong start for the Year 9 football team so far this on their competitors, put in an incredible performance and managed to win year. They are due to play in the the trophy for Ribblesdale High School. This is now the third year in a row where Ribblesdale has managed to win a trophy at this competition. quarter final of the Lancashire Cup towards the end of the month, they Forensics Trip – Year 10 reached the 4th round of the English On Tuesday 1st March, a group of Year 10 pupils attended Schools’ Cup and have been placed to UCLAN for a forensics science workshop. The aim of the the Premier League of local schools workshop was to bring science to life and to explore the league in Hyndburn and Ribble Valley. way in which crime is investigated in the 21st century using They have done so sporting their advanced technology. During the workshop the pupils very smart new kits. Well done to all conducted a variety of typical CSI experiments including hair the team and good luck for the rest and fibre analysis and DNA fingerprinting to solve a murder of the year. case! The pupils thoroughly enjoyed this stimulating experience and they got to witness first-hand how science works in the real world. Year 10 Year 11 What a hectic half term for our Year 10 pupils:  Student Leaders supported the Microsoft team who came into to support Gifted and Talented RE Conference at Bowland our status of lead expert school. High School  We have a new cohort of Student Leaders to support the team due to Ten Year 11 pupils attended a RE ‘Big Questions’ conference at Bowland the number of events that they support. This includes parents’ evenings High School. During the morning session pupils took part in lessons with and other open school events. the pupils of Bowland High led by the head of RE Mr Simmonds. Pupils  Pupils have been to to complete a pupil leadership course. interacted with each other talking about social issues such as abortion and euthanasia as well as providing their opinions on philosophical issues  A selection of other pupils have taken part in an NHS taster day as part of of life after death and near death experiences. In the afternoon pupils their career development. got the opportunity to address their questions in an open debate to a panel of people consisting of an Imam, Evangelical Vicar, a Father from  Many Year 10 pupils have received a Golden Ticket as part of a new the Catholic Church and a community church leader. Below is feedback rewards initiative. of what pupils had to say about the event.  Pupil of the week awards have been awarded from all the subjects over ‘The event included some lessons looking at ‘matters of life and death’ the last term. before taking part in a ‘question time’. I think it really helped us look  Most pupils this year received a gold award for their efforts in the mock deeper into religious views and begin interviews. to question some of these, comparing them to our views. It also  The girls football team won joint first place in a recent inter school gave us the chance to understand competition. others’ views and their feelings towards the issues discussed which  The girls badminton team also secured a first place. included abortion, euthanasia, paranormal activity, heaven and hell.’ Megan Riddell For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb ,

Science Week 2016

British Science week is a celebration of science – aiming to provide fascinating, entertaining and engaging events and activities. Here at Ribblesdale it was no exception. The Science buskers were also out and about at Lunch time demonstrating whizz, bang experiments. Pupils from Year 8 were treated to a trip to 3M, with a tour and presentation of the processes within the company, pupils also received a ‘goody bag. Willow the skunk was a definite hit as were most of the creatures Cooper’s Critters brought into classes. The giant millipede being a little less popular than his furry counterparts. Astrophysicist’s based at Uclan also provided workshops and talks about the history of space exploration. Mr Hylands, a local environmental scientist enthused pupils about the work his company does on recycling tyres and producing fuels. Here is just a few more snippets of a very successful Science Week 2016:

Monday night saw parents and pupils attend a murder mystery evening where they performed forensic techniques to solve the murder of Mr Plant with all the usual suspects from the game of Cluedo. Tuesday evening there was an astronomy talk and a look around the school’s observatory.

Activities were not just limited to recreational time, within science lessons Year 7 worked as teams designing and making lunar landers, Year 8 designed and produced water rockets, which For those with a strong were launched without too many constitution there were of the launch team getting too Winners of the pupil science quiz autopsy lunches, including wet. Year 9 designed cargo drops were Chloe Harry, Harley Parker eye, lungs and heart with parachutes to ensure a safe and Maddie Sims—a golden dissection. landing of their precious cargo. bunsen burner is on its way. Congratulations!

Pupils even got involved with some of the excitement by taking part in a race to see who could complete the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda reaction the fastest. It was a great success and a whole lot of fun for both pupils and staff! The Wildlife trust entertained classes with information and quizzes

For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb Sport Relief 2016

On Friday 18th March, staff and pupils fully participated in a day of activities to make a massive £3300 for Sport Relief. There were some fantastic events across the school and throughout the day raising a huge amount of money! A big thank you to Sainsbury's for donating so many things.

Chipfest Break time!

So the team were set and ready for a sell out of chips in a cup . It was a chipfest and in 15 minutes we had sold out of everything! A big thank you to the student leaders and Sainsbury’s staff and PE department for being super servers. And Mrs McLeod was busy selling the famous sausage rolls and biscuits.

Crazy Chocolate Tombola!

Hannah Donnelly and her team Year 7 Cheerathon were eager to get the tombola under way with a huge selection The whole of Year 7 certainly had something to cheer of goodies to give away. George about!. Fitzpatrick was the lucky winner Over 250 pupils and 20 staff invaded the sports hall of the giant bunny. with their homemade pom poms and we are ready to cheer a mile for Sport Relief. Vanessa from Roefield Leisure Club gave a master The cheermob @Sainbury’s class in how to get everyone moving the feet and pom poms at the same time. You can even spot some Customers at Sainsbury’s were treated to an early Sainsbury’s staff. morning boost of energy whilst they did their shopping. Mr. Williams and his cheer team busted their moves and cheered their pom poms all in aid of Sport Relief. The routine choreographed by the Year 10 pupils had people dancing in the aisles and cheering. Nice moves Mr. Williams.

For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb Penalty Shootout!

Face painting in the library Pupils were able to challenge Mr Houldsworth to a penalty shoot-out and Mrs Hargreaves and her team of helpers there was some serious skill on show. magnificently transformed our pupils into fairies, works of art and some funny faces which made some money.

Sponge the teacher Ribblesdale Markets And the stocks return for modern day fun. The day was also Pupils were given the celebrated by the many best treat ever when stalls we had on the teachers volunteered(!!) market including hot to be sponged. And chocolate, crafts, cakes what a soaking they got. a n d s w e e t s a n d Great fun and certainly well worth the money. tombola…… Thank you to the student leaders and pupils who manned the stalls. And here is Shahrukh advertising Sport Relief merchandise.

The Sponsored Walk Mile

The main event of the day was the whole school walking or cheering a mile. Mrs Cooper-Westhead and her PE team organised a fantastic event which included the Year 10 GCSE pupils being mile makers and stewards for the day. We even had some children from St. James’ visit to complete their own sponsored mile. Staff and pupils came dressed as various sporting legends and a fantastic day was had by all. Well Done Ribblesdale, a truly giving, community school.

For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb Sporting Achievements

Ribblesdale Ski Team U16s Boys’ Badminton Congratulations to all the members of the Congratulations to our U16s Ribblesdale Ski Team who recently took part in the North West Ski Federation Boys’ Badminton team who Schools’ Race, held at Pendle Ski Club. are now North West Badminton Champions There were some outstanding individual performances, with many pupils knocking following a battle at the H&RV seconds off their personal bests, which and Lancashire tournaments. was great to see. It was also good to see They finished 3rd, lost 3 games so many novice racers performing well and won 2. An outstanding enjoying the experience. Ribblesdale won achievement, the boys were th the event for the 5 year in succession, which is an outstanding playing against players who achievement. were in the national Team development centre. Will Austin, Ciaran Bradwell, Eleanor Jessop, Rebecca Heselton, Ellie Culshaw, Mitchell Dickenson, Georgia Singh, Joel Whitfield, Daniel Wilson, Lewis Parkinson, Cameron Darcy, Claudia Payne, Codey Bonsal SL Benfica Tour 2016 We are looking forward to visiting one of We also won the following categories: the biggest traditional names in world football—SL Benfica. Pupils from Years Lower Senior mixed race Upper Senior mixed race Upper Senior Boys 8, 9 , 10 and 11 will potentially be Georgia Singh, Joel Whit- Will Austin, Ciaran Bradwell, Will Austin rubbing shoulders with the stars of field, Mitchell Dickenson, Eleanor Jessop, Rebecca Portugual's most successful club. During Ellie Culshaw Heselton the five day trip they will be learning from their best youth coaches at the official 1st team complex, play We were placed second in the following categories: four local Portuguese youth teams, visit the stunning Estadio de Luz and watch the stars in a live game.

Lower Senior Girls Upper Senior Girls Lower Senior Boys British Schools’ Rebecca Heselton Eleanor Jessop Ciaran Bradwell B i a t h l o n Championships Congratulations to Ellie Girls’ Football Perris (Year10), Kenzi Girls’ football Year 7 nd Ormerod, Lucy Brady and 8 came 2 in the and Ruby Parker (all i n t e r - s c h o o l s Year 7), who took part Hyndburn and Ribble in the British Schools’ Valley tournament Biathlon Championships playing against 10 held at Crystal Palace National Sports’ Centre Arena on schools. Year 9 and Saturday. 10 are champions of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley winning the inter-school Ellie came 21st out of 35 in the Under 15 Girls’ tournament at Accrington . Competition and Kenzi 71st, Lucy 96th and Ruby 123rd out of 154 in the Under 12 Girls’ Competition.

Year 10 Football They all had to qualify for these finals in local Won against Mount Carmel 2-0. Man of the match Elliott Norman. competitions, and were competing against pupils from Well done! all over the country, which makes their achievements even more impressive.

Year 11 Football They were a credit to the school and we wish them Once again this team is going from strength to strength, now every success in future competitions. reaching the quarter finals of the Lancashire cup and as they are the holders, are keen to defend the trophy, recently winning 1-0 against Well done! High School Well done lads! For further information about any article in this newsletter or other events and activities taking place at Ribblesdale, visit our website: ribblesdale.org Or Twitter @ribbweb