H E A D - L I N E N E W S

Dear Parents, welcome back to

school after the summer break and a warm welcome to all new parents. As I write to you, the students have almost completed their second full week – the first fortnight has flown

by. I am delighted to report that the College has settled quickly into routines, and staff and students are going about their daily business with purpose. There is a fantastic buzz around the place.

I do hope you like the ‘new look’ Headmaster’s Newsletter for this Academic

Year. The Newsletter will, henceforth, be published fortnightly rather than weekly. It will also be largely image based with less text including links to full reports, letters and other articles held on the school website. We hope that this slimmer, more flexible format will encourage more students, parents and members of the wider Ratcliffe community to ‘dip’ into the newsletter and access the information and news most pertinent to them. We would like to include as much variety in the Newsletter as possible, so please do let the School know of your son’s/daughter’s achievements in activities beyond Ratcliffe, so that we can celebrate these with the wider community, where appropriate.

STRENGTH OF MIND STRENGTH OF VALUES STRENGTH OF PURPOSE

Since our return to school, a great deal has already happened. In the Senior School,

the extra-curricular programme is in full-swing following a most successful Extra-curricular fair on Wednesday, our sports teams have enjoyed a number of successful fixtures, the silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition has been completed successfully and Year 9 students have enjoyed a fantastic retreat at the Briars. Both the Senior School, and the Preparatory School and Nursery celebrated Mass for the beginning of the new Academic Year and benefactors. You can read about these activities by following the appropriate links within the Newsletter.

In the Preparatory School and Nursery, children have been getting to know their

new class teachers and establishing new friendships with pupils new to the School. We are delighted to welcome so many new children to our school, and I wish them happiness and success in their Ratcliffe careers.

On Thursday 14th September, I attended the inaugural Ratcliffe College Golf Day

at Rothley Park Golf Club. This event was superbly organised by our Development Department to raise funds for the Ratcliffe 2020 Appeal and our plans to develop the School’s Fitness Suite. I am delighted to share with you that fifteen four ball teams assembled and enjoyed a wonderful day of golf and companionship followed by a

H E A D - L I N E N E W S

Yours sincerely,

Mr J. P. Reddin,Headmaster.

delicious dinner hosted by the golf club. Following a very successful auction and raffle, the day raised in excess of £4,000 for the 2020 appeal. I would like to thank all the parents, past and present, who supported the event, together with Old Ratcliffians and friends of the Ratcliffe community for giving up their time to make the day so special. We will certainly be organising a similar event next year, so if you are interested in taking part, please look out for the advertising literature in the Summer Term.

The College has started to collect food tins or food packets for our Harvest

contribution which will be donated to the Carpenter’s Arms charity. We hope that you will feel able to support our annual Harvest Appeal as we look to share our bounty with those most in need within our community. Tins and packets of food can be left by the statue of Mary our Mother, in the Preparatory School and Nursery, or on the sanctuary steps in the Senior School Chapel.

Letter’s regarding the German exchange to Koblenz, the residential homestay visit

to Nice, the FutureChef competition and the Careers Guidance Information Evening, as well as articles on our summer trips, can be found by following the links within the Newsletter, so do please read these.

Looking ahead, there are several events that I wish to draw your attention to and hope

that you will be able to support if you are able to:

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DIOCESAN CHARISMATIC - ‘ALIVE’SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER

HEADMASTER’S RECEPTION FOR PARENTSPREPARATORY SCHOOL NEWMAN HALL MONDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER - 7.30PM-9.00PM

‘WORLD’S BIGGEST COFFEE MORNING’ IN AID OF MACMILLAN CANCER TRUST REFECTORYTHURSDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER - 9AM ONWARDS

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIRPREPARATORY SCHOOLTHURSDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER 3.30PM-5.30PM

CAREERS GUIDANCE INFORMATION EVENING FOR YEAR 11 PARENTSOLD LIBRARYTHURSDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER - 6.30PM

OPEN MORNINGSATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER

I wish you and your families well for the fortnight ahead, and look forward to meeting you at some of the forthcoming events.

O P E N M O R N I N G

SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER 9 . 30AM – 12 NOON

We will be holding our autumn Open Morning on Saturday 7th October for prospective families wanting to have a look around our wonderful school. Our pupils are our best

ambassadors so Senior School students and our older Preparatory School pupils will be asked by their tutors/class teachers to help on the day. Please keep this date free for us. Thank you.

Mrs Nuttall, Marketing Manager

C H A P L A I N S ’ C O R N E R

Forty one Year 9 students travelled to Crich, Derbyshire, to make a weekend

retreat at The Briars. Hosted by an all-new team for the year, our students acquitted themselves wonderfully, and were praised in conversation with the team leaders upon our departure. I thank the staff, students and parents who supported the retreat, and encourage all to take the opportunities for retreats that will be offered throughout the year.

The theme for the retreat was Choices, and it was explored through the prism

of St Peter’s experiences and confessions. The various choices Peter made throughout the Gospels display a very fallible man, sometimes prone to misunderstanding, sometimes to miscalculation. He was an odd choice indeed – it seems – for Jesus to choose as his “rock”. Nonetheless, two key biblical passages stood out: his loss of faith whilst walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33) and his confession of Jesus as Messiah (Mark 8:27-30). Surely, Peter did lose confidence when rocked by the wind and recognising the impossibility of walking on the lake to meet Jesus. But crucially, it was his calling out, “Lord, save me” that … saved him.

Peter recognised in Jesus someone who could challenge him to the impossible,

and he recognised in Jesus the one who could save him. And – though Peter struggled to “get it right” even to the very end of the Gospel accounts – we know from history that his commitment to Jesus was real, his courage outstanding, his leadership and

discernment decisive. The stabilisers now off, St Peter can become for the Christian a very helpful, and surprisingly responsible, role-model.

Mr Michel, Lay Chaplain

STUDENT LISTENERS

At the Senior School Chaplaincy Assembly on Friday morning, the Year 13 Peer

Listeners introduced themselves to the School. These students have been trained by the Samaritans as pastoral listeners to support the excellent work by Sister Debra and Sister Bridget as part of the lunchtime “Lighthouse” drop-in for students who may need a listening ear.

We also held a teachers’ Commissioning Service within our Assembly. This annual

service invites all our teachers to join in the mission of the Rosminian Order, and is offered to help them step-up to the challenge of teaching as a profession and, in particular, of teaching in a school with a Rosminian ethos. Through readings, reflection and prayer, all our teachers were invited to commit themselves to their subject and the students in their care.

S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N TSENIOR SCHOOL

Our Senior School Academic Awards are presented during Headmaster’s Assembly on a Monday morning, so this is the place to look out for our gifted students’ achievements.

Watch this space!

P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O LR E B E C C A D OW D I N G , Y E A R 6 Received her Entry Level 3 Initial Piano Certificate.

I S H A S I D H U , Y E A R 4Achieved the British Gymnastics Proficiency Award for Level 4.

E M I LY WO O D L E Y, Y E A R 4Passed her Grade 1 Piano with Merit.

R A H U L K H O DA , Y E A R 1Featured on Sky Sports Cricket.

J E S S I C A T U C K W E L L , Y E A R 1 Achieved her Learn to Swim Stage 8 certificate, her 400metres Swimming certificate and her Silver Swimming Challenge Certificate.

T H E B I G S I X

CCFARMY SECTION SUMMER CAMP 2017

The Army Camp at Crowborough started with a flurry of organising 39 cadets

and all their equipment. After the five hour journey, the cadets settled into their billets and had various briefings to tell them what they were to expect during the week.Read more here

CLICK TO SEE SOME MORE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS

CHAPLAINCY

I wish to commend the following students for the excellent manner in which they

represented Ratcliffe College on the HCPT pilgrimage to Lourdes: Harry Bellamy, Harry Brooks, Niamh Delargy, Ben Dexter, Ines Munoz Torre, Emily Newberry, Joe Smith, Lottie Warburton, Matthew Ward and Bea Waters.

Before the pilgrimage started, all students equipped themselves well, attending the

HCPT induction day as well as organising and taking part in a number of fundraising initiatives. Read more here

PREPARATORY SCHOOL

The children of the Preparatory School welcomed their new teachers, Dr Latham, Mr Finn and Mrs Southwell in a beautiful

Liturgy of Welcome.

DRAMALAMDA

Congratulations to Luke (former Year 13) and Philip (current Year 13) Gyesi-

Appiah who achieved a Grade 8 Acting Gold Medal and a Grade 7 Devising Acting medal, respectively, in June.

THE B IG S IX

SPORT

U12 G IRLS ’ HOCKEY IN ACT ION!

Please find the link to our first Sports Report of the School Year, including our

forthcoming sporting fixtures below:

SPORTS REPORT

GOLF TOUR

This year’s Golf Tour visited the Gower peninsula. Our first port of call was the

Pyle and Kenfig golf club, having selected the

DUKE OF ED INBURGH

We have already been very busy this year: a Certificate Presentation Evening, a

3 day expedition to the Shropshire Hills and an Information Evening for new participants or parents. Our expedition training for the coming year has already begun and we have lots of new recruits, especially in Year 9, who will be doing their DofE induction over the next few weeks. Read about our presentation evening here.

Mrs Cole, Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

BLUE GROUP SETTING OFF ON EXPEDITION

PURPLE GROUP ON TOP OF LONG MYND

GREEN GROUP, WHO DID A LITTER PICK AS THEIR AIM, AT

THE FINISH POINT

teams for the Ryder Cup format competition on the journey. Miles Dunne was Captain of this year’s golf tour and the USA team and picked the teams with the help of Reece Goodman who captained Europe.Read more here

MUS IC

NAME

Rebecca DowdingEmily BallAbigail GriffinVerity ManghamSamantha SeiduRachel AstillHenry CoombsFrances DalyTemi AbiodunHan LiuFinlay MatthewsDiamond HoJaxon LeeRanai PopatElla ClarkEmily WoodleyEleni MalhanAlexandra MawbyPheobe GreenawaySophie WilsonAlicia BoothroydEve MillwardNatasha WalshNiara PopatEdward SmellieMaisie Ashford-ClarkHattie Ashford-ClarkAlicia Boothroyd

PRACT IC AL EXAMINAT ION RESULTSINSTRUMENT

PIANOPIANOPIANOFLUTEPIANOCLARINETPIANOSINGINGCLARINETPIANOSINGINGPIANODRUMSDRUMSPIANOPIANOTROMBONESINGINGSINGINGSINGINGSINGINGPIANOSINGINGVIOLATRUMPETSINGINGSINGINGCLARINET

RESULT

PASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSPASSMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITMERITDISTINCTIONDISTINCTIONDISTINCTIONDISTINCTIONDISTINCTION

GRADE

INITIAL11122334558

DEBUTDEBUT

11223368823338

A N D B E Y O N D . . .PARENT LETTERSThe following Parent letters can be found on the Parent Portal (for which you will need to click on the appropriate link below and enter the password). Please get into the habit of checking this section of the newsletter each fortnight for important information. Thank you.

GERMAN EXCHANGE, KOBLENZYEARS 9 -13

RES IDENT IAL HOMESTAY TR IP TO N ICEYEARS 10 -13

FUTURECHEF COMPET IT IONYEARS 8 -11

C AREERS GU IDANCE INFORMAT ION EVEN INGYEAR 11

PARENTS ’ ASSOCIAT IONPlease find the link on the right to two letters (a Newsletter and a letter about Parent Helpers) from the new Joint Chair of the Parents’ Association, Mrs Etty and Mrs Bruiners. Please do take the time to look at this section of the newsletter, as there will always be plenty of information for you, as well as events to look forward to.

Ratcliffe CollegePrep School Sport Boarding

PARENT PORTAL L INKS

S IXTH FORM

YEARS 10 -11

YEARS 7 -9

PARENTS ’ ASSOCIAT ION

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