1st December 2016

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Following the announcement on Tuesday from the Chairman of Governors, Mr Massarella, I am

sure that you will wish to join me and my colleagues in congratulating Mr Reddin upon his

appointment as Headmaster of Ratcliffe College from next September. I cannot think of a

worthier successor, who places your children at the centre of all our decision-making processes,

and who has been so unstintingly loyal both to myself and to the School. We wish him and his

family every happiness, blessing and success. Be assured that we shall work even more closely

together (if that is possible!) to ensure a smooth transition before my departure.

I would like to thank the many parents and their children who worked tirelessly last Saturday

to decorate our Chapel and Refectory to welcome in Advent and the Christmas Season.

Your efforts (as seen above and at the end of this newsletter) to beautify the School are hugely

appreciated by us all. Thank you also to the many parents who supported our fixtures over the

weekend.

Our Boarders enjoyed a lovely trip to the Birmingham Christmas Market, followed by their

Annual Advent Mass and delicious Advent Dinner. It is easy to take certain things for granted,

such as the incredible sense of family within the Boarding House, or the superb food that we

enjoy on a daily basis, so let us take this opportunity to thank our Boarding and Catering Staff for

their tremendous support of the students.

This week has seen additional mid-week sports fixtures, rehearsals for our musicians and actors

as they prepare for concerts and drama productions, a beautiful Reconciliation Service for the

Preparatory School, and a superb Art Exhibition last night. I look forward to welcoming you to

the Year 10 Drama Production this evening and Saturday evening, both at 7.30pm in the Theatre:

Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. I am sure that both plays will be fantastically entertaining.

Wishing you and your family a very happy, blessed and successful week ahead,

Yours sincerely,

Gareth P. Lloyd,

Headmaster.

End of Autumn Term Arrangements

In order to enhance the safety of students at the end of term, and to facilitate a safer and more effective flow of traffic through the school campus, there will be a slightly earlier finish to the school day. In recent years, we have operated a staggered end to the school day for the various sections of the School, which has worked well. We believe safety was further enhanced last year when we ended the school day slightly earlier, so that the departure arrangements largely operated before it got dark. The following arrangements will therefore operate on Friday 16th December:

Nursery and Years 1 and 2 School will end at 3.00pm. There will be no after school care, so children must be collected at 3.00pm.

Preparatory School (Years 3-6) School will end at 3.15pm. There will be supervision in the Newman Hall for any children who cannot be picked up at 3.15pm until 5.30pm.

Senior School School will end at 3.50pm; buses leave at 4.00pm. There will be supervised prep in the Emery Library until 5.30pm.

We appreciate that there are parents who have children in different parts of the School. Arrangements will be made to look after any children who need to wait for older siblings who are in the Senior School. These children will be supervised until 5.30pm in the Preparatory School Newman Hall, from where they should be collected. The parking area outside the front of the Senior School building will continue to be reserved for parents of Boarders only (this applies to all times, please, and this area is not for drop-off/collection of day students). This area is the nearest to the boarding houses, and this arrangement helps those parents who have to pack their cars with their child’s belongings, which can often be substantial! Thank you in advance for your co-operation.

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

A big thank you to those of you who helped decorate the chapel and refectory last Saturday. We have had lots of great feedback. The helpers set to work with enthusiasm, and came back together for a well-deserved brunch. Christmas music played, and Jo ably managed to control the exuberant team (most of the time!) – with great results. The extra lights have made the 'Ref' sparkle. If you didn't make it this year, make a note to help next year.

Christmas Ball, 17th December

Last call for tickets, available from Senior School Reception.

Uniform Sale

We will be holding a Uniform Sale next Wednesday, 7th December, in the Prep School, from 3.30-5.30pm, so please call in with cash or a cheque. If you need one particular item, e-mail us and we can let you know availability.

Christmas Raffle Tickets

On sale at Senior and Prep Receptions; please return sold and unsold books asap if you have any. Thank you.

Jenny Howling, Chair (pa@ratcliffe.leics.sch.uk)

STUDENT NEWS Senior School

Headmaster’s Assembly, Monday 28th November, Awards

Merit Badge Year 7

Eleni Malhan

Outstanding Reward

Voucher 1 Year 10

Mia Baker Tess Duffin Eddy Robinson

Year 12

Tom Cusack Nathalie Dawe Eleanor Godwin David Hippisley-Cox Esme Kelly Olutomi Mosaku Jack Nightingale John Sommerville

Year 13

Kieran Bonas Olivia Gilchrist Emilia Lawden Charlie Nicholson Daniel Warwick

Christmas Card House Competition 2016

I am very pleased to be able to announce the results of this year’s House Christmas Card

competition, following the judging by Mr Lloyd and Mrs Govan. The theme, this year,

being Refugees and Migrants, has been a particularly pertinent one, and the many entries

approached this with the sensitivity and care that it deserved.

The following are acknowledged for their submissions with the award of Highly Commended:

HIGHLY COMMENDED Year 13 Holly Blount

Olivia Latham Imogen Power Tilly Wheeler

Year 12 Sophie Dring Year 11 Isobel Barnard

Sarah Curnick Olivia Delargy Abdu Mamujee Charlotte Meadows

Year 10 Bo Henderson Han Liu

Year 9 Lucy Antill Hadia Hussain Cindy Lee Becky Lindley Ihuoma Osuji Samantha Seidu

Year 7 Ibrahim Hussain Niara Popat Tallulah Wood

And the following are the winners in Year order:

WINNERS Year 13 Tilly Wheeler Year 12 Zoe Duffin Year 11 Elizaveta Manoshkina Year 10 Lucy Cadogan Year 9 Eva Hluchan Year 7 Thomas Leighton

Lt Colonel Balmbra presented gold lanyards to our CCF/RAF Cadets who successfully passed

their MOI (Method of Instruction) Assessments last week with Sgt Matt Pickard.

Tom Cusack and Rasee Lawrence are also now promoted to the rank of Corporal. Kieran Bonas

and Josh Bellamy are now promoted to rank of Lance Corporal.

Congratulations to all of our RAF cadets.

Last weekend was a very busy weekend of rehearsals and performances in Birmingham for

Arran Grant, Year 11 and Eleanor Godwin, Year 12, who are both members of the Seaforth

Highlanders’ Pipes, Drums and Highland Dancers. With pipers, drummers and dancers from

all parts of the UK, they played and danced together as part of a Massed Band at the

Birmingham International Tattoo at the National Indoor Arena.

There were many performers, ranging from Military bands, the Tri-Service Gun Run, Cadet bands

and a Fly Ball Competition, to mention a few. With shows on both Saturday and Sunday,

the Massed Band is always popular with audiences, and on Sunday, the Arena was full. Some of

the younger members of the band also got to meet with the public as they arrived at the Arena

before the show started, for a few photo shoots. Arran and Eleanor practice regularly at Ratcliffe

College on Wednesday and Friday evenings with the Seaforth Highlanders’ Pipes, Drums and

Highland Dancers, and they welcome new members who would like to get involved with any

aspect of the band.

Preparatory School

Certificates of Merit, 1st December, were awarded to:-

YEAR 6 Connie Colville First Certificate of Merit Georgie Daynes Second Certificate of Merit Sebastian Welch First Certificate of Merit YEAR 5 Lucas Barker Second Certificate of Merit Charles Carpenter First Certificate of Merit Thomas Giles Second Certificate of Merit Mia Hackett Second Certificate of Merit Lydia Haggis Second Certificate of Merit Mollie Hunt Second Certificate of Merit Esha Karia First Certificate of Merit Millie Lake Second Certificate of Merit Holly McNeeney First Certificate of Merit Jude Moore First Certificate of Merit Joss Phillipps First Certificate of Merit Harrison Rutherford First Certificate of Merit Justin Ucar First Certificate of Merit Arabella Wilson Second Certificate of Merit YEAR 4 Eloise Allsager First Certificate of Merit Imogen Barker First Certificate of Merit Ben Cameron-Smith Second Certificate of Merit Nathan Collyer First Certificate of Merit Ruby Dornan First Certificate of Merit Isabella Elsby First Certificate of Merit Zara Etty First Certificate of Merit Lily Grieff-Mulvey First Certificate of Merit Dylan Griffin First Certificate of Merit Arabella Hampson Second Certificate of Merit Joseph Hult First Certificate of Merit Andres Kassner Second Certificate of Merit Tom Lander-Belfie First Certificate of Merit Olivia Lynch First Certificate of Merit Harry Martin Second Certificate of Merit Freya Mackay First Certificate of Merit Isobel McCall First Certificate of Merit Tafara Mudhefi First Certificate of Merit James Packwood First Certificate of Merit Charlotte Shield Second Certificate of Merit Khrish Tailor First Certificate of Merit YEAR 3 Harry Corby Second Certificate of Merit Samuel Giles Second Certificate of Merit Alfie Hodges First Certificate of Merit Continued overleaf

YEAR 3 Oliver Kirby- Doughty Second Certificate of Merit Idrees Qureshi Second Certificate of Merit Isha Sidhu Second Certificate of Merit Amélie Wilson-Knight First Certificate of Merit YEAR 1 Abigail Cole First Certificate of Merit Savanna Makandeni First Certificate of Merit Harrison Poutch First Certificate of Merit Faith Seidu First Certificate of Merit

Eliza Geraghty, Year 6 – was awarded a medal from the Caroline Carr Dance Studios for her

personality, potential, performance and progress.

A group of Year 6 girls took part in the Leicester Primary Schools’ Cross Country and achieved

overall winners for the Medium School Class – Daisy Reddin (4th), Zoe Howling (10th), Sophie

Shield (20th), Hollie Chapman (25th), Gizella Perrins (35th) and Georgie Daynes (36th). They were

awarded a trophy.

Daisy Reddin, Year 6 – was also presented with an individual trophy and medal for her 4th place

win in the Year 6 race and 4th overall in the Cross Country.

Tabitha Kyle, Year 5 – competed at Richmond Equestrian Centre in North Yorkshire on Saturday.

She won 3 classes and 2 second placings. On Sunday, she competed at Southview in Cheshire,

qualifying 3 ponies for the Blue Chip finals in April. Tabitha also competed at Graceland

Equestrian Centre and won the 90cm, 1m and the 1.10m classes.

Henry Maher-Stilman, Year 3 – was awarded a certificate for achieving the rank of 1st Mon at the

examination of Shotokan Karate International G.B.

Amélie Wilson-Knight, Year 3 – was awarded a certificate for achieving her Stage 4 Learn to

Swim award.

Diya Patel, Year 2 – was awarded a certificate for achieving her 15m distance of the ASA Rainbow

Swimming Award Scheme.

Year 6 recently visited the River Lin at Bradgate Park as part of their Geography studies.

The children spent a glorious day following the course of the river and sketching the features

along the way. When the children returned to school, they drew a scaled drawing of the river

to show off their field work skills, just like real Geographers.

SPORT Senior School Report as presented at Assembly on Monday 28th November: Rugby 1st XV The 1st XV lost narrowly 33 – 25 to a very physical Welbeck team in what was a very competitive game. Ratcliffe scored four tries through Harrison Grimmett, Finbarr Lloyd, John Sommerville and Man of the Match, Mathew Ward. Henry Wells kicked a penalty and a conversion. The game was always in the balance, but Welbeck had the Ratcliffe team under pressure with their strong running and tackling. This was another performance of which the boys should be very proud. 2nd XV On Saturday, the 2nd XV took on a strong and physical Welbeck side. The first half was all about Ratcliffe's excellent defensive effort, led by Captain Charlie Maclean and Ellis Pole. Alex Purcell and Philip Gyesi-Appiah led the attack with their strong and evasive running. Matthew Garcia was able to finish a well-worked try from a clever James Berns’ kick. Tiredness and injuries took their toll in the second half and Welbeck finished strongly to run out 54 – 7 winners. Ellis Pole was Man of the Match for his outstanding defensive skills as last man. U15 Sadly, the U15s lost on Saturday to Carres Grammar School. The performance was much improved in terms of attitude and effort, but again they struggled to produce front football, with the scrum and the line-out still struggling. The backs also failed to run onto the ball they did win, making defence easy for the opposition. Carres eventually ran out 27 – 3 winners. U14 Against Carres, the U14s' match was abandoned deep into the second half, with Ratcliffe leading 19-17, after an injury to a Carres player (who has since made a full recovery). After a bright start, Ratcliffe soon took the lead through Sam Seidu, after space was created out wide. Ratcliffe then conceded a soft try through the midfield. However, Tom Page scored soon afterwards, burrowing over the try line from five metres out. After leading at half-time, Ratcliffe then conceded two quick tries before Ben McGuinn scored in the corner to set up a tight finish. Unfortunately, the game was called off soon after. Men of the Match: Ben McGuinn for his outstanding tackling and Owen Lloyd for his strong defence work.

U13 Ratcliffe defended superbly against some big and strong Carres players, and it was very pleasing to see that Carres only crossed into the Ratcliffe half once in the whole of the first half! Four first half tries saw Ratcliffe 20 – 0 up at half-time, and then two early second half scores saw us extend the lead to 30 – 0. Carres came back into the game after Mr Kaye made a number of positional changes, but the final score of 35 – 10, with victory to Ratcliffe, reflected the superiority that the boys had throughout the match. Coach's Players of the Match were Louie Fletcher and Daniel McGunnigle and Players' Player of the Match went to Ben Jackson. U12 Ratcliffe came up against strong opposition in the form of Carres Grammar School. Carres began the game on the front foot, opening the scoring with some fine running, beating the narrow defence set up by Ratcliffe. As the first half progressed, Ratcliffe began to regain some of their early season form, with great handling leading to Phelton Tandoh, Joseph Atkinson and David Seidu responding before the half-time whistle. The second half saw a fine performance by Ratcliffe, using both handling and direct lines of running to penetrate the Carres defence. Excellent play by Joseph Atkinson saw him make regular breaks through the defence. However, the try of the second half came from Joe Butler as he weaved his way through the Carres defence from 20 metres out. Another player who stood out was Ethan Starley, on his debut, as he made some fine runs and great tackles, rounding it off with a try. Carres responded with the final play, crossing the white wash to make the final score 40 – 14 to Ratcliffe. Man of the Match was Joseph Atkinson. Harry Stokes, Boys’ Sports Captain Hockey 1st XI The 1st team hosted Uppingham and, unfortunately, after a poor start, they lost the game 4 – 2. Ratcliffe had the first opportunity of the game through Olivia Back, with a shot that went narrowly wide, but after that it was all Uppingham for the rest of the half. By half-time it was 3 – 0 and Ratcliffe needed to regroup. In the second half, it was a totally different story as Ratcliffe dominated the game, scoring early on through Emily Grimmett. As the game went on, Player of the Match, Olivia Back, was making some fantastic runs into the ‘D’, and Ratcliffe were rewarded for the pressure with a second goal; Olivia Back scoring with a fine finish. At this stage of the match, it was only Ratcliffe that looked like scoring, however, Uppingham then hit them on the break to score and kill the game off. We witnessed a great fight back in the second half, but it was just too much in the end to come back fully. 2nd XI The 2nd team lost 2 - 1 to a mixed first and second Northampton High School team. After conceding an early goal, the girls played their hearts out against a strong side, equalising through Holly Blount. Unfortunately, the girls could not find a winner, and Northampton scored with a few minutes to go. Isobel Coombs was outstanding in her new central midfield role; however, Amy Baxter claimed Player of the Match for her performance in goal.

3rd XI The 3rd XI girls played against a strong Uppingham side and, unfortunately, lost 7-1. Although the opposition was strong, the girls' efforts never stopped throughout the match. Ratcliffe were up for the game and this was clear from the start when they nearly scored a goal in the first couple of minutes: Catlin Plummer hit the post. After this, Ratcliffe were defending for large periods of the game, and there was some great work from Holly Bown and Olivia Delargy throughout the game. Player of the Match goes to Ellie-Mae Bullock for her fantastic attacking effort throughout the match and scoring a fantastic goal. U15A The Under 15s travelled to Northampton High School for this week’s fixture, losing a close encounter 4 – 1. They were determined to put in an excellent performance and they did not disappoint. From the whistle, Ratcliffe were on top of Northampton, with the first five minutes being played in their 23, forcing the keeper to make many saves. However, against the run of play, it was Northampton that scored the opening goal from a quick break. The first half continued in much the same vein. Ratcliffe played exciting stylish hockey; spreading the ball, moving well off the ball and penetrating the Northampton defence to no avail. Cruelly, Northampton added two further goals, this time from well-worked penalty corners, earned from their breakaway play. Going into the second half 3 – 0 down, Ratcliffe, to their credit, kept playing excellent hockey and creating chance after chance. We finally made a break-through as Player of the Match, Mia Atkinson, found the back of the net off a penalty corner. As we looked like we were going to turn the game around, it was Northampton who scored the next goal and put the game to bed, finishing 4 – 1, adding to our growing list of excellent performances, where we have not quite been rewarded with the result. However, the girls should be extremely proud of the way they played, and the belief and positive attitude they continue to show. U14B The U14B team narrowly lost to Uppingham 2 – 1. Ratcliffe started the stronger team and after a couple of near misses, found the net early on with a close range finish from Scarlet Duckett. As the first half drew on, Uppingham came back into the game but Ratcliffe defended resolutely. Ella De Caestecker was at the forefront of this, putting in a number of strong tackles along with Mimi Khan who made a couple of important clearances. Lauren Brown stood out in a competitive midfield battle between the teams with good close control and dangerous balls into the circle. Unfortunately, Ratcliffe could not take advantage of these but remained 1 – 0 up at the end of the first the half. Ratcliffe began the second half in a sluggish manner and invited pressure onto them. We struggled to prevent Uppingham's determined and direct running with the ball which led to a scrappy equaliser after Ratcliffe failed to clear the ball. Ratcliffe responded and created a couple of opportunities of their own; however, we weren't clinical enough in the circle. An Uppingham break down the right-hand side led to their second goal of the game, after a seemingly harmless hit into the circle was picked out by their centre forward who skilfully deflected it past our keeper. There was still time for Ratcliffe to attack for an equaliser but our midfield struggled to pick out forwards in the circle. Player of the Match goes to Ella De Caestecker.

U13A On Saturday, the girls travelled to Northampton High School and disappointingly lost 1 – 0. The girls started brightly and played some great hockey, distributing well and showing some flare. Ratcliffe had the majority of possession and created chance after chance, but unfortunately were not clinical in front of goal; somehow going into half-time, it was still 0 – 0. Ratcliffe again had the majority of possession mainly in the attacking 23 and just couldn’t break through Northampton’s defence, who managed to score a breakaway goal. The girls continued to battle hard, and played some lovely hockey, but on occasions just tried to force it when the pass was not on. A frustrating game of hockey, and though we lost, the progression of all the girls really showed. Player of the Match goes to Elise Atkinson who was outstanding in midfield. U12A The U12s put in another excellent performance and were justly rewarded with a 2 – 1 win over Northampton High School. From the outset, the girls went out with determination and tenacity in a game that was closely fought. With end to end play throughout, the whole team put their hearts into the game, and Player of the Match, Amelia Wells, went on two excellent half pitch runs down the wing to set Vicki Wheatley up with two well-taken goals. Isabella Illsley-Ridge made some excellent saves while Tilly Miles, Chelsea Makandeni and Holly Clark Pratt tackled like troopers to deny Northampton shots on goal. U12B On Saturday, the U12B team played Northampton High School and unfortunately lost 5 – 1. Eleni Malhan and Francis Daly showed some impressive ball skills, playing centre midfield and forward, moving the ball effectively into attacking zones. Amelia Tebbutt showed some strong determination as well to get involved in tackles to gain possession. Player of the Match goes to Olivia Chapman, for consistently trying against a pressurizing team and supporting our defence extremely well. Despite the end result, the girls should all be proud of their efforts on Saturday, as the end result did not reflect the performance the girls gave; well played! Olivia Gilchrist, Girls’ Sports Captain.

Fixture List

Date Opposition Start Team Venue Meet

Saturday

10th

December

Lawrence Sheriff 10.30am 1st, 2nd U15, U15B Rugby Home 9.30am

Saturday

10th

December

Lawrence Sheriff 10.30am U14, U13, U13B , U12 Rugby Away 8.30am

Preparatory School Cross Country Saturday 26th November saw the final race of The Cross Country League Races at Prestwold Hall. We had a fantastic turn out of eager and enthusiastic athletes raring to run for Ratcliffe, with Hermione Bruiners, Zara Etty, Sam Giles, Sam Traynor, Tom Lander Belfie and Harrison Walker all making their debuts at the event. Needless to say, that all of the runners gave everything they had, and all performed brilliantly, with some of them running personal bests and beating their best ever finishing position. Special mention must be reserved, however, for our wonderful Year 6 Girls team who, having won the title of Best Year 5 Girls’ Team in 2015, retained their crown by winning Best Year 6 Girls’ team this year. This is a truly amazing achievement. Well done! Well done to all of the children who ran for Ratcliffe over the season; we are proud of you all. Here are the results: Please note that there were over 200 runners in each race! Year 3 Boys: Sam Giles – 28th TJ Dunstan – 55th

Sam Traynor – 70th Henry Maher Stillman – 92nd Thomas Bloor – 103rd Year 4 Girls: Charlotte Shield – 26th Eloise Alsager – 75th Zara Etty – 82nd Hermione Bruiners – 135th Olivia Lynch – 138th Year 4 Boys: Tomas Mason – 34th Tom Lander Belfie – 41st Hendrick Tang – 83rd Khrish Tailor – 176th Year 5 Girls: Isabella Westwood – 86th Francesca Best – 133rd

Year 5 Boys: Sam Leake – 20th Jacques Wilkins – 64th Harry Clark – 97th Harrison Walker – 151st Year 6 Girls: Daisy Reddin – 4th Zoe Howling – 10th Sophie Shield – 20th Hollie Chapman – 25th Gizella Perrins – 35th Georgie Daynes – 36th Year 6 Girls: Overall Team Winners, 2016