...Inspiring Learners For Their Future

All the latest news from The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College

www.ridgewayschool.com

Easter 2018

Issue 162

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I am delighted to welcome you to our April edition of The Ridgeway News.

The Ridgeway continues to be an exceptionally busy, thriving and dynamic learning environment for students and staff. This includes: Gym and Dance Display 2018; Immersion days; The Prospect quiz; Sports Award Evening; Go4Set competitions; Mock trials; Maths challenges and much, much more.

Our students continue to be great ambassadors for the school and it's wider community. We have had many visitors to the school over the last term including CEOs, Secondary Directors, Headteachers from across the South West to name but a few. All have commented on the excellent quality of the learning atmosphere in classrooms. The numerous compliments have included many saying they would be happy for their son or daughter to come to the school to benefit from the learning opportunities provided.

Have a good Easter and enjoy.

Best Wishes

James Povoas, Principal

Principal

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YEAR 10 ENGINEERING TRIP…

On the 10th January the Year 10 Engineering

students visited the local Honda factory for a tour and a presentation about Honda careers. After finally getting to the right entry gate, they were met by their tour guide Darren, who would carry out the tour. He spoke to the group about the growth of Honda and explained about careers that are available in the plant and the products that are manufactured within the plant. The group then put on their Honda caps (a necessity for all visitors) and ear pieces so we could hear Darren over the factory noise and set off on our tour. They visited the Weld department and Car Plant 1 and students were able to see each stage of the manufacturing process of the plant. Students were able to make the link between the theory of manufacturing processes and real life applications which will be incredibly useful when they complete their coursework projects. Students asked a lot of interesting questions at the end of the tour and I think all of them found the trip interesting and informative. Miss L Hodge

RAF STEM VISIT… On Thursday18th January two engineers from the RAF and three STEM ambassadors from EDT worked with 100 Year 9 students on various STEM projects. Students had the opportunity to look at civil, mechanical and electrical engineering projects, in the form of building towers, programming robots and looking at powering models with just an elastic band. All students worked well in their teams all day and our guests were really impressed by the attitude and behaviour our all students involved. The day ended with an opportunity to talk about Engineering careers and offered the students to ask any questions they may have. The feedback from students was amazing with many students commenting on how exciting a career in Engineering might be! Miss L Hodge, STEM Co-ordinator

WE NEED YOUR TALENT…

Do you play a brass/woodwind instrument? Then why not join The Ridgeway Concert Band! Rehearsals are every Wednesday both halves of lunch in P07.

The Music Department host instrumental tuition which is provided by the Swindon Music Service. They offer a range of options for your child to learn an instrument; by group, duet or solo lessons. The lessons take part throughout the week during the school day and if you would like more information please visit www.swindonmusiccoop.co.uk.

Mr M Pentelow

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... A ‘THAW’ IN THE COLD WAR… On February 13th, Year 11 historians embarked on a journey through the Cold War. This revision day provided by the History Department, gave the students an overview of the Superpower Relations and the Cold War unit of study as part of their GCSE course. It was amazing to see over two thirds of the history cohort coming in voluntarily to work as a collective, in order to develop their knowledge and understanding of the topic. They filled the main hall, and within their groups showed how conscientious they were as they worked from 10am-2pm solely with the purpose of improving their historical understanding of this turbulent time.

Mr Bister, Miss Buttery and Miss Stevens assisted the day, but it was the students who were able to fully explore all major events of the 50 year time period and as well as receiving valuable revision resources and workbooks, every student gained confidence in the content of the course.

We will be looking to organise future revision events for the three other units and hope to see the same response from the students. Mr J Bister

RIDGEWAY SOCIAL MEDIA SITES… For the last few years Ridgeway School (@TheRidgewaySchool) and R6 (@RidgewaySixthFormCollege) have been active on facebook, posting news and celebrating student success.

Earlier this year The Ridgeway School started up a whole school twitter account to supplement the different subject area and year group accounts that are used to share and showcase activities as diverse as Year 7 camp, sporting events, science trips and art exhibitions. Having set up the account we are now looking to actively promote the @SchoolRidgeway on twitter.

We are very proud of our school and the wide range of learning opportunities and inspirational activities that our excellent staff organise for the students at The Ridgeway and very keen to share this with you via our social media platforms.

If you would like updates to your timeline about what’s going on @SchoolRidgeway please follow, like and retweet. Mr M Pauling, Vice Principal

PARENTS PARKING IN THE IRON HORSE PUBLIC HOUSE WHEN PICKING UP THEIR CHILDREN…

I would like to say a big thank you to those parents using The Iron Horse to pick up their children at 3.15pm from school. Parents doing so significantly reduce the risk of an accident on Inverary Road. We greatly appreciate parents supporting the school in this way.

Mr J Povoas, Principal

Keep up to date with all the

latest news and school

events on our

Principal’s Blog

on our website

WWW.RIDGEWAYSCHOOL.COM

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SNOW SCULPTURE COMPETITION… We decided to have some fun and get the students creative juices flowing when the “Beast from the East” hit Swindon and we set a competition to all students and staff to design and make the best snow sculpture. This proved very challenging because the snow was so fine and quite difficult to mould. This was not going to stop our budding artists and we had 42 entries from students in all year groups ranging from an octopus to a huge Communist snowman. With such imagination and skill the decision to decide on the winners was incredibly difficult. After a lot of deliberation we decided on the following entries…

3rd Prize – Snow Angel by Natalie Trowbridge, Year 7

Joint 2nd Place – Snow Giraffe by Dylan Williams Year 7 & Snowdog by Deimante Tirunaite, Year 9

The Winner – Easter Island head by Leon Clements, Year 9

Well done to everyone who entered the competition we were so impressed! Keep your eyes peeled for the next art competition.

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CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS GO LIVE…

BBC Wiltshire visited the Drama department on Tuesday to speak to students and staff about Creative Art subjects being cut in many secondary schools in England. Students expressed how Art subjects have been an integral part of their education and helped them gain additional skillsets that have proved invaluable in developing themselves. Mr B Faghihi, Performing Arts and Media Technical Manager

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ART TRIP TO LONDON… The Art department went on the most amazing trip to London with Year 11,12 & 13 artists at the beginning of this week – we were determined not to be defeated by the snow and we are so glad that we weren’t!

We visited the Tate Modern exhibition in the morning where they saw lots of artwork by a number of artists including famous Surrealist artist Salvador Dali and the more traditional artwork of Claude Monet. We were also lucky enough to see lots of contemporary art works to inspire the students exam projects that they are completing at the moment. This included a huge swing installation, which took up the whole of the bottom floor of the gallery and was interactive with the viewer – everyone had lots of fun with this including the teachers! From a birds eye perspective the swing set created a beautiful pattern and composition to look at.

Just a quick stop for lunch and on to the Saatchi gallery in the afternoon to look at more contemporary artwork using mixed media and texture. The curator at the exhibition also gave a talk on the ideas behind the artwork, which helped the students understand the process and techniques used to create the artwork.

The students will now use their findings from the trip to develop their exam projects ready for their final exams coming up in April and May. I have a feeling we are going to see some tremendous and unusual work from these artists so watch this space… Mrs H Watts

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BLIZZARDS & WASHING UP...

For four days during the February half-term we took twelve of the Year 10 DofE up to The Leeds University Mountain Hut at Selside in the Yorkshire Dales.

The hut sits in an amazing location in the middle of a limestone pavement in the centre of the iconic ‘three peaks’ of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen y Ghent. The programme was: Day 1, visit Malham Tarn; Day 2, climb Simonside (the fell in front of Ingleborough), Day 3: visit to Ingleton Waterfalls Walk and Ribblehead Viaduct, and Day 4, excursion to White Scar Show Caves at Ingleton.

Conditions were very snowy and cold but students came well equipped and enjoyed being ‘out there’. It was great to see them working as cohesive happy teams whether walking through a blizzard, doing the washing up or playing card games. The staff team, Liam Gregory and Tony Dyson (who both cheffed) and Margaret Haines were brilliant and of course these adventures cannot happen without staff and volunteers giving their support.

Mr E Sims, DofE Manager

BRONZE NAVIGATION TRAINING… All of our Bronze DofE students have the opportunity of a mountain or forest day to help them have more enjoyable expeditions. On Saturday 27th January, the students showed great resilience learning skills in wind and rain, in the New Forest, near Woodfalls. The skills taught included map reading and measuring distance using pacing or timing. Also included in the programme was walking on a compass bearing. It was great on the final leg to have the school minibus directly ahead of the team as they left the forest! The picture shows students clambering over a tree felled in a recent named storm.

Mr E Sims, DofE Manager

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MOUNTAIN CLUB… Saturday 13

th January was the first outing of 2018 for the

Mountain Club. We headed off to the New Forest; the weather forecast was too dangerous in the mountains of Wales. Twelve Students and three members of staff had a pleasant walk amongst the trees and on the open heathland sighting ponies and deer whilst practising important navigation skills.

The conditions were perfect for the time of year. Calm, dry, overcast and 4 degrees was ideal for a 6 hour hike.

Students worked in pairs and took turns to lead the whole group to various navigation point. The competence of students was impressive. They were soon walking from a compass bearing using pacing and timing techniques. Several times the pairs set off on their own to rendezvous at a certain point on the map. They walked down into the forest and had our first lunch break, before heading out across heathland. We walked to a point called Leaden Hall which we renamed ‘The Keyhole’. We then walked south to Coopers Hill for a welcome second lunch break. Back amongst the trees for the final leg. The group followed a brook which enticed a number of students to wade up stream. They eventually made it back to the minibus after a good 6 mile trek.

The day went really well. Everyone embraced the experience and learnt to work with a map and compass. Mrs S Gladman

“It was very cold to begin with! The day was very enjoyable, and is great fun with

your friends. Highly recommended.”

“The day has really helped me improve and learn new skills and has made me very

excited for next time! Thank you!”

“It helped to improve my navigational skills a lot, and walk at a constant pace.”

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INTERNATIONAL NETBALL… On Wednesday 21st March 10 of the Year 9 and 10 Netball team participated in a Severn Stars Netball Workshop ran by two international Netball Players. The girls gained expert knowledge and advice in both an attacking and defensive workshop. They then had the opportunity to mix with other schools to put this new knowledge into practice in a fantastic inter school tournament.

The girls ended the session by asking Maryka and Phumza some challenging questions. The day was inspiring for both students and staff. We were then fortunate enough to reconnect with Maryka and Phumza at the sports awards evening. Well done to the all the girls that took part for their exemplary behaviour and attitude. I hope that one day we will be inviting you back as the next international Netball Player. Miss S Collins

PRIMARY LANGUAGES SKILLS DAY… On Tuesday 6th February, we welcomed Year 5 pupils from East Wichel, Broad Hinton and Wroughton Primary Schools to the MFL Department for a day of story-telling in four different languages. They attended four sessions in which they were given various challenges in French, German, Spanish and Italian, based on the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Pupils used their existing language skills to identify key words in the well known story in all four

languages. By the end of the day, pupils realised that language learning skills are transferable and that learning a language is a great deal of fun! The children enjoyed spending a creative afternoon building a model of a famous building or symbol to represent France, Germany, Italy or Spain. There were many impressive Eiffel Towers! The Year 9 Language Leaders were excellent, helping the students with the activities and making them feel welcome. We would like to thank everyone involved in this event, especially the primary school teachers and our Year 9 helpers. Mrs Bailey

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CROSS COUNTRY… On a wet and cold Saturday morning in January, a number of Ridgeway students made their way across to Sheldon and Hardenhuish School fields to represent Swindon in the Wiltshire Schools Cross Country. This was a long course for our students. It was a great event which saw some fantastic Ridgeway performances. Having performed so well in the Swindon qualifier each of the students were prepared to not only try and beat their place in the first round, but also try and qualify for the South West Schools competition in February. Well done to all Ridgeway performers and to Harry Cunningham our Swindon Schools winner returning from injury to come and support his friends in the event. Notable performances came from Beth Davidse, Ayla Tonkin in the Junior Girls and Sophia Bonnetti in the Inter Girls competition. In the boys events it was great to see James Rankin–Acosta and Harry Woods pushing themselves into some of the first finishers.

Mrs G Allbrook-Dunn

CALLING ALL RIDGEWAY STUDENTS… Do something new today and try a new PE club!

Speak to a member of PE if you have any questions.

Activity Year group

(s) Day Time Additional info

GCSE PE Support/ Intervention Year 10/11 Monday 3:15 – 4.30

Girls Football – Swindon Town Boys Football (Boots Required)

All Years Tuesday 3:15 – 4:30 Fixtures may also run on this day

Girls Basketball All Years Wednesday 3:15 – 4:30 Fixtures may also run on this day

Vaulting / Trampolining Gym and Dance Rehearsals

All Years Thursday 3:15 – 4:30 Fixtures may also run on this day

Fitness Suite Year 9+ Friday 3:15 – 4:30 Additional fee payable to Leisure Centre.

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SCHOOL FOOTBALL… Nearly 80 students from Years 7-10 turned out to train for the first week of the school football programme this week, which was a fantastic number of participating students that we really want to keep up. Year 7 will had their first fixture in

January, whereas all other year groups commenced their season after half term. If anyone is unsure of training timings or when games will be, please speak to Mr Fouracre, Mr McMeeking or Mr Hurd, as well as anyone else in the PE department. Well done boys, a great start! Mr M McMeeking

KS3 COUNTY BADMINTON TOURNAMENT… At the end of January Beatrice, Ayla, Anna and Anna represented The Ridgeway School and Swindon in the level 3 round of the KS3 Badminton tournament. After qualify in first place in the level 2 tournament they were extremely keen to take to the court. It was a new format to what some of the students were used to but they were all fantastic. There was a high level of Badminton played throughout the day and the girls played exceptionally. Well done to them all. Miss S Collins

SOUTH WEST SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY... A huge congratulations to Harry Woods and Harry Cunningham who competed for Wiltshire on Saturday 3rd January at the South West Schools competition in Newton Abbott. The boys were extremely competitive and competed in the top 3rd and 8th athletes in the Wiltshire team. Harry Woods had a fantastic run which allowed him to place 20th overall. A great run and effort by both boys especially with Harry Cunningham returning from injury. Mrs G Allbrook - Dunn

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Once again this year’s Sports Awards Evening was superbly supported by both students and parents! It is always excellent to have the opportunity to reward our fantastic students for their hard work and endeavour across a wide range of sports. Our Guests of Honour were:

Thinus Delport the South African rugby union player who represented the Springboks in the 2003 World Cup, the famous Barbarians and Gloucester RFC. Maryka Holthausen the South African Netball captain and Phumza Maweni both of whom have represented South Africa in World Cups, Commonwealth Games and the recent Fast5 Quad Series against England, Australia and New Zealand.

It was fantastic to have both female and male role models to inspire our students.

There was a fantastic performance that opened the evening that really show cased the high standard of our brilliant students. Our Year 9 girls, performed an outstanding contemporary piece. Well done to the students involved!

We had over 20 awards to present covering all sports and academic sporting study, highlighting the outstanding student achievements within their chosen field across 2016-17. The awards evening was opened by presenting the T’Yanni Tendayi KS3 Rising Star award in recognition of the sad loss of T’Yanni. The award recognises outstanding performances across KS3. Tongayi T’Yanni’s older brother and Mr Goward (T’Yanni’s grandad), helped present the award, which was a particular highlight of the evening.

One of the key aims of the evening is not only to recognise outstanding achievements it is also to inspire our younger students in KS3. We hope that they will continue their hard work and dedication over the next few years and hopefully we will see them nominated in future years.

As a result our Year 7 and Year 8 ‘Rising Stars’ were invited to help with the presenting of trophies and certificates and our Year 9 Sports Leaders were responsible for asking Thinus, Maryka and Phumza their questions during the Q and A session. These students were superb in both roles and helped to make a very special evening. Thinus, Maryka and Phumza were inspirational, funny and engaging throughout the Q & A session and their energy and enthusiasm whilst presenting each of the 28 awards was a true testament to the wonderful sports stars that they have become.

All three were very honest and specific in highlighting what it is like being a professional netball and rugby player, a role that millions of youngsters dream to be! They spoke passionately about striving for their goals, believing in your dreams and how lucky he has been to play sport for a living. They spoke candidly about the pressures and responsibilities of being professional sportsmen and women. They were inspirational during the Q & A session and their passion for all sports was evident throughout the evening where their energy and enthusiasm in presenting all 28 awards, was a real credit to them.

They contributed in making another super evening that inspired all students that were present.

Thank you to all who attended. Mark McMeeking, Head of PE

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Sports Award Nominations

(winners in red)

Andrew Fulford Athletics Cup

(Donated by The Friends of Ridgeway)

Josh Ricketts

Johan Warensjo

Aaron Allette

Taida Tendayi

Jada King

Ayla Tonkin

Basketball Cup

Anna Kinderman

James Rankin Acosta

Sijan KC

Ethan Payne

T’Yanni Tendayi - KS3 Rising Star Award

Eleanor Evans

Freya Jankinson

Will Sumner

Frank Harrison

Chris Francis

James Blake

Martha Griffiths

Thomas Moore

Cricket Cup

George Tweedale

Jacob Chillcott

Oliver Busby

Daniel Busby

Isabel Faria

Charles Grayson

Andrew Sherman Cup for Cross Country

Harry Cunningham

Sophia Bonnetti

Ayla Tonkin

Beth Davidse

Harry Woods

Dance Cup

Holly Ashman

Eleanor Evans

Freya Jankinson

Rebecca Morcumb

Ryan Leigh

Zac Lewis

Chloe Rogers

Katie Clancy

Trampolining Cup

Jayne Hughes

George Plumb

Tom Hannay

David Howell Golf Trophy

James White

James Stratford

James Emmanuel

David Stroud Football Cup (Donated by Mark

McMeeking)

Jack Lewis

Charlie Trinder Sage

Chris Francis

Tom Moore

Tyger J-Hall

Ellie Wallace

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Gymnastics Cup

Jayne Hughes

Lauren Evans

George Plumb

Katie Francis

Drew Brackenbury

Henry Peterson

Alice Baker

Hockey Cup

Ellie Wallace

Tegan Fletcher

Karl Shergold

Netball Cup (Donated by Mr and Mrs

Brierley)

Martha Griffiths

Jess Crossley

Erin Rawlins

Laura Morcumb

Cath Hamilton

Kara Morcumb

Matthew Street Cup for Rugby

Harry Penfold

Matt Stone

Darcy Merchant Hills

Harry Cunningham

James Blake

Andrew Ridler

Sandra Yeoman Swimming Bowl – Girls

Rebecca Gee

Livi Cunningham

Hannah Hockin

Mia Gough

Dennis Yeoman Swimming Bowl – Boys

Josh Seward

Harvie Greenwood

Henry Rideout

Ben Hawkins

Aaron Knight

Josh Ricketts

Tennis

(Donated by Mr Povoas)

Henry Spurdell

Ben Hawkins

James Rankin Acosta

Badminton

Archie Best

Bea George

Pierce Wright

Ben Hacker

Shelly Rudman Trophy for Excellence

in a Non-main Stream Sport

Georgia Spry

Ross Lester

Amy Lester

Kiah Wieldon

William Bickley

Ellie Wallace

Abigail Martin-Hicks

GCSE PE Student of the Year

Mia Gough

Harry Penfold

Georgia Spry

Hannah Hughes

Joe Smith

A Level

Sam Palmer

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CSLA/HSLA

Lydia Gagan

Hannah Jones

Sunil Randhawa

KS3 Sports Leaders Award

Kira Fisher

Freya Jankinson

Jess Black

Will Sumner

George Plumb

Tom Moore

Darcy Merchant Hills

Will Bowley

Sophie Hill

BTEC Level 2 Award

Bradley Reeve

Bilaal Ahmed

Josh Fox

Olly Brackenbury

BTEC Level 3 Award

Hannah Crump

Rounders Cup

Erin Mathewson

Chloe Parfitt

Cassie Thomas

Tim Whiting ‘Bust a Gut’ Award

Eleanor Evans

Freya Jankinson

Dani Spry

Jess Gould

Harry Lowe

Ines Cullen Memorial trophy for Effort and Endeavour

Martha Griffiths

Phoebe Marshman

Harry Cunningham

Kara Morcumb

Major Harris Shield for Fair Play

William Sumner

Chris Francis

Phoebe Marshman

Freya Jankinson

Eleanor Evans

Debbie Brittain Trophy for Service to PE

Laura Morcumb

Tom Hannay

Beth Durston

Jackie Davis Award for Outstanding Achievement

Ellie Wallace

William Bickley

Ross Lester

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... David Kinder Memorial Cup for

Outstanding Team

Year 10 Boys Athletics Team

Charlie Trinder Sage, Jack Lewis, Matthew Smith,

Max Allen, Harry Lowe, Cameron Harvey, Rhys Rowlands,

Ben Hawkins & Jo Bristow

Year 9 Rounders Team

Eleanor Evans, Freya Jankinson, Jennifer Wallage,

Lucy Cowell, Sarah Gould, Jayne Hughes,

Martha Griffiths, Jessica Crossley,

Phoebe Marshman, Jessica Black,

Erin Mathewson, Gabriel Craven-Jones and

Rebecca Davies

Year 8 Boys Basketball Team

Ethan Palfreeman, Drew Gullen, Harry Woods,

James Rankin-Acosta, Harry Ricketts,

Pierce Williams, Bobby Scoble,

James White, Sam Woodham and

Harry Cunningham

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LRC UPDATE…

In January, over 60 new books were added to the catalogue. Often new books are suggested by students and January was no exception with many new Graphic Novels available, as well as complete replacement sets of Horrid Henry, Artemis Fowl, and the How to Train your Dragon series. Agatha Christie books are seeing a resurgence – perhaps due to the recent blockbuster Murder on the Orient Express and we have bought more of these, as well as adding over 15 new books to the Wellbeing collection. There is something for everyone!

It is fantastic that so many students borrow books from the school’s LRC, however there are currently over 400 overdue books outstanding, and we need them back! Here are a few friendly reminders regarding school library books –

Students are responsible for returning their library books on time – they are advised of this in their first library lesson, and regularly throughout the year.

Borrowed books should be returned in good condition ie with their plastic jacket intact, no ripped pages and with no water damage.

Any book that has been outstanding for 3 months or more attracts an invoice for the replacement cost. This is necessary to maintain the library stock for the benefit of the whole school community.

Students in KS3 are gently reminded about overdue books during their library lesson. Students in KS4 and KS5 and reminded by their mentors. If you have any queries at all about any outstanding books, please contact either Mrs Day or Mrs Tonkin by email at lrc@ridgewayschool.com.

Mrs S Day, LRC Manager

GO TO THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE…

Every Friday since the start of the year, four students have been drawn from the Accelerated Reader quiz hat to receive a coveted Front of the Line pass for the cafeteria. These four lucky KS3 students are the winners this week. They will each, along with one friend, have queue-jumping privileges to get to the nuggets and chips first! Mrs S Day

READING WITH THE TODDLERS AT TICK TOCK… It’s never too young to start reading and some of our Year 9 students have been regularly visiting Tick Tock playgroup in the village to read with the toddlers. The youngsters really look forward to the students visiting them and they were welcomed this week with one little girl asking eagerly, “Can we have the shark book again?” The puppet shark book was duly read and this favourite had everyone sneezing along in time with the story! Our students work in pairs, reading out loud to the children having practiced at home with younger siblings or with one another. Although nervous at first, our students have really embraced the challenge, earning praise from the Tick Tock staff in how they have engaged with the children. Mrs S Day

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MAGAZINES IN THE LRC…

Ever fancied something quick to read but none of the books on your pile are quite hitting the spot? Or you want to find out the latest celebrity or sporting news?

We now have a selection of magazines in the Learning Resource Centre which any of the school community are welcome to borrow. Current titles include: Your Home, Stuff, Today’s Golfer, BBC Wildlife, NG Traveller, Psychologies, Woman & Home. We all know that reading is the gateway to so much more than just results but exams today increasingly requiring a good reading age and not everyone finds it easy to lose themselves in a book. A magazine is often easier to pick up and put down in a free moment and gives us chance to catch up on world events or other interests in short, easily digested articles while still providing all the benefits of increasing vocabulary and improving reading skills. And there is just something about a shiny paper copy of a publication about a topic you love.

These don’t need to be logged out or even necessarily returned, although bringing them back if they are still in good condition allows someone else to read it too.

Obviously we’d like to keep an up-to-date selection so if you have some good quality and suitable magazines at home that you are happy to donate then we will welcome them with open arms. Mrs S Tonkin

NATIONAL WRITING

COMPETITION…

Both Radio 1 and Radio 2 currently have two fabulous writing competitions for students of all ages. The ever popular 500 Words competition promoted by Chris Evans for students up to the age of 13 and the BBC Young Writers’ Award 2018 for students aged 14 and over. The prizes for both competitions are fantastic, so for any budding authors out there, it’s time to get those creative juices flowing and your entries in! Entries need to be submitted online and further details can be found on the BBC website. Mrs S Day, LRC Manager

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Novel Night – 1984

20 students across different year groups attended Novel Night on Friday 26th January. Students met in the relaxed atmosphere of the Sixth Form common room and engaged in debate and discussion about George Orwell’s 1984.

The aim of this event is to encourage students to read widely and to read for pleasure.

“I have never read more in the last two weeks than I have ever read.” James R.A.

“This novel has really challenged my thinking.” Freya W

See Mrs H Siebenaller or Mr M Webber if you are interested in participating.

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Reading Across the Ages – Encouraging Reading for Pleasure. Building on the success of Come Dine with The Ridgeway, the Food Technology and English Faculties initiated “Reading Across the Ages”.

The purpose of the event on Thursday 8th February was to encourage grandparents and Come Dine with Ridgeway guests to share their favourite recipes and reading materials with Year 9 students.

There is a focus across The Ridgeway School to encourage students to read for pleasure. The termly Novel Night provides an opportunity for students to discuss a wide range of reading material on a Friday evening after school. The desire to talk about books in different settings resulted in students working with older members of the local community.

Year 9 English students prepared and cooked a selection of delights for an afternoon tea. Over tea and cakes students engaged in conversations about books and food. The recipe book display which had publications from the 19 century to present day, provided an intriguing insight into the way food has changed over the last two hundred years.

The feedback from the afternoon saw guests volunteering to come into school and listen to students read. Students of all abilities will have the opportunity to enhance their reading skills with the support of grandparents and Come Dine with The Ridgeway guests. Year 9 students had lots of praise for the experience…..

“It was good to interact with grandparents about their favourite books. It also gave us the opportunity to talk about the work we do in school to promote the reading they love.”

“We got to learn about the difference between now and the 1970s. Learning about different recipes was educational and fun.”

“This event was a really good experience. It let us socialise with people and discuss our favourite books. This was useful as we got to see what books people older than us like to read.”

Freya Willis and Max Williams 9SEN1 were interviewed by Radio Wiltshire about their participation in Reading Across the Ages. A big thank you to all those involved. Mrs H Siebenaller & Mrs R Cairns.

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Avebury

Barbury

House Points March 2018

Avebury 9,367

Silbury 7,061

Barbury 7,886

Kennet 7,498

Hello Avebury!

Firstly well done to everyone for all the house points you have received over the first half of the year, we have a massive 2000 point lead over the other houses!! WE WILL NOT BE BEATEN. We also had a huge number of Avebury students represent us in the annual Brain It, Buy It, Build It competition, allowing us to secure first and second place! YAY US! This year is our year and we must keep dominating, we have the annual house spelling bee coming up and I want the victory so get practising! KEEP IT UP AVEBURY….

Miss S Collins, Head of Avebury

Hello Silbury!

A huge congratulations and well done to all students who took part in the Brain it, Buy it, Build it competition. It was a wonderfully creative couple of hours and everybody involved put in such a great amount of effort. Although we didn’t win this year, we still have more House competitions coming up. The Ridgeway Spelling Bee proved extremely popular last year and we hope to have the same success again with it this year, so I need as many Silbury representatives as possible!

The next non-uniform day is fast approaching and it will give us as a school to raise money for our House charities and Cancer Research in particular. Keep up the fantastic efforts and we will make it up that House Point Chart!

Miss Mowat, Head of Silbury

Go Barbury!

A massive well done to everybody who took part in the brain it, buy it, build it competition! Unfortunately, this was not our event, however all of the effort that you put in to create a new Ridgeway School was fantastic! I would also like to thank you all for the fantastic participation in last year’s non-uniform day, you’ve helped to raise lots of money for Rays of Sunshine and helping to grant wishes to the make many children’s dreams come true. The next non-uniform day is quickly approaching, so make sure that you have planned what you can wear!

Our next house activity is the Ridgeway Spelling Bee – hopefully with your help we can claim the victory!

Keep working hard to ensure your name is included for the next rewards activity! Miss Marshman, Head of Barbury

Congratulations to the Kennet teams that entered Brain it, Buy it, Build it this term, we had some real success in this competition for yet another year with some fantastic designs. Well done to all Kennet students who have achieved house points, keep it up as each and every one takes us a step closer to the top of the leader board. A huge congratulations to the ten house captains that were rewarded for their fantastic applications. Keep your eyes peeled for further competitions and events coming up in the summer terms. Mr B Smith, Head of Kennet

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Silbury

Kennet

Brain It, Buy It, Build It

Students from Years 7, 8 and 9 battled it out in teams to build the most elaborate structure of a new and improved Ridgeway School. As always the students had phenomenal imagination and created watch towers, outdoor swimming pools, and even a fish filled fort. Congratulations to all students on your fabulous creations.

1st Place – 8 Avebury

2nd Place – 9 Avebury/Silbury

3rd Place – 8 Kennett

Miss S Collins

ASSESSMENT WEEK 2 YEAR 7-10... The week beginning Monday 19

th March is the second Assessment Week for all students in Years 7-

10. During this week normal teaching is suspended and assessments are scheduled for all subjects. Condensing the assessments into a focussed week allows students the opportunity to fully prepare for examinations and practice the stamina that is now required in the new GCSE curriculums. The assessments enable teachers to give specific feedback on student progress using the QLA proforma, with content that is not fully understood to be revisited. The week also helps to give students experience of preparing and performing across a number of different subjects, a skill they will need in their GCSE examination period.

As well as providing a good indication of the progress made, the feedback given to students following the assessments will target the main areas of content that should be addressed to make additional progress.

At the start of Term 5 students will receive a bespoke progress report identifying the areas of understanding and the key areas for further improvement. We ask that you take time to discuss this with your child and support them in ensuring they know how to fill these knowledge gaps.

The assessments have been scheduled across the week. In the lessons when no assessment is scheduled students will be expected to revise independently for their upcoming tests and therefore must bring their books and revision resources with them to these classes. During mentor time in the lead up to the assessment week students will be given strategies, techniques and tips to support them with their revision and in how to prepare appropriately.

Please see webiste for full details - https://www.ridgewayschool.com/assessment-week-march-2018/

YEAR 11 EXAMS 2018... A full copy of the examination timetable is also available on the website.

https://www.ridgewayschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Year-11-Monthly-Exams-Calendar-2018-1.pdf

The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College 24

Calling all Former Students of The

Ridgeway School…

For the last 18 month The Ridgeway School have been working with Future First, a charity that helps us to keep in touch with students after they leave so they can come back and chat about what they go on to do and share tips and expertise about university and the working world.

The network now has former students dating back to 1982 and who are now in a wide variety of progressions from making television programmes to kidney surgeons. Ridgeway students certainly go on to do a range of things!

In the past year we have involved former students across the school. In October a group of former students came back in to talk with some Year 12 students about how to survive sixth form and make the tricky jump up from GCSEs to A-Levels. One of these former students was Elspeth Fisher, who also spoke with the Daily Mail about her experiences coming back in (link to article below).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2861038/Fiona-s-mission-inspire-newsreader-high-flyers-return-classroom-teach-pupils-life-lessons-ve-learnt.html

We also brought some alumni in to speak with Year 11s about choosing their Sixth Form options and help them to think about the skills and knowledge they might need to progress in different career paths in the future.

We’re looking to repeat these activities next year, as well as planning a welcome assembly for new Year 7s, involving alumni in open days and supporting with work experience placements.

If you know any former students who would like to get back in touch, please encourage them to sign up via this link and we’ll be in touch: https://networks.futurefirst.org.uk/former-student/ridgeway

Abigail Nokes

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ACHIEVEMENT EVENING… On Thursday January 4th, we held the R6 Class of 2017 Achievement Evening. The evening welcomed back Year 13 to collect their A- Level Certificates, and awards for achievement. The evening was a great success and it was lovely to see the former students and hearing about their current studies and future plans.

We also had a former student Jess Rowley, who gave a very inspirational speech at the evening. She left R6 in 2014 and went onto Plymouth University studying Sociology and has left with a 1st, with an overall mark of 70% and was awarded 90% for her dissertation.

The awards were all hard earned and very well deserved, the former Year 13 results have made us all very proud. We would like to thank all of the students for attending the evening, and the hard work from all the teaching staff whose input make these results possible. Ms E Launchbury

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SWEDISH EXCHANGE…

20 of our Sixth Form students have been enjoyed immersing themselves in Swedish culture including taking part in a number of winter activities including ice hockey, sledging and skating all at a chilly -13 degrees. It was been brilliant to see The Ridgeway students integrate so well with their counterparts at the Mockelgymnasiet school in Degerfors and share Sixth Form lessons and each other’s traditions. At the beginning of March we welcomed the Swedish students to The Ridgeway School. Look out for the full report in the next issue fo The Ridgeway News. Mrs G Allbrook-Dunn

SIXTH FORM LONDON TRIP… On Thursday 14th November Year 12 and 13 Product Design students traveled to London to visit the Design Museum and The Geffrye Museum. Despite the 7am start all students were keen to get going and they arrived in London earlier than expected. They visited the Geffrye Museum first. The Museum are closing their doors soon for a 2 year remodel but it still gave students a view of interior furnishings and product design throughout the ages. Students were able to see what ‘living rooms’ looked like before televisions and how improvements in technology has had a huge impact on the way we live today.

They then hopped on the tube and visited the London Design Museum where they had tickets to the visiting Ferrari exhibition. This exhibition included full sized clay models of Ferraris, Ferrari race cars through the ages, customisable interior options and footage from Ferrari test tracks and races. We almost left a few students behind as they became mesmerised in the world of Ferrari and had to be persuaded into joining the real world again!

As they were in the capital eleven days before Christmas it would have been rude to not stop off at the Christmas market and so on our way back to catching the tube to the school minibus they wandered around Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, where students enjoyed getting into the festive spirit. Miss L Hodge

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The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College 26

We are proud to launch this new learning resource based at the heart of Ridgeway. The Hub is a nurturing space at the centre of the school for SEN students; a base for the SENCO and the SEN team.

We support SEN students at the Ridgeway School in many different ways on a daily basis. We run intervention groups, provide in class support and 1:1 sessions and the team work hard to ensure all students reach their potential during their time at the Ridgeway School and beyond.’

Please contact us at any time if your child is experiencing difficulties with their learning. Mrs D Deery

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PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION... We are delighted to announce the good news that three of our Ridgeway students are prize winners for the Swindon Rotary Club Photography Competition. Anshul Patel Year 13 was awarded second prize in the senior category. Kate Faulkner and Kiah Whieleon both year 9, have had fantastic results in the intermediate category. Kiah was awarded third prize and Kate was awarded first place. Kate’s photos were sent to the District competition and we are extremely excited to announce that she has won first place! Kate now has the opportunity to submit her photos for the National Competition. Mrs A Fair

SWINDON MATHS LEAGUE…

Congratulations to Theo, Hannah, Aidan and Yashvi on coming third in the first round of the Swindon Maths League. They were all brilliant, working well as a team to solve challenging problems and represented the school excellently. Mr L Carney

ASC VISIT TO LIVE ESCPAE ROOM…

The KS3 students from Silver Block have now all visited Swindon’s exciting new Live Escape Room, where a scenario is supplied to a group in a trapped room who have to search for clues, codes and keys, and solve the room in order to escape. It is totally immersive gameplay that is played out physically, not on screens.

ASC students find many aspects of everyday life challenging, so this exercise was a massive boost to their self-esteem as their autistic logic and some excellent teamwork helped them to crack the codes and puzzles, and to escape from the room well within the allotted time.

Mrs J Georgiou, ASC SRP

Thankyou... Thank you to all staff, students and families that donated to the Camp Ecuador ‘Rags2Riches’ Collection Scheme. We were overwhelmed with the number of bags we received and thank you for your generosity. We are still awaiting confirmation on the total amount raised. THANK YOU, The Camp Ecuador Expedition Team.

Miss S Collins

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The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College - Proud to be part of The White Horse Federation Multi-Academy Trust.