Credit where it’s due.
We’re incredibly proud of Team Ryburn last half term. We overcame challenges together and hopefully we all feel much more prepared and adapted to remote learning. Everyone has been working so hard, and we’re so proud not only of our students and staff but of our whole community, parents, carers, family and friends. #weareryburn
In this newsletter, to wrap up the last half term, our Heads of Year asked our teachers which students deserved recognition for their hard work and attitude over these past few weeks. And there were so many! We’ve included a selection here, and we’ve also sent out over 500 email ‘postcards’ to say well done. We hope that if you received one it felt good.
Whatever you’re dealing with, whether you are thriving or barely surviving this lockdown, feel proud that you made it to half term. We hope that last week brought you a well-earned break from screens and that you’re feeling refreshed as you return for the new half term.
Banner Artwork: EMMA BRINDLE, Y11
Jump to your Head of year’s section
you are the Empathy generation
This week is Empathy Week and we are sharing a powerful story each day in a video assembly. Don’t miss them!
You can also sign up for a number of free webinars next week with experts discussing how empathy matters in their lives and careers. There’s a really great line up of speakers, we recommend you check it out.
Wellbeing day
On 4 February, as part of Children’s Mental Health Week, we held a Wellbeing Day. Normal live lessons were suspended, and students took part in all sorts of different activities to support their wellness. The theme of the week was ‘Express Yourself’ and you found all kinds of ways to do that, from cooking to photography, from skateboarding to caring for animal friends, from creating a ‘goal jar’ to filming an awesome tree ninja video. We hope you had a great day.
Here’s a few of your pictures we loved. There were loads! We’ve left the tricky choice of awarding prize vouchers up to your form tutors, who’ll be in touch soon.
Our next drop down day is Friday 5 March. For Year 9 it will be an Options Taster Day. Watch this space for news of what else we’re planning.
#RyburnPoetryClub
Poetry is having a moment, with Amanda Gorman becoming the Super Bowl’s first ever poet.
We’ve also been having fun in our Instagram stories sharing poems in the hope that, sometimes, they might strike a chord with students.
Silly, serious or self-loving, it’s a simple way to sprinkle a little culture into your social media feed. You can see all the poems we have shared collected in a highlight. We’d love to know if you’ve found a poem that spoke to you, or if you’ve a favourite to share.
Copyright Ada Limon, via Poetry Foundation
Parents Survey
Calderdale Council are launching their 2021 online Parents/Carers Survey asking you to share your opinions anonymously on your children’s mental health and wellbeing. The results from this survey will continue to help steer and shape services, ensuring they meet the needs of all children, young people and their families.
The survey will be open for 6 weeks closing on Friday 5 March 2021.
Year 9 Options
It’s decision time for Year 9 as you come to pick your Options for Key Stage 4. But don’t panic, we’ve lots of guidance and information to help you choose. Check back on our website tomorrow afternoon when our dedicated Options section will appear.
Year 7
“Happy new year to all our wonderful Year 7s. We understand that it can’t have been easy for you starting your high school experience this way, but we have loved hearing all the wonderful praise about how well you are adapting to this new challenge. It’s been lovely speaking to some of you through our pastoral phone calls and hearing all about how well you’re doing.
Meet Bernard, our buzzy new mascot!
Thank you for your excellent attendance and attitude to learning - this shows that we are all "Beeing brilliant" and continuing to "Bee the best" we can be. Please don't get too worried about things if it goes a but wrong, or if you didn't quite understand a piece of work. We are always here to help so please if you have any problems send us an email and we will be happy to help in any way we can.
Shout Outs
For great work and attitude to learning Mrs Rodgers wanted to shout out Connor H, Keira J, Lucy W and Lucas W.
Well done Alishaa A, Ella K, Taranveer K, Lucas F, Coby H and Olivia W for excellent contributions and great work in Science.
Some brilliant progress, contributions and enthusiasm during English,
well done Gwynne H-W, Archie H, Brady B, Keavy T, Arabella F-S
and Alfie C.The whole of 7.2 for being fantastic during literacy and a special thanks to Eliza L and Bobbiejo B for helping to compose a quiz
Mrs McGrath was very impressed with 7.8 for being absolutely brilliant during iGen. The form managed to read through 5 chapters of the "I am Malala" book and were really keen to contribute and feed back during discussions.
Chosen for ‘Beeing Kind’, Mrs O'Leary and Mrs Cameron would like to nominate Freddie H. He is always the first to offer help to his peers when they need it and will always go out of his way to cheer someone up who may be feeling sad.
Well done everyone. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing you all soon, and get in touch if there is anything you need.
Take care and stay safe.”
Mrs O'Leary
#BEEKind #BEElikeBernard #TeamYear7
Year 8
SHOUT OUTS
Mr Logue loves how enjoyable and engaged 8G are during their lessons. With particular mention; Lucia, James S and James W. Well done guys!
Mrs Akhtar mentioned how 8H have been participating and enthusiastic throughout their live lessons and also creating great work in Science.
Mr Cole wanted to acknowledge Sean L, Mia P, Ruby I and Harry K for their brilliant participation in PE, iD and iGen.
Some great contributions and willingness to participate in PE from Hudson B-D. Keep it up!
Praise for great participation and work ethic in Biology for Lydia MC, Brayden S, Toby C and Mathys St C.
Ruby M and Emily N have been hard at work in PE, they have created some great written work as well as engaging well with the online lessons.
Well done to Joshua C and Hannah W, for producing some great ghost stories in English.
Ms Downes
Year 9
“It has been fantastic to get so much positive feedback about members of our year group who have really 'hit the ground running' with the new live learning format. It has been a new direction for many staff, and loads of you have been putting in some absolutely fantastic effort to make it truly worth all the extra time and effort! Some great contributions to class discussion and some brilliant examples of independent work.
Shout Outs
For always contributing, speaking confidently and politely and asking sensible questions, Mr Black wanted to shout out Dylan W-C.
For great work and attitude to learning Mrs Rodgers wanted to shout out Hannah B, Fern T, Adam C, Ella B, Amelia W, Enya B, Joshua P, Emmie C, Natalie T, Ellana B, Connie H, Sam I, Finton S, Tahlia K, Devon D, Harrison J.
For working ever so hard during home learning lessons, for brilliant contributions and fantastic behaviour Mrs McGrath wanted to acknowledge 9B. Dylan R in particular has been brilliant. He has shown independence and resilience and is clearly working very hard!
Perfect attendance for live lessons, using the chat function sensibly and a speedy return of work left Mrs Rodgers very impressed with 9H.
Keep up the great work Year 9.”
Mr Wagstaff
L-R; Tahlia K, Annabel C and Grace S
Year 10
“Hello Year 10. Firstly I hope you and your families are all doing well and supporting each in the current lockdown.
It has been amazing to see, yet again, how you adapted to the changes. Your form tutors have been working hard to contact you all. It is important that we keep in contact to work together and support each other, like we always do at Ryburn. I am receiving lots of positive feedback on a daily basis saying how well you are doing, so I wanted to share some of them with you.
SHOUT OUTS
Isobel T has shown some outstanding dedication to Technology.
Mr Cleary is really impressed with the near perfect attendance and great dedication from 10aIT, getting stuck into their coursework.
Mr Mortimer would like to acknowledge a great start in construction from Vaughn H, Harry C, Will L, Jacob M, Joe B, Stan S, Reece S, Ben W.
For great determination and dedication in Geography, Mr Logue has nominated Courtney B.
Some great participation and excellent work in GCSE, well done to Aiden W, Maisie G, Anna & Esme C, Isla M, Isaac T, Ben H, Matthew T, Lucy K and Emily C. Maisie H and Lucy A have also been nominated by Mrs Hillam for great contributions verbally in lessons.
There is some brilliant work and effort in Science despite connectivity issues, well done Joshua M, Stanley S, Erin B, Milton G, Zak L, Casper C, Hannah E, Ebony B, Ruby B, Harry C, Bailey G, Noah G, Maisie K.
Mr Fairclough wanted to mention Adam F for great quality of work and Harley-Dean C for great effort and participation during Film Studies.
Mrs Hussain has been very impressed with the great start and progress in Business Studies. Well done Ella S, Finn G, Evie Campbell, Jake A and Kaysie H.
Look after yourselves keep working hard and I hope to see you all soon”
Mr Balmforth
Year 11
“I want to start by saying how incredibly proud I am of all of you for how well you are managing the current situation. You have possibly had the most confusing and frustrating time of your lives over the last year and yet I am still witnessing a year group who are showing excellent effort, fully engaging in your live lessons and going above and beyond with the work you are producing. All this alongside staying healthy both in body and mind, shows how incredibly resilient you are and you deserve recognition for this.
I know it has been a mixed reaction in regards to the summer exam announcement. Please remember over the coming months that with continued commitment to lessons and coursework, you will all still be able to achieve what you are capable of and what you deserve.
I have received a great number of reference requests through over the last few weeks, again showing how organised and motivated you are, and it has been an absolute pleasure to write about the mature, conscientious young adults many of you are turning into.
SHOUT OUTS
Well done to all of Mrs Attah’s dance class for adapting and handling this side of lockdown. She also wanted to acknowledge Ella H and Mollie B for brilliant dedication.
Mrs Mitchell wanted to nominate Basil P, Ruby P-M, Evie R, Jacob K, Joe N, Mia H, Olive G and Tom R for excellent portfolio work, well done guys!
Miss Thompson wanted to mention Isobel H, Emily B, Zach S, Shane R, Grace S, Niamh W, Emilia M-H, Grace H for all their extremely hard word in English. Also for great interaction during their live lessons in English with Mrs Doig: Warren B, Ellie N, Tom R, Max D and Joel C.
Ms Downes wanted to mention the following students for great engagement during live lessons in English by asking and contributing to questions. Well done Chloe A, Abbie G, Billy H, Eleanor G, Amelia D, Amy W, Silas B, Will T, Grace W, Muneebah N, Joe N, Patsy O and Rohan D.
Well done for creating some high level coursework in BTEC Sports Emma B, Lydia S and Rowan T.
Mr Hussain had to mention his classes 11y2 and 11x3 for their incredible hard work and dedication to maths.
Mrs Rodgers wanted to mention Archie A. He worked so hard during his exams and increased previous test results by 2/3 grades! Well done!
Amazing dedication and brilliant work ethic in Maths with Mrs Lewis. Special mention to 11x1 and 11y1b for producing amazing work constantly.
Keep up the good work, create some ‘you time’ still and know that we’re only an email away if you need anything.
Looking forward to seeing you as soon as possible.”
Miss Smith
Online Safety Newsletter
Help ensure your child has the best possible home learning experience by learning how to help them along the way. Test your filtering systems and your broadband speed.
In this newsletter there is also some valuable information about the Whatsapp App and the game Grand Theft Auto which can be played on a variety of consoles.
Key Dates
We’ve had to change the date for a few of our key events which are coming up due to the nature of our current times. Here' are the new dates which you should pencil in your diary.
Tue 23 Feb - Y9 Options Evening (virtual - on the website from 2pm onwards)
Wed 24 Feb - Y13 Parents’ Evening
Fri 5 March - Y9 Taster Day - virtual (please note date change). Drop down day for other years.
Wed 10 March - Y9 Parents’ Evening
Tue 23 March - Y10 Parents’ Evening
Fri 26 March - Y9 Options deadline
Tue 20 April - Y7 Parents’ Evening
Thu 6 May - Y8 Parents’ Evening
(All events subject to change or cancellation)
If you have any feedback or suggestions for this newsletter, please feel free to email publish@rvhschool.co.uk.
You can also keep an eye on our social media channels for more frequent updates and stories.