Lots to be Proud of.
Looking back on this half-term, there is a lot for Ryburn to be proud of. There’s been our Pride Week, where we celebrate identity, diversity and uniqueness. We are proud to be recognised as one of the top schools nationally for Character Education. Most of all, we are proud of our students for all of the hard work and effort they put into everything they do, what they achieve and their resilience to keep going. Read on to find out all the ways in which they have been making us proud this half-term.
Banner Artwork: Megan Porteous. Year 11.
Mental Health Awareness Week
This month we celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week, promoting positive mental health to students. Throughout the week we were sharing some tips and advice for looking after your mental health and wellbeing.
Staff also showed their support by wearing green and setting up balloons to give students a warm welcome into the school.
Don’t forget that we run Wellbeing Wednesdays at lunch times for our students. It is a safe space to chat with a member of our wellbeing team and access resources to promote healthy minds.
Good luck with your exams
For our Year 11 and 13 students exam season is finally upon them. Important deadline dates are taking up room in calendars and students are feeling the pressure. A little bit of stress can be good for motivation and focus, but too much can have a negative impact on mental health. We put together a list of tips to help students look after their mental health during exam season which can be found here.
In the latest recording of our podcast ‘The Fix’, we have Morgan in Year 13 and Mrs Logan about the importance of taking the time to talk about how you’re feeling, and how organising your time will give you the confidence to know that you have everything covered. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or listen here.
We’re wishing all of our students the best of luck with their exams and hope that you are taking the time to look after yourselves during this high-pressure period.
We are an ace school of character
We have been awarded the Character Quality Mark Plus for the second time, making us one of the top schools for Character Education nationally!
Character Education in schools is the wider personal development of a child which goes beyond them gaining excellent academic results, and aims to instil key characteristics and values such as resilience, honesty, motivation and humility, all of which will help them throughout their adult lives.
The ACE School of Character Quality Mark Plus is awarded to schools and colleges that can demonstrate that they take an explicit, planned and reflective approach to the cultivation of positive character qualities in their pupils in the interests of the wider community.
Proud At Ryburn
This half-term saw our annual Pride Week celebrations and it was as colourful as ever with lots of events and activities celebrating identity, diversity and uniqueness.
Students were invited to an after-school Pride Party with lots of brave students taking part in performances. We had guests from Happy Valley Pride too and they commended students from the LGBTQ+ society for putting together such a fantastic event.
The week also saw a selfie station, bake sale, Years 8 - 13 got to watch the final episode of Heartstopper in the library over lunch times and we ended the week with a brilliant (and messy) colour run. Year 7 students could pay their way out of period 5 to take part in a race and get covered in colour along the way.
A fantastic well done to Mrs Logan and the Students of the LGBTQ+ society for organising an amazing week yet again and for helping us all feel proud to be ourselves.
Sporting Achievements
Our Year 7 Netball A Team have been crowned as the Calderdale Champions. In a day of intense competition and brilliant matches, they performed incredibly and really came together as a team deserving of the title. Find the full breakdown of the day and match reports here and don’t forget to follow the RVHS PE Department Facebook page. Well done girls.
Our Year 9 Rugby Team competed in the semi-final of the National Cup against Bridgewater. Unfortunately, they just missed out on the win with the final score settling at Ryburn 12 - 16 Bridgewater. The team were disappointed but they will bounce back and will no doubt return to the National Cup stage again and set things right. They have also achieved so much together this season, winning both the Yorkshire and Calderdale Cup. It’s no wonder they’re in the top four nationally. Check out the full match report here.
DNA Drama Performance
Ryburn Acting Academy gave an outstanding performance of the play DNA to our Year 11 students, who have been studying the piece for their GCSE. We were also excited to be able to host students from The Brooksbank School. The audience really enjoyed the play, and the cast should be feeling incredibly proud of themselves.
Zero Fare Bus Pass Applications
A note to parents and carers that the applications are open for zero-fare bus passes for September 2023. Make sure to apply before 1 June. Please see here for more information and to find out about fare payable bus passes and SEND transport too. For enquiries, please contact the council. We have checked with Calderdale Council that the link is correct for 2023 - 24 applications.
Ryburn alumni we want you!
If you studied at Ryburn then we would love to hear from you and find out what you are doing now. We want to start showcasing more of what our students have gone on to achieve following their time at Ryburn and post regular features. Get in touch at publish@rvhschool.co.uk.
Upcoming Dates:
Thursday 8 June: Year 9 Injections - DTP/MEN ACWY.
W/C 12 June: Year 12 Mocks.
Thursday 15 June: Year 9 Injections DTP/MEN ACWY.
W/C 26 June: Year 10 Assessment Week.
Friday 30 June: Year 13 Prom.
W/C 3 July: Careers Week.
Monday 3 July: Transition Evening.
Friday & July: Transition Day.
W/C 10 July: Year 12 Work Experience.
Tuesday 18 July: Ryburn Academy Awards.
Friday 21 July: Last day of term.
Are our emergency contact details and medical records up to date for your child?
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.