Looking to the Future
This was not the end of the 2020/2021 school year we all hoped for! With more children learning from home than in the classrooms, things felt very different to the usual end of year bustle of concerts, assemblies and celebrations.
But the prospect of normality is on the horizon and our final newsletter of this academic year definitely showcases students looking to the future - whether that be their future as a student leader, a champion for the environment or a university undergraduate. We are still aiming high and looking forward with great hope at Ryburn!
Banner Artwork: By the very talented Mrs Hughes
New Head Students and Ambassadors
Congratulations to our recently appointed new Head Students! The competition was fierce this year and we were spoilt for choice in our selection. All the students who applied for the positions should feel very proud of the way they presented themselves in their interviews.
Our Head Students for 2021/2022 will be Jeannie Higham and Michael Ashworth and our Deputy Head Students will be Rebekah Eastwood, Edward Turner, Casper Connell and Isobel Tooby.
We also welcome some new Ambassadors to our student leadership programme. Well done to everyone who applied for these positions - we are incredibly lucky to have such enthusiastic, articulate and motivated students at Ryburn!
Marketing Masterminds
The latest Aspire programme sessions had a group of year 8 students masterminding a marketing plan for insurance products including insurance protection for hairdressing disasters or rock band instrument malfunctions!
Students created an insurance product for hairdressing disasters!
Students were tasked with selecting an insurance product and coming up with a winning marketing strategy including social media messaging and designing an eye catching website.
The project aims to raise career aspirations and confidence through creative arts and media and to encourage pupils to consider a wider range of prospective job opportunities.
Thankyou to Covéa Insurance for this opportunity.
YR 9 Student Council Litter Picking
Year 9 Student Council members rolled up their sleeves and got out into the sunshine last week as they undertook litter picking around the school grounds.
The environment is something that many students feel passionately about and are keen to get involved with through student leadership opportunities.
The Year 9 Student Council have been looking at how best to keep Ryburn tidy and litter free, as part of the Great Big School Clean with Keep Britain Tidy. Big thanks to these students for helping to keep our school grounds looking beautiful!
University Challenge
In June, 30 Ryburn Year 12 'Excel' students attended a Zoom event run by the Schools Liaison Officer from Selwyn College, Cambridge. The students were given a guide to life as a Cambridge University student including information about the colleges, lectures, supervision sessions, accommodation and societies.
They met students currently studying natural sciences, chemical engineering and law and gained insights from an admissions tutor as well as plenty of tips for writing their personal statements. They also heard about the Cambridge University experiences of two members of Ryburn staff who attended Kings College and New Hall.
Three Ryburn students have been successful in their applications for Summer School places at Cambridge University. Lewis Murphy has been offered a place on the Year 12 Physics Summer School at Selwyn College and Aileen Stevens and Will Turner have secured Year 11 Summer School places - Aileen for Science and Maths at Lucy Cavendish College and Will for Physics at Selwyn College. Congratulations to all three students!
The University of Newcastle will also be visiting Ryburn Sixth in the Autumn term to talk to Year 11 and 12 about their Partners programme.
Schools Physicist of the Year Awards
The Science Department are proud to announce Ryburn winners of the 'Schools Physicist of the Year' awards in conjunction with The University of York and The Ogden Trust. Many congratulations and a very well deserved ‘well done’ to: Isobel Birdsall and Ben Webster in year 10, and Lewis Murphy in year 12. These were awarded for outstanding effort, achievement and contribution to school physics.
A big shout out also from the Science team to all the year seven and eight students for their fabulously high levels of participation in the recent Educake revision work. The effort has already been reflected in improved test scores, so a huge thanks to all students who took part and also their parents for supporting them
Ryburn Sixth Pride Arch
Check out the Pride balloon arch which brought a rainbow of colour to Ryburn Sixth this week! It was created by students and staff to belatedly celebrate Pride month and looked stunning.
Buzzing about student council competition!
A big well done to our Year Seven Student Council for organising and running a competition to name the twin of their bee mascot Bernard! The winner, Milly Payne, was buzzing with her prize - who she has named ‘Gummy’!! The funds raised will go to UNICEF.
Character Education Research Pilot
A group of year nine Ryburn students tackled the thorny issue of cyber-wisdom this half term in a pilot lesson that will form part of the school’s contribution to a leading university research project on Character Education.
Read more.
Please return your Library Books!
If you have books from the Ryburn library at home please remember to return them before the end of term!
Online Safety Newsletter
Get the lowdown on WhatsApp, extremism and radicalisation, internet spending, OnlyFans, and info on Childline’s new tool for getting nude images taken down.
Read more.
Festival of Hope
The Festival of Hope project has been keeping the creative juices flowing in years 7-9 despite not having access to the dedicated art rooms. Their work has been bursting with imagination, colour and character as you can see in the gallery.
Year seven have been clay modelling, painting and animating whilst year eight and nine have worked with card relief and mixed media as well as animation. All their work is going to be used in an animated film to be released in September.
Artwork: Y7&Y8 animations; Y9 colourful masks; Y7,8 & 9 balloons of hope
Return to school
There are some important changes to the norm for the start of term in September, including staggered start dates for year groups to allow for mass testing on our return to school.
| Year group | Date of Test 1 (by appointment) | Start of Term |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Tuesday 7 September | Wednesday 8 September 8:55 AM |
| 12 | Tuesday 7 September | Wednesday 8 September 10:00 AM |
| 10, 11 and 13 | Wednesday 8 September | Thursday 9 September 8:55 AM |
| 8 and 9 | Thursday 9 September | Friday 10 September 8:55 AM |
See you all in September!
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.