Admissions Information Morning For Year 5 Families, 
Friday 21st April 2023 - 9.15am

Ribston is a thriving, successful and inclusive school. We know that every child is different and our ethos is to enable and empower young women to discover their own unique potential. As part of our commitment to ensure all students have the opportunity and information to understand how they can apply for, and attend Ribston Hall High School, we will be running an Admissions Information Morning (AIM) on Friday 21st April.

The morning is a perfect opportunity for families who have not had experience with grammar schools and are not familiar with the grammar school process. The AIM morning is designed to help families better understand this.

We are very excited to be able to share our unique Admissions Information Morning with you. Dedicated to enabling more students to attend from the local Gloucester area, our AIM morning is open specifically for Year 5 families.

Due to it being a normal school day and for security reasons you must book for this event. We are unable to allow entry to people who have not registered in advance.

Once the event is full, we will run a waiting list and if there is demand run another event in the coming weeks. Please only book one event, these are running at the same time, and you will not be able to attend both sessions on this date.

This morning is a step away from our normal Open Days which we offer in June and October. The intention of the Admissions Information Morning is a specific opportunity to learn more about the Grammar School admissions process, how to register for the test as well as offering advice on how to support your child’s preparation by hearing from the Maths and English teams.

There is a Headteachers talk in the main school hall and student-guided tours of the school followed along with refreshments in the main school hall afterwards. The Senior Leadership Team along with the Admissions Team were available for Q&A during this time.

We received this review from a parent who attended the AIM with his Year 5 daughter: "We really enjoyed finding out about the school and our guided tour. The young lady who showed us around was a delight and made my daughter feel at ease. She was so chatty and reassuring. I was wonderfully impressed with her (and everyone else for that matter)."

We have five tutor groups named 7.1, 7.2 etc, and will be of mixed ability with a class size of 30. Girls are taught in tutor groups in year 7 and 8. As a student progresses through the school, and specialise into option subjects, the class sizes are smaller.

All information can be found on our website here:

• Curriculum Information

All girls will be assigned to a house either Britons, Danes, Romans or Saxons. If there is a family reason to join a house we will always accommodate for this. The girls are placed into houses across forms, for example 7.1 will have a mix of people from different houses. This encourages girls to get to know more people from their year group. During the year there are various house competitions, including house rounders, quiz, talent contest, culminating in sports day, and the awarding of the house cup on the final day of term. The house system is a great way to cultivate friendly competition in school.

Please contact our SENCO on ab@ribstonhall.gloucs.sch.uk if you need further information.

At Ribston we have a longstanding relationship with a number of independent bus companies who are running transport to and from school. The present timetable can be found here:

• Bus Timetable

Please contact the companies directly to see if they can cater for your specific needs.

Below is a list of clubs and activities that are generally available to Y7 students. This list does alter each year, and quite often we can cater for specific groups of students if they want a club to run.

The whole of year 7 embark on a trip early in the academic year to Croft Farm, where they get to spend time with their peers and start to feel part of the Ribston Family! Many of our older students remember this trip fondly, and it is an important part of the school calendar. There are many trips arranged throughout the year groups, and we will share information on this when it is available. These trips range from day trips, trips within the UK to far-flung destinations and ski trips.

The Gloucestershire Grammar School Entrance Test registration is open May through to June. The seven Gloucestershire Grammar Schools hold the Entrance Test during September, the year prior to entry. Each school will ensure that all guidance on social distancing and hygiene are fully implemented at each testing site. 

There are a range of familiarisation materials and support guides to aid you through the testing process. Please follow this link to find some further information:

• Familiarisation Materials

If you have any further questions about school life please contact us via email at  RHHS@ribstonhall.gloucs.sch.uk where we will be able to answer you as best we can.

Homework enables an enhanced learning experience. This is set using the Show My Homework app, something parents can also access. Typically, homework is of 30 mins duration and students can expect between two and three pieces per night. This varies between subjects, with some setting regular shorter pieces of work whilst others lend themselves to extended projects that are less frequent and will take longer, for example in subjects such as Textiles.

After school the library remains open Monday to Thursday until 4.30pm.  Students can access books and resources, as well as using laptops/iPads, to support their learning and get ahead with their homework. The Librarian is available to help with any queries.

Our mobile phone policy is on our website. All students can bring a phone into school but it must be switched off and away in school, unless teachers request they use them.