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Ribston ROAR February 2021

February 2021

As February draws to a close, we move towards schools reopening and welcoming back our staff and students into the building for face to face teaching. 

I really hope this is the last Ribston Roar we put together in full lockdown, and that over the next few months we will begin to see things open up and education return to some sembelence of normality for our children.

Human beings have enormous resilience, something that has been demonstrated throughout this pandemic. It can be difficult as a young person to have a developed sense of this characteristic but as ever, this edition has continued to demonstrate our student's ability to keep going, continue with their learning and engage with things they are passionate about. You will see that our staff have worked very hard to keep our students feeling part of the school community which has been shown through sports challenges, design competitions, and form group tutor tasks.

Our students have shown tenacity and resilience in spades and we couldn't be more proud of them. As Spring begins to emerge, lets hope the next few months are positive ones.

Sarah Colombini 

Headteacher


Ribston Hall Centenary Snippets from the Ribbus

It was a tradition for the Head Girl to keep a record of daily goings-on at school and these journals are still kept in our archive.  This month we peek into what went on in February 1990, when Anjana Patel was Head Girl.  Assembly at that time was a daily whole school affair and included a hymn, reading, all the school notices and often a speaker.  First years (Year 7s) were issued with a hymn book upon arrival at Ribston and were expected to take it to assembly every day (and face a telling off if it was forgotten!).  Sixth formers mostly sat on the stage with the rest of the school in the main hall.  The Head at this time was Miss Goodfellow.  Each form had to provide an assembly through the school year. 

Friday, February 16th

Still on the subject of love, 3S took assembly this morning and it was all about the patron saint of love himself.  At lunchtime, the annual pancake race was held which proved to be a very colourful event!  The half-term holds a lot of fun this year as Mrs Chong takes another group of enthusiastic skiers to Austria and the sixth form are off to Paris for an exciting week.  Bon voyage to all!


Physical Education -House Challenge Results

We are very pleased to announce the results of the Land’s End to John O’ Groats House Challenge which has been running through this lock down period.

1st  Danes = 900

2nd Romans = 600

3rd Britons = 400

4th Saxons = 200

Well done to all the staff and students that took part. I would just like to highlight the following staff and students for their exceptional effort, achieving the most miles for their House:

Britons: Mrs Hay and Sophie Staley

Danes: Miss Howell and Alicia Bright

Romans: Mr Cerullo and Trinity Nobes

Saxons: Mr Waters and Katie James 

I would also like to inform you that not only did the Danes reach John O’Groats first they also arrived back at Land’s end. Great effort Danes and well done.

The next House challenge will follow shortly!


Children’s Mental Health Week at Ribston

Commencing the 1st February 2021 was Children’s Mental Health Week with the exciting theme ‘Express Yourself’. At Ribston we chose to celebrate this important event for the whole month of February, organising a range of virtual activities to get people involved and raise awareness.

Lots of useful information was shared by Miss Dobson via email. The ‘Iamme’ app was introduced to students, explaining its use for those needing help or reassurance with their health and wellbeing. Claire Libby, founder of the app, kindly sent out a video that explained how ‘Iamme’ works and its aims. Being equipped with tools to better cope with challenges is extremely useful in the current lockdown where lots of people are feeling stressed about the future. Posters were also sent out about ‘Bounce’, a mental health service for 16-25- year olds. They provide young people with 1-2-1 counselling and practical support, either face-to-face in the community or virtually. The school are very aware of how stressful life can feel at the moment and want students to have the resources to seek support.

The wellbeing ambassadors were asked to speak with family and friends about how people express themselves. Danielle Veluz says she enjoys writing and playing songs on her kalimba whilst Lucy Good recommended texting yourself with your thoughts and feelings. Rebecca Allen had an interesting idea after speaking with her dad that seeing parts of yourself shine through in other people can be a form of self-expression. For example, hearing someone repeat a joke that you told because they found it so funny.

Key Stage Three have gotten involved by discussing inspirational quotes and completing wordsearches. They’ve also been encouraged to wear something that makes them step out of their comfort zone. Students in Key Stage Four and Five have been considering the question ‘Does social media help promote self-expression?’. In addition, they’ve completed a reflective task that involved using image and colour to express the passion in their lives as symbolised by the four elements.

The February Action for Happiness Calendar has been shared with the whole school, encouraging people to complete acts of kindness and connect with others during this difficult time. Finally, students across the school have been listening to songs ranging from ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry to ‘Born This Way’ by Lady Gaga and reflecting on the messages behind this music.

Mental wellbeing has always been a central focus at Ribston, and this month has been a great opportunity to remind people of the importance of taking care of themselves and others. The current changes to normal living have naturally made lots of people worried so this has also been a great chance to provide students with resources for seeking support. Ribston’s social media pages are regularly updated with more wellbeing information so don’t forget to stay tuned!

Written by Lauren Smith, Deputy Head of Wellbeing


RED January

The RED January (Read Every Day) event ran again this year.  It encourages students to read for a minimum of 15 minutes outside of their studies every day.  The aim of this event is to challenge students to reconnect with a love of reading.  Feedback from students has been great to read through - here are some of their thoughts:

"It helped me to start reading again - I managed to finish 3 or 4 books during this challenge!" Year 8

"Thanks for the challenge, I feel I've read loads lately! I read 2 books this weekend and that's an achievement I can be particularly proud of! I've had a lot of fun reading this month - thanks!" Year 10

"I really enjoyed reading every day and am going to try and make it last as long as I can.  I used to read every now and then if something caught my attention but surprisingly I've managed to find more than a few books that I've been absorbed into". Year 10

"I've started reading more often, so thank you!" Year 8

Nearly 70 students took part and a special mention is needed for Zainab Lulat, 9B who read for over 100 hours, which is mind-blowing. Well done!

A winner was drawn from each week where they had read every day.  The winners of the £10 tokens are:

Week 1, Maya Bunnett 8.3

Week 2: Lakshmi Payyana 7.3

Week 3: Mya Nelmes 7.3

Week 4: Isabella Hart 9R

Congratulations girls, I will ensure you get your prizes when we return to school.

Ms Haines - Careers Adviser & Librarian


8.1 Tutor Group Challenges

This term 8.1 have taken part in a variety of artistic challenges including sewing, baking and painting. They have voted for the winner each week and the entries have been of a very high quality. Here are the winners for this term:

Drawing Challenge -

Ria Sanderson

Baking Challenge (Joint Winners) –

Izzy Evans
Dulcie Walker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sewing Challenge –

Grace Janes (The Rib‘bit’ston frog)

Painting Challenge –

Ria Sanderson

Creation Challenge –

Grace Janes

Walking Challenge – Ruth Brook (Walked/ran 11.76 miles)

Well done to all students who entered.


9B ‘Get Creative’ challenge

During the period of lockdown, Mrs Derbyshire has been setting her form 9B weekly challenges to encourage time away from screens. The most recent challenge encouraged the tutor group to ‘get creative’ and there were some fabulous entries submitted. There were too many entries to list them all but here are the runners up and the overall winner:

Overall winner- a stunning floral sketch submitted by May Harper 9B

 

Runner up- A beautiful landscape photograph submitted by Bea Jordan 9B

 

Runner up- a delicious-looking rainbow cake submitted by Molly Allen 9B

 


Art, Photography & Graphic Communication

Fantastic work from the very talented Oliwia Blozik Yr 8.4 - Oliwia has sent in some artwork she has been doing at home in her spare time during lockdowns.

Her image to the far right is a modern-day transcription she made in a school Art lesson based on the Edvard Munch 'The Scream' painting - she did so well with this!

Oliwia adds about her work:

"This is some of my favourite artwork that I drew during all three of the lockdowns. I used pictures of people from Pinterest to sketch and shade in my drawings. 

Drawing is something I love to do and I do it quite often especially now that we are at home."

Very well done and keep up the good work - has anyone else being doing any fab artwork that they would like to have shared in a future version of Ribston Roar?

Let Mr Collins know by sending it to him on email!

Mr Collins

Teacher of Art, Photography & Graphic Communication


Design and Textiles

Mrs Finch – Curriculum Lead for Design – has been running Design challenges this academic year. We wanted to share some of the fantastic winners so far:

Rosa Jolly Yr 8.4 – October half term challenge – Pumpkin Painting
Livvy Cowling Yr 10R

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dulcie Walker Yr8.1 – Great Christmas Ribston Bake Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had some amazing entries for our latest design Challenge – NHS Digital Art. Winner: Poppy Smith Yr 10

 

Runner up: Ria Sanderson Yr8.1 This is what Ria had to say about the inspiration behind her piece: ‘After seeing and hearing the notice on my TV the past few days, which questions the viewer if they were able to "look them in the eyes" and "tell them you are doing your best" I decided to do a piece associated with looking somebody in their eye. Another reason is that the NHS has gained a lot if visibility over the 1st and 3rd lockdown, so I've drawn something to portray that.’

 

We are looking forward to seeing the entries for our February/March Competition (Deadline 8th March):

Year 9 Textiles

Year 9 are currently producing some beautiful embroidery experimentation based on their magnified recordings of butterfly wings and Jennifer Lamontagne Artist Research. Miss Cane and I have been really impressed with the talent year 9 have shown in Textiles this year!

Evelyn Warwick Yr9D
Chloe Thorogood Yr9R 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alice Holder Yr9B

Ofelia Pym Yr 9D produced some lovely recording work in response to our theme: Butterflies

A-Level Textiles

One of the mini projects year 12 undertake is creating copies of Artist’s work. This eliminates having to generate new idea/concepts for the sample – instead, they focus on developing their practical skills and understanding of the formal elements in greater detail. Here are some of the copies the current A-level students have created.

Maariyah Dhalech Yr 12-SF2 – developing thread illustration by copying the work of Julie French

 

 

 

 

 

Pippa Jones 13-SF3 - developing thread illustration/applique by copying the work of Sophie Standing

 

 

 

 

Grace Henrick 13-SF3 - developing thread illustration/applique by copying the work of Sophie Standing

 

 

 

 

I wanted to share this fantastic A-level final outcome that Sophie Kimber produced last year – achieving an overall A* grade. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously we are unable to share pictures of ‘live’ coursework but in light of Sixth Form Opening Evening – I wanted to highlight the amazing Textiles talent we have at Ribston. Sophie's project was based on the Rococo Period – taking her main influence from the local Gloucestershire attraction – Rococo Gardens. It was a beautiful fashion outcome that included fabric manipulation, hand embroidery (including Stump Work), free motion embroidery and laser cut leather.

Year 12 and 13 Textile were fortunate to partake in a video call with former student Jessica Logan. Jessica is currently in her second year at Nottingham Trent University, studying BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing and branding. She eloquently talked to both year groups about her degree, showed examples of the projects she has been doing and offered fantastic advice to those who were applying for University at the time. Jess’ Instagram @jesslogan.fmb has some fabulous images of the work she has undertaken so far during her course. Her most recent project was for the brand Gymshark, where she was tasked with creating a three-year strategic marketing plan. Jess achieved an A* grade in Art and Design Textiles and it is just fantastic to see her continue using her amazing creativity.

Mrs Finch – Curriculum Lead for Design


Food Technology

Isobel Thurlow Yr 12
Food Lemon meringue tart
Zaina Ginwalla Year 10 D
Piped and decorated meringue nests..amazing skills displayed!

Year 10 Food students have begun to learn about the functional properties of fats in pastry this term. They have started by gaining knowledge about shortcrust pastry - the Bakewell tarts look amazing, well done girls. They are then going on to learn about flaky pastry, making sausage rolls and choux pastry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily Brown Yr 10 Fantastic practical skills...making shortcrust pastry into a decorated Bakewell Tart

 

Lucy Braisby Yr 9 Homemade flaky pastry sausage rolls...high level skills
Lucy Voong Yr 12
Fantastic birthday cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connie Owens Yr 8
lovely bread rolls ...great shaping
Lucy Voong Yr 12 Lasagne with homemade pasta

 

 

 

 


Psychology Department

"Year 12 have recently started their Attachment topic as part of their A Level Psychology, so what better way to get started than become parents themselves. They all suddenly became parents to either an egg or a potato! Their task was to keep their baby safe and interact and from a bond while also recording the ups and downs of parenthood in a photo diary. We had some wonderful examples of interactional synchrony, proximity seeking and reciprocity. We even had twins! The students put in so much effort and really enjoyed introducing their babies to their pets and asking parents to babysit to give them a well-earned rest. It was interesting to see examples of life with a baby during these strange times too - with parents needing to be creative and introducing friends to their babies through Zoom and making sure they were socially distanced on their walks. We loved seeing what they all got up to, and they also have some creative and concrete ways of learning and remembering those attachment terms too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CCreative Bake Challenge

We may be in lockdown, but that has not stopped our Psychology students keeping themselves busy. This month, students were set the challenge to get their aprons and wooden spoons at the ready, to come up with a bake with a twist. Students were asked to either decorate a cake with a psychology theme, or to bake something tasty and explain why the ingredients they used would be good for brain and general health, so supporting their Biopsychology lessons. The only disappointment here was that the teacher’s did not get to carry out taste testing! Here are some examples of the fabulous work.

Khushboo NavinchandraYr 13 made this lovely coffee and walnut cake

The reason I chose to make this was because coffee is great for brain health, as it promotes stimulation of the central nervous system, making you feel more alert.

Coffee basically blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine, which makes you sleepy. Additionally, research has also shown that coffee may enhance short term memory, and in relation to our memory topic, research has shown them that when caffeine tablets were consumed after studying images, the ability to recognise them 24 hours later was strengthened. Walnuts are also great for brain health, and they are linked to cognition. They are rich in a plant based omega 3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, which can counteract oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.

Moreover, observational studies in adults have shown that eating walnuts is linked to better brain function such as faster processing speed and better memory. Also, although this wasn’t intentional, this cake has eggs in it, which are great for brain health. They have choline in them which is a micronutrient that helps create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps regulate mood and memory, and studies support this statement.

Phoebe Paulin Yr 12 decorated her beautiful cake to show different sides of the brain

I decorated my Psychology themed cake to represent the left and right halves of the brain using fondant to show the logic, sequencing and analysis of the left brain and creativity, expression, and imagination of the right brain.

 

 

 

Clareece Saysell Yr 12 made use of her Grandma’s record player to demonstrate a visual illusion with her cake

Coffee contains caffeine which acts as a stimulant in the brain causing an increase in activity in the central nervous system. It raises chemicals like dopamine, which is linked with pleasure, attention and most importantly... movement! Caffeine also blocks the adenosine molecules ( the stuff that makes us sleepy ) in our brain, making us feel more alert and energetic!

So I thought what better way to show this energy than to place a cake on my grandmas expensive record player and see if I could create the illusion of movement  (Just imagine the guy on top of the cake has just had a huge dose of caffeine and is absolutely buzzing from it).

Clareece also made a video which shows the visual illusion work as the record player turns. Thanks should also go to Grandma for this one!


Online Chess Club

Ribston Hall High School Online Chess Club members have had a great first term, playing friendly tournaments against each other each Friday evening and improving their chess skills using the online platform, lichess.

On Wednesday 10th February, Delphine Wynter 10B, Rachel Treadwell 8-REG3, Bethany Nelmes 7-REG5, Juliette Mawby 7-REG5, Matilda Hill 7-REG1, Zahra Miah 7-REG5, Charlotte Feasey 7-REG5 and Lucy Fairfax 7-REG4 represented Ribston Hall in the third ‘She Plays To Win Secondary Girls’ Tournament’, competing amongst a total of 174 girls from 23 schools nationwide. The Ribston team played very well in their first inter-school tournament, finishing a commendable 15th. Our top scorer was Bethany. Well done, Ribston Chess Team!

During half term, Chess Club members played each other in the school stage of the UK Chess Challenge. The girls played very well, despite a couple of technical hitches, showing great resilience and sportsmanship. Congratulations to our Ribston Hall Chess Challenge Champion for 2021, Juliette, who won all her games. The second stage of the championship, after Easter, will give players the chance to compete against members of other schools and chess clubs, in the Megafinal.

We hope to enter the next SPTW tournament in Term 4, as well as continuing to hone our chess skills against each other and playing some friendly matches with other schools.

New members are always welcome. Email sallyfairfax@hotmail.com for more information.

Sally Fairfax (Parent volunteer)


Gloucestershire Young Carers News

Bobsleigh athlete 18 year old young carer Éire from Gloucester is one step closer in her bid to take home Olympic glory in the 2026 winter games.

Rising star Éire, a former student at Ribston Hall High School, has been supported by Gloucestershire Young Carers for a number of years and often mentions the care and impact the charity has made to her life. Éire believes her fundraising and volunteering efforts for GYC  ultimately has helped her in her bid to be accepted into the True Athletic mentoring project with a scholarship. We are all super proud of you Éire and can’t wait to follow your journey to the Olympics. To read the article in BBC sports click here:    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/56010286


School Uniform

We have been working with Monkhouse Schoolwear to supply a more cost effective uniform offer for parents that still provides quality clothing but at more affordable prices whilst maintaining the school’s unique identity.  As a result the Trutex short sleeve blouse will shortly be replaced by a Banner three quarter sleeve blouse in the yellow stripe.  There is no expectation for parents to buy the new style of blouse until items of uniform are outgrown and need to be replaced. 

There will also be some changes to the sports kit.  These are: 

  • IGEN unisex polo shirt and skort in Black and Green with white piping
  • Premium hoodie in Green and Black to replace black fleece
  • Academy stretch leggings in black or skinny track pant also in black with school logo

Again there is no requirement to buy replacement items until sports kit needs replacing.