Newsletters

October 2021

Another packed edition of the Ribston Roar this month where you will see we have celebrated Black History Month. This has been alongside the ongoing work we do in school to diversify our curriculum throughout the year. Through our curriculum mapping across all key stages, we want to ensure all of our diverse cultures and communities are represented by creating time in our teaching and in resources to be more accurate and more inclusive. 

There is also an introduction to our new Heads of House and a short word from Mrs Hay who is our new Head of School Culture. You will hear from her more during the year as we look to raise the profile of the houses even more. She has lots planned so watch this space!

Enjoy the read, there has been lots going on!

Sarah Colombini 

Headteacher

The Department for Work and Pensions Household Support Fund

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has established a new £500 million Household Support Fund to help the hardest-hit families and individuals with daily needs such as food, clothing and utilities. The fund is being run by Local Authorities in England, who are best placed to identify and help those children and families most in need.

You can find more information on support for vulnerable families over winter. Further details on the Household Support Fund will be available on DWP’s website in due course.

In English, students were set a Black History Month Reading Challenge.

In Maths, Year 7 students have been set a challenge to find out about black mathematicians. They should use their newfound knowledge to design a poster, leaflet or postcard about their chosen mathematicians. Suggestions given include Louise Nixon Sutton, Eleanor Dawley Jones, Vivienne Malone Mayes, Marjorie Lee Brown and Gloria Ford Gilmer. This is due in early November so we look forward to sharing these creative masterpieces with you soon. 

In PE, our Year 12 students explored the impact the Windrush generation had on English Football. An insightful film has launched on BT Sport on this topic and the students watched this to help develop their understanding of the subject.

In History, students were encouraged to have daily discussions during form time on different black characters who had shaped history in their field. These names included Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama, Barbara Walker, Jesse Owens, Otis Boykin, Dame Doreen Lawrence and many other influential people who have shaped the society we live in today. 

Year 9 History students have been reading Black Poppies, which explores the black presence in Britain during World War One, including the infamous 'race riots' in black communities across the nation and the insights of a black police officer during this time. 

All students are encouraged to read further on this topic, including a highly praised account of British Black History by David Olusoga, named Black and British. 

DT have done some excellent work exploring influential black designers in textiles and chefs in Food and Nutrition. Year 10's food practical this month was a free choice by students but they had to pick a recipe inspired by Black History. There were some beautiful and varied dishes, including Bunny Chow, Smokey Spiced Jollof rice & coconut-fried plantain and Spiced chicken with mango chutney and fried plantain.

MFL students have been working on research posters celebrating the lives of pioneering Black Men and Women in the 20th and 21st Century, of French/German or Spanish origin.

In French class, they have been celebrating the life of Josephine Baker -  a Vaudeville and musical entertainer, who also stood up against the Nazis and fostered and protected many children; and Christine Taubira who was the Minister of Justice in 2012-2016 in France, who introduced the law making human trafficking and slavery a crime against humanity. She also enabled the law permitting marriage and adoption to same sex couples. 

The research posters will be on display in the MFL corridor after half-term.

We will share the results of our ongoing Black History Month competitions from English and Maths with you via our social media channels shortly. 

Exploring the cosmos with a Physics Nobel Laureate

Our Physics A-level students joined together to watch the University of Southampton's Annual STAG (Southampton Theory Astrophysics and Gravity) lecture just before half-term. This particular lecture was on the topic of space-time anomalies and the progression of singularities from mathematical anomalies to detectable objects in the cosmos. An insightful session all round.

The Great MFL Bake-off

This past month students have entered inter-form MFL quizzes, which have varied from deciphering languages spoken, to solving cryptic clues. They have also been tasked with completing escape room activities, entering 'Routes into Languages', T-Shirt and Poster Competitions, and creating showstoppers and technical bakes for the hugely popular Ribston MFL Bake-off.

Lockdown has certainly 'given rise' to a number of superb bakers at Ribston, and the quality and creativity of their amazing confectionery was a sight to behold. There was no shortage of willing, hungry judges on the day, who had extremely difficult decisions to make! Danish shortbread, Slovakian Cookies, Spanish Orange Cakes, Churros, French Madeleines, Macarons, Croquembouche, Philippino, Polish, Finnish, Italian and Greek desserts ..... the diversity and the stories the cakes told were literally out of this world.

The MFL Department wish to thank all the students who participated, and of course the families, carers and supporters who may have had to clear up more than they bargained for!

A number of Star Bakers were awarded on the day. The winning technical bake was created by Natalia Kromska in Year 8, while the Showstopper award went to Lily Shackell in Year 7. We are sorry we couldn't feature all the entries as there were so many incredible bakes, congratulations to all on the array and level of skills displayed.

Year 7 Cross-country, by Izzy Thurlow

The whole of year 7 showed great determination when completing cross-country on Monday 18^th October- the rain did not stop them trying their best! Everyone scored a house point for participation which contributes to the overall house scores at the end of the year.

Pictured from left to right: 1^st place Georgia Barnes, 2^nd place Paige Eckorth, 3rd place Matilda Smith

  Top runners for each house

First Briton: Matilda Smith

First Dane: Georgia Barnes

First Roman: Grace Hodges

First Saxon: Maddison Ross

Overall Results:

1^st Britons

2^nd Saxons

3rd Danes

4th Romans.

Well done everyone for taking part! Good luck to those that have now got the Championships in Cheltenham to look forward to!

Written by Izzy Thurlow (Romans House Captain)

Open Day

It was a joy to welcome so many prospective students and families into our school just before half-term; a welcome return to normality having waited two years since our last physical Open Day. We were fully booked for morning and evening sessions, with further families visiting us over the subsequent days. Year 7 and 8 students lead groups on tours of the school after they'd heard from the senior leadership team and some current Year 7 students on the stage. Thank you to all of our students and staff who assisted in making this event such a success - we had some excellent feedback.

Ribston Hall ahead of top universities!

Immersive Labs is a leading online Cybersecurity training organisation that has made its academic course available to our Ethical Hacking club. We make great use of this course for students in Year 9 and above.

We are currently in the top 100 institutions GLOBALLY on their leader board, above several Russell Group Universities!

Well done Ribston Hall students, this is an excellent performance!

Talented Sixth Form Illustrator gets a commission

Maariyah, one of our Year 13 Textile Design students, has been commissioned to do these wonderful Digital illustrations and has set up her own Instagram to showcase her work. A brilliant unique style and what a talent; well done Maariyah!

Jasmine opens her own store

Year 11 Textile student Jasmine Marshall has become so successful at making macramé items, she's set up her own store on Etsy as well as being a stocked artist at Willow & Co in Nailsworth. Well done Jasmine, this looks fantastic!

Mrs Hay has given us a quick summary of her house competition plans for this year. 

I am very excited to launch a tailored programme of rich and varied opportunities to engage students in different activities and competitions across a number of subject areas this year. Each student has been allocated their house and will be encouraged to participate in these activities to earn points for their respective houses. I very much look forward to sharing updates and celebrating the students' success with you. I would like to formally introduce you to Shona Franklin (Yr 13) Deputy Head Girl in charge of houses and the House Captain Student Team: 

Britons: 

Head of House Staff: Miss Lewis

Head of House Students: Orla Mcatee & Maariyah Dhalech

Hello, our names are Maariyah and Orla, and we are the Britons house captains! We're so excited to see the new Britons at Ribston, and for you to show us all of your amazing talent. We are looking forward to leading all the house events this year and can't wait to see everyone participate! Let's make Britons the best house! 

Danes:

Head of House Staff: tbc

Head of House Students: Olivia Rajesh & Alyssa Norcross

Hi everyone, we’re Alyssa and Olivia, your new Danes House Captains. We are very excited to lead Danes through many House events this year and have another great year of achievements from Danes. To us Danes represents teamwork, dedication, and enthusiasm. This year we would love to have all the Danes involved in all House events this year including Houses got talent, Subject events, and Sports. We are so excited to see each of you showcase your individual skills and talents this year.   

Romans: 

Head of House Staff: Mrs Barnett

Head of House Students: Isobel Thurlow & Jaskaran Singh

Hi, our names are Jas and Izzy and we are your Romans house captains. It is our aspiration to lead Romans to victory in the many house events we have planned. We hope everyone will get involved to show the pre-Covid Ribston spirit. Last of all, we would like to say: have fun and try your best! 

Saxons: 

Head of House Staff: Mrs Hill

Head of House Students: Mary Adeniyi & Brodie Bayliss

Hello everyone, we are your new Saxons house captains- Mary and Brodie. With the role we have been given, it is our every intention to encourage you to try your best in all activities. We aim for all Saxons to feel comfortable enough to be themselves and we promise to support you in all ventures. While this and the previous year has been rocky, we hope to make up for it with the exciting activities to come. Thank you.