2nd H E A D - L I N E S - Ratcliffe College

H E A D - L I N E S

Dear Parents,

Brrrrr - the Beast from the East continues to

hold us firmly in its jaws and we have endured one of the coldest weeks on campus I can recall. Whilst the snow has created a

beautiful winter scene, it has also, together with plummeting temperatures, decimated our sporting programme and denied so many students the opportunity to attend trips and activities. So frustrating!

We welcomed our skiers back from Italy where they enjoyed first-

class conditions and a wonderful holiday experience. The German language trip all returned safely from Koblenz, where they enjoyed spending time with local families and improving their language skills.

STRENGTH OF MIND STRENGTH OF VALUES STRENGTH OF PURPOSE

Mr Yell, Mrs Leite and I returned from a successful trip to Hong Kong, where we

met so many of our current families who live in that vibrant city, together with hosting an alumni dinner and attending a recruitment fair. It was truly humbling to hear so many people, parents, friends and alumni of Ratcliffe speak with such deep affection for their school.

We were able to make a number of offers to some talented prospective students

ahead of September. It would be wonderful to welcome them to Ratcliffe in due course. On a similar theme, we welcomed 20 students from China to the School for a visit on Monday. These students are visiting the UK with their school to consider a UK boarding education in the future. They enjoyed their morning with us, and commented upon the beautiful architecture and rich history of the School.

Despite the cold weather, the students have kept their spirits up since half-term by

engaging in a variety of indoor events. Last week, Year 11 students gave outstanding performances in the Theatre as part of their GCSE Drama examination. I’m sure that those who were privileged to see the various plays would concur that the standard of acting was simply excellent. We hope the examiner feels the same! At the same time, Year 13 students were fully engaged in their A Level mock examinations and are now reviewing their marks with the support of their teachers. I am very proud of Year 13 who worked diligently over half-term to prepare for these papers. I am confident that all their hard work will bear fruit when they sit the real papers next term.

2nd March 2018

My sincere thanks to the wonderful Parents’ Association for their marvellous

support of the school plays, the busy but equally cold Prep School Cross-Country Festival on Saturday morning and the brilliant Quiz and Curry night the same evening. Thank you to the students, staff and families who supported these events and who have helped the PA to raise additional funds for school projects.

Well-done to all the girls who braved the artic conditions for last Saturday’s

netball fixtures as well as our younger students who participated in cross-country. On Sunday, our CCF contingent was out-and-about in the cold developing their skills with Rangers’ Training (you will read more about this under The Big Six.)

Headmaster’s Assembly on Monday morning started the week with a bang!

The English Department, ably supported by A Level Literature students, delivered an excellent reflection on the wonder of reading books ahead of World Book Day. Mr Benjamin frightened us all with a mesmerizing performance from the centre of the Chapel when he read an extract from The Lord of the Rings; Gandalf the Grey’s epic duel with the Balrog, a demon from an ancient world!

Mrs Williams, our wonderful College Librarian, was instrumental in

encouraging the College to celebrate reading on Thursday as students across the College enjoyed quizzes, a literary treasure hunt and the opportunity to celebrate their favourite characters through Art.

Together with the St Vincent de Paul group (Year 9 student helpers), the Chaplaincy

Team and Mrs Williams hosted a super ‘World Book Day DAHLightful Coffee Morning’ in aid of HCPT, a charity which supports pilgrimages to Lourdes each year. It was wonderful to see so many students dressed up as their favourite characters from Dahl’s classic tales. The cakes were delicious and everyone who attended enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere in the Refectory and the lovely Dahl quotes which were scattered across the tables. You will read more about this under Chaplaincy.

On Monday evening, we were very pleased to welcome Luke Maw from the University

of Oxford who gave an engaging presentation on preparing for university life at our annual Higher Education evening for parents and students in Years 11-13. The second half of the evening consisted of a presentation on student finance and alternatives to university, including the exciting developments in degree apprenticeships.


Thank you to parents and students for their support of this valuable event. We were

also pleased to welcome a number of students and parents from Rushey Mead Academy to the event, as part of our Sixth Form outreach programme.

Yesterday’s Preparatory School Assembly was delivered by Year 1 who gave

a beautiful reflection based on Oscar Wilde’s classic fable about selfishness and redemption, The Selfish Giant. The children performed so well, with beautiful acting and confident reading and oration. Well done, Year 1!

As I write to you, we are waiting to see what the weather brings ahead of the

weekend. The annual pilgrimage to Bath to participate in the Model United Nations Conference is in jeopardy, as well as the fixture programme matches against the Old Ratcliffians. Let’s hope many of these activities can go ahead safely.

I hope you are able to stay warm and safe over the coming days. Let’s hope this

icy blast will soon pass and we can look forward to spring and significantly warmer temperatures.


Yours sincerely,

Mr J. P. Reddin,Headmaster.

• Martyn Rooney Sports Seminar - Monday, 6.30pm in the Sixth Form Centre Lounge• U12 County Hockey Tournament on Tuesday at Dixie Grammar, weather permitting • Music Department Spring Concert - Tuesday, 7.00pm in the Theatre• Go4Set students off to University of Nottingham, Wednesday• UKMT Mathematical Team Challenge (selected Years 8 & 9 students) on Thursday• Following my hosting of an Academic Achievers’ Lunch for Years 7-11 on Monday, I shall be hosting a group of Sixth Form academic achievers for dinner on Thursday evening• Studies Grades will be available to parents next Friday• Open Morning on Saturday (9.30am-12 noon). Please invite family and friends to join us for the morning • Mothering Sunday next Sunday; our Boarders are visiting London• In the Preparatory School, Year 4 are off to the MAD Museum & Butterfly Farm and Year 3 to Leicester University Botanical Gardens on Monday. Years 5 and 6 head off to Birmingham to The Think Tank on Tuesday. The Preparatory School are hosting a Book Fair from Tuesday to Thursday. There is a First Holy Communion Mass on Tuesday and a Mother’s Day Assembly on Thursday. U11 and U10 pupils will also be competing in the IAPS Regional Swimming Gala at Stamford School.• There are Transition meetings taking place for Senior and Preparatory students on Wednesday in the Preparatory School.

C H A P L A I N ’ S C O R N E R

There are three main areas of concern for Chaplaincy at Ratcliffe College, all

geared toward a “meeting with God”. Indeed, setting our sights on the higher things is an instinct deep within human beings, expressed variously in religions, ethical and philosophical systems, and the wonderful lore of each culture. Within our Christian tradition at Ratcliffe, the vehicles of this meeting with God are in shared stories, celebrations and service. I am so proud of the continuous service to this vision by students, staff and family of this school, and often humbled.

One great example was the final Chaplaincy Assembly of the last half-term, during

which three students led an exploration and reflection around the kinds of learning difficulties experienced by so many people around the world. Dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia were the immediate examples given, but the lessons of celebrating variety and embracing alternative strategies were evident for all manner of “difference”. My congratulations and thanks to Brooke and Jade England, and Verity Mangham for their hard work.

Another example of a pursuit of the higher things was an excursion I made with

students, Barzin Alipourkarami and Matthew Garcia of Year 12. We travelled last Saturday to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to attend the Rotary Club’s International Peace-Building Conference. Mr Richard Power, the father of a recent OR invited us to the conference, which had as its theme the connection between Peace and Disease. Apart from the various speeches, there was opportunity for break-out sessions, during which we discussed themes with other students, teachers and Rotarians.


A real highlight was a keynote speech by Dr Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman

recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize. She received it in 2003 for her work in promoting human rights (especially for women and children, refugees and the politically oppressed), and democracy in Iran, from which she has been in exile since 2009. She is well-known and loved in her native Iran, and Barzin took the opportunity not only to pose a public question to her in front of the conference, but to sit and speak with her at some length afterward. He was overjoyed at the opportunity, and a great ambassador for the College.

As we head into the coming days of challenging weather, let’s keep in

mind all our brothers and sisters on the streets around us and the millions who are displaced from their communities. May we be moved to assist them as we can, and to challenge systems that allow their suffering to perpetuate.

Mr Michel, Lay Chaplain

SENIOR SCHOOL

S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N T S


Achievement Awards

Merit Badge

YEAR 7 Isabella BoothroydHarry CarrollGeorgie DaynesEmilia Griffiths-TurnerFaith HowardLucia Orsini-RottnerElla Rose SeymourMadelaine Whalley

YEAR 8 Daniel BaileyJoshua LeeEzra StarleyTallulah Wood

YEAR 9 Thomas BallGuy HeywoodWilliam Marsden

Merit Shield

YEAR 7 Jessie BardsleySam DaviesZoe HowlingDaisy Reddin

YEAR 8 Wilfred MilnerHenry Urwin

YEAR 9Olivia Crawley

Super Shield

YEAR 7 Katherine McCrindell

Bailey BuckinghamCaitlin CumminsMaddy DunstanAvani GuptaEwan MetcalfeOliver PoleAadi Thakrar

Amy GriffinEthan StarleyAmelia Wells

Henry BowerOllie Howard

Connie ColvilleLiam Hardy-SmithSophie PackwoodSophie Shield

Ezra Starley

Nigel Denham

Sophie Walker

LEICESTERSHIRE ROTARy TECHNOLOGy TOURNAMENT

On Wednesday 21st February, eight Ratcliffe College Design and Technology students

competed against nine other schools at the annual Leicestershire Rotary Technology tournament, held at Leicester Grammar School. Two teams, one from Year 7 and another from Year 9 took part in a design and build challenge, aimed at testing their ability to work as a team and produce a working prototype.

The challenge, to manufacture ball launching device, saw both teams develop uniquely

different prototypes, both capable of launching the ball over 3 metres. The Year 7 team produced a well-engineered and powerful device, whilst the Year 9 team developed an accurate and creative product. Despite not winning, both teams had an extremely enjoyable day and demonstrated some excellent team work and construction skills.

YEAR 7 Katherine McCrindellSophie WalkerCallum StoreyWilliam Pearce

YEAR 9Beth PickElise AtkinsonJacob StoreyJacob McCahill



Achievement Voucher 1

YEAR 10 Lucy AntillLouis MorrisonChloe Sham

YEAR 11Alex BownEve MillwardRoby Warwick

YEAR 12Lewis CoxFrank Munkaeo

YEAR 13Luke CharnockJack Yung

Achievement Voucher 2

YEAR 10 Ella De CaesteckerAnnabel MillsEmma Turner

YEAR 11 Eddy Robinson

YEAR 10 Ciaran Leong

Sophia BuczkowskaKiki NgJoseph Stamp

Han LiuBetsy Poll

Matthew LindleyToey Thipaksorn

Kate Tyszka

Emily McBallantineSamantha SeiduEmily Wetton

SENIOR MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE

In this year’s Senior Mathematics Challenge, there were 90,000 entries from nearly 2,000

schools. The Senior Kangaroo is one of the follow-on rounds for the Senior Mathematical Challenge. The top 4,500 pupils were invited to take part in this year’s senior Kangaroo and to test themselves on questions set for the best school-aged mathematicians from across Europe and beyond. The Senior Kangaroo is a one-hour paper consisting of 20 questions.

The mean average score for this year’s paper was 28 out of 100 which gives some

indication of the difficulty of the paper. Tom Cusack scored a creditable 45.

Merit certificates are awarded to the top 25% of students. Congratulations to our

students:-

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:Tom Cusack

CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION:Dennis DingPhilip Gyesi-Appiah

HALF -TERM ACHIEVEMENT

Over half-term, Harry Culpin competed in the Midland Counties Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham where he won a silver medal in the U17 high jump and bronze in the U17 pole vault.



YEAR 6 Harry ClarkPavan KalairFinlay MartinEsme SladeKerry Wells

YEAR 5 Bella Barton-JacquesKgrish Tailor

YEAR 4 Chloe ElsbyCoral Kairamkonda

YEAR 3John BowdenTallulah Johnson-MayesLucy MarkhamCharlotte JoyDiya PatelJessica TuckwellJack Westwood

YEAR 2Abigail ColeOlivia Pearce

YEAR 1 Malachy Desmond-AingeSpencer HampsonGrace Martin

Thomas GilesMillie LakeAlbert MisiudaFrancesca Turner

Lottie NorthRomy Totton

Leo GabrielIsha Sidhu

Max HuntMaisie LeakeLucie MasonHugo MisiudaIszac RodriguesCaspar Webster

Isabella CottinghamHarrison Poutch

Riley DoneganRahul KhodaNavraj Sidhu

THIRD CERTIFICATES OF MERIT wERE AwARDED TO:-

P R E P A R A T O R y S C H O O L

YEAR 2 Harley Pope

FIRST CERTIFICATES OF MERIT wERE AwARDED TO:-

YEAR 6 Charles CarpenterRebecca DowdingAnnabelle HullGeorge LeiteJude MooreJoss PhillipsJustin UcarJacques Wilkins

YEAR 5 Imogen BarkerSophia DenhamOlivia LynchJack Turnbull

YEAR 4 Sophia AlexanderHenry Maher-StillmanIvan Ventrella

YEAR 3 Eliza Barton-JacquesLochlann Desmond-AingeDeeya Tailor

YEAR 2 Easher AustinGyaan Sagoo

YEAR 1 Matilda Etty

Maisie CollierLydia HaggisXavier Illsley-RidgeSienna Mitchell-JohnsonEva PerryHarrison RutherfordHarrison Walker

Freddie DaynesArabella HampsonJames Packwood

Rohan KotakAva-Mae TraslerEdgar Wilson

Bertie CooperLorcan Murphy

Max CottinghamFaith Seidhu

Ewurama Gyesi-Appiah

SECOND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT wERE AwARDED TO:-

YEAR 2 Chloe Oliphant

MERIT BADGES wERE AwARDED TO:-



FRAncEScA AtkinSon, YEAR 5Achieved her Bronze Level in skiing, skipping 2 levels.

LoLA GALLAchER, YEAR 4Won a silver medal in the Leamington Stage Dance Festival for a character solo.

kAthERinE ShiELd, YEAR 4Received a gold medal for finishing in first place in the Year 4 girls’ race at the Ratcliffe Cross Country Festival.

coRAL kAiRAMkondA, YEAR 4Was awarded a trophy for her performance in traditional South Indian Dance called “Bharatanatyam”

P R E P A R A T O R y S C H O O L

RoBERt hoRSt, YEAR 3Acheived a silver medal for skiing.

dEEYA tAiLoR, YEAR 3Received a certificate from the Little Princess Trust in recognition of her donating 11 inches of her hair to the charity who provide real hair wigs to children suffering with hair loss.

JoSEph BRAdLEY, YEAR 2Achieved his Level 2 in skiing.

THE B IG S IX


COMBINED CADET FORCE

Congratulations to Molly Edwards and Mathew Lindley who both completed the

tough Senior Cadet Instructor Course over the February half-term.

A reminder to parents, please, that there is an information session for the Adventure

Training trip to the Ardèche on 6th of March in the Old Library.

Lt Col Balmbra, OC CCF

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AwARD

So far this year, we have achieved 29 bronze, 9 silver and 6 gold awards, with several

more golds currently in the pipeline.

I am sure that there are plenty more students who have nearly finished their awards too,

so please can I encourage you to get your daughters and sons to finish off any of their activities and collect a report from their assessor so that their achievements may be recognised too? Thank you.

We have just been notified that a number of our former students are to be invited

to Buckingham Palace to be presented their gold awards on 24th May. The students are: Rasee Lawrence, Emily Bown, Harriet O’Shea, Omar Khan, Sasha Farzin-Nia, Georgia Chilton, Carrick Anderson and James Ainscough, so well done to all of them on their gold success.

Mrs Cole, Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

CHAPLA INCy

The St Vincent de Paul (SVP) group are busy baking with Mrs P. Smith, ready for

their Coffee Morning to raise funds for the Tilinanu Orphanage in Malawi, where they sponsor a child.

As in other years, their cake sale coincides with World Book Day which is being

relaunched as a DAHLIGHTFUL event with a Roald Dahl theme. They look forward to welcoming the Preparatory School after their assembly and the Senior School during break.

Mrs Waters

Year 10 Charity

We were delighted to welcome Becca Robertson and her guide dog, Jolly, to

Wednesday’s Year 10 assembly. Becca spoke about how the use of a guide dog for mobility completely transformed her life, hopes and dreams. Year 10 students will now be aiming to raise enough money to be able to sponsor and name a guide dog puppy.

Mr McCrindell

THE ABOVE EVENT wAS BIG (IN FACT, GIANT), FANTASTIC, MAGIC, wONDERFUL, MARVELLOUS…

You are invited

to our

World Book Day

Coffee Morning! When : Morning Break on Thursday, 1st

March

Where: The Refectory

How much: £2 to include a drink and cake

THE B IG S IX


SPORT

Congratulations to Rosie Dickerson who swam brilliantly at the Nottinghamshire

ASA County Championships and won the award for best overall girl in her age category after winning 13 individual medals and 4 relay medals.

Miss Stafford, Director of Sport.

DRAMA

Year 11 Drama students performed their GCSE plays last week in front of their

examiner. The evening was a rollercoaster of emotions with six short performances ranging from the comic to tragic. Click here to read more.

Miss Monk, Head of Drama.

Please find the link to our weekly Sports Reports below:

SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT

PREP SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT

MUS IC

Maddy Dunstan, Year 7, took part in Leicester MusicFest during half

term, competing in the Elementary and Intermediate stage and Screen Singing classes. Despite stiff competition, she won the Elementary class and came third in the Intermediate.

As you may have noticed, Maddy is very active, often performing on stage. It was

wonderful to be able to recognise her success in Headmaster’s Assembly on Monday when Maddy was awarded her trophy and medals. Congratulations Maddy.

Mr McCall, Director of Music.

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/general/year-11-drama-performances/

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/general/year-11-drama-performances/

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/category/seniornews/seniorsports/

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/category/juniorschoolnews/preparatorysportsnews/

THE B IG S IX


A N D B E y O N D . . .


GERMAN EXCHANGE – 2018

Students from Years 9 to 13 enjoyed an eventful week in Koblenz during the

February half- term holiday. Organised trips and activities included a cable car trip across the majestic river Rhine, joining in with the carnival celebrations and trips to Cologne and Trier.

Students stayed with their German partners and were treated to a number of activities,

including ice skating, swimming, bowling and the inevitable shopping. We were blessed with sunny weather, apart from one snowy day.

We now look forward to welcoming our German friends to Ratcliffe after the

Easter holidays.

Mr McCrindell

INSP IRE EVENTS

Over the past two weeks we have heard some great talks from Sebako Siame

(OR) and Jake Bird (OR), to find out more information about these talks please click here.

Our next INSPIRE event is on Wednesday 14th March - Engineering at the

University of Nottingham: an interactive session including LEGO!

Students in Years 9-13, parents and staff are warmly welcome to attend.

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/category/seniornews/inspireevents/

http://ratcliffe-college.co.uk/category/seniornews/inspireevents/

A N D B E y O N D . . .


PARENT LETTERS

This is the section where you will find Parent letters which are on the Parent

Portal on the school website (for which you will need to click on the appropriate link below and enter the password).

Posted on the Parents’ Portal This fortnight are the following letters/items of

information:-

YEARS 6 - 12Girls’ Hockey Pre-Season Information

PARENT PORTAL L INKS

S IXTH FORM

yEARS 10 -11

yEARS 7 -9

ALL SCHOOL NEwS

PARENTS ’ ASSOCIAT ION

The PA Quiz and Curry night took place on Saturday 24th February. We were thrilled

that 84 people joined us for a fun filled night and congratulations to team 7to11 who won the converted trophy.

The PA meeting on Tuesday 27th February was very productive in organising the

upcoming Spring Fair on Saturday 17th March from 11am to 3pm. Everyone is welcome to come along to the Spring Fair. The Extreme Mountain Bike Show is coming to showcase their thrilling stunts. Mr Twister will be giving a Magic Show for the children at 1pm and there will also be a tombola and an Easter Egg tombola so please bring in your donations for these stalls to the Prep School entrance hall asap. Raffle tickets for the event went out this week in the Prep School, so please sell as many as you can to family and friends to raise funds for this year’s chosen charities, HPCT and The Nottinghamshire Leukaemia trust. Thank you to RS Print Ltd for printing them.

Please see the poster below for our 2018 Spring Fair.

Alison Etty and Sasha BruinersJoint PA Chair

Thank Youto our Parents for allowing your

children to help with Open Morning on Saturday 10th March. They are excellent ambassadors for our School and we are

very proud of them.If you have family or friends interested in

Ratcliffe, please invite them to come along!

http://www.ratcliffe-college.co.uk/parent-portal/sixth-form-private/

http://www.ratcliffe-college.co.uk/parent-portal/years-10-11-private/

http://www.ratcliffe-college.co.uk/parent-portal/years-7-9-private/

http://www.ratcliffe-college.co.uk/parent-portal/all-school-news/

A N D B E y O N D . . .


Opening Performance by Seaforth Highlanders

Extreme Mountain Bike Show

Mr Twister and his amazing Magic Show at 1.30 pm

Fantastic Raffle Prizes

Easter Egg Tombola

Traditional Tombola

25 Shopping Stalls

EntranceKids Free • £3.00 For Adults

Sports Hall, Ratcliff e CollegeFosseway, Ratcliff e on the Wreake LE7 4SG

Poster designed byCharlotte Shield Year 5

Spring FairSaturday 17th March 2018

11am -3pm Toy Stall

Refreshments

Hog Roast

Bouncy Mega Slide

Cake Stall

Games Stalls

And lots more on the day

Documents

2nd H E A D - L I N E S - Ratcliffe College