Ralph Allen School

Parents’ e-news

Issue: 11 12 Feb 2016

In this issue….

School News INSET day

MAT survey

Fuzzy Logic

Debating team

Sports news

Gold DofE

Geography students

Youth Climate Summit

Year 12 visit to Oxford

University

School Notices

Ralph Allen

@RalphAllenBath

SCHOOL NEWS

INSET DAY

The title of our INSET day on Mon 22 Feb

is ‘Ensuring Successful Progression.’ This

is a day which is planned and delivered

through the Bath Education Trust, and

which will involve over 800 staff! A sub-

theme of the day is ‘the character

traits, skills and behaviours young peo-

ple need for education and employ-

ment.’

BET has employability in its DNA, which I

think is worth noting and holding tightly

onto. Some parents will have come

across the ideas of Carol Dweck and

her book ‘Mindset’ which has been

very influential, and which is shown to

have a huge impact on students’ learn-

ing and progress. Professor Barry Hymer

of the University of Cumbria will be set-

ting out the core tenets and classroom

implications of mindset theory. I really

recommend this book if you haven’t

yet come across it.

Peter France of Rotork, Neil Carberry of

the CBI and Mike Nicholson of the Uni-

versity of Bath will also be speaking to

delegates during the morning.

Of course, Ralph Allen School will be

closed to students on this day; staff will

be in The Forum and Bath College dur-

ing Monday for this important and am-

bitious training day.

Survey on formation of Multi-Academy

Trust

Thanks for all contributions received on

this subject. Although 17 responses is

not very high, they were extremely

thoughtful, often detailed, and embod-

ied a range of views.

On the positive side, a number of re-

spondents were able to see many ad-

vantages of working as part of a multi-

academy trust. For example, econo-

mies of scale, the ability to offer more

enrichment activities, and other bene-

fits of working across different organisa-

tions.

Some parents were clear that they

would like to see students involved in

working with primary age children, and

saw this as an advantage. There were

also very favourable comments about

the sponsorship of another school,

which was the subject of one question.

These views can be summed by one

comment: ‘It’s sensible and desirable

for local schools to work together.’

However, some contributors raised a

question about whether such partner-

ship working would actually be to the

advantage of Ralph Allen students.

Job security for staff was raised as a

potential issue. One person comment-

ed that they were querying the idea of

several schools being run by a

‘committee.’

It was evident that some respondents

wanted to know more about the struc-

ture of a MAT and how it would work in

practice. This was summed up by the

comment: ‘I haven’t quite grasped the

concept.’ I would say this was one of

the dominant themes. One person

wondered how easy it would be for

church affiliated VC and VA schools to

work with a school which was non-

denominational.

INSET Day

Mon 22 Feb—the

school is closed to

students

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Finally, one person comment-

ed that they did not like the

name ‘Palladian Academy

Trust’ while admitting they did

not have an alternative.

Other points made included the

thought that Ralph Allen should

only work with schools sharing sim-

ilar values; a related point was

that the school should not lose its

values, and that several contribu-

tors liked it as it was.

Again, some contributors com-

mented that they would like to

know more, particularly on what

the benefits may be, while one

person noted that there was

probably little choice but to join

or found a MAT.

One person wondered how BET

would relate to a newly formed

MAT, and finally there was a plea:

‘Keep parents posted please.’

Thanks so much for this thoughtful

feedback, which we will respond

to and factor into any develop-

ments.

Mr Tim Withers, Principal

Fuzzy Logic off to the Nationals

After their success in the First Lego

League (FLL) regional finals, our

team of robot builders and prob-

lem solvers is off to the nationals

at Loughborough University on

the Sun 21 Feb. Through showcas-

ing their robot design, and pre-

senting an ingenious solution to a

problem they identified with the

overproduction of plastic shop-

ping bags, the nine students from

KS3 and KS4 hope to emulate the

success of previous teams from

Ralph Allen.

Since the regionals, the students

have been perfecting their robot

and working on the presentations.

As part of their preparation, the

team recently met with The Right

Worshipful, The Mayor of Bath,

and have been pitching their

idea for a reusable net shopping

bag to the management of local

branches of Sainsbury’s and Wait-

rose. The on-line customer ques-

tionnaire they designed has now

had over 400 responses; a big

thank you to those who took the

time to fill it in and here is the link

again: https://

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/

netbags

The FLL competition provides stu-

dents with the opportunity to be

creative, communicative and

technologically innovative. All this

work is carried out as a team and

the skills the students learn

through the process are invalua-

ble preparation for their futures.

Good luck Fuzzy Logic: we’ll let

you know the outcome!

Mrs Mandy Gaskin, Lego Robotics

English Speaking Union Churchill

Public Speaking Competition

Ralph Allen School entered a

team into the English Speaking

Union Churchill Public Speaking

competition on Thursday 4 Febru-

ary at Stonar School and won the

South West regional competition.

The team of Joe Alder

(Chairman), Manny Campion-

Dye (Speaker) and Louis Dejeu-

Castang (Questioner), all from

Year 11, beat seven other

teams (six of them from private

schools) to win the competi-

tion.

The competition requires student

speakers to present with chair-

men and questioners from anoth-

er school; the chairman and

questioner do not know the topic

of the speaker’s speech until 20

minutes before the presentation

so it requires a lot of thinking on

your feet. Joe and Louis did a

magnificent job with their speaker

from Marlborough College whose

topic was ‘Modern technology

makes us evermore self-

obsessed.’ Meanwhile, Manny

had prepared an impressive and

engaging speech on the topic of

‘Faith and rational thought can-

not co-exist.’ which he presented

very effectively and which was

the result of a lot of hard work to

reach such a high standard. He

also answered a range of very

challenging questions from the

audience.

The boys will now go on to the

next stage of the competition to

be held on Sun 6 March. All three

have worked incredibly hard and

were very worthy winners.

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English Speaking Union mace De-

bating Competition

Ralph Allen School also entered a

team into the Mace Debating

competition. Joe Alder and Louis

Dejeu-Castang went through on

the first round of this competition

and competed in the regional

round held at South Wilts Gram-

mar School in Salisbury on

Thursday 21 January. They were

up against some very seasoned

debaters, all of them Sixth Form,

and gave a very impressive per-

formance proposing the motion

that all non-essential cosmetic

surgery should be banned against

Queen Elizabeth Hospital School

from Bristol. While they did not go

through to the next round, they

gave a very impressive perfor-

mance and learnt a lot from the

experience which will stand them

in good stead for next year. Mrs

Katie Rutter, English department.

UK School Games 2016

Congratulations to the table ten-

nis and inclusive sports teams who

travelled to SGS College and the

UWE Centre of Sport in Bristol to

compete in the county finals of

the UK School Games.

The table tennis team of Bruno

Foulstone, Fernando Bustamante,

Marcus Turnbull and Jack Charles,

all from Year 9, played both sin-

gles and doubles matches

against the best players in the

local area.

Highlights of the competition in-

cluded impressive singles wins for

Marcus and Jack against Oasis

Academy John Williams and a

very hard fought doubles win for

Bruno and Fernando against John

Cabot.

The inclusive sports team of Emily

Styles, Jody Garlington, Eloise

Lane, Paige Hill, Faye-Maree Har-

wood and Ciaran McLoughlin

competed in the Boccia, PolyBat

and sitting volleyball events finish-

ing in 5th place overall. Well done

to all of the students mentioned

who represented the school ad-

mirably.

Mr Tom Hancock, HLTA PE depart-

ment

West of England Winter Games

The Year 8 netball team travelled

to the University of the West of

England on Tues 1 Feb to partici-

pate in the county netball finals

as part of the Level 3 West of Eng-

land Winter Games.

The Sainsbury’s School Games is a

national competition that is made

up of 4 levels with competitions

held across all areas of the coun-

try. The Year 8 team qualified for

the county finals by coming run-

ners up in the B&NES district tour-

nament back in December. Dur-

ing this tournament they fought

off competition from 12 other

schools in the Bath area to finish in

the top two and progress to the

quarter finals. Their quarter final

match was played against Ash-

ton Park School from Bristol, which

they won 21-18. This qualified

them for the finals held at UWE.

At the finals the team competed

against three other schools from

the county. They played some

fantastic netball during the day

and were unlucky to lose narrowly

in both their matches. They were

also lucky enough to have a talk

and a Q&A session with former

England netball captain Pamela

Cookey. Despite their losses on

the day, it is a fantastic achieve-

ment for the team to have

reached these finals and to be

one of the top four Year 8 netball

teams across Bath and North East

Somerset, Bristol, South Glouces-

tershire and North Somerset. Well

done! Miss Sophie Hunt, Acting

Deputy Curriculum Team Leader

PE

Elite Athlete update

Eden Richardson in Year 12 re-

cently achieved a great result in

an International Tennis Federation

Tournament in New Delhi, India,

where she reached the semi-

finals of both the singles and dou-

bles event. It also gave her invalu-

able first-hand experience of In-

SCHOOL NEWS & NOTICES

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dia, a country she is currently

studying for A Level Geography.

Flo Abbott in Year 13, our most

senior tennis student, also

achieved a lifetime best perfor-

mance recently in reaching the

semi-finals of the Senior Women's

British Tour Masters Champion-

ships. Flo has been awarded a

scholarship to study at a universi-

ty in Chicago for her chosen High-

er Education route. This will give

her a great opportunity to contin-

ue studying and playing ten-

nis within the highly competi-

tive collegiate system in the USA.

At the other end of

the age scale junior

tennis player, Millie

Bissett, who is cur-

rently ranked num-

ber two seed at

U12 Age group in

Great Britain, always strives to

achieve her best both in the

classroom and on the tennis

court. Millie continues to enjoy

great success against the best

junior players in GB and Europe.

Please click on the link if you

would like to support Millie’s cam-

paign: https://

www.pledgesports.org/projects/

junior-tennis-sponsorship-amelia-

bissett Mrs Sally Rose, Elite Athlete

Mentor

Year 13 Gold DofE, Brecon Bea-

cons training weekend

The Year 13 Gold DofE group

completed their last training ses-

sion at weekend. They met John

Young who will be assessing them

for their Qualifying Expedition in

the Pyrenees in July. He shared his

extensive and invaluable

knowledge of the area that they

are visiting in the Pyrenees and

also his mountaineering skills.

Despite heavy rain and freezing

conditions the group walked in

the national park on Saturday

and were shown steep ground

safety skills. On Sunday the group

successfully completed a longer

walk in the park with full packs as

part of their fitness training.

The group were an absolute

pleasure to take away, a huge

thank you to Miss Heather Ridley

and Mr Dave Camm who sup-

ported the students throughout

the weekend. Ms Jane Fox, DofE

and Outdoor Ed Coordinator.

Year 7 Geographers learn about

relief rainfall in the quad

Year 7 learning groups have been

learning about relief rainfall and

rain shadows across the UK. They

walked up the mounds with cups

of water which they then

dropped on the top as rainfall

over the mountains of the UK.

They then went down the other

side to the east of the UK and

they had no rain left in their cups

– a rain shadow!

Thanks to Miss Tasker for some

great active learning.

Year 9 teach each other about

climates and biomes

Year 9 have been learning about

Russia in a new unit of work from

the new National Curriculum.

They had to research the many

different climates and biomes

and then present their finding s to

the rest of the class. They have

enjoyed the experience of being

the teacher for the day! Thanks

again to Miss Tasker for a great

lesson plan. Team Geography

8th BaNES Youth Climate Summit

Designed and run by students

through local NGO, Green Vision,

the climate change summit was a

fantastic opportunity for young

people to both hear and discuss

a wide range of ideas for improv-

ing our planet. Ralph Allen was

represented by 15 students from

Years 11, 12 and 13.

The summit was opened by a fas-

cinating talk by Professor David

Goode, urban ecologist. Using

the example of the peregrine fal-

cons who nest on spires to take

advantage of the city lights to

hunt rather than waiting for day-

light, he explained the im-

portance of our need to adapt

and mitigate to the changes cre-

ated by global warming. Despite

climate sceptics receiving media

coverage, something he greatly

laments, he was delighted that

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after 35 years of clear science,

global politicians have finally rec-

ognised the need to get serious

on climate change, as evi-

denced by the Paris Agreement

in December. His main encour-

agement for us was to get in-

volved wherever we can, espe-

cially in local issues on the envi-

ronment.

Representatives from UK Youth

Climate Coalition spoke elo-

quently on the importance of be-

ing active in bringing in the

changes we want to see, showing

that the youth of today (and to-

morrow) will bear the brunt of the

impacts despite being innocent

of the causes.

A range of workshops and talks

were available over the two days

including hedgehog conserva-

tion, electric cars and the auto-

motive industry, media skills to

communicate, ecology and the

water industry, whale and dolphin

conservation, sustainable agricul-

ture, sustainable engineering

techniques with Buro Happold,

making raw chocolate, sculpture

and music as mediums of expres-

sion.

It was an excellent opportunity for

our students to both learn about

and engage with the vital issues

of climate change, meet and in-

teract with experts in the field as

well as other interested students

from the city, be inspired by the

successes (and learn from the

mistakes) of those who have

shown commitment to seeing

change in their generation. Team

Geography

Year 12 visit to Oxford University

Year 12 students visited the Uni-

versity of Oxford together with

students from Hayesfield and

Beechen Cliff schools on Tues

2 Feb. They spent the day looking

around the central university sites

and visited Trinity College and St

Catherine’s College. Staff from

Trinity College talked to the stu-

dents about the application pro-

cess and the next key steps fol-

lowed by lunch. A similar trip to the University of

Oxford has been organised for

Year 11 students on Tues 1 March

and Year 12 students will have the

opportunity to attend the BANES

Oxbridge Conference on Mon

21 March which will be held this

year at Ralph Allen School. Mrs

Jane Squier, Sixth Form Assistant Lunch arrangements for terms 4, 5

and 6

Please be aware that we are

coming up to our mid-year

change of lunch rota. The rota for

the remaining terms is below.

Lunch will be either, immediately

before, during or after period 4.

There will be 3 lunch sittings as fol-

lows:

First lunch: 12:30 – 1:10. If a

student is on early lunch, peri-

od 4 will be from 1:10 – 2:10

Middle lunch: 1 – 1:40. If a stu-

dent is on middle lunch, they

will have the first part of peri-

od 4 from 12:30 – 1. At 1pm

they will then go to lunch &

they will then return to the

second half of period 4, which

will run from 1:40 – 2:10.

Late lunch: 1:30 – 2:10. If a stu-

dent is on late lunch, period 4

will be from 12:30 – 1:30.

For all students period 5 will start

at 2:10pm.

Mr Steve Rose, Assistant Principal

NEWS & NOTICES

Terms 4, 5 & 6*

First lunch 8 & 11: 12.30 – 1.10pm

Middle lunch 7 & 9: 1 – 1.40pm

Late lunch 10, 12 & 13: 1.30 – 2.10pm

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Do you love

music?

We are looking

for any musically

minded parents

who would be

interested in supporting the Ralph

Allen School music department to

enhance the current provision.

Would you like to join a small

group of parents and staff in look-

ing at ideas and options to bring

new energies, specialised skills

and talents and give us the

chance to utilise resources that

are currently hidden within our

community.

To join a small group of parents

and staff in exploring new musical

ideas, options and possibilities

contact nikijewett@gmail.com.

We will be having a meeting next

term to explore ideas and op-

tions.

Year 8 and 9 Residential pay-

ments

If your son/daughter is going on

the Year 8 or 9 Residential in June,

please ensure the second pay-

ment is paid by the 12 February.

For Year 8 students, the second

payment is £15 and for Year 9 stu-

dents, £40.

There are still some outstanding

payments due from December:

£30 for Year 8 students and £36 for

Year 9 students. Thank you for all

payments received. Ms Jane Fox,

DofE and Outdoor Ed Coordina-

tor.

Security and Safeguarding

Staff are always happy to discuss

any concerns or queries related

to your child or school life. Howev-

er, please understand

that without a prearranged ap-

pointment it may not always be

possible to speak to the member

of staff you need as they are likely

to be teaching or on duty around

the school.

If you would like to see/speak to a

member of staff, please:

email them to arrange an ap-

pointment (contact details for

staff are available to par-

ents on Frog). alternatively, email main re-

ception: enquir-

ies@ralphallenschool.com

and state which member of

staff the message needs to

reach or ring main reception

on 01225 832936 to be put

through to the appropri-

ate extension number to

leave a message for the

member of staff to contact

you. For security and to protect the

welfare of students, we ask:

parents and visitors not to en-

ter the school beyond main

reception without observing

signing in procedures. Safety is

paramount and it is im-

portant we know who is on-

site in the event of a fire or

similar and to look after the

safety of all students and staff. all parents and visitors to sign

in and wait at main reception

if you have an appointment.

You will be given a visitor

badge to wear and the mem-

ber of staff will meet you.

Entry to the school after hours

without a prearranged appoint-

ment with a member of staff is not

permitted. Main reception is open Mon -

Thurs, 8am - 4pm and Fri, 8am -

3.30pm.

Vacancy: Exam Invigilators Required from May to assist in

conducting school examinations

to regulatory requirements. Days

of working can be flexible but

must be able to start at 8am for

morning exams and 1pm for after-

noon exams. Training provided.

Lead invigilator also required.

Closing date: noon, Thursday 3

March 2016. Please see our website for more

information and to apply or call

01225 838903.

Ralph Allen is committed to safe-

guarding and promoting the wel-

fare of children and the success-

ful applicant will need to under-

take a criminal record check via

the DBS.

Sainsbury’s

Get Active

vouchers We are collecting vouchers once

again this year to put towards

healthy equipment for PE and

Food Technology . We would be

grateful if you could drop any

vouchers you collect in the box at

main reception. Thank you.

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Headlice

There has been a case of head-

lice reported by a parent. Please

check and treat your child over

half-term so we can try curtail an

outbreak – thank you.

See http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/

childhealth6-15/Pages/

Nits.aspx for information.

Protect yourself against Meningitis

We have been asked to remind

parents and carers to be aware

of the signs and symptoms below.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.meningitisnow.org/

meningitis-explained/signs-and-

symptoms/signs-and-symptoms-

children-and-adults/

NOTICES

Dates for the diary

Community STEM Evening, 5—7pm, Thurs 3 March: information

to follow on the website

School’s edition of Les Miserables, 7pm, Mon 8—Fri 11 March

Tickets on sale after half-term: £7.50/£5 concessions

Year 7 Parent’s evening, 5—7.30pm,Thurs 17 March

Dance Umbrella festival (Years 10,11, 12, 13), 6.30—8.30pm at

The Forum