Newsletters

Rugby High School - Autumn Term 2024 Issue 7 for web

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News from Mr Grady

19th December 2024

I am writing this having just witnessed this year’s Sixth Form Entertainment, the now legendary RHS tradition where year 13 write a script telling stories about the staff of RHS, and then impersonate us on stage.

The idea of this performance of misrule started a long, long time ago and we wouldn’t dream of altering this fine end of term tradition.  As the late and very wonderful Barry Humphries once said:  “Always remember to laugh at yourself, otherwise you could be missing out on the joke of the century.”

And it is so important, we feel that our ego doesn’t get in the way of our students celebrating and on occasion lightly mocking some of the foibles they see amongst the staff.  It’s always interesting what the students spot about us, and those little phrases, that until they’re performed to you in front of several hundred tittering students, you didn’t realise you used!

It really does herald the end of term, and it now feels like Christmas can get underway.

Whether or not Christmas is a festival you celebrate, the chance for rest as the year draws to a close is such an important one, and I hope you all have time for the re-charging and relaxation we all deserve following a very long term.

January 6th feels a long way off at this stage, but by the time we get there, the morning and evenings will already be a little brighter as we edge out of Winter and into Spring.

However you will be spending the time over the holiday, have a wonderful break, a merry Christmas, and a peaceful new year!

Stay safe and well,
With all best wishes,

Mr Grady

6th Form Entertainment
11:20am – 2:55pm
19
December
Percy Jackson the Musical - Some students in Years 11,12,13
2:55pm
19
December
Staff training day: No students in school 
8:50am – 3:45pm
20
December
Christmas holidays
All Day
From 23 Dec until 03 Jan
23
December
Staff training day: No students in school 
8:50am – 3:45pm
06
January
Year 13 Mock exams until 23rd January
All Day
07
January
Term starts
8:50am – 3:45pm
07
January

Celebration Assemblies

This week we have been celebrating our students with a series of assemblies, giving out certificates and awards! Here are the winners for this term, well done to them all!

Year 7 Certificate Winners:

English - Anike B
Maths - Natasha B
Science - Fern O
Computer Science - Amber B
Art & Design - Jessica 
Textiles - Izzy A
French - Zoe C
Spanish - Shreya M
Latin - Juliet H
Drama - Emili C
Music - Scarlett L
Geography - Keira J
History - Xugi S
PRS - Grace A
PE - Phoebe C
PSHE - Maria-Ruxandra C

Headteacher’s Award - Shenu L

Year 8 Certificate Winners:

English - Avaani B
Maths - Efesombia A
Science - Caoimhe A
Computer Science - Diya C
Art & Design - Tia B
Textiles - Reet C
Food Science - Keva E
French - Lara H
Spanish - Michelle A
Latin - Emma B
Drama - Isla S
Music - Trisha M
Geography - Nicole A
History - Selma A
PRS - Gagana P
PE - Charita C
PSHE - Martha W

Headteacher’s Award - Grace R

Year 9 Certificate Winners:

English - Ese A
Maths - Vaibhavi S
Science - Alice P
Computer Science - Amy R
Art & Design - Siu Ting W
Food Science - Sofia A
French - Josephine W
Spanish - Ananya G
Latin - Aimee M
Drama - Saffron T
Music - Pippa B
Geography - Aashna B
History - Anushka K
PRS - Mizpah N
PE - Liv B-W
PSHE - Emilia M

Headteacher’s Award - Mizpah N

Year 10 Certificate Winners:

English - Izzy S
Maths - Summer H
Biology - Bethany J
Chemistry - Ema L
Physics - Eliie F
Science - Sophie F
Computer Science - Brouklaani B
Business - Meera R
Art & Design - Julia H
Textiles - Tharinduni J
Food Science - Emily W
French - Laura M
Spanish - Kaila J
Latin - Chloe B
Drama - Shivani A
Music - LIlla D
Geography - Myrah V
History - Bestly A
PRS - Florence K
PE (Core) -Ella G
PE (GCSE) - Amelie T

Year 10 Headteacher’s Award - Bethany J

Year 11 Certificate Winners:

English - Rania A
Maths - Holly G
Biology - Athulya R-N
Chemistry - Elizabeth B
Physics - Emisha C
Science - Emily D
Computer Science - Millie B
Business Studies - Harriett H
Art & Design - Amelia R
Textiles - Sana S
Food Science - Ava O’B
French - Emily S
Spanish - Riya A
Latin - Darcy M
Drama - Poppy P
Music - Ealine T
Geography - Izzie C
History - Annvi S
PRS - Alice P
PE (Core) - Elise M
PE (GCSE) - Charlotte P

Year 11 Headteacher’s Award - Selina Y

Year 12 Certificate Winners:

English Language - Lacey-Mae F
English Literature - Dalya O
Maths - Ben C
Further Maths - Abia M
Biology - Sophie C
Chemistry - Megan C
Physics - Ria D
Computer Science - Ana C
Sociology - Ioana C
Business Studies - Alex B
Economics - Seya B
Art and Design - Alessia S
French - Rosie R
Spanish - Fay L
Classical Civilisation - Isobel R
Drama - Jess A
Music - Aimee J
Geography - Zoe P
History - Chloe B
Politics - Okiki-Olaoluwa A
PRS - William G
PE - Chid I
PSHE - Robin J

Headteacher’s Award - Daniela O

Year 13 Certificate Winners:

English Language - Lucy G
English Literature - Grace A
Maths - Melna P
Further Maths - Finley H
Biology - Bahar S
Chemistry - Eva N
Physics - Milly O-S
Computer Science - Simran J
Sociology - Ariana B
Business Studies - Jack C
Economics - Sophia D
Art and Design - Evie H
French - Eva D-A
Spanish - Katie N
Latin - Rose R
Drama - Evie G
Music - Joanna S
Geography - Easher B
History - Zara A
Politics - Iga G
PRS - Meri B
PSHE - Temi A-A
EPQ - Rosie S

Headteacher’s Award - Salesia S

Congratulations to them all! 

Duke of Edinburgh awards announced

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver Awards were also announced in Celebration Assemblies this week, with a huge list of names of students who had achieved their Bronze award and three who had attained Silver!

Well done to them all for all their hard work achieving these!  

Sixth Form Entertainment

The time-honoured school tradition continued today with the amazing Sixth Form Entertainment. Today's show was themed around a Staff Nativity! Before the play commenced the audience was treated to some staff TikToks with the canteen staff dancing around the kitchen, and staff from the Drama department to Mr Grady sharing their moves!

"Mr Grady" opened the show gripping his trademark RSC mug, which multiplied and grew throughout the show with Mrs Bennett trailing him throughout with spares. Mr Grady announced the staff roles in the nativity with the English department playing angels, Maths playing the star, Geography were shepherds with PE playing their sheep and Science were wise men! Mr Sexton and Mr Quinn played the donkey and those staff who've had babies recently (plus Mrs Goodwin) fought it out to be Mary with there being a compromise of 4 Mary's in the end! 

The show featured a rap battle between Geography and Science, a recitation of 'Last Christmas' from Mrs Dermot-Bond and a duet from the Latin teachers, featuring Mr Paterson as DJ Patz. Mr Bottle distributed sweets to the excited crowd and Mrs Kane performed her epic 'Wuthering Heights'. What a fantastic performance and well done to all involved! 

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House Points Winners

This term’s House Points winners are Glennie with a huge 8925 points. They win a house prize afternoon next term! Mr Phillips also drew the house points raffle this week, where every student gets 1 raffle ticket in the draw for every 10 house points they have earned. The three winners get a £10 gift card of their choice! 

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Winter Fayre fundraising totals announced

Money raised at the Winter Fayre has been counted and the total was £1306.25!

The overall total raised at the event was much bigger as the PTA raised almost £1900 from the tombolas and the Grand Draw! 

The house charities have also been chosen! Nominations and voting have taken place and Mr Grady then held a draw to randomly allocate them.

They are:
Rauf - Cancer Research 
Holmes - RSPCA
Seacole - Save the Children
Glennie - Make a Wish UK

200 Club Draw Results

Many thanks to all the people who have joined the 200 Club for this academic year! 97 shares were purchased, so that means this year’s prizes are up on last year’s. All ticket numbers have been emailed out – please let Tess Juckes, 200 Club Organiser, know if you haven’t received yours.

We’ve had a bit of a catch up on the last set of results from the 2023-24 draws for August and Quarter 4. The Winter Fayre then gave us the opportunity of drawing the first set of prizes for the 2024-25 academic year. Cheques to winners were sent out last week. Congratulations to the lucky winners!

Young Geographer of the Year

Our Year 12 student, Zoe Pa, has won the prestigious Young Geographer of the Year competition, in the Key Stage 5 category. The school’s Geography department is thrilled to be celebrating Zoe's remarkable achievement!

The Royal Geographical Society recognises the outstanding work of the next generation of geographers through its Young Geographer of the Year competition. This is an international award with categories spanning the primary years to A Level, with the competition encouraging young people to think creatively and analytically about geographical themes. 

The theme for 2024 was 'Choose Geography', with students tasked with creating striking and informative posters that demonstrate the relevance of geography and how studying it can help you understand the world we live in and the global challenges we face as a society.

With schools hosting their own heats and submitting only their winners, the 1,000 entries received by the Society represented just a fraction of the overall number of participating students.  

Zoe was awarded her certificate by Alan Parkinson, the Society’s Vice President for Education, at a ceremony held at the Society on Friday 29th November. Huge congratulations Zoe!

Photo copyright: James Tye Royal Geographical Society

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Year 10s captivated by A Christmas Carol

Last week our Year 10 students had a fantastic trip to Birmingham to enjoy a production of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. It was an atmospheric and captivating telling of the classic tale with clanging bells, rattling chains and the Victorian setting brought to life. 

Our students loved the spooky ghosts swooping over the audience, the lively singing and Scrooge transformed into a giggly new version of himself after his ghostly encounters. There was even an audible gasp from them at the revealing end twist! All contributing to their deeper understanding of their GCSE text!

Crest Engineers at Birmingham University

At Birmingham University this week our Year 12 Engineering students have been working at the workshops on their Gold CREST projects. Robotic arms and sterilising cola can filler valves are the 2 focuses for this year's teams. 

Alumnus visits BioeMedSoc

BioMedSoc were delighted to welcome alumnus Izma Ahmed to their regular meeting on Monday lunchtime. Izma is a fourth year medical student at Imperial College London and passed on lots of great advice and anecdotes from her time as a medical student. Currently completing her intercalated year in Business Studies, Izma has two further years of study to qualify as a doctor, with also a degree in Business.

It was a pleasure for many of her former teachers to see Izma again and we would love to see other alumni from the class of '21 (or other years) to pass on their wise words and career advice.

Staff Name Change

Please note, from the start of the Spring term, Ms Richmond will be known as Ms Groocock, and her email will change accordingly. 

Futsal Friendly Match

U15s Futsal Princethorpe 3 - 5 Rugby High (Sofia BR 4, Anushay 1)

We took a small squad of U15s to Princethorpe for a Futsal friendly on Tuesday 3rd December. Many thanks to Anya in year 8 for playing up, and for having a few shots which were so close to being goals. Rugby High dominated the first half and the score at half time was 3-0 to us, with decisive goals from Sofia BR (2) and Anushay (1). Sofia A also had some great shots on target and Poppy and Zoe in defence deflected several Princethorpe attacks.

Princethorpe came back stronger in the second half and scored two goals that could have been several more, was not for Poppy's strong defending and Zoe's diving saves (in the sports hall). Sofia BR scored us another, then Princethorpe came back and Sofia BR responded again to give us a final score line of 3-5. A hard-fought victory for RHS and well deserved. Mr Phillips, Mr Moseley and Dr Brown felt incredibly proud of the skill and determination displayed in this game, well done U15s. Princethorpe selected Zoe as the well-deserved player of the match.

Badminton results

Here's the results of the latest Badminton tournament with players from years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11!  

Well done to all who played 😊

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Watch Theatre Productions online this Christmas holidays

Rugby High School subscribes to Digital Theatre Plus which has a wealth of outstanding theatre productions that you can stream. Here are some recommendations for the Christmas holidays – happy watching!

Please be aware that this log in is for RHS students only and can not be shared outside the RHS community. Thank you.

Digital Theatre Plus login:

Log in: drama@rugbyhighschool.co.uk
Password: performingarts2021

Shows to enjoy:

Jacqueline Wilson’s Hetty Feather: This series tells the tale of a lost soul who is desperately trying to find her way. Hetty Feather is a young girl whose desire to locate her birth mother drives her to escape the harsh environment of Foundling Hospital.

Anything Goes: Set aboard the S.S. American, this classic musical comedy follows Billy Crocker in his plight to stop his true love from marrying someone else, with songs by Cole Porter including ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ and ‘You’re the Top’.

Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens' tale sees Ebenezer Scrooge transform from a miserly money-lender into the living embodiment of the festive spirit as he goes on an eye-opening journey on Christmas Eve.

Click here for the links to the productions

Dorothy Brown Thompson
Merry Christmas 

At Christmas, when old friends are meeting,
We give that long-loved joyous greeting -
         'Merry Christmas!'

While hanging sheaves for winter birds
Friends in Norway call the words,
         'God Jul!'

With wooden shoes ranged on the hearth,
Dutch celebrators cry their mirth,
         'Vrolyk Kerstfeest!'

In France, that land of courtesy,
Our welcome to our guests would be,
          'Joyeux Noël!'

Enshrining Christmas in her art,
Italy cries from a full heart,
          'Buon Natale!'

When in the land of Christmas trees,
Old Germany, use words like these -
          'Fröhliche Weihnachten!'

Though each land names a different name,
Good will rings through each wish the same -
          'Merry Christmas!'

All things Poetry found at Poetry by Heart

Please find below the link to the Warwickshire Family Information Service Newsletter

17th December Edition

The School Newsletter is sent out every other week during Term time.