Welcome
Welcome to another action packed edition of the Rowntree Reporter. Our students have been involved in a wide range of curricular and extra-curriculur activities this term, and I hope the information included gives you a further insight into this. All of these things are finally helping the school to feel like we are returning to ‘normal’. Our first live Christmas Concert since December 2019 was fantastic with lots of students involved from all year groups, and we look forward to seeing students involved in more activities next term.
Best wishes for a peaceful and relaxing festive period. - Mr Hewitt, Head Teacher
Ofsted Inspection
We were delighted to receive our latest Ofsted inspection report following a two day inspection in October. We continue to be rated ‘Good’ with inspectors acknowledging the work that had been done since the previous inspection to enhance the quality of the curriculum for pupils, including those with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
"Pupils at this school, including those in the sixth form, value their learning." - Ofsted Oct 2022
We are really pleased with the Ofsted report and how it recognises the impact of key parts of our work including our high expectations, broad and ambitious curriculum, wider personal development, and the support and care we provide for all of our pupils. The hard work of our staff has been at the centre of the progress we have made as a school and this really shines through in the report.
The report states that "Leaders, governors and staff have high expectations for what pupils and students should achieve. Teachers are passionate about their subjects and this stimulates pupils’ interest in their studies. In lessons and around the school, pupils follow the routines and expectations set by staff. Pupils are polite and friendly" and "Pupils behave well. Lessons across the school typically take place without disruption. Leaders monitor patterns of behaviour and act swiftly if they identify any problems. Students in the sixth form display mature attitudes and are confident and articulate."
"Leaders, governors and staff have high expectations for what pupils and students should achieve. All pupils benefit from a broad and ambitious curriculum. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities needs (SEND)." - Ofsted Oct 2022
Furthermore, the report says "Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe and happy. They are taught how to keep themselves safe online and in the community. If bullying happens, staff resolve this swiftly and effectively. Pupils are confident that if they have a problem there will be someone to talk to and that they will receive the help they need. This care and support is a strength of the school."
Mr Coleman, Director of Sixth Form, was thrilled that the strength of the school’s sixth form was highlighted in the report, with inspectors saying "‘Students who choose to stay on into the sixth form are well supported and progress well. The sixth-form curriculum is strong. Students can choose a wide range of subjects. Leaders have carefully planned what knowledge students need to gain in each subject. Teachers focus on recapping important knowledge. This helps students to commit important concepts to their long-term memory. Sixth-form students achieve well and move onto appropriate destinations."
Our ethos of being the right school for our students to grow in is about much more than just exam results. Our Year 11 and Sixth Form results this year were the best the school has ever achieved, but equally important is our work on personal development and the range of extracurricular activities we provide for our students. It was great to see this reflected in the feedback we received from inspectors and in the report.
"The sixth-form curriculum is strong. Students can choose a wide range of subjects. Leaders have carefully planned what knowledge students need to gain in each subject. Teachers focus on recapping important knowledge. This helps students to commit important concepts to their long-term memory. Sixth-form students achieve well and move onto appropriate destinations." - Ofsted Oct 2022
Robin Stafford, our Chair of Governors shared “All the staff at the school have been working really hard to create a positive learning environment. It is something that the inspectors clearly picked up on and it wouldn’t have been possible without support from parents/carers and the whole community.” - Mr Hewitt
A Footballing Masterclass with Bex Rayner
Work Together Collaboratively
On Thursday 3rd November we had the pleasure of having U19/U21 Women's England footballer Bex Rayner visit our school. She worked closely with Year 9 and our Sport exam classes. Bex delivered an inspirational assembly to Year 9 with an added skills challenge that our students thoroughly enjoyed!
Bex worked closely with our sport exam classes, deep-diving into nutrition, training, injuries, and the life of a professional footballer.
During breaktime, Bex enjoyed some Keepy-Uppie's with some of our students, who it was lovely to see engage and ask questions.
After breaktime, Bex worked closely with 40 of our Year 9 pupils and put them through their paces in a fitness task, followed by a small Q&A session where she showed off her caps and life stories.
We had a fantastic morning, and we were all left buzzing and hoping to see Bex in England's first team one day. - Mrs Parker
Student climate debate pair impress
Recognise Excellence
A huge well done to Year 8 students Sienna Starkey and Elspeth Pulleyn, who took part in the York Civic Trust Public Speaking Competition. Sienna and Elspeth dedicated many lunchtimes and evenings to perfecting their inspirational and thought-provoking speech on the topic of "When the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed, is there any point in aiming for zero carbon emissions in a small city like York?" Whilst the competition was inevitably nerve wracking, both pupils approached their speech with dedication and maturity. Both students spoke articulately and passionately on a topic that genuinely matters. Their speech was so impressive it was featured in the York Press. Well done Sienna and Elspeth - a brilliant effort! - Miss Holdstock
Remembrance Day 2022
Respect all Members of Our Community
This year, we took time out of the school day to pay our respects to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Harry Thompson in Year 8 performed as part of our Remembrance Day event that was live streamed to all classes in school. We also had readings from the student council, wonderful singing by the KS3 show choir, and a live rendition of the 'last post', performed by Elliot Lawrence.
Christmas Concert
Work Together Collaboratively
On Tuesday 13 December, we held the first live Christmas Concert in three years here in our Vaudeville Theatre. It was a very special evening for everyone, with performers ranging from Year 7 right up to Year 13. The standard of musicianship was outstanding and everyone had a fantastic evening. The audience also got a sneak peak of an excerpt from Matilda too. Special mention must go to all the soloists and members of our extracurricular music groups, who rehearse week after week to create this standard of concert. Thank you to everyone, including all the families who have supported us throughout the year. Merry Christmas from Vaudeville! - Mrs Clarke
Isobel's Year of Karate Success
Recognise Excellence
Year 11 student Isobel McGowan has had phenomenal success this year, competing as part of the Japanese Karate Shotokan England squad.
In March this year, Isobel took a Gold and a Bronze medal at the Cumbrian Open, followed shortly afterwards with the Bronze medal at the Manchester Open in May. In June she took two more medals at the Cumbrian Open before going on to win an amazing Gold medal at the English Karate Federation Nationals in July.
Her success continued over the summer, with two Golds, a Silver, and Bronze medal at the North East Open, before taking Gold at the Junior Commonwealth Games. To finish off the year, Isobel took two Gold and two Silver medals at the English Karate Federation Nationals last month to complete her super-successful year in competitions.
As a school, we are extremely proud of Isobel. Her dedication and hard work shine through in everything she does, and long may her success continue.
Sports & PE Updates
Nurture talent
Yorkshire Rugby Union Cup
For the first time in a number of years, we have had a rugby team enter the Yorkshire Rugby Union Cup. Our Year 11 team have represented the school against teams from all over the county.
Our first test came in the form of Ryedale School, who come with an excellent sporting reputation. With it being our first game in the competition and not knowing what to expect, we were both nervous and excited to show what we could do. Five tries from Harvey Barker alongside one a piece for Zac Hutton and Adam Grainger saw us come away victorious, with a 42-19 win against strong opposition.
Our second game was against Horsforth. Following a long journey and a closely fought game, we felt very hard done by to come away on the wrong side of a 26-22 defeat. Three tries from Alfie Lindsey and one from Alfie Barley saw us come up just short in frustrating circumstances.
All of the boys have progressed massively in their time with us at school, and to have played teams further afield and come away having shown we can compete at that level is a huge achievement for an incredibly talented and committed set of students.
Thanks to all of the boys for your hard work and efforts. - Mr Kite
Year 9 Sports Leadership
Girls in Year 9 have done some amazing leading this half-term. They went into Ralph Butterfields Primary School and delivered sessions to three classes of both Year 1 and 2 students. They were a credit to the school, and all of them got involved positively and lead some fantastic games.
We look forward to visiting more Primaries next half-term! - Mrs Tindall
Careers Focus
Roots to Success
Overcome obstacles to success
Twenty of our Year 7 students visited York St John University for their first Roots to Success visit. This is a long-term programme which will engage with pupils over an extended period of time to support them to make informed decisions about their future.
During the visit, the students enjoyed breakfast on arrival and had an introduction to higher education, a campus tour, a codebreaker challenge, and took part in a 'school v uni' workshop. After a tasty lunch in the university dining room, they ended the day with a 'coping with change' workshop. During this final workshop, students wrote postcards of advice to their Year 6 selves and postcards of aspirations to their Year 11 selves. These postcards will be delivered to the students during their first term of Year 11, and it will be interesting to see how their ambitions have developed throughout their time at school.
BBC 'Tell your story' Careers Roadshow
Teach and learn through inspiration
The BBC visited us with their 'Tell Your Story' roadshow, where they hosted interactive careers assemblies for years 8-11.
The presenter was Lucas Yoemans, who is a radio presenter for the BBC and the panel guests were Laura Stephenson from local design company Dogeatcog, which is a local design company, and Carla Fowler, who is a reporter for Look North.
These sessions were focused on Storytelling and how it is incredibly important to a whole range of different careers, such as marketing, news/sport reporting, law, entrepreneurship and design. Each talk was tailored to where the students currently are in their personal careers journey, and with this in mind, the panel spoke about their experiences of post 16 options, work experience, and making KS3 subject choices. Students were given time to ask questions, and find out useful information about the panel and their varied careers. All year groups put this opportunity to good use and asked some excellent questions!
Career Ready
Overcome obstacles to success
The Joseph Rowntree School are proud to work with Career Ready, a UK-wide social mobility charity, to provide our sixth form learners with a programme of workplace opportunities and support. Career Ready works with local employers to help young people to develop the skills and attitudes needed to transition from education to employment. The programme includes mentoring, masterclasses, workplace visits, paid internships, and skills for career success.
In the Community
Respect all Members of our Community
Make sure you look out for our contributions to the New Earswick Folk hall Christmas Displays! Our KS3 Art Club designed a very intricate display for the Christmas widows at the Folk Hall. They were responsible for the letter H. When you look closely, you will see thousands of small Christmas designs making up this letter. We also had our termly contribution to the community noticeboard, advertising our upcoming events at the school.
The music department also enjoyed a visit to Hartrigg Oaks, to perform a festive Christmas concert to the music society on Tuesday 6th December. This was our first visit to them since 2019, and it was great to be back. The musicians performed some amazing pieces of music that thoroughly entertained a very big audience.
Geography
Year 11 Trip to Leeds
Teach and learn through inspiration
On the 3rd and 4th November, our Year 11 GCSE Geography students went out on a field trip to Leeds. They were investigating regeneration in urban areas. As a result, they were able to visit many different sites ranging from fully regenerated places (site 3) to parts of the city with no regeneration (site 1). It was a great day out, and another section of their course completed!
Site 1: Saw Mill Yard
Our Year 11s embarked on their research at their first (regenerated) site - Saw Mill Yard. It was described by students as “modern, well-kept and peaceful.” As we visited during the week there were many operating businesses in the area so our geographers got to view a typical working day in this particular site in Leeds.
Site 2: Marshall and Sweet Street
The second place the year 11s visited was a more underdeveloped site known as Marshall and Sweet Street. It was found that there was a great amount of derelict land and buildings left and unkept. The streets that groups walked around had a larger amount of litter, and it was observed that the roads were not as well managed and safe. Three methods were used to collect data. The year 11s started off by taking different aspects of the site from 1-5 depending on how well they thought the area was managed (for example, graffiti and litter).
Site 3: Leeds Dock
Later in the day, students boarded the coach once more to be taken to site 3: Leeds Dock. Leeds Dock is a second example of a regenerated area, formally named Clarence Dock. The new name came with a total rebranding of the region, which saw a rise in tourism, economic activity, and commercialisation. Here, students were able to explore on their own accord the improvements that the South Bank regeneration project conjured, and continued to score different categories. Additionally, at this site students were given the opportunity to buy lunch from a variety of shops, including independent cafes, Pizza Express, and Tesco, which demonstrated the job opportunities the regeneration encouraged. Many students also found it interesting to observe the number of employees that emerged from their workplaces at lunchtime hours, revealing that the workforce in Leeds Dock has a population of a few thousand.
Citu
In addition to all three sites, the Year 11s had the opportunity to visit the Climate Innovation District of Leeds. Citu promotes sustainable living, thinking of the future and the environment, but also the community that they create in their somewhat idealistic utopia of a living environment.
No cars are allowed within the district, and are instead stored underneath housing for people willing to pay the £20,00 fee for a car parking spot. For those who wish not to buy one, two electric cars are available for hire at a reasonable cost. This was learnt as the students received a tour of this creative development from the head of social media marketing. The district currently has approximately 550 sustainable homes and are continuing to expand.
Leeds was a productive yet exciting trip that evoked an overall positive outlook on the regeneration of the city. This day provided an opportunity to collect first-hand primary data that can be put towards future exams and the development of useful knowledge about this regenerated city that can be applied to our future lives. - Annabel Davenport, Year 11
Year 11 & 12 trip to Oxford
Teach and learn through inspiration
On Wednesday 30th November, 30 Year 11 and 12s arrived at school at 6:45 am to begin their Oxford experience. We soon departed for Mansfield college, arriving in time for a lecture. Mansfield college is one of 44 colleges at the university, and one of 14 that study geography. We arrived at the Oxford University Centre of Geography and the Environment, in which we took part in a degree level talk. This encouraged a significant number of us to raise questions we wouldn't have got the opportunity to ask before.
We learned about the history of maps, and the subjective views of different eras and countries. It was only recently that the map we know nowadays became the norm in contemporary British society. After receiving the lecture, we were taken back to the chapel at Mansfield for lunch and a tour of the library and common room, as well as meeting the college campus cats.
There were many opportunities to ask questions to real Oxford students / teachers about a range of topics, including admissions, sports, and nightlife. We were then led on a tour of Oxford and its colleges, stopping first at the Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library. We also were led around the streets of Oxford, and passed Brasenose, Balliol, and Trinity. We were taught briefly about the architecture and history of the buildings, and got some nice shots of the Christmas trees. We stopped at St Catherine's, which was a little more out of the way, but we were able to properly explore the library and use the conversation pit for asking more questions and/or watching Countdown. We also learned about Oxford’s more personal teaching styles, with both lectures and tutorials (involving only two or three students and a teacher), a large difference from what we know at secondary school.
Overall, we learned a lot about Oxford’s teaching style, the students' way of life, and the city itself. We were all excited and grateful to have the opportunity to spend a day at arguably the world’s most prestigious university. - Kiarna & Liv (Year 12)
The Joseph Rowntree School Chess Team
Encourage wellbeing
Sunday 14th November marked the first time in recent memory a Joseph Rowntree School Chess Team has taken part in a tournament event. It was a truly ferocious contest, with ten other teams competing from schools and chess clubs all over North Yorkshire.
None of our young people had attended such an event before, and they did incredibly well, playing for five straight hours, mostly against competitors with a great deal more experience of the strange, intense world of tournament chess.
Special shout outs to Alfie Palethorpe and Jack Clow, who repeatedly got matched against players who were internationally ranked and among the best nationwide in the under 18's category.
Despite these odds, the team was resolutely cheerful and optimistic, playing game after game in a really admirable display of resilience. Well done! - Mr Turner
GCSE & A-Level Art Showcase
Recognise Excellence
Below are some of the examples of GCSE and A-Level art from the summer. I'm sure you will agree that there were some exceptional examples of art & design!
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Encourage wellbeing
Year 9 students attended their first DofE meeting on 1st December. They discussed the activities that they are planning to do over the next year, and went away to ask an adult to be their assessor and monitor their progress. Students were keen to start their volunteering and help out within the community. Ideas ranged from helping with after school clubs, to coaching sports team, and helping charities.
Certificates and badges for those students who completed their Bronze and Silver DofE awards after 1st Sept 2022 will be awarded in the New Year.
My visit to Downing Street & Parliament
By Sophia Suddaby
Work together collaboratively
During my visit to Parliament, I had the opportunity to meet many interesting and inspiring people, such as Sir Linsey Hoyle, who was the speaker for the morning sitting, and youth representatives from British overseas territory, such as Angruilla and the British Virgin Islands, who talked about the different issues young people faced in their local areas.
The final issue voted as British Youth Councils national 2023 campaign was cost of living and health, which we are now very busy organising and planning
School House Update
Respect all members of our community
What a great start to house events this year! We have had such a range of challenges this term - pumpkin carving, photography, sudoku, cross-country, chess tournaments, festive classroom decorating, and so much more - and our fabulous students have demonstrated a keen competitive spirit and an eagerness to show off their skills. Hazel house has romped to victory for the first time in a very, very long time, and have won themselves a non-school uniform day this Thursday (15th December). A massive well done to Hazel House!
A huge congratulations are also in order to our newly appointed house captains from Year 10 - Abigail Naylor, Scarlett Owen, Eurwen Parry, Will Roberts, Pia Ashton, Monday Ogunmolasuyi, Milena Raoufi Sangachini and Kate Patterson. These students have been selected because they are outstanding representatives for their houses and are excited to share their ideas for house events to come.
Take a look below at some of the fantastic entries that have been submitted for various competitions this term.
Have a very merry Christmas, and we'll see you in the new year for even more house hijinks! - Miss Vizard
Save the Date!
Nurture Talent
We are delighted that Vaudeville Productions will be staging Matilda The Musical JR. next half term in the Vaudeville Theatre. Rehearsals are well underway, with over 100 staff and students working hard to create another stage extravaganza (we expect nothing less). Tickets will go on sale on Friday 6 January, with further information available in the new year. Pictured are our two Matilda's, Arabella Beadie and Olivia Wright.