Welcome
Welcome to the third, and last edition of the Rowntree Reporter for this academic year. This has been a very busy half term with students in Year 11 and 13 finishing their exams and attending their end of exam celebration events marking the end of a chapter in their education.
I hope you get a sense of the wider school life that students are involved in as well as their studies from the reports below. There is a wide range of opportunities for students to be involved in at school and it is fabulous to see so many of them making the most of these, whether this be in extracurricular provision or sporting opportunities.
Best wishes for a restful summer,
- Mr Hewitt, Headteacher
On 7th July we held a very special event to celebrate our 80th anniversary. Former pupils and staff as well as those in the local community were invited to spend the afternoon with us to help us mark this special occasion.
As part of the festivities, Year 10 and 11 pupils along with the Headteacher Dave Hewitt, former Head Hugh Porter, former Assistant Head Dorothy Hornby and the Chair of Governors Robin Stafford planted four trees, one for each of our school houses - Aspen, Willow, Oak and Hazel.
Assistant Head Rachael Clarke, said: “We had a wonderful afternoon and we were delighted that so many people were able to share our big day with us. There were faces from every decade of the school’s history, all reminiscing and sharing stories of times gone by. We would love to thank all of those who sent in their photos and memories of their time at the school, they were invaluable to making the event work.”
Following the tree planting everyone gathered in the hub for a cake cutting with 91-year-old Mr Shield who started at the school as a pupil just after it opened in 1943, Year 7 pupil Matthew Warry and our longest serving member of staff, Michelle Kimmings.
Guests were offered tea and coffee and home baked scones and there was an ice-cream van all afternoon. There were performances from the stage in the school hub who serenaded guests whilst they were looking at hundreds of photos and artefacts from our 80 year history. Guests were also able to visit our lecture theatre and watch the video filmed by the first Headteacher, Mr Lightowler, featuring the school and its pupils back in the 1940s.
As part of our event we launched a school memories website that people can view here. It features over 500 photos along with videos, artefacts, newspaper cuttings and memories from past students and staff and we will be leaving this up for people to access and enjoy for the foreseeable future.
The Year 13 Class of 2022 saw out their time at Joseph Rowntree Sixth Form in style at the end of June with their leavers ball. Held at The Parsonage in Escrick, students enjoyed a fun evening with photographs, a three course meal and dancing.
The event was a celebration of two years hard work and application as students navigated their A level studies. With all students having to work from home for part of Year 12 due to the pandemic it was brilliant to be able to run a proper end of year celebration for them.
We wish all of the Class of 2022 a fantastic summer break and look forward to seeing them again on A level results day in August!
Our lovely Year 11 textiles students were set a sustainable fashion challenge when they had completed their GCSE course. They chose to focus on paper fashion and looked at catwalk garments and growing trend for more sustainable high end fashion. In teams they had to produce a garment fit for the catwalk using only paper. Combining origami pleating and sculpting on the dress makers dummies, they produced some amazing results.
As a department we then voted on the winning team and chose Betsy, Natasha and Kaylana's amazing dress made from old dress patterns and incorporating many different origami skills including bows and flowers. We loved the use of old patterns bringing textiles in at every opportunity and what garment wouldn't be complete without a giant bow! Well done girls - Miss Kisby
UKMT Junior maths challenge
Recognise excellence
Last month 40 students chose to take part in the UKMT Junior maths challenge. This is a nation-wide competition for students in Year 7 and 8 where students are challenged to think about the maths that they know in interesting or unusual ways.
Students can achieve a bronze award for being in the top 50% of entrants, a silver award for being in the top 25% or a gold for being in the top 8% of entrants nationally.
Our students achieved 15 bronze, 6 silvers and 4 gold awards.
'Best in School' award went to Leon Codrai (Year 8). Leon and fellow Year 8 students Maisie Paterson and Zach Jones all qualified for progression onto the follow-on round - an achievement of which they should be very proud. - Miss Tucker
Year 11 Student Leadership Team - Tree Planting
Work together collaboratively
In November our Year 11 Student Leadership team organised a litter pick that took place in New Earswick - it was a lovely opportunity to get out into the community and help our local area.
As part of the litter pick initiative, the students raised £275 in sponsorship money and they were keen to use this to contribute to an Environmental initiative. With this in mind, they chose to spend the money on planting 500 square metres of trees with the National Trust, a positive donation that will last for generations.
This links to their ongoing work around sustainability and looking after our environment. We are very proud of all the students involved in this - a lasting legacy of their hard work this year, well done! - Mrs Venn
Sports Day 2022 took place on a warm and sunny Wednesday in mid-July and saw the whole school come together to enjoy some friendly competition and sporting excellence.
The morning saw field events undertaken around the sun-baked grounds - javelin, discus, shot put, long jump and triple jump - with the high jump having taken place after school earlier in the week. The morning session also saw some extra track events - the 1500m and the hurdles taking place. Every year group had organised 8 volunteer competitors per event (2 competitors for each House) and everyone competing earned points for their House. With 8 points going to the winner, down to 1 point for the student in 8th place.
Year 7 and Year 8 came out onto the field for their main track events earlier in the afternoon before Years 9 and 10 ventured out for their events. Support from the staff and student spectators was loud and positive as always and the P.E. Department were on top form with an elite level of organisation to ensure everything ran quickly and efficiently. There was sporting drama with tightly fought races, the odd faller, some courageous finishes and stand out performances.
Furthermore, Sports Day 2002 also saw some well-established school records smashed with some incredible performances by two of our Year 10 athletes:
Y10 100M GIRLS - EMILY MAUDE - 12.6 secs (former record 12.7 secs from 1988)
Y10 200M GIRLS - EMILY MAUDE - 26.9 secs (former record 200m - 27.0 secs from 2006)
Y10 GIRLS LONG JUMP - EMILY MAUDE - 5.62m (former record 4.91m from 1996)
Y10 BOYS 400M - ZACH CARR - 54.78 secs (former record 55.7 from 1982)
Massive congratulations to these two students who have set the bar high for future students to rise to.
At the end of the afternoon, all points were added together, double-checked, and verified and the House Sports Day Champions were announced with Hazel House crowned as the winners. Oak house finished second, Aspen came third and valiant Willow finished in fourth place.
Sports Day is a delight to behold; staff and students come together, and the result is both positive and inspirational. Teamwork does indeed make the dream work.
An exciting new dining experience
Encourage Wellbeing
A new vibrant look dining experience and an exciting new menu is coming to The Joseph Rowntree School. With innovative menus and freshly prepared dishes that are locally sourced and seasonally influenced.
Over the last few months, the School has been in a procurement process to secure a new catering contract for the next few years. A number of suppliers were invited to tender through a national framework and there was significant interest from several, national suppliers that operate within the region. After a rigorous tender evaluation process, I am delighted to announce that ABM catering solutions have been successful and wanted to share some headline information.
- From September students will be able to purchase a Meal Deal for a lower price of £2.25 (compared to the current price of £2.40). The Meal Deal consists of main meal and a drink or main meal and a dessert. With cost pressures being felt from almost everywhere, this is hopefully a welcome bit of news for you.
- There will be significant capital investment in the catering service, ensuring a full rebrand, redesigned food serveries in both the Hub and Street areas, improved till systems to speed up queuing time and full purchase of new light equipment for the kitchen.
- A new food offer, the “Mint” brand (see a short video here)
- Hydration stations offering free, flavoured water on tap, to complement the existing water fountains.
- Closer engagement with our students and staff that use the service to ensure that feedback is well monitored and acted upon to constantly improve the service.
We believe that the new contract will deliver a quality service offering for our students and staff and we hope that students will take full advantage of this from September.
Year 11 Prom
Encourage wellbeing
Year 11 pupils at The Joseph Rowntree School celebrated the end of their school year in style this year with the return of the end of year Prom. The Prom was held at the beautiful venue of Sandburn Hall and the pupils all turned up dressed to impress. From stunning flowing gowns to pinstripe suits, they had it all. There was a limo that seemed to contain half the year group and one pupil wowed turning up on the back of a motorbike.
The pupils were a credit to the school and showed just how much they had grown up over the two years since Mrs Dale and Miss Cambridge had taken on the year group. A toast was made during the meal to our missing but never forgotten member of the year, Josh Reeson. His close friends Kaia Stainton and Jack Chadwick Pinder wore flowers in his memory to the prom which were provided by Josh's mum who was able to be at the venue to see all the pupils arrive. Mrs Dale ensured that her love of science was seen throughout the venue, including element named tables and a welcome drink in a test tube!
There was some fantastic (and some questionable) dancing throughout the evening and the pupils partied well into the night. An amazing send off for an amazing year group!
Year 9 STEM Day
Teach and learn through inspiration
On Tuesday the 5th of July, two sets of Year 9 scientists took part in a STEM day designing and making their own autonomous Lego car. The car had to have several sensors attached so it could travel around a track. Following successful tests of their vehicles the students had to plan and design a marketing presentation for their car. The presentation had to include a storyboard for a TV advert.
At the end of the day each group presented their ideas to each other. Winning presentations were given by:
1st: Emily Munday, Ethan Bowling, Emily Simpson, Nikole Kostadinova, Will Roberts
2nd: Sophie Wade, Yasmin Ali, Pia Ashton, Evie Collier
3rd: Finlay Bond, Freddie Bolton, Ernie Cope, Gabriel Heras Terol
Well done to all students who took part - Ms McLaughlin
From Friday 8th to Sunday 10th members of Year 10 and Year 11 completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition. The groups worked well together and navigated from Newgate bank to Nawton on the first day, from Nawton to Slingbsy on the second day and on the last day from Slingsby to Castle Howard. All of the teams coped very well in the heatwave we had over the weekend!
All of the groups are working towards completing their award sections.
Dance World Cup 2022
Recognise excellence
Huge congratulations to students Olivia Robinson and Aoife Jennings who represented the UK at the Dance World Cup in Spain this term. Both girls are pupils at the Lisa Marie Performing Arts School and were selected from companies across the whole of the UK to represent us at the Dance World Cup 2022, a huge event in the dance Industry.
The team were placed 4th in the world in the Senior Jazz Section of the competition, competing against Professional Dance companies and universities and conservatoires. Well done Olivia and Aoife, what an achievement, and an amazing experience.
Year 7 took part in 2 Full Days of Bushcraft activities and adventures this half term during their residential. Over 190 students and staff braved the Castle Howard woods for 2 days, learning a range of survival and Bushcraft skills, and had a totally brilliant time along the way!
Students stayed in large Bell Tents, and learnt how to build survival shelters, build fires, and cook their own Dinner! Many students also enjoyed the natural face paints created from some of the activities too. On the evening sat around the group camp fires, everyone enjoyed an incredible Talent Show, put together by all the students, and judged by Head Judge, Mr Day!
Everyone had an amazing time, and returned to school, exceptionally dirtier than when they left, but with huge smiles on their faces. A huge thanks to all the staff who attended, allowing this residential to take place, and to Mrs Vaughan for organising!
Transition 2022
Nurture talent
At the end of June over 200 Year 5 students from Park Grove, New Earswick, Headlands, Wigginton and Ralph Butterfield Primary Schools attended our Joseph Rowntree STEM day. Arriving with their teachers, they took part in a series of lessons across the day that included English, Science, Arts, Technology and Drama. The whole day was started in the Vaudeville Theatre with a Big Sing! It was an incredible day, and the year 5 students loved working in the specialist Science Labs and Technology Areas and working with our teaching team. For many this was their first visit to the school, and they were very impressed! At the end of the day a Question and Answer session was held with a team of Year 7 students who had attended their primary schools to chat about what it is like in Year 7. We can't wait to welcome the students back again at our Open Evening in October.
Our incoming Year 7 students joined us for Transition Day on 6th July. This was the first face to face transition day in 3 years, the previous 2 being online, so everyone was very excited!
All Year 6 students have had a visit to their primary school from one of the Year 7 team, so it was wonderful to finally see everyone all together for the first time from all 22 primary schools.
The day started with an assembly with Mr Hewitt and Mrs Clarke, before students experienced a full Year 7 timetable. Lessons included English, where all students received their Summer Reader Book, and a session with their tutor teacher for September. The day also included lessons in Design, Drama, PE and Science! The canteen lunch menu was also very popular with all students! Our new mentor team for September, who are currently in Year 9, were fantastic in their new roles. They supported the students throughout the day, including in their breaks and at lunch. Mrs Dale, our Head of Year 7, commented on what a fantastic team they were and how much she is looking forward to working with everyone in Year 7.
A large number of students will also join us in the first week of the summer holidays for our Summer School. Updates and information about transition can be accessed in the transition area on our website.