As usual, pupils and staff pulled out all the stops to make this another successful fund-raising day. There were spots galore on everything from T-shirts to trousers, and a wealth of imaginative fancy dress costumes.  There were ladybirds and teddy bears, cheerleaders and kittens, and a spooky gang of anonymous Sixth Formers wearing morphsuits. The funfair in the courtyard at break was as popular as ever with apple-bobbing, a kissing (actually just a quick peck on the cheek) booth, a skittles stall and the ever-popular throw-a-sponge-at-the-teacher event.

Mr Robinson and Ms Sheldrick were the brave souls who got soaked in the name of charity.  Ms Sheldrick more so than Mr R who had the foresight to don a wetsuit.  After all, he has done it more times than he perhaps cares to remember.

The Sixth Form show provided plenty of laughs as this time it was members of staff who were mercilessly targeted.  It’s well known that the boys never miss an opportunity to show off their physique and we saw them stripping down to their shorts not once but twice during the performance.

If there was an award for the bravest person of the day it would have to go to Josh Snelson who, with scarcely a murmur, submitted to having his chest waxed.

There was a prefect auction, raffles to win early lunch passes and the opportunity to win a whole jar of sweets.

At the time of going to press the total raised stands at almost £2400 with more money coming in all the time.

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On Friday 18th November a group of Year 10  and 11 students from Rishworth attended a ‘Gifted and Talented Study Day’ in Manchester. A challenging programme of lectures and discussions included sessions on ‘Are Humans Born to Kill?’, ‘It’s a Man’s World’ and ‘Living Forever: What Will Happen?’ The first of these was a fascinating, if at times rather grisly look at whether some individuals have a genetic predisposition to commit serious crimes, including murder. To lighten the mood after this, Rishworth students, some in fancy dress, went round the hall with collection buckets for ‘Children in Need’ – yes, it was that day and we missed all that was going on in school.

Before lunch it was put to the assembled audience, from schools across the North of England, that scientists are about 20 years away from being able to dramatically reduce the aging process, such that human life expectancy might be stretched to perhaps 400 years, and that most of these could be spent looking 30 and not 90! It became abundantly clear to even those who felt a little under false pretences to be attending (i.e. me), that this would have fairly dramatic consequences.
The last session of the day challenged the view that feminists no longer have much to fight for, looking at gender differences in society. I think all those who attended were stimulated to think a little more about the world, even if some, like me, came away worrying about bumping into a 320-year-old female Hannibal Lecter who knew her rights.  Thank you to Mrs Meredith for much of the organization, and to those who went, for having open minds and asking some great questions!

Mr Ogden

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Chinese Club

The Chinese Speaking Club has been running since the beginning of this term.  A big thank you to all the teachers and Chinese students who have contributed their own time to support the club. China is one of the oldest countries in the world and, being Chinese, I am full of passion to teach people about the language we speak, the characters we write and the culture we have.  In the club there are not only English students but also some from Germany, Russia and Spain. I can tell they have enjoyed being together and learning something about my country.  In the club you will not just be a listener; you will benefit from the full Chinese experience. You are also welcome to tell us about the culture that belongs to your country.

It is a great chance to meet school colleagues from different countries and cultural backgrounds. We welcome everybody who is interested in learning about Chinese language and culture.
Be there and enjoy it!!

Yang Yang Zhang

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Back in May, Year 9 led fund-raising events for The Riziki Children’s Organisation in Kenya, a project working under the umbrella of the Aenon Trust which provides shelter, food and education, and aims to build a platform for self-sufficiency by providing such things as the means to harness solar power, the provision of land and livestock, and ways to collect and store water. John Hunwicks, a representative of the charity, visited the School in October to speak in assembly of the difficulties and hardships endured by the children in Kenya, and to accept a cheque for almost £1240 which will be used to install a pipeline to supply water to the Riziki Home.

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In a pickle Project Green pupils have made their first batch of pickles and chutneys.  The produce was all hand-grown by the students, and ingredients this time included marrow, red onions, fennel, gherkin cucumbers, red cabbage, garlic and tomatoes.  George Preston, Sophie Savage, Eleanor Symons, Joe Matthews and Nic Connor had a great lunchtime preparing, chopping, blanching, simmering and bottling all our wonderful produce.  They are very much looking forward to taking the jars home and tasting the contents!!

Just some of the finished produce

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Boarding News

Blackpool When we got to Blackpool Pleasure Beach we had to wait to get a band that went around our wrists which let us go on all of the rides.  And then we were let loose into the park.  Some of the older students - and some of the younger ones - went on the really scary rides.  We had about four hours there so we had to make the most of it. There were a few rides that were closed and one of them was the Pepsi Max rollercoaster as the wind was too strong for the ride to be able to run.  Some of the boys’ faces when they found out were very funny - they were so disappointed.

When we finally finished in the park we went into the shops to buy some souvenirs.  We got back to school full of memories of getting wet on “Valhalla”.  Some people got absolutely soaked but was a really good day all round.

Bonfire Night & Halloween
On Friday 4th November we had a party in two halves. One half was for Bonfire Night and the other was for spooky Halloween.  We had a massive bonfire next to the sports hall, and we had amazing fireworks too.  When the fireworks had finished it was time to have the spooky party.  We could dress up as witches and devils. You could also go as yourself if you were already scary enough!  We all had a really good time with our friends. Some dancing was better than others - Casey’s was particularly memorable!  Everybody had a good time and they really enjoyed the music that Alissa chose.

My half term
It took us nine hours to get to Austria - we had to drive during the night because we were going to see the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School.  We could not believe we had made it in time because the traffic was so bad.  The show was brilliant and the horses were absolutely beautiful.  They did some Spanish trotting and hopping on their hind legs. When we had finished watching the show we went to the cafe for lunch and then went to the hotel and slept because we had been awake all night travelling.  Later we got the tram into the city centre and we had some pizza for our tea.  The city itself was beautiful but we were all too tired to enjoy it.
The next day we went to the world’s oldest zoo.  It was amazing because they had managed to keep the history of the place but made sure the animals had space to run around.  After that we went sightseeing in the city centre and it was really nice to see the streets clean and not full of litter.  We went to the Sacher hotel and we had sachertort which is a kind of chocolate cake.  It was really special to have it in the Sacher hotel where it was made.

Natasha Ferguson

Janet, Nicky and Danil moved a ton of mulch and then planted a perennial bed near the compost bins at Millfold in Ripponden.  They all worked hard and we enjoyed their company. Hope we`ll see them again in the Spring. Sue Higgins, Ripponden in Bloom group

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Some of the Sixth Form boys have, with varying degrees of success, been growing moustaches in support of the Movember initiative to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.  They had no trouble persuading male members of staff to join them, and Head of Design & Technology, Mr Newby, has made badges and stick-on moustaches which are selling like hot cakes to the pupils. More about the campaign and the charities it supports can be found at http://uk.movember.com

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Teaching and Learning at Rishworth School continues to thrive with an on-going programme of lesson observations and departmental work scrutiny.  Learning Team meetings have also taken place this term during lunchtime sessions looking at specific focus areas.  The primary aim of these sessions is to share good practice.

The Lesson Observation Room continues to be used as an effective tool for developing Teaching and Learning within school and we had the opportunity to utilise this resource effectively during the recent Inspection. Colleagues take advantage of this excellent resource to develop their own Teaching and Learning and to share good practice with others.
At Rishworth we are constantly striving to develop further the relationship between teaching, learning and attainment. We are always looking to ensure that standards are as high as possible and I very much look forward to the New Year as we continue with our focus on Teaching and Learning.  We have some very exciting INSET sessions on the horizon which will enable us to continue moving forward, ensuring in particular that lesson observations are focussed, effective and meaningful.

Mrs Rhodes

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PTA Quiz Night

Rishworth PTA’s ever-popular Quiz and Curry Night struck gold with its fund-raiser for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and The Sick Children’s Trust.

Not only did the Silent Auction for a signed Manchester United football shirt secure a bid of £500, but the night itself, combined with the proceeds of a previous quiz night, raised a fantastic £700 – giving a grand total of £1200.

The money will be divided between the two charities, both of which played their part in saving and supporting Katherine, Mr and Mrs Ogden’s daughter, after her accident.

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 Sports News

Netball

Tamasin Etchells, Olivia Martin, Gemma Moloney and Charlotte Wadcock have been selected for the Calderdale U15 netball squad.
		Emma Bower, Lauren McCarthy, Abby Lucas, Sofia Hopkinson and Lucy Hirst have been selected for the Calderdale U13 netball squad.

In addition to being selected for the U17 West Yorkshire Netball Academy, Jessica Moloney has also been selected for the U17 Development Squad for the Northern Thunder Superleague Netball Club which is the Manchester-based professional netball team playing in the Superleague. Their U17 squad consists of the young up-and-coming players who will hopefully feed into the senior team.  This is a fantastic achievement for Jessica especially as she is only 16.

Fencing
Sadie Greetham won a bronze medal at the British U20 selection event.   She knocked out the number one seed on her way to the semi-final where she lost to the eventual winner.  As a result of her performances this season she has been selected to represent Great Britain in the Epee at the European Circuit Event for cadets at Klagenfurt in Austria.      

Water Polo
Emily Sutcliffe has been selected to attend the Great Britain Water Polo Training Programme.          

Rugby
Liam Parfitt has been selected to represent Lancashire U16s in the North of England Rugby Union selection games.

Basketball
In the Rishworth Invitation Tournament the School’s 1st team beat Ackworth, Queen Ethelburga’s and Woodhouse Grove to win the tournament.

Calendar

Jan   4  Term begins
      10   PTA Meeting  7.30pm
      23   Boarders’ Chinese New Year Party
      27   Absit from 4.40pm
      28   Absit
      29   Absit

Feb   2  UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge
        8  Year 9 Parents’ Evening
        8  PTA Meeting  7.30pm
      10  Half Term begins at 3.40pm