Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Friday 3 February 2017

Dear Parents and Carers The Leadership Team spend a great deal of time in lessons each week, speaking to students, looking at books and working with staff to develop their practice. However, each half term we review an aspect of our work in greater depth and invite someone from another school to come to share their expertise with us. This is part of our commitment to continue to improve the experience that our students receive but also to celebrate the very positive work that is going on in many areas of the school. This week we reviewed the teaching and learning in the Sixth Form and it was a pleasure to speak to so many students about their work and to hear their views about the support they receive and how they believe we can improve their experience. It is also a privilege to visit the lessons of our teachers who are striving to provide the very best for their students but are doing so in a climate which makes their job increasingly more difficult. I am half way through my 20th year in teaching. Each of those years has brought considerable changes – some more positive than others. However, this year is the first where Headteachers across the country are convinced that we can no longer protect our students, about whom we care so much, from the pernicious effects of the ‘perfect storm’ that we now face. Please follow these links to see more on this from other HTs: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jan/17/cuts-headteachers-schools-funding-crisis http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-37680090 https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/50-heads-write-open-letter-teaching-profession-must-speak-one-voice We hear a great deal about ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ at the moment. The narrative from policy makers is that per pupil funding is untouched and that there is no teacher shortage. The truth, I’m afraid, is that increases in pensions, unfunded pay rises and cuts to many aspects of our funding, including to the Sixth Form, have left most schools facing a financial cliff edge which can only lead to bigger classes, fewer teachers, less investment in our school environment and a reduction in the curriculum courses we can offer. The fact that teacher training is now so confused, having largely been removed from universities, has significantly reduced the pool of new teachers who were once the lifeblood of the profession. The ill-thought out simultaneous changes to Key Stage 3 assessment, GCSE and A Level exams which have left staff to deliver courses which are as yet unconfirmed by exam boards, combined with new performance measures for schools which change mid-year and which exacerbate a fear of external inspection has further accelerated the number of colleagues leaving the profession, meaning that we can turn only to agencies whose focus is on their profit and not the experience for our students. Losing a member of staff mid-year, to a maternity leave, for example, is particularly challenging and however proactive we are, it can take months to find an appropriate replacement, such is the extent of the shortage. The reasons why I became a teacher 20 years ago still underpin why I became a Headteacher three years ago; a commitment to provide the firmest foundation for every child so that regardless of her background, talent or interests, she leaves us an independent, happy, compassionate and successful young woman, possessing the

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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qualifications and personal qualities to be able to exploit every educational, professional and personal opportunity open to her; and with a confidence, empathy and self-belief which will enable her to make a positive difference to her immediate and wider community. The profound responsibility to ensure that your daughter’s one chance of education

is the best it can be never leaves me and we are determined to find as many creative and positive solutions to the

problems I have outlined here to protect her education, to ensure she fulfils her potential and can achieve her dreams.

These include taking on the leadership of the Surrey Glyn SCITT to give us access to the best trainees and secure the

next generation of teachers at Rosebery, the development of leadership initiatives to ensure we retain our best staff,

and investigations of partnerships with other schools to reduce expenditure and share resources. I do not wish to

make excuses, but I do believe it is important that you understand the quite remarkable context in which we, and all

other schools, are working in, and perhaps encourage you to engage in a dialogue with your local politicians to help

us safeguard the tradition of fantastic education at Rosebery for many years to come.

Have a good weekend. Ros Allen @RoseberyHT

IN THIS WEEK’S NEWS

Dates for your Diary (Subject to Alteration)

Monday 6 February Week 1

Mon 6 February - Fri 10 February Rag Week

Tues 7 February 18:00 – 21:00 18:00 – 19:00

Rotary French Speaking Competition Y11 Parents’ Revision Conference

OK Block Hall

Thurs 9 February 18:00 - 19:30 Y11 Operation Wallacea 2018 South Africa Trip - Fundraising Evening

Hall

Fri 10 February 17:00 – 23:30 Y12 & Y13 Rigoletto Italy Ski Trip departs (1 week)

London Coliseum

Mon 13 February – Fri 17 February HALF TERM

Dates for your Diary Pages 2 & 3

Headteacher Commendations Pages 3 & 4

PE Results and Fixtures Page 4

Rosebery School Oscars Page 5

Rotary Young Chef Competition Page 6

Cheerleading Competition Page 7

Rosebery School Production ‘Annie’ Page 8

World Book Day Page 9

Surrey Starlets Cheerleading Club Page 9

Epsom Book Fair Page 10

Get into Teaching Page 11

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Mon 20 February Week 2

Mon 20 February – Fri 24 February Y7 Rosebery's Got Talent - Auditions

Tues 21 February 18.00 – 21.00 Rotary French Speaking Senior Competition Epsom College

Weds 22 February 19:00 – 21:00 PSA Meeting Staffroom

Thurs 23 February 18.00 – 19.00 Y7 Stretch & Challenge Evening Hall

Sun 26 February 10.00 – 16.00 School Musical – Annie Epsom Playhouse

Headteacher Commendations

Many congratulations to all students nominated this week! Year 7 - Mrs Dever has nominated Harriet Williams 7MX for her leadership skills in drama and sensitively encouraging others in the group and Sofia Tufo and Minette Watkins 7MX for applying drama skills to a devised piece and Emily Ghodbane 7CX for focus and creativity during practical work. Miss Risby has nominated Charlotte Lehane 7PY for her outstanding French storybook about a day at Rosebery. Miss Atkins has nominated Saskia Townend 7EY for her excellent maths investigation; Saskia went the extra mile, thorough research and good presentation.

Year 8 - Mrs Dever has nominated Neepha Radcox 8CX for working brilliantly in PSHE researching her chosen career and presenting her findings to the class, Dr Swales has nominated Reeja Ahmed 8MY and Katie Adams 8EY for their tenacity to persevere with problem solving in maths and explain their reasoning and Miss Green has nominated Annabel Carter, Louise Fleming, Yasmin Avraamides, Xanthe Bradshaw and Parand Derayzadeh 8EX for their fantastic self-portraits. Miss Atkins has nominated Ellie Heather 8CY for her detailed, mind map summarising probability; Ellie has been working so hard in lessons and always contributes to group discussion. Mrs Hartridge has nominated Sameera Ali, Rumbi Bondai, Amelia Broomer, Millie Fallows, Poppy Giles, Florrie Petit, Lucy Sedgwick and Ella Staves 8PX for their excellent work on portraiture and Ms Rad has nominated Zohha Khan 8PY for her successful endeavours to improve her attitude to learning this term and her enthusiastic engagement with the novel, A Monster Calls, Sophia Carosio 8CY for always contributing such enthusiastic and thoughtful comments to lesson and Aba Mensah 8CY for making perceptive observations about the characters in the novel, A Monster Calls.

Year 9 - Ms Gill has nominated Amelia Harding 9EX who created and lead the class in a starter for English, Mrs Callaghan has nominated Issy Dean 9EX, for her dedication and commitment shown in class cheer and for being such a #Rosebery Proud member of our tutor group and Mrs Wiggin-Thirkill has nominated Eloise Amesbury 9EY, Emma Farquhar 9PY, Amelia Harding 9EX and Mya Olaye 9MX for their fantastic work on surrealism. Mrs Barlow has nominated Abbie Hart 9MY and Amy Church 9PX who cooked and presented to the Chefs some excellent dishes for the Rotary Young Chef competition. They are to be congratulated on their hard work and efforts, and are a credit to the DT Department and Rosebery School. Year 10 - Mr Lines has nominated Emily Sawbridge 10CX for volunteering to lead current affairs form time and her excellent presentation, Ms Rad has nominated Rose Luk 10PY for her excellent work gathering key quotations from Pride and Prejudice and Hannah Palmer 10CY for consistently sharing astute observations about Pride and Prejudice with the class. Mrs Tyler has nominated Maisie Malone, Fabia Bonfanti and Kiona Townsin 10EY, Mia Samman and Cara Evans 10MY, Ellie Laughton and Ella Drew 10CY, Molly Jayasuriya and Ella Barrett-Patel 10PY for reading the whole of Pride and Prejudice independently and independently selecting and recording a key quotation for each chapter. Miss Atkins has nominated Eliza Seller 10PX for her hard work and enthusiasm in Maths lessons and Mr McDonnell has nominated Niamh Moran and Isabel Campbell 10PX for achieving 91% in the Extension Physics test, which was particularly challenging and is therefore worthy of extra recognition.

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Year 11 - Mr McDonnell has nominated Leana Greenstein 11EY for her fantastic organisation and initiative, Miss Gill has nominated Lauren Barnsby and Amy Levy 11CY for their greatly increased focus and attitude in English and Mrs Boddy has nominated Miral Pankhania and Izzie Plowman 11CY, Alex Dawe 11PY and for their fantastic effort on their Maths revision. Sixth Form - Miss Risby has nominated Melissa Roy 12C who has worked hard to improve on the accuracy and complexity of her written work in French and has also achieved 100% for her last 3 vocabulary tests. Mrs Wiggins-Thirkill has nominated Clara Townsin 12C and Alicia Sealey 12A for their commitment to innovation and sheer hard work in Photography.

PE Results

Netball

Year Group Team Date School Against Result of Match Player of the Match

Year 10 A 19/01/2027 District 1st N/A

Year 8 A 25/01/2017 Aberdour Won 21-13 N/A

Year 8 B 25/01/2017 Aberdour Won 26-0 N/A

Hockey

Year Group Team Date School Against Result of Match Player of the Match

U14 A 26/01/2017 George Abbot Won 11-1 Carys Wakefield 9MX

Athletics

Year Group Team Date Result of Match Player of the Match

Year 7 A 30/01/2017 Indoor Sports Hall Athletics

2nd/9 overall N/A

Year 7 B

30/01/2017 Indoor Sports Hall Athletics

5th/9 overall N/A

PE Fixtures

Next Week's Fixtures

GymnasticsWednesday 8 February (A)

BlenheimYear 8 competition

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Having worked their way through the school and area rounds of this prestigious

competition, on Saturday 28 January 2017, Rosebery sent Abbie Hart 9MY and Amy

Church 9PX, to the district semi-final of the Rotary Young Chef Competition, at

Merton Campus, South Thames College.

Both students cooked confidently against 13 other young chefs, overcoming the

difficulties of cooking in unknown kitchens to produce superb courses. Our students

were the youngest competitors and the Judges congratulated them on rising to the

challenge and presenting some colourful dishes. Amy was commended for her tidy

preparation and work area.

The students cooked their chosen menu in front of a professional panel of Chefs at Merton College, in their Catering

Kitchens. Whist they didn't win, they had a brilliant experience and were very happy with their dishes, as were we.

They were awarded certificates and a cook book, presented by the Mayor of Merton after a tense morning of cooking

by all The Young Chefs. The professionals sincerely congratulated all of the participants on the very high standards of

cooking and presentation achieved.

Below are their menus that Amy and Abbie cooked and presented to the Chefs. They are to be congratulated on their

hard work and efforts; they are both a credit to the DT Department and to Rosebery School. Well done Ladies!

Please click on the logo above to view the Rotary Young Chef Competition Information Pack.

Mrs Hanly and Mrs Barlow

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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The annual Cheerleading Competition for students in Years 7, 8 and 9 has become a very important part of our School calendar! This year's event did not disappoint, we were treated to an incredible amount of talent from our students, who were tumbling, dancing, chanting and choreographing some stunning routines. The competition was high and judging was a tough job for our teaching staff. However, after very careful consideration and a good set of judging criteria, the overall winners were 9PY.

Congratulations to ALL our incredible cheerleaders who took part.

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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Tickets are on sale NOW!

Direct through Epsom Playhouse

Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators,

books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading

Please click on the logo above for more information.

Surrey Starlets Cheerleading is an after school club which runs on a Monday 3:15-4:15pm

It is free for all Rosebery students

For more information about our classes please visit our website

www.surreystarlets.co.uk

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Rosebery School Whitehorse Drive Epsom KT18 7NQ T.01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk

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