Headmaster’s Weekly

Newsletter

27 September 2019

Dear Parents and Friends,

Congratulations to the Year 9, 10 and 11 pupils who completed their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award practice expeditions last weekend. It was great to hear of their success and to know that the challenging navigation and testing weather conditions will have significantly improved their resilience! Thank you also to the staff supporting these expeditions, particularly to Mrs Muldoon who ensured that all the logistics ran smoothly.

This week we have been busy preparing for our Open Morning tomorrow and we look forward to welcoming a large number of families for a taster of ‘We are Royal Russell’. I would like to thank all the staff and pupils, who have already given a great deal of their time to make this day a success, and I look forward to welcoming many of you tomorrow. Thank you also to our ‘Parent Ambassadors’ who have volunteered to share their experiences with new Royal Russell Families.

When I met with the Senior Prefects on Wednesday morning this week, I asked them what was essential to include in my address to visitors on Saturday. They were very clear that I should stress the opportunities available to all of our pupils, particularly through our academic programme, the incredible range of trips and visits offered and the opportunity for everyone to get involved in some really exciting and challenging co-curricular activities. Specifically mentioned were STEM Club, Amnesty Group, our season tickets at Crystal Palace!, the choir, all manner of sport, CCF and MUN. Our Heads of Boarding were keen to emphasise that the success of the international dimension of the school is a significant factor in the Royal Russell experience, and there was also a strong sense that the charitable fundraising we do as a whole school community is something that sets us apart from others. This year, we are looking forward to developing this as part of our ‘Canterbury Tales’ challenge.

On Monday, we welcomed a delegation of Korean government officials and members of our Royal Russell School Korea project team to tour the school. This is the next step in the formal approval process which will be completed with a return visit to Busan by a Royal Russell delegation at the end of October. On Thursday, I was delighted to attend a working lunch, hosted by the Korean Ambassador, with senior members of the Royal Russell School Korea Development Board, to explore our project further.

Year 7 pupils enjoyed a day of team building and communication challenges in a full day of activities on Tuesday. It was very reassuring to see how quickly this new group of Russellians are beginning to work together in the spirit of ‘Non sibi sed omnibus’ and in the cooperative and collaborative manner that we know is so successful.

My congratulations to Year 13 student, Justyna Oworuszko who gave an excellent presentation as part of our series of ‘Russell Talks’ in the Library on Tuesday. Congratulations also to Sophie Chayka, who gave a very informative talk to our current Year 6 pupils introducing politics and economics.

An International University Fair held on Tuesday attracted a large number of pupils who were keen to discuss opportunities for studying abroad with representatives from universities in the USA, Canada and Europe.

There were some strong results for our U18 football teams with wins for the B and C team against Wilson's and for the A team against Berkhamsted in the ISFA Cup. Our U13A team played against Wilson’s and won with an impressive score of 5-1. The U18 netball team travelled to Barking Abbey School for some very productive training sessions this week. Barking Abbey are a hub for the London Pulse Superleague Team and they will travel to Royal Russell for additional match practice and training sessions in the near future.

A reminder to parents of Year 7 pupils that we will be hosting an information evening next Monday 30 September in Great Hall from 6.30pm - 8.30pm; I look forward to welcoming new parents for an update on the start of term and information on our Firefly learning platform and important e-safety matters.

Looking further ahead, the Sixth Form Open Evening will be held on Monday 7 October. This is an important event for Year 11 pupils and parents and a chance to consider the opportunities available in our successful Sixth Form. With Best Wishes,

Chris Hutchinson

Headmaster

From the Chapel

Harvest Festival

In an annual service the Junior School celebrated Harvest Thanksgiving. We gave thanks for God’s wonderful gifts in his creation. Pupils generously brought donations of food which were later given to local charities for distribution to people in need. Harvest Festival used to be celebrated at the beginning of the Harvest season on 1st August and was called Lammas, meaning 'loaf Mass'. Farmers made loaves of bread from the new wheat crop and gave them to their local church. They were then used as the Communion bread during a special mass thanking God for the harvest. The custom ended when Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church, and nowadays we have harvest festivals at the end of the season. The tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches as we know it today began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service for the harvest at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall. Victorian hymns such as "We plough the fields and scatter", "Come ye thankful people, come" and "All things bright and beautiful" helped popularise his idea of harvest festival and spread the annual custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the Harvest Festival service.

St Damian

In School services we heard of Father Damian, a Catholic priest from Belgium, who volunteered to live and work in the leprosy settlement on Molokai, one of the islands of Hawaii. After 16 years he contracted leprosy and died there in 1889.

The Prince of Wales, later to be King Edward V, arranged for a large cross to be set up on Molokai, with words of Jesus underneath: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This Sunday St Michael and all Angels Day

2.45p.m Choral Evensong - All Welcome!

Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible, Michael and his angels cast out of heaven the dragon, who is the Devil and Satan, and his angels. This represents the Easter victory of Christ over evil and death.

The Fall of the Rebel Angels (1666) by Luca

Giordano

Michael is not attacking the figures from hell with his sword, but is holding it aloft like a sign of victory, as though his mere appearance were enough to cast Satan and his followers into eternal damnation. His foot just touches Satan’s shoulder, symbolising his power as spiritual, not physical.

Year 8 Spanish Trip to Bilbao On Thursday, 38 Year 8 pupils assembled in the car park at 3.30am, raring to go to Bilbao. The journey was long but everyone arrived in good spirits to our base camp, an activity centre next to a gorgeous bay beach in a village near Bilbao. On our first day, we had the opportunity to mingle with the locals and explore the village in small groups. We spent the following day participating in surfing, bodyboarding and canoeing. Pupils were also involved in an archery competition and overcame their fears of height in a zip-wire activity. On our third day, we spent the morning on a demanding hiking trip to the island of ‘San Juan de Gaztelugatxe’, a film location on the latest series of ‘Game of Thrones’. After lunch, pupils had some time in a shopping centre to put their language skills into practice. We finished the day with a ‘Tapas Night’ where we were able to try local delicacies such as octopus and squid with ink! The last day enabled us to see the sights in Bilbao before boarding the plane home. The Guggenheim Museum was impressive and we still had time for some last-minute shopping. We arrived back at school at about 8:00pm, extremely tired but happy to have had such a cultural and linguistic Spanish experience! Mr Bueno Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages

Boarders Trip to Heaver Castle The Boarders had an outing in the Kent countryside at the family home of Anne Boleyn, Hever Castle. They found their way out of both the hedge maze and the water maze without getting too wet, and toured the really well preserved castle, marvelling at the display of weapons and instruments of torture. Lunch was taken in the immaculate grounds and there was time for an ice cream in the setting for Naboo from the Star Wars franchise. The geese were not too aggressive when Tom was feeding them. A lovely day in the country. Mr Jewiss Teacher of Biology

Year 7 Bonding Day On Monday, 95 pupils from Year 7 were given a series of challenges to solve as a team, which allowed them to get to know each other better. All pupils found the day exhausting and rewarding at the same time! Many pupils had to cooperate, show initiative and forward plan in order to tackle all of the tasks on hand. Despite the terrible weather, all Houses gave their best shot at completing all of the tasks (indoors), sometimes in a more orderly way than others. The Tutors of each House were coaching their groups and I would like to thank them for such an active and personal contribution in this new adventure. Pupils discussed in groups what they learnt from each other and how resilience was the key aspect of the day for each team. Anne Mawer Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages

Year 13 Brain Day On Monday, Year 13 Biologists and Psychologists enjoyed Dr Sutton’s “Brain Day”. Dr Sutton is an honorary lecturer at the University of Nottingham Medical School and Director of Medical Biology Interactive, he covered an array of topics taught as a university style lecture, as well as interactive sessions. We started the day by looking at the structure of the brain as well as the effect that cannabis and other drugs have on development. We were also shown many brain scan images throughout the sessions from PET scans, MRIs and fMRIs so that we could visualise neuroplasticity and localisation of function. This was particularly interesting as we were able to see the result that positive behaviours such as exercising and having a healthy diet have on the brain. We were also able to see which areas of the brain are altered by negative experiences, for example the auditory cortex which is part of the temporal lobe, is altered to have reduced grey matter if an individual has experienced verbal abuse in their childhood. Later in the day, Dr Sutton performed a sheep brain dissection where he made clear the various structures present such as the pituitary gland, used to secrete hormones, and the corpus collosum which connects the two hemispheres of the brain. Comparative neuroanatomy of the sheep brain and the human brain was fascinating as there was much similarity with the anatomy aside from the size difference. The day was finished off with an introduction to schizophrenia and the history of mental illness, including the use of trephination and the Belgian cage as means to treat mental illness.

Overall, the day was extremely informative and provided us with much support in our A level studies.

Nikita Sood

Year 13

Senior Lecture On Tuesday, Justyna Oworuszko from Year 13 delivered an exciting lecture on the topic of mass shootings in America in the wake of tragic reports that 53 people died in August alone, including one that occurred at an innocent garlic festival.

It is no doubt a topic that has been addressed time and time again - yet, the 2nd Amendment has remained in America’s constitution for 228 years, emphasising the need to keep the conversation alive. Many believe that it’s their constitutional right to possess a gun - by which, taking it away would be the equivalent of taking away their freedom. While others argue that it is their right to self-defence. Although, Justyna argued that this has done more harm than good.

Abolishing the 2nd Amendment is easier said than done - with a country with more guns than there are people it seems nearly impossible to resolve the issue. Most Republicans have been backed by the National Rifle Association yet the Democrats have not taken much action. And, as The White House continues to delay any action, the numbers get increasingly shocking. It is not to say that there has been absolutely no attempts at abolishing gun laws, in fact, President Clinton outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons alongside a 10 year federal ban on assault weapons. But it was all in vain.

There was also discussion about how the comparisons between New Zealand, regarding their tight gun laws, and America should not be made especially considering New Zealand’s slightly more liberal leadership. This was followed by the point being made that there is much capitalism involved in taking preventative measures in the event of a mass shooting (bulletproof backpacks for one).

The talk was extremely insightful and encouraged much debate which allowed us to have more insight into the topic.

Bibienne Yeoh

Year 13

Junior Russell Talk: An Introduction

to Politics ‘Whatever happens in politics is our future…’ On Tuesday, Year 13 student Sophie Chayka delivered our first ever Junior Russell Talk to 24 keen Year 6 pupilsfrom the Junior School. After a brief introduction to politics and economics, the students were divided into small teams and given the challenge of apportioning a school budget of £2 million to several projects, including repairing seven classrooms and building a new playground for the Junior School. Suddenly, political factors affected the available budget and the pupils had to quickly decide on a new strategy for spending the money. We were impressed by the pupils’ enthusiasm thoughtful prioritising of resources and creative ideas for making up the shortfall. There are definitely some future leaders in the making in this year group! Mrs Tovey Head of Sixth Form

Looking at the Bigger Picture in

Theology and Philosophy!

In an ever-changing world, where acts of both peace and violence are often underpinned by religious motives, studying Theology and Philosophy is as important as ever. In lessons, pupils have been grappling with big questions which allow each pupil to consider their own world view whilst informing them of other perspectives. In Year 8, TP students have been analysing the life and context of Jesus. Year 8’s did a fantastic job of creating a story board representing the relationship between Jews and God as described in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). Meanwhile, in Year 12, pupils are pictured attempting to visually explain the concept of cause and effect, and how St. Thomas Aquinas uses this in Summa Theologica to prove the existence of God. Mr Porter Teacher of TP

Safeguarding Corner Self-harming is a topic which is always in the news and is relevant to

some of our pupils.

Please click here to find out more on what we can all do to help

Mrs Nathalie Hart

Deputy Head Pastoral

Year 11 Geography Fieldwork Trip to

Brighton A merry band of Year 11 Geographers set off from school last week to undertake part of their GCSE fieldwork. Upon arrival they walked from the station down to the sea-front, where their tasks were explained and demonstrated.

In small groups they then undertook data collection on transects out from the centre of town. This included noting land use, building heights, environmental quality and taking people and traffic counts.

After a variety of gourmet takeaway lunch options were consumed, the afternoon task was to ask a selection of questions to the great and good, who were enjoying the sunshine near Brighton Pier. Upon their return the pupils will be analysing the results to try and establish how various tourist attractions impact on the town of Brighton.

An intense, active, warm day enjoyed by all.

Mr Grindrod

Teacher of Geography

Student Leadership Conference On Tuesday, the Heads of School (Jack Gallagher, Nikita Sood and I) attended the Student Leadership Conference held at Forest School in north-east London. After having the chance to talk to senior prefects of other schools, we heard from Gemma Morgan, a former military officer and international athlete turned business leadership consultant. She spoke personally and passionately about her service as a 24-year-old female officer in Kosovo, serving unarmed among civilians on peace-making missions. Her challenging experience of gaining the respect of, and asserting authority over, a group of culturally-diverse soldiers who were much more experienced than her in life and death scenarios gave a unique insight into the principles of leadership. Talking about the extreme conditions of the people of Kosovo, and her own struggle with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, her main message was thatemotional connection is a vital aspect of leadership. For her, this was important in connecting with the people of Kosovo, inspiring and instilling confidence in the soldiers she was leading, and in looking after herself emotionally. After her service in the army, she returned to leadership roles in a very different forum - the sports field. She spoke about how, from a young age, she saw her role as a sports captain as being a superhero, always scoring the most goals and saving the day for her team. However, it was through her time captaining her country in lacrosse that she learnt the importance of real leadership – bringing out the best in her team – and she eloquently conveyed the same message to us. Next, we heard from Jeff Kayne, Deputy Head Teacher at Forest School, who led a session titled ‘What type of leader are you?’ Through our discussion with other students, the aim was for us to understand what type of leader we are and want to be – I certainly feel that I became more self-aware and more open to adapting to different styles of leadership. He also placed a great deal of emphasis on the idea of legacy, which I felt was a great encouragement to try to use a position of leadership to make a difference. Following this, we heard from Chris Jenkinson, a professional film, television and stage actor and former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company who has been lecturing adults and children on vocal skills for the last 15 years. His aim was to help us to improve our ability and confidence in public speaking, which is, he says, ‘the language of leadership.’ We explored communication techniques ranging from vocal tone and breathing mechanisms to posture and handshakes, and at the end, some people were chosen to put these ideas into practice by speaking to the whole group. In the afternoon, we were split into smaller groups for a workshop. This part of the day was centred on decision-making in leadership, as we were given challenging scenarios and asked to work out the course of action we’d take. We were quizzed on not only what we’d do but how we’d go about it, who (if anyone) we’d delegate the responsibility to and how we would follow up if the desired outcome was not achieved. Being challenged so thoroughly was fantastic as it made us really question our leadership methods. Finally, we were given the opportunity to do some of the quizzing ourselves, asking a panel of former Head and Deputy Head Girls and Boys of Forest School about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. Something I took away from this was Nafeesah’s (former Deputy Head Girl) insight that her imperfection and vulnerability became a positive in the sense that it made her much more approachable and relatable, particularly for younger students who wanted to talk to someone about issues they were facing. Douglas (former Head Boy) also gave us some really interesting ideas about alleviating the pressure he’d put on himself and about setting an example for other students to follow. Megan Driver

Head of School

Year 12 Drugs Talk On Friday, Year 12 had the privilege of listening to a captivating speech from the Head of Drugs Alert, Darren Gold. This wasn’t just any ordinary awareness speech, which we might forget about after a couple days. This one had real substance and is likely to remain permanently embedded in our memory. Darren was courageous enough to emphasise the almost unspeakable dangers of drug use by detailing the rollercoaster journey of own life as a result of his excessive drug use. Some of the acts he was driven to as a result of his drug use were really beyond comprehension. He described how he stole from and verbally abused his parents and friends for money; how he was beaten up by friends and others who caught him stealing; how his failure to fulfil promises to fellow prisoners led him to be physically abused and urinated on; how he has committed 200 crimes and has a DBS of 4 double-sided pages, which have had lasting repercussions on his ability to work and travel! We were also directed to websites such as https://www.talktofrank.com/ where we can find more information.

There is no doubt that this talk was an experience that we will keep for the next precious steps of our lives.

Ademola Idowu-Ossei

International University Conference On Tuesday, we hosted our first International University Conference with a range of universities exhibiting from the USA, Canada and Europe. “The University Guy”, David Hawkins launched the event by meeting interested Year 10-13 pupils and explaining how to make the most of the opportunity. There was a real buzz in the Library as pupils moved around the exhibitors learning about the universities’ different specialisms, entry requirements and recommendations. Many of our sports scholars listened attentively to the advice, including to court the university team coaches early in Year 12 with plenty of footage of their talents in action. Similarly, it was interesting to discover that a number of universities, such as Temple and Michigan are test optional and will offer places without SATs or ACTs, although high scores in these are advisable for scholarship opportunities. It was great to see so many of our Year 7-9 pupils visiting the Fair during break time too.

For more information about studying in the US, I thoroughly recommend: http://www.fulbright.org.uk/going-to-the-usa/undergraduate

Mrs Tovey

Head of Sixth Form

Jordan Wylie Accepts Donation for

Frontline Children We were delighted to welcome back Jordan Wylie, veteran, author, extreme adventurer and fundraiser to receive a generous donation from our building contractors, MCS.

MCS currently work on our impressive new Day and Boarding House and Science Facility extension, both due to open next year, and were keen to join the School’s fundraising efforts.

Jordan Wylie said “We are incredibly grateful for the support from MCS. This generous donation will make a significant contribution towards the fund to build a new school in Djibouti.”

Roly Rickord, Chief Executive of Frontline Children said “Frontline Children are very grateful to MCS for their donation. We are aiming to finish the school project by Summer 2020 and these funds will go towards making that goal a reality.”

Paul Hodges, Managing Director of MCS “We are delighted to support Frontline Children and wish Jordan every success in his Rowing Dangerously Challenge. “

Neil Cufley

Director of Operations

European Day of Languages

This year’s celebration of European Day of Languages had a distinctly French theme, beginning with Thibault Hardy and Lorenzo Shone from Year 7 who shared their passion for football by telling us all about French footballers. After introducing us to some of the most famous, they wanted to see how well we had paid attention by asking if we could remember and spell their names. The boys finished off their presentation with a clip of the 2018 World Cup Final between Croatia and France fittingly won Les bleus!

What do pencil sharpeners, hairdryers, and hot air balloons all have in common? Answer: they are all French inventions. Charlotte Mawer in Year 10 told us all about these inventions as well as the history of Braille – a reading system for the visually impaired, invented by Frenchman Louis Braille who was blinded in both eyes as a child. Invented in 1829 and revised in 1837, Braille has been an invaluable tool for the visually impaired ever since.

A presentation by Year 13 pupils on various aspects of French culture followed. Of course, no coverage of this topic would be complete without a reference to some of the wonderful food which France has shared with the rest of the world. However, did you know that the humble croissant, a pastry so highly associated with France actually originated in Vienna? It actually made its way to France with Marie-Antoinette who missed Austrian cuisine so much that she had the royal bakers recreate this delicious pastry for her.

Erika Rugyendo-Henry then told us about the importance of the feast of “L’Ephiphanie” to French Christians. Although the official date for this feast is 6 January, it is now celebrated on the closest Sunday to that date when people are not at work and families can gather together to eat a special cake called the “galette des rois”. This traditionally contains a small figurine or broad bean and the lucky person to find this in their slice is named “King of the day”. An extra slice is customarily set aside in case a stranger or poor person happens to visit.

Krish Sivagnanam then took us on an armchair tour of some of the famous sights visited by tourists in Paris, appropriately ending up at “L’Arc de Triomphe” which also doubles up as the finishing post for the Tour de France. Thank you to all who prepared presentations to share and to all who came to listen and support fellow pupils.

Anne Mawer

Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages

From the Sport Department

Football

U13A

On Friday, the U12As started their ESFA Cup run at home against Wetherby. With a couple of injuries, the boys knew they would have to work even harder than usual and as a result, a few of the boys were playing out of position.

In a very one sided game, the score line ended 8-1 to Royal Russell. The boys played some fantastic football and are showing signs of what they have been working on in training. Plenty more hard work to come with the season just starting!

Special mention to Seb Stretton and Patrick Howe for staying to watch the game and support their teammates.

1st XI

On Saturday the 1st XI welcomed Palma Foundation, who are an academy supporting players getting into professional clubs, so it was always going to be a tough fixture.

The game started well with early domination from Royal Russell. However, on the counterattack Palma broke quick, leading to a good finish from their left winger.1-0. Minutes later, the left hand side proved to be a problem leading to a further goal via a penalty kick. 2-0.The third came in the form of a direct corner which was headed in on the goal line. 3-0 and shell shocked after a great start.

An inspirational team talk and some substitutions led to a completely different second half. Possession was sleek and potent as chances continued to be created. The first goal finally came with a foul, leading to Nathan Daniels who calmly despatched from the penalty spot. 3-1. The team sensed the opportunity to press and stole the ball high leading to two further goals from Imran Kayani.

Final score 3-3.

U14A

Saturday saw the U14As play Sutton Grammar. They started the game well, however the opposition had three or four strategically placed players, who were stronger and quicker. We found ourselves 3-1 down at half time, with Olly Riddington scoring for us. Poor passing and losing possession in the wrong places cost us. We pulled back two goals through Bailey Neil Gray to make it 3-3, before giving away a silly goal.

Final score 4-3.

U15

A sunny Saturday morning saw Royal Russell take on Sutton Grammar in a mixed U15 squad of A/Bs. After great press from Justin Chow, Almat Suleimenov scored just before half-time in the bottom left hand corner.

The opposition came straight out on the attack from the restart and managed to win a dubious penalty to make it 1-1. An instant response from Royal Russell prompted a more tactical approach. Royal Russell managed to crowd out any danger and hit Sutton on the counter. The second goal was provided by Justin.

Royal Russell then put themselves further ahead when Toby McKimm played a long ball into the path of YoungSeok Kim who managed to round the goalkeeper and score from close range.

A late rally from Sutton managed to put the Royal Russell defence under pressure and some sloppy playing out from the back made the game a little closer.

3-2 the final result.

U13B

After a tough first game, the U13B team welcomed Wilson’s to Royal Russell, looking to bounce back. A much improved performance from last week, with a togetherness and desire to play. Two well matched 7 a side games gave opportunity for all to get a full game, despite the difficult conditions.

Wilson’s took advantage of our tiredness in the final few minutes to take the game out of reach. Promising performances with upcoming games in sight.

XI

Royal Russell 2nd XI Welcomed Wilsons on Wednesday in a friendly fixture between the two schools.

Both teams started the game at a frantic pace, and despite much pressure Royal Russell went 1-0 up, after a goal from Jack Gallagher caught Wilsons’ on the counter attack. Royal Russell scored twice more before Wilson’s pulled a goal back, making the score 3-1 going into half time. As the game went on Royal Russell started to show their quality and dominate the game, having the majority of possession. This inevitably resulted in Royal Russell scoring 4 more goals unanswered in the second half to take the score to 7-1. Russell played the final 20 minutes with 10 men due to Rush Shefik sustaining an injury to his knee and Charlie Jones stepping into the role of Goalkeeper - saving from close range on two occasions.

A notable mention to Josh Sergeant who scored a hat trick in only his second start for the Royal Russell 2nd XI

1st XI

1st XI travelled all the way to Berkhamstead for their opening game of the ISFA season. The game was played at Berkhamstead Town FC - a nice stadium. It was great to see the 1st XI start so well with goals from Braiden Hall and Imran Kayani in the first half. The second half was all Royal Russell, who dominated possession and drew endless saves from the outstanding Berkhamstead GK. The pressure paid off when a good move down the left fell to Imran, whose calm and calculated cross found Nathan Daniels - who headed home for his 4th goal of the season. The energy of the squad was excellent as they continued to press for further goals, which came from David Kawa.

4-0 the final score and into the draw for the next round of ISFA.

U18C

The under 18C team took on Wilson’s at home for their second game of the season. After not having a proper training session with the squad, this game was about rotating players around and trying to establish everyone’s positions. After a great start, Royal Russell went 2-0 up through some great wing play and clinical finishing.

The game then went through a rough patch where neither team could get a hold of the ball and it was very end to end. After a quick discussion at half time about holding possession and offering support for each other, Royal Russell then added a couple more goals to the tally.

Final Score 4-1 to Royal Russell. Congratulations to Jo-Jo on scoring a hat-trick.

Netball U18

Our senior first team travelled to Barking Abbey this week for a training game. Where their focus was to come together as a team and figure out new combinations and set plays. We played a number of seven minute matches, which highlighted areas of strength and areas to develop. After analysing the video footage, each player was allocated a training partner, where they identified their initial focuses for the coming weeks training sessions.

There are areas to build on, however, with the team’s dedication and commitment to training, I have every confidence they will have a successful season.

Hockey

U14A

On Saturday the U14 Hockey girls played away against St Dunstan’s College. Their first game of the season started at a high tempo, the girls all worked really well together with many chances on goal in the first half which resulted in Ayo Phillips scoring to break the deadlock. Within the second half, St Dunstan’s managed to reply with attacking pressure of their own, however a composed defence prevented the home team from scoring. Well done to Maryam Drammeh for earning Player of the Match.

CrossFit

A record 12 pupils from Year 9 and Year 10 completed Mr Brennan’s ClassFit CrossTraining programme on Tuesday during Games.

The pupils were ably assisted by three of the new Sport Science Interns, Tom Pallot - University of Bath, Lucy Baker, Loughborough University, and Curtis Child - University of Bournemouth. Challenges include 40kcal on the Ski-Erg, 800m on the Rower and 2km on the Wattbike before running 800m.

Merits all round for an incredible effort!

Opportunity to join the Tennis Squad

We are organising Tennis training after school on a Friday for 4 weeks for pupils who wish to be considered for the Tennis Squads next Summer and for those looking for additional tennis training.

As we look to build the Tennis programme and offer more Tennis outside of the summer term we hope that these sessions will be well supported.

Please email mlove@royalrussell.co.uk if your child would be interested in tennis training on a Friday after school from 4pm-5.15pm from Friday 4 October. The sessions will run up until half term and there is no charge. Players will be given an overview of what to expect next summer and also playing oppor-tunities outside of the school for the winter season including competitions.

Players who wish to be considered for next season should attend at least one of the training sessions, in order for us to start building our squads, especially those players in Year 7. These sessions are aimed at all players (boys and girls) in Years 7 to 10.

The sessions will take place on the Tennis courts on the MUGA with Mr Love - Head of tennis.

Royal Russell School

Coombe Lane : Croydon : Surrey : CR0 5RF

www.royalrussell.co.uk Patron: Her Majesty The Queen

We welcome your feedback. Please send to Ciara Campbell, Marketing and Communications Manager

email: ccampbell@royalrussell.co.uk or feedback@royalrussell.co.uk

Diary Dates

Saturday 28 September Open Morning 8.30am-1.00pm All Pupils must attend

Sunday 29 September Chapel St Michael & All Angels Choral Evensong

Tuesday 1 October Year 7 Meet the Tutors Evening 18.30

Tuesday 1 October Physics CERN Trip Awareness Evening Auditorium 19.00

Saturday 5 October Year 10 DofE Bronze Practice Expedition Blacklands Farm

Saturday 5 October RAF Training Weekend

Monday 7 October Sixth Form Information Evening 6.30pm

For all our latest news…….

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