PREPARE FORTHE ROAD AHEAD

RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 2016

32 RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 2016

Ethos and AimsTo raise the aspirations of students so they desire to achieve and exceed targets set for them, both within and beyond the classroom.

To engender a sense of collaborative purpose, so students and staff work together to achieve their best.

To care for students as individuals and to respect their talents, aspirations, strengths and unique qualities.

To provide opportunities for students to be engaged, interested and challenged by what they do and learn, every day.

To continually strive for improvement in all areas, through hard work, resilience and determination.

Results 201675% of our students achieved the benchmark of a grade C or better in English and Mathematics. 83% achieved a C or better in Maths compared to 61% of students nationally and 80% of students achieved a C or better in English compared to 60% nationally. In both English and Maths our students also achieved A-A* grades at rates higher than other students nationally and pass rates across all subjects taken are higher than national figures.

In a year when the A*-C pass rate dropped, Ridgewood students achieved 76% compared to a national figure of 66.6%.

The rates of progress achieved by our students also improved once again this year. Our Alps score of 2 this year also maintains our outstanding A level results.

Headteacher’s WelcomeWe want every student who leaves Ridgewood School to aspire to achieve beyond what they thought they could do when they first started with us. Our core values emphasise high standards, pride in everything we do, and working together as school community to achieve the best, both inside and beyond the classroom. Nobody at Ridgewood settles for second best. It is important to us that our students not only achieve great results, but develop as people who are ready to meet any challenges they face in the future with confidence and self-assurance. We want to give our students opportunities that let them grow both intellectually and personally, and enable them to develop their own unique characters. Students at Ridgewood are given the means to contribute to both our school community and the wider community beyond. We educate the whole child so that students immerse themselves wholeheartedly in school life, and leave with a desire to contribute to society.

We offer our students an environment in which they can flourish, and see the results of their own hard work pay off. With the help of our dedicated staff, they can prepare for the road ahead and begin their journey into adult life equipped with the skills they need to ensure a happy and successful future.

Maggie Dunn Headteacher

Our CoreValues

EXCE

LLENCE INTEGRITY TEAMWORK ENJOYM

ENT

54 RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 2016

Our LearningThe Aim of Our Curriculum

Our academic curriculum aims to offer students of all abilities and talents an opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills across a wide variety of subjects. We are committed to providing a curriculum which is challenging yet accessible, and which fosters a love of learning, as well as enabling students to achieve success in exams and assessments. Students follow a two-week timetable in order to maximise learning time. We regularly review our curriculum, to ensure that the needs of all our students are being met, and the details below offer a brief outline of the current pattern of subjects at KS3, 4 and 5. More details of each subject can be found on our website.

Extra-Curricular OpportunitiesBecause we value a rounded education, our students have access to an extremely wide range of extra-curricular opportunities and trips. We firmly believe that students get out of school what they put in to it, so we encourage our students of all ages to get actively involved in the many clubs on offer.

Trips

Experiencing ‘real world’ versions of what students are taught in a classroom helps embed learning and broaden students’ knowledge and understanding. Our geographers undertake field trips to Flamborough, Malham, and York, whilst our English and Drama students get the chance to watch professional theatre productions of the texts they study in lessons, seeing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Rebecca, amongst others. Productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company are also streamed live to the school, meaning our students only need venture as far as our Faraday auditorium in order to experience world class theatre! Our Engineering students get to see how engineers work on a massive scale, and visit companies such as TATA Steel to witness first-hand the theory they learn in class.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Within school, there are over thirty clubs that students can join. These range from those aimed at students who enjoy sport (badminton, hockey, rugby, football, netball, basketball, cheerleading) to those for our aspiring businessmen and women, including the prestigious Student Investor Challenge, the national competition Coca Cola Real Business Challenge, and the established Young Enterprise Scheme. We are also lucky enough to have our own dedicated Lego Suite, where we offer clubs, competitions and programming. For students interested in performing arts and the theatre, activities take place on a daily basis. The Theatre Lighting Tech Group learn the skills behind lighting a stage production, whilst the PATCH students receive a bespoke weekly arts provision, covering singing, dancing and acting, and culminating in a range of spectacular concerts throughout the year. We also submit entries to the Connections Competition, a high profile National Theatre competition, and the South Yorkshire Road Safety competition, which we won two years in a row. Our Music department is thriving, offering everything from African drumming to our contemporary choir ‘Vocal Beatz’. Our brand new suite of iMacs also enables us to offer cutting edge tuition in music technology alongside our more traditional string ensemble and concert band.

All students study English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Drama, RE, Technology, a modern foreign language, Art and Design, IT, Music and PE. PSHCE is taught through our unique ‘Character Curriculum’.

As for Y8. Students also get the opportunity to learn more about the new subjects available to them at GCSE and will receive guidance over those most suitable to them.

All students study English Language and English Literature (2 separate GCSEs), Mathematics and Science. They then complete their remaining subject allocations from a range of other courses, some of which may include the traditional subjects they have studied throughout KS3, and some of which may be new. No public examinations are taken at the end of Y10 but students will cover course content to prepare them for both exams and coursework.

Students continue with the subjects they started studying in Y10, taking examinations and submitting any coursework or controlled assessments at the end of the summer term.

For admission to the A Level programmes of study, students are expected to have a grade B or higher in the subjects they wish to study and a least 6 GCSEs including English Language and Mathematics with grades A*-C. If students have the grades to take specific subjects, but have a grade D in English or Mathematics or both, resit classes will be available. For students successful in gaining a place in our Post-16 community, a wide range of courses are available including A levels in English Literature, Government & Politics, Physics, Product Design and many more. Please see our Post-16 prospectus for more information.

Year

9

Year

7/8

Year

10

Year

11

Post

16

“Whatever a student’s talent or interest, there will be a club or trip to enthuse

and inspire them”

Our House SystemOur house system is all about ensuring that students become well-rounded individuals who contribute and get involved, whatever their talent or passion. It provides every student in the school with a plethora of opportunities to engage in competitions, support and mentor others, represent the school in a range of activities, and learn what it means to be part of a community. We are extremely proud of our house system.

When students arrive at Ridgewood, they are assigned to one of four houses: Imperatrix, Voltigeur, Ambidexter or Margrave. These houses reflect both our geographical location in Doncaster, and the history of the area.

Each house is led by a Head of House. This role is taken by a member of our Post-16 community who takes on responsibility for overall leadership of the house, and who co-ordinates a team of prefects from years 7-11. Prefects are also leaders; they co-ordinate house-based events and may help out throughout the year at events such as Open Evening and with our Y6 visitors during Transition Week. To be a prefect or Head of House is to take on a position of great pride.

Character CurriculumRidgewood has its own unique approach to PSHCE (personal, social, health, and citizenship education) which we call our ‘Character Curriculum’. This is delivered by a form tutor in a designated session at the end of each day. Students get the chance to speak to their form tutor as their primary pastoral point of contact, and to undertake a range of stimulating and thought-provoking activities which are designed to help them understand their own personal development, and to become better citizens.

The character curriculum is based around four ‘virtues’: moral virtues, intellectual virtues, performance virtues and civic virtues. Students explore these through a range of challenges, discussions and tasks, led by their form tutor. These may include such diverse activities as discussing Aristotle’s views, answering brainteasers, learning poetry off by heart, or joining a volunteer group.

Athletics Music

Open Evening guides

Dodgeball Art

Transition Weekguides

Charity fundraising

Mentoring Subjectambassadors

After each round of full Creating Futures data has been entered and distributed to students and their parents (see p.9), those students who are on or above target in every subject, and who display a ‘Motivated’ or ‘Outstanding’ attitude in all their subjects, will be rewarded with an ALTUS badge in a special ALTUS assembly. Students who achieve ALTUS status gain privileges across the school including a celebration meal and access to our ALTUS lounge, and can build up their ‘ in-school CV’, ready to show to future education providers or employers.

Margrave Imperatrix Ambidexter Voltigeur

Altus

The Latin word ‘altus’ means high, noble or profound. We thought this was an appropriate way to describe the students who achieve this status at Ridgewood, and so we developed the ALTUS reward scheme in order to recognise outstanding effort and attitude. As well as having a Latin meaning, we have also attributed the qualities of our ALTUS students to each letter of the word.

Students at Ridgewood can now collect Vivo points as a reward for their excellent behaviour, manners, attitude and achievement. These can be saved up and spent on a range of treats ranging from stationery to mini fridges! All students are eligible, and can track their own Vivo points online.

A

L

U

T

S

is for attitude

is for leadership

is for teamwork

is for understanding

is for success

Our Rewards

REWARDS

House Competitions and Events

76 RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

Behaviour for Learning

09.00 - 09.10

09.10 - 10.10

10.10 - 11.25

11.25 - 12.25

12.25 - 14.00

14.00 - 15.00

15.00 - 15.30

Registration(in tutor group with form tutor)

Period 1

Period 2 (including morning break at different times for different year groups)

Period 3

Period 4 (including lunch at different times for different year groups)

Period 5

Character Curriculum(in tutor group with form tutor)

Speak to other people in a pleasant way

Do not touchanother student

Those students who do not follow these rules will receive consequences which may lead to an after school detention if the rules are consistently broken. Students who follow the rules will receive praise from their teachers, and will be eligible for the ALTUS reward system (see p.7). We strive to create an environment where teachers can teach, and students can learn.

The School Day

Remain on-taskat all times

Remain silent whenthe teacher is talking

When can I expect to receive Creating Futures data?

The Creating Futures data is inputted by teachers and reported to students and their parents five times a year. You can expect to receive the data in:

Early October • Early December • Early February • Mid April • Early June

Creating FuturesWhat is Creating Futures?

Creating Futures is the system we use at Ridgewood to monitor students’ progress and attitude throughout the year, and to let parents know how their child is performing in relation to their target in each subject. Students receive information which tells them if they are ‘on track’ to achieve their target grade, as well as an attitude grade for each subject: Outstanding, Motivated, Coasting or Unacceptable.

This is a reflection of the student’s attitude towards completion of work in lesson, for homework, and their overall behaviour. The Creating Futures system also allows teachers to record any concerns they may have with a student’s coursework or attendance, and any detentions they may have received.

Our Behaviour for Learning policy (BfL) ensures that students are able to learn and work without distractions, and that praise is at the forefront of every lesson. It has four simple rules which students must follow.

1 2 3 4

98 RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

Our School Uniform

All students at Ridgewood are expected to abide by our uniform policy. The image to the left illustrates the uniform worn by students in Y7-11. Please see our website for more details.

SEND ProvisionIt is paramount that students with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the correct provision and support. We have a large number of staff whose role in school is to work with our SEND students in order to maximise their enjoyment and success whilst at Ridgewood.

Support Available

When students arrive in Y7, we use information from their primary school alongside their KS2 data and the CATs (cognitive ability tests) we conduct in order to assess their needs, to identify if intervention to support literacy or numeracy is required, and to assess potential and set targets for pupils as they move through the key stages. Students identified as requiring additional support can then access a wide range of resources, which may include one-to-one in class support, additional taught lessons in curriculum time, collaboration with outside agencies, or an Individual Education or Behaviour Plan. We make sure that all teachers in the school are aware not only of these students’ needs, but also of their learning preferences and their personal likes and dislikes inside and beyond the classroom.

Some of our students at Ridgewood have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (also known as ASD, Autism, or Asperger’s). We have a dedicated ASD support base called ‘The Pod’, which acts as a safe place for students, and from where a variety of Autism friendly activities and

interventions are run. Students on the Autistic Spectrum engage in social skills and life skills sessions, have individual and small group mentoring, BfL coaching, specific safety intervention, and input around puberty and relationships. They develop an understanding of social boundaries and appropriate behaviours within a secure environment, and as they move into KS4 these students undertake activities such as independent travel training in order to prepare them for the real world.

We also have extensive support available for students with hearing impairments, physical difficulty, educational statements, those requiring in-school support and those with emotional, behavioural and social difficulties.At Ridgewood, we want all our students to succeed and to feel part of a school community where everyone is valued equally. If you would like any more information about our SEND Department, please do not hesitate to contact the school and we would be happy to speak to you.

Facilities

We continue to be very proud of our purpose built Post-16 Centre which houses facilities to enable and support teaching and learning tailored to the needs of our learners. It includes a 200 seat, multi-use auditorium, which is a state-of-the-art venue for presentations, drama and dance productions and conferences. The space is highly serviced with the most up to date audio-visual equipment, including 3D projection and WiFi. The seating area is retractable to provide a much bigger space if required. A mix of study and social spaces are also available where students can work collaboratively or privately, or socialise in a more adult environment. A staffed café provides a range of high quality food and drink for the post-16 students throughout the day.

Activities and Events

It is a priority to timetable enrichment time into the curriculum through which students can participate in sporting activities, voluntary work or undertake additional studies aside from their more formal qualifications. Students are expected to partake in an internship/experience of work programme which will give them valuable experience in a field related to the path they wish to take once they have finished their studies at Ridgewood. As in main school, our priority is to provide a holistic education and to prepare our young people for being valuable members of society. We run Community Sports Leader, Coaching and Officiating Qualifications, and many other curriculum areas offer courses and extra-curricular activities related to their programmes.

Progression Routes

Over 80% of our post-16 students go on to study at university, with approximately one in every four gaining a place at a prestigious Russell Group university. We believe our students leave Ridgewood not only ready for the academic challenges that lie ahead, but with the skills and attributes to become active citizens and confident leaders.

Post16

Our Post-16 provision is first class and our results are a testament to the excellent teaching that students receive, and the commitment and hard work of all our post-16 students. Ofsted graded our Post-16 provision as ‘Outstanding’ when it was inspected in 2015.

1110 RIDGEWOOD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

Ridgewood School, Barnsley Road, Scawsby, Doncaster, DN5 7UB. Headteacher: M H Dunn

Tel: 01302 783939 Fax: 01302 800488 www.ridgewoodschool.co.uk