16 February 2017

NEWS BULLETIN

Governor Mona Adams interviews Paul MundyCastle Community Governor, Mona Adams, has re-visited Mr MundyCastle after 5 months as Principal as RPA. If you want to find out more about where RPA is now and where Mr Mundy-Castle expects us to get to, read Mona’s interview on the RPA website.

Parent Planning event - register to attend!

The winner of the Championship Cup was Stanley Primary School, in their first year of entering, and the winner of the Challenger Cup was Sheen Mount. Thank you to all of the enthusiastic primary school children who came to join us and to chess coach, Tim Mortimer who gives up his time each year for this event.

GCSEPod We are delighted to announce our commitment to the industry award winning GCSEPod. GCSEPod offers in-depth, online subject knowledge for 20+ GCSE subjects covering every exam board and different specifications. GCSEPod’s unique approach offers bite-sized learning and can be accessed on phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. Wherever they are, on the bus, at school or at home, our students can enhance their knowledge and continually improve their GCSE prospects.

RPA are very lucky with its proactive, engaged parent body. With that In mind we will be organising our first Parent Planning event on Wednesday March 22nd. Mr Mundy-Castle will share Preparing for the the School Development Plan and then there will be a range of facilitated discussions to generate ideas and future agree initiatives from the audience. All parents are Year 12 enjoyed a day at welcome. To confirm your attendance, please email Goldsmith University this term. They learnt about [email protected]. independent research and to develop an essay Primary chess back for the 8th year how question for themselves as well as taking on the creative challenge of organising a festival. They were also advised on how to choose a degree course. Thank you to Goldsmith University for their hospitality.

Mirasur student exchange visit final call!

RPA hosted the 8th annual Primary Chess Tournament this term. Organised by Mr Martin and local chess coach, Tim Mortimer over 100 local primary school students participated representing 10 primary schools.

Thank you to those of you who have offered accommodation for our Spanish guests in April. If you haven’t got in touch, you aren’t too late! We are still looking for hosts between April 19 and 29. If you think you can offer accommodation, even for only part of the time, or host more than one student please get in touch at [email protected] as soon as possible.

An inspiring learning community

16 February 2017

NEWS BULLETIN

Positive thinking takes centre stage

ban across the school starting after the half term holiday. Thank you, in advance, for your support.

Year 10 Head of Year, Ms Hunter, has introduced a fantastic new initiative for 20 lucky Year 10 girls. The Street Elite Female Academy will be running a 12 week course which will focus on the importance of being positive and embracing positive influences. Sessions will cover healthy body, healthy soul, health goals, conflict resolution, public speaking, leadership and work experience. The objective of the course is to encourage our 15 year old girls to take advantage of the opportunities that life will offer them with a positive attitude.

Saturday school and Year 11 revision Our Key Stage 3 Saturday School and Year 11 revision initiatives are going from strength to strength with fantastic commitment from students across the school. Well done to all of those students going the extra mile to get the results that they deserve either in the extra after school sessions or during Saturday School.

Poetry by Heart Congratulations to the following Year 7 students who have made it to the next round of the RPA competition, Poetry by Heart. They will be performing again on Wednesday 22 for a place in the next round.

Regional finals beckon for Girls U/13 TT Team

Parker B, Jake J, George H, Farah S, Isabella Y, Elizabeth P, David S, Leo M, Tia L, David G B, The RPA U/13 Girls Table Connor F, Emily R, Evie D, Leo B, Noam S and Tennis team of Jaikalin B, Freddie S Elizabeth P, Emilia N and Michaela P competed in the zone finals of the English Schools Table Tennis Call for new Governors! Butterfly National School Team The Richmond Park Academy Governing Board are Association, Championship in January. They finished joint top with looking to recruit new community governors. We would Burlington Danes but finished second based on the be especially interested in talking to people with a head to head result. They now travel to Bristol to background in, or in-depth knowledge of, the secondary education sector, professional experience in working compete in the regional finals. This was a genuine team with young people, or a track record in Human effort with all girls contributing wins across the Resource Management. If you're interested in finding tournament. We are very proud of their attitude, out more, or have a contact in the local community who sportsmanship and competitive spirit! you think could be a strong asset for RPA, please contact Chair of Governors, David Heath, in the first Sporting agony and ecstasy - a instance. There is also more detail on the RPA website.

sporting roundup from Mr Costello!

Chewing gum given its marching orders... After half term the students will return to beautifully cleaned playgrounds after a concerted effort by our facilities staff to remove chewing gum. We are very fortunate to have such beautiful grounds and are determined to keep them that way. In order to protect the grounds going forward there will be a chewing gum

Sport will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It will leave you frustrated and in despair. It will puff out your chest with pride and make you want the ground to swallow you up with embarrassment. It provides shared experiences, both good and bad, that creates a bond between teammates that live with you forever. Sport is far from boring. We had the whole gamut of emotions this term…. for more from Mr Costello see his website post.

An inspiring learning community

16 February 2017

NEWS BULLETIN

History - website feedback The history team have plans to enhance their webpage with useful links and parent information and would like feedback on what you would like them to focus on. If you have any ideas or suggestions get in contact with History Subject Leader, Mr Doy.

RPA’s World War One Those of you who have following The Legacy 110 Project will know that RPA has been heavily involved with the commemoration of World War One. As a continuation of that theme, Year 9 students have been researching their family trees. They have plotted a map detailing where their families fought and are buried. You can view the map here.

Attendance initiatives It is vital as a school and as individual students that we continue to focus on the importance of attendance. The higher the attendance, the better the results. This term we have been running our JUST 25 campaign. With only 25 working days in the term we wanted all students to target perfect punctuality and attendance. All those who have achieved that will be entered into a draw for a Kindle or MP3 player. We would also like to advise parents that all absence for those students who have an attendance record below 90% will be recorded as unauthorised.

If anyone would like to have their family added to the House Captains announced map please email Ms Underwood. Ms Underwood is delighted to announce that, after an interview process, the following students have been selected as House Captains for this year: NCS - The

challenge Year 11 and 12 are being encouraged to participate in the National Citizen Service organised, The Challenge, a funded programme for 15-17 year olds. The Challenge features two residential elements and the opportunity to design, pitch and deliver a social action project. The Challenge is heavily subsidised costing only £50. If you would like to sign up, or want more information, visit www.ncsthechallenge.org, or contact Eleni, the local NCS Co-ordinator, on 07867 601 916 or via email.

Busy Year 12s! Year 12s have had their psychometric testing (Centigrade test administered by the Cambridge Occupational Analysts) and will be getting their feedback soon. They also had a financial awareness session from the Richmond Citizens Advice Bureau featuring mortgages, PAYE and debt, as well as a session with the Police looking at driver awareness and safety. After half term they can look forward to a visit from Barclays who will be running life skills sessions and a Work and Training and Higher Education Fair at Richmond College.

Nightingales Foxes

Sydney M

Churchill’s Bulldogs

Sydnee G and Nada R

St George’s Dragons

Ellie C and Emils P

Shakespeare’s Lions

Hanan I and Chris S

Assistant to Ms Underwood

Cristina L

What’s On Date

Event

23 February 2017

Year 10 Parents’ Evening

27 February 2017

Year 11 PPEs start

2 March 2017

Year 8 Parents’ Evening

10 March 2017

House Table Tennis competition

22 March 2017

Parent Planning event

30 March 2017

Last day of term and All school Assembly

Don’t forget to check the What’s On page of the website!

An inspiring learning community