Newsletter

Summer 2019

Happy Retirement,

Mr Hayer

2

Uniform changes

No hoodies in school

The school’s Governing Body has made changes to the uniform policy

to ensure that we maintain our high standards in uniform. These

changes will be in place from September 2019.

Zip or pullover hoodies are not allowed to be worn in school. Hooded

tops will be confiscated from any students wearing them for six weeks

or until parents or carers come to collect. Please note below are examples

of unsuitable items, not a complete list.

We would like to remind you that trainer socks and ankle socks are not

allowed. Students in incorrect socks will be sent home to change into

the correct uniform. Plain black socks that cover the ankle should be worn.

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School bus fares increase from September

From the start of the 2019/2020 academic year, school bus fares on

the Yellow School Bus will increase in line with inflation. The Y71

route serves Moston, New Moston and Chadderton.

An IGO card costs £10 and lasts until 31st August after a student’s

16th birthday. The card allows 11-16 year olds to travel using child

tickets on buses and trams in Greater Manchester.

School trousers should also be tailored rather than tapered or skinny

fit. For Year 7 students, trousers should have the school emblem.

Please note it is not acceptable to sew emblem badges onto trousers

or skirts.

We would like to thank all parents and carers for your co-operation in

maintaining the high standards of uniform that we expect from our

students. Full details of the school uniform policy, including more

information on the changes we are making this year can be seen on

the school website, www.theradclyffeschool.co.uk/school-uniform

Fare Type Old (£) New (£)

Child Single (IGO) 1.35 1.40

Child Single (no IGO) 1.75 1.80

Child return 2.30 2.40

Child Weekly 7.30 7.40

Adult Single 2.70 2.80

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Girls take a view of Career Opportunities

Careers, Employment Information Advice and Guidance

Many students leave The Radclyffe School with a firm idea of a future

career, whether following friends or relatives, or having been inspired

by someone they have heard at school through our careers education.

For all students, appropriate advice and guidance takes place throughout

their school career, raising awareness of the huge range of career pathways

available. With constant changes in technology, it has been said that

many jobs that will be available to our students in the future do not

even exist yet. We will continue to prepare our students to take advantage

in future years.

Year 8 Money Supermarket workshop

30 Year 8 girls took part in an industry sessions to gain an overview of

Money Supermarket as a tech employer gaining an insight into job

roles, skills and behaviours required.

The interactive workshop gave them an insight into working in a tech

environment and get hands on, mentored and guided by industry experts

who work at Money Supermarket.

‘Meet Your Future’

Girls in Year 9 travelled to an event at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford.

Over 700 employers were represented, and had one-to-one meetings

with our students. The girls were able to ask questions about the

mentors current roles in their organisation, and found out the skills they

would need to pursue a career in their field and more generally for a

young person seeking employment.

5

300 Students became

a dementia friend

during dementia

awareness week.

Students learn how

they can become

more dementia

friendly helping people

in their community to

live well with dementia.

+++++++++++++

132 of our Year 11

students have signed

up for the National

Citizens Service to

complete over the

summer holidays.

To prepare them for

NCS we ran an NCS

VIP event, where our

students met the NCS

staff and tried several

activities in teams to

gain an insight into

what to expect, build

a rapport with NCS

staff.

News from around school

Summer of 69 (successful students)

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Our largest ever group of students to complete

their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award spent

the final weekend of term on their two day

expedition in the Lancashire countryside.

Sixty-nine students hiked through Saddleworth,

camped out, cooked for themselves and all

completed the route. This was of course, just a

part of what is required for the award.

In three groups led by Mr Davies, Mr Nash and

Mr Cheetham, the students developed skills and

undertook physical challenges. These physical

tasks included badminton, weightlifting, ballroom

dancing, kung fu, swimming, horse riding and

football.

Amongst the skills that students learnt were

playing the piano, cooking, coding, handling

and caring for horses, painting and design,

maths tutoring and photography.

The final activity before the expedition saw our

students volunteer in a range of settings. From

teaching young children to swim to working in a

charity shop, and many other activities, the

young people were able to make a contribution

to the local community as part of the award.

Achieving the bronze award is an excellent

introduction, and many students go on to

achieve higher levels at Sixth Form and beyond.

Many congratulations to all our successful students

in 2019.

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Live now! - The Radclyffe School on Facebook

Student Team steps up

New Student Leaders take up roles

The candidates promoted, manifestoes published and votes counted -

once again we have held our very own leadership election. Not leading

to a new Prime Minister, but to the appointment of our new Head Boy,

Head Girl and Student Leadership Team.

Nineteen students put

themselves forward, and

after a vote of all students

and staff, the process

reached its conclusion with

the students interviewed by

Headteacher Mr Hayer and

other staff. Our new Student

Leadership Team has now

officially taken up its duties

in school.

Congratulations to new

Head Boy Ahmet Andic and

Head Girl Georgia Jones.

Supporting them will be

Deputy Head Girls Amber Bibi

and Heather Fish, and

Deputy Head Boys Shaheer

Sheikh and Zegham Waheed.

We have several special roles on the team, which this year will be taken by

Tannima Begum and Lewis Gavin, our Gifted & Talented Ambassadors.

These students work both in school and with local primaries, with

high ability pupils. Our Transition Ambassadors Sara Sheikh and Leo

Thorpe work with new Year 7 students to help them make the move into

secondary school enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. This is a

developing role that will also support Year 6 pupils as they move through

applying to school, receiving their place and preparing to move up.

Completing the 2019-20 Student Leadership Team are our Year 11

Ambassadors, who take on several important roles for our final year

students. So well done also to Aribah Khan, Ruksana Akhtar, Adam

Hussain and Yazan Khatib.

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A letter from the leaving Head Girl, Sarah Nazir

To the students of The Radclyffe School,

Despite its inevitability, leaving the Radclyffe School is still a shock

and still saddening. My time here has defined the course of my future

and been integral in my growth as a young person, and without a

doubt: irreplaceable. Irreplaceable because of the friends I have

made. Irreplaceable because of

the teachers who inspired me

with their dedication, which

could not be found anywhere

else. Irreplaceable because of

the values the ethos of the

school have instilled within me.

Like clockwork, I pass on the

torch of Head Girl to the next

deserving student just like it

was passed down to me and

will continue to be passed

down for generations. My role

was to act as a leader for the

students in this school and I

hope I have fulfilled it. It was

my dream to be Head Girl

since Year 7 and I achieved it,

and it was everything I thought

it would be.

So, if I can leave you with any passing advice it would be make the most

of your experience in this school; to strive for any and every opportunity

that comes your way and maximise your capability because nowhere

else will you find people that believe so much in you and support you

like this. Work hard enough to be proud of where you are at the end of

your five years here. Trust me, it matters.

Good luck,

Sarah Nazir, (Tenth Head Girl of The Radclyffe School)

The price of a Meal Deal in Café Mojo goes up in

September from £2.37 to £2.42

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Goodbye Mr Hayer

Inspiring Headteacher retires after 21 years

On behalf of current and former staff and students of The Radclyffe

School, we would like to thank our retiring Headteacher Mr Hayer for his

service to the school, and wish him a long and happy retirement.

Mr Hayer joined the school in January 1998, when we were on two sites,

Hunt Lane and Broadway. Among the highlights of Mr Hayer’s time in

charge of the school have been;

• the granting of Specialist Technology College status in 2004,

• the opening of the new £28 million school building in 2008,

opened by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

• the introduction of our unique PEP4U programme with staff

supporting students as their Personal Learning Guides.

• and in 2015, our Ofsted inspection found the school to be

Outstanding in all categories

We were all very proud of Mr Hayer’s achievement in 2016 when he

was named Headteacher of the Year in the Pearson Teaching Awards.

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Garden renamed in tribute to departing headteacher

The Hardial Hayer Outstanding Legacy Garden

Over recent months students have put hours of work into restoring an

area of the school grounds that had previously been used as a garden

but had fallen into disrepair.

Working with Mr Munro and staff from Design & Technology, students

have helped to install raised beds, a shed and greenhouse. They have

planted trees and shrubs and paths and the pond have been restored.

We have reported the progress on this Legacy Garden throughout this

year, as students in Year 11 worked with younger students to get

everything in place so that the land becomes productive and well used.

Vegetables from the garden will be used in community projects locally.

Students in all year groups will learn valuable skills in growing food.

As the school year ends we celebrated by dedicating the garden to Mr

Hayer. He cut the ribbon to open the garden, which stands in a corner

of the grounds close to the railway bridge on Hunt Lane. Cricket is one

of Mr Hayer’s passions, and an exciting staff game took place, enjoyed

by players and spectators alike.

10

Students’ awesome performance brings poetry alive

Poetry by Heart

Poems from modern Mancunian verse to Shakespeare’s sonnet graced

the annual Poetry by Heart competition, with the quality of recital the best

yet.

Students showed more than just memorising words, with passionate

performances that entertained the judges and made decisions about

the winners very difficult.

So many congratulations to our Year 7 winner Lia, who read brilliantly

Nick Toczek’s The Dragon who ate our school. The runner up was Hanifa

with an excellent telling of Michael Rosen’s I Opened a Book.

The Year 8 competition continued at the same high level of quality. In

the end the winner was Mohammed, reciting Siegfried Sassoon’s WW1

poem Suicide in the Trenches, closely edging out another Great War

poem, Who’s for the Game by Jessie Pope. Well done again on the

exceptional quality.

Once again we were delighted to welcome professional performance

poet Dominic Berry who acted as compere throughout, performing

some of his own poems for the competitors as well as to an appreciative

audience during the lunch break.

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Samuel’s singing clinches the win

Young Musician of the Year

The school’s growing musical talent was on

show at the Young Musician of the Year show.

Six talented musicians made it through to the

final celebration following dozens of excellent

solo performances across the school. Head of

Music Mr Corrigan had the unenviable task of

deciding the finalists, and the six chosen

covered piano, percussion, guitar and voice.

Mr Corrigan said, “The concert also saw some

fantastic performances from musicians across

our school including our RadLads Boys Choir,

the Vocal Group, the Cast of Joseph and some

staff performances as well. I am incredibly

proud of all of our musicians who demonstrated

once again that they are absolute professionals

and that The Radclyffe School is a beacon of

excellence for the Performing Arts.”

At the end of the evening a winner had to be

announced, and the judges decided it was

Samuel O’Neill, who sang and played piano to

She used to be mine, from the musical The

Waitress. Many congratulations Samuel, and

to the other finalists; pianist William Smith;

Cara Bourne, Vocals; Rubya Choudhury,

percussion; guitarist Ahmet Andic and vocalist

Sara Sheikh.

Designing an eco-

classroom was the

challenge for two

teams taking part in

the Go4Set project,

which culminated in a

graduation ceremony

at Queen Elizabeth

Hall in Oldham.

Team Evergreen and

Team Ecotopia put

their proposals into a

visual display before

presenting them in

front of a team of

judges from various

businesses across

Oldham.

Over the term the

two teams had

worked with mentors

from Network Rail on

their plans. Success

in completing the

programme means

that all of the students

taking part achieved

their bronze level

Industrial Cadet

Award, organised by

the Engineering

Development Trust.

Go4Set

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60 Year 10 students

embarked on a one

week work experience

opportunity developing

their own skills to

succeed in the world

of work.

Placements took in

various different

sectors from doctor's

surgeries to primary

schools. Students

gained valuable skills

and we received many

positive comments

regarding students’

successful placements.

++++++++++++

Are you on social

media? Follow the

school on twitter

and Facebook to see

more content about

all that is happening

in school.

News from around school

School builds Ghana friendship

Teacher visit shares stories

Through a growing relationship with a school

in Ghana, our students are gaining a better

understanding of education around the world.

During this term we welcomed our friends

from Modern Star school. Over the past year we

have supported education for the students in

Ghana by collecting exercise books and running

charity events. We have also delivered

presentations to Modern Star students by video

link, about our Britain in a Box project (as

seen in our June newsletter) and on how to

filter water to make it drinkable.

Our Modern Star friends headteacher Mr

Soyiri and head of social studies Mr Anobiga

visited on a cultural exchange. During their

visit they taught our students in Citizenship

and Values lessons and gave them an insight

into education in Ghana.

They worked with our learning and teaching

team to enhance their curriculum at Modern

Star to raise the standard of education the

children in Ghana are receiving.

13

A Successful Sporting Summer

PE opportunities lead to achievement

If you thought school sport was just football or cricket, at The Radclyffe

School you will find that times have changed. Sport and PE offer our

students a wide range of activity, with students of all ability levels

encouraged to get involved.

We also celebrate success, and our students have enjoyed a term of

high achievement. We hosted the Oldham Schools’ Athletics Championships

at the athletics centre. Congratulations to our Individual medal winners;

Hannah Ali (Y7) - 3rd in high jump, Ajem

Ojulu (Y8) - 2nd in high jump, Ahmed Malik

(Y8) - 3rd in high jump, Martim Fernandes

(Y8) - 2nd in triple jump, Nasir Hussain (Y8) -

3rd in Long jump, Mohammed Jafor (Y9) -

2nd in Shot Putt, Cameron Hyde (Y9) - 2nd in

high jump, Grace Elswood (Y9) - 3rd in shot

putt, Macy Schofield (Y10) - 3rd in high jump,

Abida Begum (Y10) - 3rd in shot putt, Anees

Asif (Y10) - 2nd in shot putt, Ethan Gibbings

(Y7) - 3rd in 100m hurdles, and our Oldham

Schools Champion in discus, Success Uruwah.

Overall our Year 8 boys team were Oldham

Schools Athletics Field Events Champions.

Across other sports we offer students the opportunity to represent the

school and take part in competition. In light of England’s cricket success,

our boys’ cricket teams in years 7, 8, 9 and 10, all reached the semi

finals of the Oldham Schools Cup, with many fine performances.

Year 8 students Mohammed Nehal and Bailey Kilgannon had an

excellent 2nd place in the junior tennis tournament. Our Year 10 girls

team took 3rd place in the Oldham Schools Rounders competition.

During the year, students have enjoyed many different sports both in

and out of school. Another example of success came just in the final

weeks of term, where a Year 7/8 team took third place in the Greater

Manchester Ultimate Frisbee contest.

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Joseph photo collage

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Months of rehearsals, learning songs, and choreographing dances have

led to another outstanding production. In its 50th anniversary year,

the well known songs of Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Joseph and

the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat provided superb entertainment.

As well as two evening shows, the talented cast performed for local

primary school audiences, teaching songs and dance routines.

Well done to everyone involved in putting the show together. These

images give a flavour of the fantastic show.

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Ancient Greek inspiration for Joseph scenery

Bespoke scenery created in house

Audiences enjoying the recent performances could also admire the

superb, bespoke scenery on stage. This has been created ‘in

house’ by our own Mr Saddique, VTLE Developer in our VTLE

team, who is also bespoke freelance artist. Mr Saddique’s work can

be found on all social media platforms, search imijs art studio.

A garage in the school grounds became a studio in recent weeks,

where Mr Saddique built the wooden frames then decorated them

using a graffiti style, an Egyptian theme and a Canaan theme, which

rotated as the show proceeded.

Mr Saddique has spent more than 40 hours creating the colourful

scenery for the show, using more than 30 different spray can colours.

This rotating scenery is a fascinating addition in itself, coming from

ancient Greek theatre tradition. Each piece is known as a Periakatos,

which will move to indicate the changing scenes. The Periaktos was

revived as part of Italian theatre from around 1500, and on the

English stage in the 17th century.

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Hunt Lane, Chadderton, Oldham, OL9 0LS Tel: 0161 622 3200 Fax: 0161 633 2183

www.theradclyffeschool.co.uk

Attendance leads to Achievement

Thank you for your support

One of the basic ingredients to academic success is to be at school,

ready to learn. We are proud of our students’ commitment to learning ,

which has led once again to our highest ever attendance. Students

were in school for 96.3% of the school year, which is equivalent to

missing just seven days each year.

We would like also to thank parents and carers for all your efforts in

ensuring that your children are at school each day.

This year has also seen an improvement in punctuality, especially

impressive in the light of the roadworks taking place on Hunt Lane. We

expect students to be at school for 8.35am, giving them time to prepare

for the first lesson at 8.50am. Where students arrive after 8.40am, they

sign in with their Rad number. If a student arrives after 8.45am they

receive a red card, which means they are required to attend a meeting

at break time, where they complete a form to explain why they were

late. Where a student may be persistently late, the Attendance Team

can provide support to overcome what might be causing this.