Dear Parents and Friends,

This final week before half term has felt very busy in all areas of the School. After a full weekend of rehearsals, Year 11 drama students put on their GCSE examined performances on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Rehearsals continue in the auditorium for the School Play, Wind in the Willows, which runs from Wednesday, 26th November to Friday, 28th November.

On Monday we welcomed Year 8 parents to a Parents’ Awareness Evening, which focused on study skills following on from the training Year 8 had received last week. We moved on to a discussion of issues around e-safety and support for pupils and parents. It was pleasing to be able to share this information with a core group of Year 8 parents, and the summary pack is also available for all to see on the Parent Portal at http://parents.royalrussell.co.uk/api/login/

We welcomed two groups of students on Thursday joining us for the MUN Conference this weekend. The first from Hitachi High School, who arrived and gave a cultural presentation to our Sixth Form at lunchtime. The second from Cours Saint Charles for a French exchange visit, which will see Royal Russell pupils return to France in half term.

On Wednesday evening our senior public speaking team won their round in the Local Rotary Club Public Speaking Competition. Congratulations to Bart, Katie and Georgia. Also on Wednesday, I welcomed Senior School Parent House Representatives to the Library for our Parent Forum. A number of topics were discussed including the new system for booking parent meetings online and our thoughts on the future use of mobile technology in the classroom. Notes from this meeting will be circulated and placed on the Parent Portal post half term. My thank you to all the Reps who took time to come and discuss ideas with me.

We have been busy visiting feeder schools this week and I spoke at Oakfield Prep School in Dulwich on Tuesday. We were represented on Thursday evening at Newton Prep in Battersea at a large Independent Schools Exhibition.

The sporting highlight of this week will have to be the performance of the Under 14 Netball Team who attended Surrey Schools’ Netball Cup at JAGS on Wednesday and qualified as one of the top twelve schools in Surrey beating Tiffin, Reigate Grammar, Woldingham and Cranleigh on their way. Particular mention to Libby Jones who was Player of the Day and Rosa Verrico Houston, their captain.

I am delighted to see the first ‘new year’ edition of the r newspaper published this week with a whole range of articles written and co-ordinated by the new editorial team, Jamie King, Georgia Davies and Maddie Beadle. Congratulations to all for their work on this. Our annual Russellian magazine arrived in School late on Thursday and distribution of this to Senior School pupils will take place after half term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors, in particular Cathi Allison as Editor and Salli Ransom who has done so much work to co-ordinate the final production.

Preparations are now busily under way for the 33rd Royal Russell International Model United Nations Conference which starts on Saturday. I very much look forward to welcoming delegations from our friends in schools around the world and wish Mr Keable-Elliot and the staff and student teams all the very best for a successful conference.

I want to finish by congratulating the School on a very successful first half of term and wish you well for the half term break.

Chris Hutchinson

Headmaster

Royal Russell School

Headmaster’s Weekly

Newsletter

17 October 2014

From the Chapel

In School services this week, Cambridge House pupils related Oscar Wilde’s short story of The Happy Prince. Lucas, Hrishi and William told how, with the help of a little swallow, a statue of a happy prince gives to poor and needy people in the city below all his valuables: the leaves of gold that cover him, the two sapphires which are his eyes, and the ruby on his sword. The swallow, instead of migrating to Egypt for the winter, stays and helps the prince whom he loves. When the swallow dies in the cold, the prince’s heart of lead snaps in two. God says that the leaden heart and the dead swallow are the two most precious things in the city, and grants them eternal life in heaven. The prince and the swallow are both examples of self-giving, sacrificial love - the love of which Jesus said: ’No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends’.

How can we help those being persecuted for their faith in Syria and Iraq? Southwark Cathedral is selling candles with the symbol used by terrorists to identify Christians – the first letter of the Arabic word for Christian, Nasrani. The Nasrani Candle can be lit as a sign that you are in solidarity with those who are facing persecution, torture and death for their faith. This evening prayer can be said:

Lighten our darkness, Lord, we pray, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of your only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

All profits generated will be sent to The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, which works on the ground in Iraq and Syria, to bring humanitarian aid direct to those most in need. There are three heights of candle: (£3.50), (£4.00) and (£5.00). They can be purchased from the Cathedral Shop or from the School Chaplain [hkirk@royalrussell.co.uk].

Chapel Quiz 24: On October 18th the Church celebrates St Luke the Evangelist [i.e. author of

one of the four Gospels]. What was his profession and what other book did he write?

Answer: Luke was a physician, whose Gospel describes several

healing miracles of Jesus. He also wrote The Acts of The Apostles, which follows the four Gospels in the Bible. Christian tradition states that he was the first icon painter, who painted pictures of the Virgin Mary and Child.

Chapel Quiz 25: On October 13th the Church honours Edward

the Confessor, the only King of England to have been made a saint. He died in 1066 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, which he had founded. What is a confessor? A prize to the pupil with the best answer.

Famous Bible Typos 1:

A Bible printed in 1562 contains: “Blessed are the placemakers [instead of peace-makers], for they shall be called the children of God.”(Mark 5:9)

Pupil Howler: Monotony means having only one wife.

[Out of the mouths of babes …]

Year 8 Residential Trip to Paris Thirty-eight Year 8 pupils went to the French Capital for four days on a cultural and linguistic experience. We stayed at the Campus Sainte-Thérèse, a renowned French secondary school in the outskirts of Paris. Our students had the opportunity to meet some French pupils in another school and had the possibility to practise and enhance their French whilst enjoying biscuits, cakes and drinks offered by the French students. They also had two morning classes with French teachers and received their certificate at the end of the stay with their own little Eiffel Tower.

There were many opportunities to discover the Parisian monuments. We went up the Eiffel Tower where the panoramic views of Paris were spectacular. This was followed by a cruise on the river Seine that gave us a sunny perspective on Notre-Dame, the Orsay Museum and the famous bridge where tourists from all over the world attach a padlock to symbolise their love and friendships.

Our visit to the Palais de la Découverte, the Parisian answer to our Science Museum, enabled our pupils to learn about the solar system, technology and nature in a practical way. Our last visit was to the famous Château de Versailles that was once the residence of Louis XIV, the Sun King, where the highlights were the Gallery of Mirrors and the Gardens “à la française”.

Our culinary experience included fresh croissants and pains au chocolats for breakfast, a restaurant with a view over a Horse manège, Planet Hollywood at the Disney Village and a pizza-disco on our last night where the boys and girls got to show their best dresses, outfits and dance moves. All in all this was a great trip, with a full programme of activities and with the sun shining throughout. Merci Paris!

MiniMUN meets the MUN General Assembly The Year 6, 7 and 8 students who have been attending MiniMUN this term had the first chance to debate in the Great Hall set up as the General Assembly for our annual MUN conference.

This year students have debated subjects such as Endangered Species, Independence, Girls Sport and, on Wednesday, whether countries should support America in their war on Islamic State.

History Battlefields Trip Year 9 students travelled to Ypres to lay a wreath in remembrance of the Old Russellians who lost their lives in the First World War.

Amanfi Aggrey and Maddie Burt carried the wreath in front of at least five thousand people at the Menin Gate.

Year 7 PRESSURE in Art and Design Year 7’s spent a lesson using their drawing pencils to create a range of different marks, textures and tones. They achieved this by varying the PRESSURE on the pencil. The five observational drawings shown here are by Taniora Bellamy, Nathan Haile, Cameron Mackay, Oscar Martin and Lily Payne.

TRINITY SCHOOLS’ BOOK AWARD

This year, our school along with 12 others, including Dulwich, Whitgift, Trinity and Caterham, is taking part in a new book award.

The award is split into two categories: Senior and Junior. Pupils are asked to read six selected books on the theme “War and Peace” from either the Senior or Junior lists and then vote for their favourite. A school winner for each category will be chosen. When the votes from all the schools are totalled an overall winner for each category will be announced at a ceremony at Latymer Upper in early March.

Details of all the books can be found on the Library’s intranet page where you will also find instructions for posting comments and reviews on the award’s website. Reading needs to be completed by the end of January 2015 and voting will take place shortly after that.

The Library has produced a reading diary to help pupils keep a personal record of their reading. We hope parents will encourage their children to take part in this initiative. If you would like further details then please visit: http://tsba.edublogs.org/

News from Foodland

FOOD CLUB - Years 7 – 9 Mrs Saunders orchestrated a session of making Halloween

Chocolate Potato Cakes with the food club this week.

Wednesday 5th November Thai Pumpkin Soup

& Bread Roll

Sign-up list on the fridge in Foodland

Word of the week: Pressure Cooking to deadlines, for assessment, writing up controlled

assessments and sitting exams are all pressure enough. In Food Technology, pressure is used in practical sessions when

making bread, the proteins gliadin and glutenin are combined in the presence of water due to the pressure applied through kneading. A

pressure cooker utilises the pressure created inside the lidded saucepan to cook food in a fraction of the traditional cooking time stated.

Tori, Year 13, made a Lamb Cobbler using the pressure cooker for the

‘casserole’ in 30 minutes where the recipe called for 2 hours in the oven.

FOOD CLUB - Years 10-13 Thursday 6

th November – P13

JAMIE OLIVER’S LEVEL 2 COOKERY COURSE

Above: Year 7 Pancakes. Left: Year 9 Pizza Scrolls

Rotary Public Speaking Win On Wednesday 15th October, the senior public speaking team competed in the Local Rotary Club Public Speaking competition held in our auditorium. Teams from six schools were represented and our main speaker, Katie Durrell addressed the audience on the topic of charities. She explained in detail how money donated to major charities was often used to pay high salaries, commission to “chuggers” and often just “disappeared”. She did, however, extol the virtues of local and often small charities where people donate their time and energies tirelessly and certainly do ensure that money is spent appropriately,

Bartholomew Konnechni chaired the meeting with his usual aplomb and managed to sneak in a political point or two and the vote of thanks was given by Georgia Covell in her first appearance in the public speaking team. The school was given a cheque for £100 from the Rotary Club and we will probably use this to introduce public speaking as a House activity and competition. Congratulations to Croydon High for Girls who were close runners-up on the night, and the team look

forward to the next round – the District where we will be competing with other winners of this round.

The r – Royal Russell’s pupil-led school newspaper – was published in houses on Thursday.

The issue is the first to be published in the 2014/15 academic year and features ex-Russellian Sadie France on the front page.

Sadie left Royal Russell in 2009 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013. Royal Russell has adopted Sadie’s charity, Teens Unite, as part of a year of campaigning and fundraising.

The newspaper is aimed at students across the age range and features news, opinion, games, politics, fashion, sport and an agony aunt column. The 16-page issue includes articles on feminism, the rise of Nigel Farage, the upcoming IMUN conference and comments on the new school timetable.

New Issue of the r

Music News We warmly welcome all parents to join us for two Music concerts after half-term:

Thursday 6th November- ‘Rush Hour’ concert

5pm in Room A10, followed by refreshments.

Thursday 13th November-The Autumn Concert

A big event in the Great Hall, involving all of the school ensembles-Choristers, Chamber Choir, Barbershop, Orchestra, Swing Band and Jazz Band- as well as some solo and small ensemble items.

7pm in the Great Hall, with refreshments during the interval.

RUSH HOUR CONCERT

Thursday 6th November 2014

5pm in A10

Solo and Ensemble Pieces, including the

Jazz Band and the Swing Bands

AUTUMN CONCERT

Instrumental and Vocal Solos and

Ensembles

Thursday 13th November 2014

7pm in the Great Hall

The 1853 Society (Royal Russell Parents'

Association) Annual General Meeting The 1853 Society Committee hereby give notice of the AGM of the 1853 Society, to be held on Tuesday the 4th November at 8pm in the Senior School Library.

The 1853 Society plays a vital part in the school community and all parents and guardians, as members of the 1853 Society, are invited. This is a chance to hear and see how the funds you have helped to raise have been used for the benefit of the children at our school and to hear of plans for the coming year.

The main business of the AGM is to elect the 1853 Society Committee, to represent the Association throughout the forthcoming year. Committee members, new and existing, wishing to stand as an Officer or Ordinary Committee Member, should send a completed nomination form to Nigel Haigh (c/o Reception or by email nigel@haigh.info ) in advance of the meeting.

This year Paul Carter and Mandy Skinner are stepping down as Secretary and Treasurer respectively. We thank them for their years of support and hard work…. And will be looking for their replacements. We would encourage anybody who is interested in the role to contact either Nigel Haigh (Chair), or Emma Thistleton (Vice Chair) to see what is involved. All Committee members and Officers are elected on an annual basis.

By coming along to the meeting, which will last approximately 30 minutes, you are not committing to anything other than assisting in the election of your Committee and finding out what we actually do. Over 100 Parents and Guardians of pupils have help run or set up our functions and events during the last year: Thank you everybody!

We look forward to seeing you on the 4th November.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The 1853 Society Royal Russell Parents’ Association

NOMINATION FOR OFFICER/MEMBER OF THE 1853 SOCIETY

Nominee………………………………………………………………………..

For position of: Chair / Secretary / Treasurer / Vice Chair / Ordinary Committee Member

………………………………………………………………………………………

[please print name and sign]

Proposer ……….…………………..…………………………………………. Signed …………………...……………………………………………………..

Seconder …………………………..………………………………………….. Signed ………………...………………………………………………………..

I ………………………………………………… agree to my nomination for the position of …………………………………….…………………

Signed ………………………………………………………………………….

Date ……………………………………….…………………………………….

Email address .………………………………………………………………..

Please return your Nomination Form to the Reception area in the PAC, for the attention of Nigel Haigh

Royal Russell Christmas Fair

The Royal Russell Christmas Fair will be on Saturday 22rd November 2014 and we look forward to seeing many of you there. Details will follow soon about this fun-packed afternoon and how you can get involved in one of the 1853 Society’s main fundraising events.

Programme Advertising

A high quality, full colour, A5 programme will be given to all pupils and attendees free of charge. We anticipate the circulation to be between 1,100-1,200 copies. We would like to give you the opportunity to advertise your business/service inside this programme.

Advertising rates:

Premium slots: Inside front cover: £120 Inside back cover: £120 Outside back cover: £175

If you don’t currently have an advertisement that can be replicated then we are happy to prepare one for you.

The deadline for advertisers is Friday 31st October 2014. Please send artwork by email (in whichever format you have) to Melanie Hodgson Covill at melaniejhc@yahoo.co.uk Invoice letters, with full payment instructions, will be sent upon receipt of advertising requests. If you would like any further information, please contact Melanie Hodgson Covill. Email: melaniejhc@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07501 007 308.

CAN YOU HELP? We are currently looking for any unwanted gifts or kind donations for the

Christmas fair to be used in the secrets room, tombola, lucky dip or raffle. If you have any unwanted items lying about that you would like to get rid of they really would be most welcome – please bring to the Reception area in the PAC or leave in the donations box in Junior School entrance lobby.

Would you like to get involved?

If you would like to be involved in the preparation of the Fair, or can help on the day, please do get in touch. Please email Emma Thistleton at emmathistleton@hotmail.com or complete the form below and drop it into the Reception area in the PAC.

Name: ………………………………………… Phone No.: ……………………………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Child’s Year / House: ………………………………….

E-mail:

I would like to help with the Christmas Fair:

Running a stall for the Parents’ Association

Setting up on Saturday morning:

Do you have a flair for design? Can you help transform the Great Hall into a winter wonderland on Saturday 15th November 10am-3pm

Helping during the Fair

12.30pm – 2.00pm

1.45pm – 3.30pm

3.15pm – 4.30pm

4.00pm – End

Setting up on Friday 21st November

8.30am – 12.30pm

1.30pm - 3.30pm

3.30pm – 6.00pm

All other pages: Half page £55 Full page £110

From the Sport Department Girls’ Sport

The U12 netball team continued their winning form against a strong Sydenham High side. Improvements were made every quarter which ensured the 8-6 win. Jemima Longhurst’s sharp shooting earned her Player of the Match. The U12B team enjoyed their first fixture, but finished in second place. The team was superbly organised and rallied by their Captain, Grace Scott.

In the inaugural House Trampolining competition, Hollenden were the comfortable winners, led by Emily Arnold who gained the highest score. Reade were second, Buchanan finished in third and Queen’s fourth. This make the overall House competition very close with Buchanan and Hollenden tied in first place. Queen’s and Reade are currently tie for third.

Boys’ Sport

In boys’ sport this last week. We had no weekend fixtures (due to various trips).

Football teams had some tough games in various important cup competitions. These included a 10 goal thriller away to John Lyon, a school in Harrow, for the U15’s, sadly we lost 6-4, but a really good effort by those lads who also enjoyed a selfie with the Hoff, David Hasslehoff, earlier in the week – take a look at our Sport website for a closer look.

The U14 team beat Shirley High 3-0 in the Croydon cup and are waiting on other schools to find out who they play in the next round.

Please go to www.royalrussellsport.co.uk for further details.

In Senior football, Mr Rocca’s warriors continue to march on with points against good teams, this week’s 2-2 draw against Ibstock being a good example.

In House football, the Junior boys’ final was eventually won by St Andrew’s who overcame a plucky Oxford, 2-0 after extra time.

The table now has St Andrew’s in the lead, on 44 points, Cambridge are second on 42 and there is almost a tie for third with Madden on 27, Oxford on 25 and Keable fifth on 24.

Indoor football is after half-term.

The basketball U14 team had a great first outing at City of London school. Winning 46-30.

Water Polo Success Congratulations to Will Jones, selected to represent the London Region-supported S&C team for the National Age Group Championships. The team will be coached by London Region professional, Csaba Rekasi.

The event will be held on Saturday 25th October, at the Manchester Aquatics Centre and

we wish Will and his team good luck.

We have now officially launched our new Sports Website,

which you can see at www.royalrussellsport.co.uk

Here you will find details our Sports calendar with all our fixtures and results, along with team sheets.

You might want to save the address in your favourites and send it to your family and friends to see what’s on, where and when, for Sport at Royal Russell.

If you are visiting our sports website on your mobile device you will notice it loads up as a Mobile Web

App. The App will allow you to access Fixture and Team Sheet information on the go!

St Leonard's Annual Recital Saturday 18th October 2014

at 2.30pm

'Music for the Soul'

The Friends of St Leonard's are delighted to present Martyn Rawles, Organist at Lichfield Cathedral and Harriet Hunter, renowned Soprano, who will perform a programme of wonderful music, including Faure's 'Pie Jesu' and 'O mio babbino caro' by Puccini. The music will be followed by Nancy's delicious tea and cake.

There is no charge for the afternoon's entertainment, but donations to The Friends will be very welcome and used to preserve our beautiful 13th Century Church: Church Lane, Chelsham CR6 9PJ.

Diary Dates

Friday 17 October Half-Term Begins 12pm

Friday 17 October International Model United Nations Conference Begins

Friday 24 October CCF Camp Departs

Monday 3 November Pupils Return from Half-Term. Registration 8.15am

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

email: ccampbell@royalrussell.co.uk

For all our latest news…….

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