September 2017 – Ralph Sadleir School

Friday 22nd September

September 24, 2017/in Mr Spong's Blog/by sadleir2021

Our value for this half term is a willingness to try, well we certainly showed a willingness to cram as much as humanly possible into a week!!

Our intrepid Year 6 team ventured over to PGL Liddington for a week of adventurous activities in the trees and on the lake, they returned on Friday night tired but very happy. They will be sharing some of their experiences and pictures in a separate web page in the coming weeks. The remaining Year 6s were equally as busy with the in-school programme, which included a very interesting trip to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge – to see some amazing artwork and Roman/Greek artefacts – and making cupcakes.

Not to be outdone the Year 8s had their Business Enterprise week where they were learning how to set up and run a business. On Monday the children had sessions from Young Enterprise on jobs and future employability – some of the children were very surprised that there weren’t many jobs you could do to fund a £285,000 a year lifestyle!!! On Tuesday they started the day with a motivational speech from Scott Saunders – the only contestant to quit The Apprentice – and then split into their groups to come up with their business ideas. Wednesday was developing their business plans and learning about marketing from our resident expert Governor – Mr Johnson. Thursday was a team building day at Herts Mariners Base – how very corporate middle management!! Friday morning was spent developing their pitches for the all important Dragon’s Den in the afternoon.

The Year 5s and 7s had European Day of Languages activities on Thursday, where they had French, Spanish, Italian and German taster sessions – Mrs Brown was also showing off her Danish where possible as well!!

Assemblies this week focused on making a difference – the Year 8 House Officials were announced and Mrs Hesketh introduced School Council and how the children can make a difference and the importance in using your voice for good.

In the background everyone has been working tirelessly to get the school ready for Open Evening, Mr Verderame Snr has been building furniture – with some help from his apprentice and the children will help to make the school come alive on Thursday night.

Willingness to try….tick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy a well earned rest Ralphies, we go again Monday.

Debating!! New Club starting

September 21, 2017/in General news/by sadleir2021

Mrs Hesketh will be leading a new lunchtime club next week. This new ‘Debating’ club will be open to all year groups and will be at 1.00pm on Tuesdays.

Friday 8th September

September 9, 2017/in General news, Mr Spong's Blog, Uncategorized/by sadleir2021

Welcome back everybody, the start of a new academic year and for some the start of a new journey.

As I returned to school last Thursday it was a hive of activity as contractors were busily finishing off the projects that we had organised for the holidays. I was a little concerned that we’d be ready on Tuesday for the return of the children but Mr Verderame snr and his site team worked wonders and it was all ready. The Computing Suite has had a complete overhaul with 32 new machines and a set of portable Chrome books as we move over to become a Google school. Classrooms and corridors have had a fresh coat of paint – we thank Mr Giles for all his hard work. The final piece of the upgrade to be completed is the transformation of the Library into our new Learning Resource Centre – this will happen in the coming weeks.

It is an exciting time to be a part of Ralph Sadleir and we hope it will be the beginning of a bright future with our big plans. It is always brilliant to see the excited new faces of our Year 5s as their energy and enthusiasm fills the school – and this year there are 118 of them!! With our increase in numbers there have also had to be some changes to the school day and routines that everyone is getting used to, not least the finger print payment system for lunches – this will make it a lot easier for parents to pay and monitor what their children are eating. Our whole school assembly asked the children to challenge themselves and make their own ‘to-do’ list for the year of what they want to achieve.

As well as all of our new year 5s we had 6 new children throughout the other year groups and 5 new teaching staff. They join our special community, based on our values and mutual respect and will benefit from becoming Ralphies. Can you ensure, that, as parents and carers you put a great value on school and education. Explain to your child that treating everyone with respect, being on time and in school everyday, wearing the correct uniform and working hard in school is important to you. These are also important life skills. The value you place on these will be the value your child holds. I was reminded this week how lucky I am to be the Headteacher of this school when I was told of a story of how one of our Year 6s went out of her way to help a parent get her child, who was having a second morning wobble, into school.

With the increase in numbers I must stress the importance of safety at drop off and collection times, please be mindful of how you drive and considerate of our neighbours when parking – especially in Perowne Way.

Please remember that there is an opportunity to come in and meet your child’s Tutor next week. I know you will continue to work with us, so your child can grow in confidence, with a love of learning, and a determination to be the best person they can be.