H E A D - L I N E S

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to School after the

May half-term. With a slightly longer first half-term this year and the internal and public examinations occupying our thoughts, I think we

were all ready for a break at the end of last half-term.

The GCSE examinations continue alongside the main bulk of A Level papers which

began in earnest on Monday morning. We wish all of our students every success in the coming days and weeks. The second half of the Summer Term heralds yet further opportunities for our community to celebrate the gifts and talents of the students through the various set-piece events that the School traditionally hosts in the last weeks of the Academic Year. I do hope that many of you will be able to attend and enjoy celebrating with your child.

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The summer events programme began in earnest on Tuesday afternoon with the

Nursery and Key Stage 1 Sports Day. What a lovely occasion. Our youngest students gave their all during an action-packed, non-stop whirlwind of sporting activities. The children thoroughly enjoyed their running, jumping, fetching and carrying and participated with earnest. I would like to thank Year 6 students for their encouragement of the younger children, together with our dedicated team of staff. Well done, Mr Faulconbridge, for your excellent organisation. The whole experience underlined our caring, family orientated ethos.

The much acclaimed Oscar’s Night is almost upon us and, personally, I can’t wait to see

the GCSE and A Level students’ work in film and print celebrated on this extravaganza of an occasion. I look forward to meeting many of you on Monday 11th June over a glass of bubbly. All parents, regardless of your child’s age, are warmly invited to come and enjoy the wonderful artistic talent that will be on display in the Old Library as part of the Years 11-13 Art and Design Exhibition on Thursday 14th June from 4.30pm. The Exhibition will continue until 7.00pm and refreshments will be provided.

There are a number of exciting features in our ‘Big Six’ section of Head-Lines, which

I hope you will enjoy reading. My thanks to the staff involved in the recent Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Silver Practice Expedition which took place over half-term, as well as the Drama Department who enjoyed a successful overnight theatre trip to London.

8th June 2018

On Wednesday afternoon, Year 8 and Year 9 came together in the Theatre

to participate in a lively debate on the proposition: social media makes you unhappy. Our congratulations to Brooke England and Verity Mangham, Year 9, Victoria Wheatley, Amelia Wells and Jonathan Shaw, Year 8 and Sam Davies, Year 7, for leading the debate with such confidence and energy.

At the end of proceedings, students were asked to cast their vote on the

proposition; 59% confirmed that they felt that social media makes you unhappy, a statistic that may surprise some adults who believe that young people spend far too much time online. If this statistic is accurate, I hope that the education and guidance we continue to provide through our E-Safety programme, together with appropriate guidance from parents, means that our students are equipped to make sensible choices about the way they use social media and the length of time they use social media in the future.

We have received notification from Highways England of overnight closures

on the A46 between the Hobby Horse roundabout and Widmerpool between 8.00pm and 6.00am, Monday to Friday at the following times:

• 11th June to 15th June, Northbound Hobby Horse to Widmerpool.• 18th June to 27th June, Southbound Widmerpool to Hobby Horse.

These closures will inevitably cause some disruption to our evening programme of

events, so please do consult the letter (click here to read more) carefully to consider how you may need to adjust your journey time to school should you need to collect your child from school beyond 8.00pm or if you will be attending an event at school beyond 8.00pm.

With some fine weather to look forward to over the coming days, I wish you and

your family well for the weekend and hope to see you at some of the forthcoming sports fixtures or a school event in the near future.

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Yours sincerely,

Mr J. P. Reddin, Headmaster.

STUDENTS IN YEAR 13 ON THEIR FINAL DAY OF CLASSES

PREP SCHOOL MAY PROCESSION

SENIOR SCHOOL

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Achievement Awards

Merit Badge

YEAR 7 Thomas FerrierCharlie GraysonKai KirkMillie Woan

YEAR 8 Ibrahim HussainLucy Tuttey

Merit Shield

YEAR 7 Caitlin Cummins

YEAR 8 Ella ClarkShreya Patel

Super Shield

YEAR 7 Jessie BardsleyGeorgie Daynes

YEAR 8 Eleni Malhan

Achievement Voucher 1

YEAR 10 Thomas LeiteTom Page

Achievement Voucher 2

YEAR 10 Lauren BrownJames Turner

YEAR 12Jenna Pole

YEAR 13Luke Charnock

Eliza GeraghtyDavid IpinmoyeSebastian Welch

Matilda Miles

Aadi Thakrar

Eleanor NewberryEthan Starley

Connie Colville

YEAR 13Arran Grant

Sophie Brown

Over 250,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Junior Maths Challenge, with the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze. Approximately 6,800 of the top students are invited to sit a follow-on competition, the Junior Mathematical Olympiad or Kangaroo. Ratcliffe achieved the following results:

13 BRONZE

YEAR 7Samuel Pick Aadi ThakrarHenry King

YEAR 8Tyler BlackScott MawbyHarley WalkerEmily Spillane

7 SILVER

YEAR 7Sophia WalkerMunashe Manjengwa

YEAR 8Alessandro CottonThomas Leighton

2 GOLD

YEAR 7 Samuel Davies

Best in Year Certificate is awarded to:

YEAR 7 Sam Davies

Best in School Certificate is awarded to:

Sam Davies

Sam was one of the top 6,800 and will sit the Kangaroo paper on Tuesday 12th June 2018.

Oliver PoleFelix JacksonJerry Simon

David SeiduIbrahim HussainJonathan Shaw

Lucia Orsini-RottnerRose Dickerson

Fisayo Abiodun

YEAR 8Jack Tang

YEAR 8Jack Tang

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YEAR 6 Alice BowerJoseph MarsdenHarrison Rutherford

YEAR 5 Imogen BarkerRuby DoranTom Lander-BelfieFreya MackayTarafa MudhefiJake Woodriffe

YEAR 4 Sophia AlexanderMax KewIvan Ventrella

YEAR 3 Alberta Cooper

Maisie CollierJoss Phillips

Hermione BruinersArabella HampsonJaxon LeeIsobel McCallJames Packwood

Ethan CarrollAva-Mae Trasler

YEAR 2 Harley Pope

THIRD CERTIFICATES OF MERIT WERE AWARDED TO:-

YEAR 6 Katie BradleyHarry HingsJoseph Marsden

YEAR 5 Zara EttyEdward Karanja

YEAR 4 Katie SheildSamuel Traynor

YEAR 3John BowdenRobert HorstRowan Thompson

YEAR 2Easher AustinGyaan Sagoo

YEAR 1Martha GallacherNia Hughes

Oliver ClarkMichael Joy

Oscar JenksRomy Totton

Phoebe SmithAmélie Wilson-Knight

Roshni FieldJames Lee

Jameela DornanFaith Seidu

Sebastian HeskethJames Proctor

MERIT BADGES WERE AWARDED TO:-

YEAR 4 Freddie Booth

SECOND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT WERE AWARDED TO:-

P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O L YEAR 5

Constance BowdenGracie Smith

YEAR 4 Samuel GilesIsha Sidhu

YEAR 3 Charlotte JoyHugo Misiuda

YEAR 2 Joseph BradleyMax CottinghamEleanor Ryce

YEAR 1 Matilda EttyRose Lander-Belfie

Charlotte ShieldMegha Thakrar

Alex Griffiths

Lucie MasonDiya Patel

Abigail ColeOlivia PearceMarcus Singh

Rahul KhodaNavraj Sidhu

MERIT SHIELDS WERE AWARDED TO:-

YEAR 3 Maisie LeakeJessica Tuckwell

YEAR 2 Bella CottinghamOreon PatelHarrison Poutch

SUPER SHIELDS WERE AWARDED TO:-

Iszac Rodrigues

Chloe OliphantMaahi Patel

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ARIANNA COTTINGHAM, CYGNETSAchieved her First Steps Swimming Award.

ALEXANDER COTTINGHAM, SWANSAchieved his 5 metres Rainbow Swimming Certificate.

JAMES PROCTOR, YEAR 1Was awarded a medal by Syston R.F.C for excellent effort and attendance throughout the year.

MATILDA ETTY, YEAR 1Took part in the British Theatre Dance Association Competition and won one silver and one gold medal.

FREDDIE BLAKE-SMITH, YEAR 1Was awarded a medal from Kirby Muxloe Junior Football Club for playing in a football tournament and displaying excellent participation and fair play.

P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O LMATILDA ETTY, YEAR 1Was awarded 3 proficiency awards for gymnastics.

RILEY DONEGAN, YEAR 1Succesfully completed Part One of John Thompson’s Easiest Piano Course.

BELLA COTTINGHAM, YEAR 2Achieved her 25 metre Rainbow Swimming Certificate and Badge.

MAX COTTINGHAM, YEAR 2Achieved his 25 metre Rainbow Swimming Certificate and Badge.

HARRISON POUTCH, YEAR 2Was awarded the ‘Managers Player of the Season’ trophy from Quorn Terriers Under 8 Football team.

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MARTHA GALLACHER, YEAR 1Received two pre-primary dance certificates in Modern Theatre and Tap, with distinction.

HARRISON POUTCH, YEAR 2Played for Quorn Juniors in the Cornatese Football Tournament in Italy.

JESSICA TUCKWELL, YEAR 3Received a trophy from the Quorn Hounds Under 8 Football Team as she was voted ‘Parents Player of the Season’.

FREDDIE POUTCH, YEAR 3Played for Quorn Juniors in the Cornatese Football Tournament in Italy.

SAM GILES, YEAR 4Competed in the Leicestershire Gymnastics Individual Apparatus Level 2 competition and won Bronze Medals for the High Bar and Floor and won a Silver Medal for the Vault.

P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O LFLORANCE NEWHAM, YEAR 5Received a medal for completing a 1k Colour Run.

ZARA ETTY, YEAR 5Took part in the British Theatre Dance Association Competition and won one silver medal and three gold medals.

IMOGEN BARKER, YEAR 5Competed in the Over 8’s East Midlands Gymnastics Association Floor and Vault competition and won Gold Medals for both Floor and Vault. She achieved 11th place overall out of 24 competitors.

GRACIE SMITH, YEAR 5Received the ‘Players Player’ trophy from Leicester City Football Club girls’ team.

EVIE ASHFORD, YEAR 5Received her 200 metre Rainbow Swimming Award.

SAMUEL LEAKE, YEAR 6Won ‘Player of the Season’ for the Under 12’s Leicester Westleigh Hockey Team.

TOM GILES, YEAR 6Competed in the Leicestershire Gymnastics Individual Apparatus competition Level 3 and won 2 Silver Medals for the Floor and Vault and a Gold Medal for the High Bar.

JOE MARSDEN, YEAR 6Received a medal for completing a 5k inflatable obstacle course run.

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CHAPLAINCY

The end of the last half-term was a lively one for Chaplaincy. Year 11 and Year 13 students

celebrated final liturgies for the year, with our Leavers also leading a fantastic assembly. Highlights for the Year 11s was a beautiful duet performed by Caitlin Lawrence and Finn Matthews. Students also delivered a humorous and thankful reflection of their time here. The Year 13 students celebrated Mass in the final period of their final day at the College, and were joined by the Ratcliffian Association Executive Secretary, Alexandra Slack and its President, Sebako Siame. Again, gracious and thankful reflections were delivered, and the occasion was enjoyed by all.

A great upcoming event is the celebration of First Holy Communion for a dozen of our

students. This will take the place of the usual Boarding Community Mass on Sunday 17th June, at 10:30am. Ratcliffe College students in Year 12 are participating in a day of Community Service in early July. The Ratcliffe in the Community programme will see them visiting local charities and community groups, such as the Carpenter’s Arms and the The Green Place (Sileby), to lend any assistance required.

Mr Michel, Lay Chaplain

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THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD

Congratulations to Nathalie Dawe and Lara Gee on successfully completing their Gold

awards and to Sophie Dring and Isabelle Duckett on successfully completing their Silver awards.

Old Ratcliffians, Jacob Bird, Ben Latham and Olivia Latham have achieved their Gold

awards. Poppy Williams has achieved her Bronze award.

GOLD AWARD PRESENTATION AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE, THURSDAY 24TH MAY 2018

Eight of our current or past students were lucky enough to be invited to collect

their Gold awards at Buckingham Palace (normally the presentations are held at St James’ Palace). Unfortunately, several of our students had exams or were on the wrong continent during their Gap year but for those who were lucky enough to be able to go, it was a marvellous day; the students had lovely, sunny weather, and I am sure that it is an experience that they will remember for years to come. Pictured from left to right: Georgia Chilton, James Ainscough, Omar Khan, Carrick Anderson and Harriet O’Shea.

SILVER PRACTICE EXPEDITION IN THE PEAK DISTRICT, 26TH TO 28TH MAY 2018

Having heard the weather warnings for flooding and stormy weather, we were

unsure of how the weekend would go. However, in spite of some lightening and a mini heat wave, all the groups did really well navigating their way around the countryside. Everybody successfully completed their practice expedition and the groups are ready to proceed to the assessed expedition in September.

Mrs Cole, Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

MUSIC

The organisers of the Picnic Concert would be very grateful for any donations of

raffle prizes for the event. Please could you hand any items in at Prep or Senior School Reception. Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping us source some lovely prizes on what we hope will be a wonderful evening for performers and the audience.

Mr McCall, Director of Music

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COMBINED CADET FORCE

On Wednesday 30th May, we travelled to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in

Cambridgeshire. IWM Duxford, who own and still operate the airfield to this day, was first opened in 1918. It was amazing to be able to get up close to many historical aircraft, including objects and memories from the men and women who worked at Duxford. We boarded Concord, experienced a flight in a Spitfire simulator above the cliffs of Dover and went inside all the hangers. James Wilson counted an impressive nine Spitfires in total, many of which still fly!

There are so many other things to see at IWM Duxford: airborne assault displays,

Duxford Radio Society, Royal Anglian Regiment Museum and Memorial, 1940’s Operational Room and the Land Warfare Museum plus much more. A must see venue, and the cadets who went with myself and Mrs Batten couldn’t recommend it enough.

Flt Lt Helen Grant

DRAMA

YEAR 12 AND 13 TRIP TO LONDON THEATRES

Firstly, we took part in a brilliant backstage tour at The National Theatre where we

were able to watch designers and technicians prepare for a press night on the Olivier stage, and we learned about the history and inner workings of the Theatre. We were then taken to the workshops where we were able to try out some of the props which had been made in house for some of the biggest shows. We moved on to the Lyric Hammersmith to watch Frantic Assembly’s ‘Fatherland’. Having studied the company in class, we had high hopes and were not disappointed. The Verbatim play was staged brilliantly with physical theatre, clever set and haunting song. On the second Day, we visited the Tate Modern before embarking on our tour of The Globe. Year 12 were able to imagine themselves as audience members of the 16th Century whilst taking in lots of information about how Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed. We rounded off the trip with a brilliant matinee performance of ‘Two Noble Kinsmen’ before heading home.

Miss Monk, Head of Drama.

Amy Mason, Year 9, who collected three cups on behalf of Loughborough Foxes U15 Girls’ Team at an awards evening on 22nd May. In addition to the County and League Cups, the team have now won the league by a signifi-cant margin, all without losing a single game.

Congratulations to Eliza Geraghty, Year 7, on gaining her 1st degree black belt in TAGB Taekwondo.

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Please find the link to our weekly Sports Reports below:

SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT

PREP SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT

SPORT

Congratulations to..

Eleanor Godwin, Year 13, who was recently short-listed for an England Hockey award. On Saturday 19th May, the winner of the award was confirmed and it was announced that Eleanor had won England Hockey Rising Star 2017/18. The award was presented at the England Hockey gala dinner and Eleanor’s parents were there to celebrate with her. There were only five young people short-listed from thousands of nominees around the country. What an amazing achievement.

Harry Culpin, Year 11, recently competed in the 2018 Leicestershire and Rutland County Athletics Championships, winning 3 gold medals and one silver. He won gold in U17 Pole Vault, U17 High Jump, U17 Long Jump and also Silver in U17 Javelin. Pictured above holding the Arbiter trophy for Long Jump.

A N D B E Y O N D . . .

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RACE FOR L I FE : PRETTY MUDDER

On Sunday 20th May, a team of 41 boarding girls and staff ran, walked and crawled

their way through the 5km ‘Race for Life Pretty Mudder’ run, raising money for Cancer Research UK. We all had a fantastic time and have some very happy memories of the event, which is both thought provoking and thoroughly good fun. All those who took part would like to thank everyone for their very generous donations and we are delighted to have raised over £1000 so far.

Mrs Leite, Head of Boarding

GOSPEL CHOIR

MRS ARGO BROUGHT SOME S INGING TO THE C AMPUS AS THE GOSPEL CHOIR STUDENTS AND STAFF MADE THE MOST OF THE SUNNY WEATHER AND REHEARSED OUTS IDE

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PARENT LETTERS

Posted on the Parents’ Portal this fortnight are the following letters/items of

information:-

ALL SCHOOL NEWSSchool Blazer - FAQ’sActivities Week 2018 Letters

YEARS 9 , 10 , 11 & 13Mathematics Staffing Arrangements

PARENT PORTAL L INKS

S IXTH FORM

YEARS 10 -11

YEARS 7 -9

ALL SCHOOL NEWS

PARENTS ’ ASSOCIAT ION

Sasha and I would like to thank everyone who has supported the PA throughout

the year. We have had a very successful year raising funds both for the school and for local charities.

Following the successful Spring Fair, back in March, we were thrilled to present

a cheque to Nottinghamshire Leukaemia Appeal, for £2200. The charity was thrilled with the support from Ratcliffe College, and the cheque was presented in the Prep school assembly last week.

The next second hand uniform sale will be on Monday 18th June. Please contact

Jenny Howling if you have any queries regarding the sale. If you have any uniform to sell, please bring it into school asap, so that we have plenty of time to label and log it, before sale. Thank you!

The PA will be supporting the three sports day events this term, serving

refreshments. We hope you will visit the refreshment tent for a drink and some nibbles! We will also be decorating the marquee on Friday 22nd June at 1.30pm for the Picnic Concert, so we appeal to any helpers to please come along.

Alison Etty and Sasha Bruiners, Joint Chair

A MESSAGE FROM SCHOOLBLAZER RE : SCHOOL UNIFORM ORDERS

Schoolblazer Growth Guarantee – this means for all orders placed during June and July, we are extending our returns period so that if your child has a growth spurt over the summer, you can return any item for exchange up until the end of September.There is also a How to Shop video here which may be useful to parents.

This year, we aren’t running a two-week free delivery period as we have done in the past, but more valuable to the vast majority and in response to our customer feedback on postage charges, we have changed the delivery prices and now all deliveries over £150 will be free of charge.