Dear Parents and Friends, Our week started with a very thought-provoking presentation from Mr Millward in Chapel on Monday morning, in which he described his ‘near miss’ experience in the bombing of the train at Parsons Green in September 2017. Using the words of Psalm 23 as a text, Mr Millward encouraged everyone to think about the shepherding God in the midst of a world full of uncertainties. This has been a very busy week for pupil trips and academic conferences, with English Year 12 students attending a ‘Great Gatsby’ conference on Monday, the Year 7 Geography Trip to Seaford and Year 8 trip to the Globe Theatre on Wednesday, together with a Sixth Form Lecture from entrepreneur Claudine Reid. The Geology Field Trip to South Devon has helped to focus students on preparation for their A level papers. On Tuesday, I was pleased to welcome a group of German students from Bavaria and on Thursday, our French Exchange students from Cours St. Charles in Orleans arrived to be greeted by their host families. One of the highlights of the week was news from the examination office of our results received following the early entry Maths GCSE in January. The results were very encouraging with nearly 60% of the candidates achieving A* and A grades and some very strong performances across the cohort. We also received some excellent grades for our Sport Science CAMTEC course which will certainly boost confidence as this group approach their final weeks of study. On Thursday lunchtime, International Women’s Day, we hosted eight candidates standing for the Croydon Youth Mayor elections. Each candidate made a presentation on their mayoral agenda and then took questions from the audience of students and staff. The elections themselves will be held on Tuesday 13 March at the full list of candidates standing, including Old Russellian, Yani Patel, can be found here. Later on Thursday afternoon, I hosted tea for the Year 7 pupils from Queen’s House and very much enjoyed learning about their current interests and future ambitions. At the Year 10 Parents’ Evening, pupils and parents were given an update on their progress at this crucial time of their GCSE courses. Jenny Harris, our Head of Careers gave a brief presentation at the start of the evening on the Work Experience programme and the Year 10 Careers Fair, which will be held on Thursday 3 May. If you would like to find out more details about this, or offer assistance to Jenny by talking about your career or offering a work placement, please contact her on jharris@royalrussell.co.uk. At Assembly this afternoon we awarded certificates for the Linguistics Olympiad which included a team of our Junior School Year 6 pupils. The Assembly concluded with an acapella performance of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ from the Barbershop. I look forward very much to the Chapel Service led by Queen’s House this evening and to seeing our hockey and netball teams in action tomorrow morning. Congratulations to the 1st XI football side who won their fixture against Bradfield this evening. Tonight we have the Year 7 and 8 Disco to enjoy which is being hosted by the 1853 Society in the PAC Auditorium this evening. Don’t forget your card for Mother’s Day on Sunday!

Headmaster’s Weekly Newsletter

9 March 2018

Chris Hutchinson Headmaster

From the Chapel

School Services In School service, Mr Millward told of his involvement with the explosion on a train at Parsons Green station. He was only 10 feet away from the shopping bag which exploded, sending a fireball in all directions. The explosion was meant to have occurred in a tunnel. However, the doors were open and Mr Millward and other passengers were able to escape to safety. Although Mr Millward does not know why he survived whereas people have died at other explosions in London, he explained that Christians believe in a God who looks after us, both in life and in death. At Easter we celebrate God’s victory over the power of sin and death.

Mothering Sunday It will be celebrated this Sunday, the middle Sunday in Lent, by Catholic and Protestant Christians in some parts of Europe. Once observed as a day on which people would visit their "mother" church – e.g. the cathedral - it has also become an occasion for honouring the mothers of children and giving them presents. It is increasingly being called Mother's [Mothers’?!] Day, although that has always been a secular event quite different from the original Mothering Sunday. At a Lower Junior School service in Chapel today, daffodils were blessed and presented to mothers by their children. This prayer for Mothering Sunday is also appropriate for all in danger of terrorism: O God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Byzantine icon of the intimate love shared by the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Mary’s right hand directs our gaze to the circle of love created by Mary’s head and the arms and shoulders of Jesus; it overlaps the circle of Mary’s halo.

Answer to Chapel Quiz 128 St Patrick (Ireland) and St David (Wales) were both bishops and patron saints of countries.

Chapel Quiz 129 Why is the middle Sunday of Lent also called Refreshment Sunday? Life is not easy

Year 11 GCSE Drama Exam The two GCSE Drama classes had their final performance unit of work on the 28 February. There were five pieces of work to be marked by an external examiner. Below are the students’ reviews of their fellow actors. ‘5 Kinds of Silence’ performed by Amelia O’Sullivan, Kate Khodonova, Terri McFarlane and Matt Lewis was a very moving piece of theatre. The play covers a very tough story about a mother and her two daughters who end up shooting their father, who is abusive and violent. The lighting in the piece really helped to create tension and this was designed by Emile Matherson-Horsford. As an audience member I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout as I was gripped and very moved by this extract. During the performance, I looked around at the audience and could see everyone felt sorry for the girls. It is a very hard thing to do as actors; having the whole audience moved and feeling sympathy for certain characters, so a big well done. This performance was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it! Well done. ‘That Face’ performed by Becky Birchall and Olga Dubov, was most enjoyable and left your belly hurting from all the laughing that took place. The piece was set in a girls’ boarding school and was the subject of a midnight initiation of a new pupil. The sound was designed by Anya Lewis and really helped to create the atmosphere of school and denote the place of action. They both managed to execute their characters to a very high standard and kept the audience’s attention, you could definitely tell that this piece was a comedy due to the fact everyone at some point would burst out laughing at how dim-witted Olga’s character appeared to be and how rude Becky’s character could be to Olga. My favourite part in the piece was when Olga and Becky were bickering and then went on to check on the girl they were holding hostage, only to discover she had passed out due to the fact Olga had given her the wrong drug. In my opinion this was definitely the peak of the comedy and everyone in the auditorium was in fits of laughter. Overall I would say this piece was very entertaining to watch and left you with a smile on your face.

Tom Hood, Maddy Rhodes and Ria Kamdar all performed extracts from ’39 Steps’ for their drama exam. The play showcases all the features of a classic comedy, and the group took it on board extremely well, with a clever use of lighting supplied and designed by Charlotte Ward and some excellent sound effects by Dionne Scougul. There was a selection of appropriate costumes and even a smoke machine complimenting the outrageous comedy on display. They kept their composure throughout and had the whole audience laughing their heads off. Well done! Ella Jones and Tess Williams performed an extract from The Real Inspector Hound. The piece was hugely comic, with a dark ending. Both the girls played older gentlemen very convincingly! The audience was highly amused by the interaction between the two ‘journalists’ as they watched a play unfold in front of them. The piece began with one dead body on stage and by the end there were three. Jessie Hunt and Saskia King performed a 10 minute extract from ‘Too much Punch for Judy’. This was a very sad piece which still managed to have some very light hearted moments. It covered the story of two sisters who end up drinking too much and then driving, with a disastrous outcome. Jessie and Saskia’s superb acting meant we laughed and cried all in 10 minutes! The use of physical theatre and a range of different acting techniques meant we were all very engaged. An excellent piece!

Year 8 Theatre Trip Year 8s travelled to London to the Globe Theatre to watch ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. We met on Lime Tree Quad to get into groups and made their way on the tram and train. Before long, we were at the Globe. The yard was old fashioned, and the theatre is made of wood as it would have been in Shakespeare time. It has an open roof, so of course it had to rain, but luckily not for too long! The play itself was really good - it was a comedy and the humour was enjoyed by all. Overall, it was a really good trip. Caitlin Baron, Year 8

French Exchange Students Visit Royal Russell 14 pupils from Orléans and their two teachers arrived on Thursday and will stay with our families for one week. We are very proud of our link and programme with Cours Saint Charles pupils who I know, will feel very welcome by our families. Many thanks to them for organising this stay for them. Bienvenue et bonne semaine!

YEAR 10 PUPILS, PARENTS AND

GUARDIANS ARE WARMLY INVITED Over 40 delegates representing more than 20 different

professions will be ready to give you information, advice

and guidance.

NO BOOKING NECESSARY

Careers Fair Thursday 3 May 2018

7.00pm - 8.30pm in Great Hall

Croydon Young Mayor

On Thursday six students, all standing for the post of Croydon Young Mayor, took part in a special Mayor Question Time held in the Library at lunchtime. This is the first year that all secondary aged students across Croydon are going to get a chance to elect a young person living in Croydon to act as their Young Mayor for the year.

The six candidates had all contacted the school to ask to address our students and to canvass for their votes. Thea excellently chaired an entertaining event with the students making their bid for votes and answering questions from the audience in the packed Library.

The candidates discussed possible support for teenagers in Croydon considering problems such as mental illness, knife crime, lack of facilities and problems trying to get work experience in the borough.

On Tuesday 13 March, our students will get the chance to vote in the election with Croydon Council running a polling station all day in school. In all, there are 28 candidates. Details of all candidates are available here.

Problem Solving Challenge

Royal Russell entered three teams in this years Science and Technology Problem Solving Challenge Competition held at St Philomenas School, Carshalton.

The three teams were competing against 12 other schools in the Croydon area and their task was to use straws, plastic card, cocktail sticks and cotton thread and various other items to build an overhanging street lamp, a metre off the ground that stretched out as far as possible. This was a particularly difficult task but all three teams performed really well.

The Year 12 team did very well coming third and the Year 10/11 team built an exceptionally well designed device which would have won their section, if the lamp had stayed on.

For the first time in many years, we had no winners but, those that took part did really well.

Excellent Public Exam Results

Students in Year 11 and 13 were celebrating yesterday having received the results of their January entries in IGCSE Maths and Cambridge Technical Sport qualifications.

The whole of our Year 11 cohort sat the two IGCSE papers 5 months earlier than is the norm and were rewarded with tremendous levels of success. 60% of the year group at-tained the coveted A*/A grades. The whole of the year group deserves our praise and congratulations for the effort and determination they displayed in preparing for these exams.

We would also like to thank the Maths department for their time and dedication in preparing the students so thoroughly. Those extra revision classes over the Christmas break clearly paid dividends!

In Year 13, 6 of our students are studying for the Cambridge Technical Sport qualification. They sat 2 of the 4 compulsory exam units in January and all achieved high levels of success, with 4 Distinctions being awarded.

Congratulations to all and to the Academic Sport Staff, led by Mr Bailey, whose work and encouragement was instrumental in this outstanding achievement.

Year 8 Design and Technology

Well done to all the Year 8 students who have completed their Wood Joints/Box Project. The purpose of the project was to explore and practice different wood joints through the manufacture of a box that incorporates lap and housing joints.

Sixth Form Assembly

On Wednesday, the Sixth Form was visited by a former parent Claudine Reid (MBE) who came to talk about her job in social enterprise.

She began by explaining just what this involves and how important it is to society. Recently, the Government have been pushing students to look towards this as a career area because it essentially means giving something back to the people whilst still making money and being in charge of your own path. One of Mrs Reid’s employees has just been given the opportunity to work with NASA, which she explained was not only fantastic for her company's reputation, but would also offer invaluable experience to someone who has worked hard to achieve her dreams.

We were also asked to read out some inspirational advice from her colleagues which mainly about sav-ing money and believing in ourselves and planning ahead.

The final piece of advice which Mrs Reid left us with was how to be a leader. She had explained earlier that running your own business needed certain attributes, such as patience, determination and creativity but the video which she played best illustrated her point.

In the 'infamous 'Death Crawl' scene from the movie 'Facing the Giants', the Captain of the sports team is made to crawl the length of the playing field on his hands and feet with a team mate on his shoulders. Despite feeling agonising fatigue and pain, he made it all the way to the end with the unwavering encouragement of his coach. We realised that we could apply this to real life by taking a few steps at a time and 'don't give up until you've got nothing left’.

Anna Armitage

From the Library

We held our (postponed due to the weather) second hand book sale in the Library at lunchtime on Friday to mark World Book Day. Pupils and staff all enjoyed browsing the wide range of donated books we had on offer and were pleased to be able to bag a bargain! With Mother’s Day just around the corner the timing of our sale was perfect.

We are still counting the takings but expect to have raised a healthy amount for LivingPaintings.org, a small charity providing tactile books for blind and partially-sighted people of all ages.

Thank you to everyone who donated books and came to support us.

Junior School Open Morning

Our next Nursery and Junior School Open Morning will be held on Wednesday 14 March. Please help spread the word and tell any friends or family who may be interested in attending. There is no need to book. Tours start at 9.00am with the final tour at 11.30am.

Year 7 Queen's Girls' Afternoon Tea

Queen's girls’ thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon tea with the Headmaster on Thursday.

Mr Hutchinson was extremely welcoming and the girls felt really special. They thought the house looked beautiful and were privileged to be having this tête à tête with the Headmaster. The atmosphere was relaxed and Mr Hutchinson got to know the girls better. A lovely encounter.

Junior School Open Morning

Year 12 Chemistry

Year 12 Chemistry students gave a talk on the recent discoveries in Chemistry. This week they talked about neutron stars making heavy elements, why the Samsang Galaxy phone batteries caught fire, making metallic hydrogen.

The students were Kristin Cheng, Stephanie Huang, Edgar Heath-Pampin, Davlesh Jodhun, Ben Preston, Hrishi Nokku, Tim Zhang, Keitaro Kawamata and Titus Lo.

From the Sport Department

HOCKEY We are looking forward to hockey fixtures being back up and running now the snow has gone! It has been a busy week for the U13A and U12A boys who have been away at the Surrey Cup Competitions, match reports to follow next week! The weekend brings a number of Junior School fixtures and the U13A and B Boys teams against Parkside at 10:30am, please do come down and support. Don’t forget, next Tuesday (13th) is the Holland Tour information evening at 7.00pm in the PAC for Year 4, 5, 6 and 7 parents. Please contact either Miss Brennan (sbrennan@royalrussell.co.uk) or Mrs Lloyd (llloyd@royalrussell.co.uk) with any questions.

HOUSE SPORT In the first boys’ table tennis semi-final, played on Tuesday lunchtime, Keable met St Andrew’s. In the Senior competition it was St Andrew’s who prevailed, 4-2, while in the Juniors it was Keable, 5-1. So the deciding matches in this fixture were down to the Intermediates and it went to count back with Keable just edging it! Next week we have the other semi-final. Madden Juniors, Cambridge Intermediates and Seniors all meet Oxford. The winners of those matches will play Keable Juniors and Intermediates and St. Andrew’s Seniors in the final on Tuesday 20th March.

Sponsor Graham’s 35th London Marathon Run!

Junior School Sports Coach, Graham Swann will be running his 35th London Marathon this year in aid of Demelza Hospice Care for Children. If you would like to make a donation, even £1.00 would help enormously, in support of Graham and the Demelza Hospice, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/grahamswann2018 Thank you!

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Royal Russell School

Coombe Lane : Croydon : Surrey : CR0 5RF

www.royalrussell.co.uk Patron: Her Majesty The Queen

Diary Dates Saturday 10 March City of London MUN

Tuesday 13 March Year 12 UCAS Trip to Surrey University

Tuesday 13 March ‘Rush Hour’ Concert A10 5.00pm Featuring our talented

Pianists All welcome Refreshments will be served

Wednesday 14 March Junior School Open Day

Wednesday 14 March Choristers' Evensong at Southwark Cathedral

Thursday 15 March Year 7 Trip to Paris

Friday 16 March Year 10 Medical Vaccinations

Saturday 17 March Croydon Performing Arts Festival

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