School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

RUTLISH NEWSLETTER — NOVEMBER 2019

Model UN Trip to Ricards Lodge

Christmas Jumper Day

Dear Parents and Carers,

Please take time to read the November newsletter which is

published as we had so much news to share with you.

I would like to thank the many parents and carers for their

donations to the school fund alongside funds raised by our

dedicated PTA; this money will be spent on playground

improvements. Following consultation with the PTA and with

members of the School Council, we are in the process of sourcing

outdoor table tennis tables and basketball posts which we hope to

be installed at some point during the spring term.

Two weeks ago I met with our CCF contingent and with Ryan

Sammons, Captain and Contingent Commander. The CCF gives

students so many exciting opportunities and new experiences and

I would like to encourage more boys from Year 8 upwards to take

up the opportunity to join our Combined Cadet Force; they will be

recruiting again in January 2020. Rutlish School CCF has a long

and proud history, established in 1921 as a Cadet Battalion. The

CCF is a tri-service military uniformed youth organisation in

schools around the United Kingdom. You can find out more

information on the website: https://www.rutlishccf.org.uk/

Our Year 11 students and parents and carers visited Ricards

Lodge for the joint RR6 Open Evening last Thursday; this

successful event was extremely well attended by over 450 visitors.

Students and parents and carers were able to talk to subject staff

and Sixth Form students about each of the 30 courses on offer.

The online prospectus and application form can be found on the

website: https://www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk/rr6-sixth-form/.

The deadline for applications is Friday 13 December.

Lastly, I would like to wish all Year 13 and Year 11 students the

best of luck in their forthcoming mock exams which run from 2-17

December with some practical exams on 28 and 29 November and

18 December.

Please sign up to our Twitter page so that you are able to see our

regular updates.

The calendar of school events can be found on our school website.

Key dates for your diary:

20th November Y10 Parents’ - Evening 28th November Y8 Parents’ - Evening 29th November Y9 Enterprise - Day 11th December - Pantomime 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day 17th December 2019 - Carol Concert Last day of term - Thursday 19th December

Ms Howarth

From the Headteacher’s Desk

Friday 13th December is Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save

the Children. Pay £1 to wear a Christmas jumper to school.

On Friday 8th and Saturday 9th of November, Theo Richards and

Jay Richards of 10K and Joe Kelly of 10A took part in a Model UN

Debate at Ricards Lodge High School. As delegates representing

Bangladesh, they were charged with staking their country’s place

in the conference and proposing solutions to the ongoing climate

crisis. With exemplary preparation and research, they were able

to hold their own amongst some of the more experienced and

larger teams, and gained recognition and respect from fellow

delegates and organisers alike. Theo Richards even bagged a

coveted “best speaker” award from his council group!

The trip was a success, solutions were shared and new

connections were forged. We look forward to many more future

debates and for the youth of today to

become the leaders of tomorrow.

Mr Gibson

End of Term Arrangements

DECEMBER 2019 END OF TERM ARRANGEMENTS: The school will close for the Christmas holidays on Thursday 19th December 2019:

Periods 1, 2 and 3 Normal lessons

12.15 Tutor time

12.30 Students dismissed by SLT and HOY

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

Renovation @ Rutlish

Drama News

Over the summer and first half of this term the school has been

renovating the Pavilion. There has been a new kitchen, heating

and boiler system installed, as well as updating the shower area

and decorating the interior.

The school has also created a new ICT suite.

The cost of these projects has been part funded by the Local

Authority, Rutlish Foundation and the school.

South Thames College Theatre Performance

Performing Arts students from South Thames

College will pay a visit to the Rutlish Drama

studios on Monday December 9th. They will

showcase their Theatre in Education piece to an audience of year

10 Drama GCSE and Performing Arts students, and engage in a

Q&A session at the end.

This is a great opportunity for Rutlish

students to work in partnership with

local schools and learn new skills which

can be used in devising rich and

meaningful Drama.

Ms Dawkins

Azores Trip 19th-23rd October

Over the half term the Geography department led a 5-day trip to the Azores taking 40 students. The trip was action packed and enjoyed immensely by both staff and students. A few of our

student have written about their experiences:

Azores 2019 – Where do I start? What I would call the 5 most

exhilarating days of my life. The trip was jam packed with activities

and adventures during the days we were there, ranging from

Kayaking and Mountain Biking to Dolphin and Whale Watching

and not to forget, swimming in Hot Springs at least once a day! At

the end of each day we would all have a well-earned relax in the

well-equipped luxurious hotel in Ponta Delgada, by the beautiful

port. The views from the hotel were breath-taking, that’s not

mentioning the view points from the top of the volcano, absolutely

astonishing. The staff became your friends rather than your

teachers and we would be learning whilst having fun, which I

thought would be impossible! The visit of the Geothermal Plant

really helped visualise concepts that we had only theorised in

class and it definitely helped me get a better understanding of how

natural energy can power nearly a whole island. Albeit the strong

smell of the sulphuric gas was a bit off-putting but it was still a

great time. I know for a fact that myself and all my friends who

also went on the trip truly had a blast and would not hesitate one

second on the thought of returning the Azores.

Raphael Bonnet 11A

On the Azores trip we learnt a lot about hot springs, mountains

and volcanoes. Some of the fun things were when we went on a

bike trail, learnt about a power plant that gets its energy from

volcanoes. All the food we ate was amazing and it was mostly

found or made on the island. One of the things we did was go to a

tea factory and learnt how they make tea and we got to try it after.

Arthur Batty 9V

The Azores was a great trip, we all had so much fun doing the

activities that the school planned for us. In my opinion the best

activity was going into a heated pool. The water was orange from

iron and made it look really cool, the water was heated from the

heat rising up through the earth. Also the food was amazing from

the restaurants and hotel. The Azores trip was great fun!

Henry Christopherson 9P

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

Young Writers’ Competition 2019

Congratulations to James

Sellers for winning the

Wimbledon Book Fest

Young Writers’

Competition 2019, Key

Stage 3 Story Category.

James is currently in Year

10 but picked up his award

last summer term when he

was in Year 9.

The Young Writers’

Competition received over

345 entries this year from over 60 local schools but James was

chosen for his excellent writing and his ability to engage the

reader.

Ms Graham

Christmas Concert

Rutlish Christmas Carol Concert

Tuesday 17th December 2019

6.15pm - 7.15pm

St. Mary’s Church, Merton, SW19 3HJ

#TOGETHER

Tickets available on the door & refreshments Served

Music News

The Music department have been busy this Autumn term

performing at Wimbledon Bookfest’s Gig Night hosted by John

Kennedy and at the Old Ruts Halloween event ‘The Blood and

Guts Fest’.

At Bookfest in October Rutlish auditioned and

had two successful bands performing, ‘Red’

our Year 10 band and our Year 10/11 band

‘The Chase’. This was a big occasion for the

boys and they stepped up and didn’t

disappoint. The marquee was full and it was

lovely to see Rutlish performing for the third

year in a row. Our Music GCSE groups are

working hard.

The Eclectics, now in RR6, performed at the

Gutsfest along with our Dads’ Community

Band ‘The Banned’. Since finishing their

GCSE’s The Eclectics have played an

acoustic set at the Out of the Corner Venue in

Surbiton and are taking part in Kingston

College’s Next Youth Music Takeover Event.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cirkt-next-gen-

youth-music-takeover-tickets-67481826961.

Our Dads’ community band ‘The Banned’ now has eight members

and we are performing frequently. If you sing or play an instrument,

please get in touch! Our repertoire is expanding and rehearse

every week and our set list

includes The Cure, The Kinks,

The Black Crowes, The House

martins, The Clash to name few.

The band was set up to

demonstrate that commitment

and prac t ice gets you

everywhere in music.

On Sunday 1st February Rutlish Music students will be taking part

in the Merton Live Event at

Wimbledon Theatre with our boys

collaborating with the Wimbledon

High Pop Orchestra. Every

Tuesday evening a number of our

Year 10 GCSE Music travel to

Wimbledon High to rehearse with

their Jazz ensemble. The boys are improving their improvisation

skills with the well-respected Jazz musician Ed Barber who is

running the course until February. We are delighted to have Mr.

Richard Bristow, the Head of Music, working with the department.

We have now tripled the number of boys taking instrumental

lessons including drums, acoustic, lead and bass guitar, brass and

piano. If you are interested in your son learning an instrument

please email dawn.steele@rutl ish.merton.sch.uk or

Music News cont.

Hannah.pearce@rutlish.merton.sch.uk. Our guitar teacher Mr. Joe

Cornwell also hosts live events outside school. He is running our

new Production and Beat Club in school and we have kindly

received funding from the Rutlish Foundation to invest in new

equipment to support this.

The boys are working hard towards the Christmas Concert which

is on Tuesday 17th December at St. Mary’s Church, Merton

starting at 6pm. Tickets will be available on the door and

refreshments will be served. The concert is called #together as we

are working hard to build relationships with the local music

community. We have a number of parents performing and local

community members included in the programme as well as boys

from Year 7 through to Year 13. Please come and support us and

be ready to sing a few carols!

Finally, if you have any spare instruments at home WE NEED

THEM! We have advertised a musical instrument amnesty in the

local SW19 groups and already have received some guitars.

Please feel free to donate by dropping off at reception.

Ms Steele, Lead Music & Ms Pearce

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

Literacy Across the Curriculum

Cricket Football Rugby

Sports Club links

As a school we encourage reading of all genres for pleasure, for

knowledge, and for the cognitive and wellbeing benefits associated

with higher literacy levels. While reading non-fiction is interesting

and useful, recent research suggests that reading fiction, in

particular, accelerates student progress in all subjects, including

maths and science.

https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2019/10/are-all-types-of-reading-

equal-or-are-some-more-equal-than-others/

‘Specifically, teenagers who read fiction almost every day score around

26 points higher on the PISA reading test than those who never read

such books. This difference in achievement is large – the equivalent of

around 10 months of additional schooling according to the

OECD.’ Advice flowing from this is to encourage ‘young people to

engage more with novels and other lengthy fictional texts [which

necessitate] deep reading for sustained periods of time.’

If you find it difficult to persuade your son to read fiction,

encourage them to visit our LRC where they will get guidance and

support from our Librarian, Mrs Higginson, as well as from their

peers, as we have a number of library monitors always on hand to

recommend books.

Ms Jones, Literacy Coordinator

Careers News

Careers and Enterprise Week

From the 25th – 29th November we will be holding our first Careers

and Enterprise Week, a celebration of the careers guidance and

education available to our students.

During the week, students from Year 7–13 will participate in a

range of activities, including assemblies, working lunches and talks

from external speakers. Some of the highlights of the week include

a talk to RR6 students from Joanna Santinon, Partner, Ernst &

Young and Year 9 students taking part in the National Enterprise

Challenge.

Ms Heaney

Please donate books for our Book Boxes and for Liberty Primary

School. If you have any appropriate reading books for our

students or material suitable for primary school aged children at

home that are in good condition that you no longer use, please

could you consider donating them to us. There will be a collection

box in the LRC during November which we will then gift to Liberty

primary school. Thank you.

Ms Howarth

Book Donations

Sports Highlights

Year groups have started well in the Harlequins South London

League with the U12s, U13s, U14s and U16s sitting at the top of

their respective pools in the competition.

The U12s, 13s and 14s have started the season well with regular

training and fixtures. Plenty of time for more players to come along

and training with us on Monday (U12) and Tuesday (U13/14) after

school.

Don’t forget, if you want to play more rugby outside of school get in

contact with Mr Ross who will put you in touch

with the respective age grade coach at Old

Rutlishians.

Mr Ross

O2 Tennis Trip

Twenty students plus two staff were lucky enough to get tickets for

the World Tennis Finals at the O2. The students watched two

games: one doubles and one singles. The doubles match allowed

students to watch the number one pair play the number two pair.

An excellent match went to three sets and Rojer and Tecau won in

three sets - 6-2, 5-7,10-8.

For the singles we watched a repeat of the US open final. Rafa

Nadal played Danial Medvedev. Medvedev won the first set and

Nadal the second. In the final set, Medvedev was leading 5-1

before Nadal fought back to win in the tie break.

It was an excellent trip.

Ball Boys

Boys have been practising their skills and

knowledge. Next week the final eight will

be selected to attend the Wimbledon trial

which is on the second Saturday in

January.

Indoor Rowing

We hope to restart our indoor rowing club. This takes place at the

back of the pavilion during certain lunch times. This club will be

advertised very soon. In two weeks, our Year 8, 9 and 10 students

will be attending the Active Sport Row at the Elephant and Castle.

After Christmas we will be attending the National Indoor Rowing

Championships.

Mr Joyce

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

School Absence: 020 8540 3134 www.rutlish.merton.sch.uk @RutlishSchool

A warm welcome from the Place2Be Team.

Place2Be is the leading national children’s

mental health charity working with pupils,

families and staff in over 600 UK schools. At

Rutlish we offer one to one counselling with

creative work, brief solution focused sessions in Place2Talk

during break and lunch, Place2Think for staff and Parent

Partnerships. Research shows that promoting positive mental

health improves school outcomes, attitudes to learning and

attendance.

If you would like to find out more, please contact Ella Beard

(Place2Be School Project Manager) on 02085421212 Ext 171 or

ella.beard@place2be.org.uk on Mondays, Tuesdays and

Wednesday (am).

https://www.place2be.org.uk

Place 2 Be

Homework club

If your child needs some support with their homework or access

to computers or printers, please encourage them to attend

homework club. This is held in ICT rooms for an hour after school

each day.

Mr Connor and Miss Bowden

Please remember to download the School Gateway app so you

can see your child’s timetable, view your contact details, etc.

The majority of correspondence with parents is by email, please

ensure the school office have any changes in contact details.

Please write a note in your son’s planner if he has an appointment

and needs to leave school during the day.

Please call the attendance line on each day of absence.

Thank you.

Mrs Gibbons, school office

School Administration

Thank you to all Everyone for

your donations.

All the donations have now been counted and I am pleased to announce that we have

raised a grand total of:

£1210.27

Anti-Bullying Week

Children in Need

Last Week was Anti-Bullying Week. Rutlish has participated by

hosting a house competition to produce either a poster or a poem

around the theme of anti-bullying. We received a huge amount of

entries of excellent quality. We also held an assembly to raise

awareness of anti-bullying and

introduce the Anti-Bullying

Team to the year seven

s t u d e n t s . T e a c h e r s

participated in Odd Sock Days

to signify how we celebrate

each other’s differences.

During tutor time, all the tutors

delivered lessons on anti-bullying to further raise awareness and

highlight our zero-tolerance policy on bullying. Students were

taught to identify the different forms of

bullying, for example, verbal, physical

and cyber bullying. We highlighted who

the students should speak to if they

ever fall victim to bullying and also that

the school offers a service called Place

to Talk, which is run by professional

counsellors, to help students if they

feel sad or overwhelmed.

Mrs Targuisti

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday – a time to

stop, think and remember. For us

cadets at Rutlish CCF, it is a time to

dedicate our day in respect of those

who fought for us over 100 Years ago

and over 75 Years ago, whom which

we now represent. The day started

early, we were up and ready for the day ahead of us and already

practicing our marching by 8am. Proudly wearing our red poppies,

we marched down to The Nelson Hospital where we did a one

minute silence and Kingston Road was temporarily halted. A

wreath was laid on behalf of Rutlish CCF by LCpl. Shyan Khan.

We were invited into The Nelson Hospital for biscuits and tea and

managed to have a chat with the Mayor of Merton and the Merton

Police Borough Commander. Next we went to St. Mary’s Church.

We paid our respects in the church and proceeded with another

minute of silence at exactly 11:11am. A wreath was laid outside of

St Mary’s Church on behalf of Rutlish CCF by LCpl. Aaron

O’Connor. We finished our day with another round of tea and

Biscuits at St. Mary’s Church Hall. A truly successful

Remembrance Sunday.

Cpl. Raphael Bonnet